Videos are more effective and engaging than other forms of visual content. Millions of people view online videos each day, and the number of these viewers keeps growing exponentially. According to comScore’s Video Metrix service, 182 million Americans watched nearly 41 billion online content videos in May 2013. Adding video content to your online gaming or casino site’s marketing and advertising campaigns can bring in fresh leads, increase website or foot traffic, boost your search rankings, and make your brand go viral.

Any online video production project starts with planning. The pre-production phase is where we determine what the video’s purpose is, and what type of video to make, and what style or approach to use. The answers to the following questions serve as our guide throughout the rest of the production process.

What’s the video’s purpose?

The first step is establishing what you need the video for. Do you want to educate or inform your visitors, or convince them that your site has everything they need for a great online gaming experience? Do you want to promote an upcoming real-life event or summarize a recently concluded one? What you need your video to accomplish will serve as the basis for our entire production project.

What type of video do you need?

The next step is to choose what type of video to create. Different types of videos serve different audiences and purposes. Some of the most useful videos for online gaming sites include:

• Tutorials: You can use these videos to teach your viewers a new skill, or provide instructions on using certain features on your website. Video tutorials are especially useful if you host online poker rooms or other casino games.

• Testimonials: Showing videos of satisfied players and customers can prove your worth and reliability to your newer website visitors.

• Events: These videos are great if you have a physical gaming establishment that you want your website users to visit. Creating videos of successful poker tournaments and lucky jackpot wins can make your online visitors want in on the action.

Which video style works best?

There are different video creation styles to choose from, each with their own benefits for different video types:

• Live-Action: These videos involve pre-recorded footage of real people in real environments. They’re often the simplest to make, and adds a human element that your viewers can engage with and relate to easily. Live-action videos are extremely versatile and can be used for any of the three video types listed above.

• Motion Graphics: Animated or typographic videos fall under this category. They can be more time-consuming to produce, especially if voice talent and music is involved, but they can communicate more ideas and help your video look more professional. Motion graphics can be useful for tutorials or online event promotions.

• Screencasts: We can easily create screencasts through screen capture and voice recording software. They’re often used for tutorials, especially for web-based functions or games.

• Live Streaming: These live videos can keep your audience engaged, especially if you’re showing something exciting. Live streaming videos of on-going poker games or events at your physical establishment can keep your online users hooked for hour.

Added Incentive

Getting people to share a pre-launch page on social networks or fill out an email opt-in form is much easier if they’re given additional incentive to do so. Early access can be good incentives, but throwing a few freebies in can encourage users even more.

The pre-launch campaign for The Drowning, a mobile first-person shooter game, offers users free wallpaper for their mobile devices as incentive to pre-register. The game has already launched for iOS users, but now the page extends the offer to Android users in anticipation for the game’s launch on Google Play store.

Data Collection

Gathering data about people interested in the app can help improve its marketing campaign. The most common option is to add a simple form that can be used to collect visitors’ email addresses for inclusion in a mailing list, but other developers may also include live chat features or polls to gather additional information about their target market.

• Video hosting sites: Video hosting sites allow you to upload, embed, share, and stream your videos without straining your own website’s space and bandwidth. YouTube and Vimeo are the most popular video hosting sites, but there are also other options to consider, like Wistia, Brightroll, and Viddler.

• Mobile video apps: Using mobile apps to create and distribute videos is an important marketing strategy because it’s easier to engage viewers. A study conducted by MeFeedia revealed that mobile users have longer attention spans when it comes to watching online videos. Desktop users watch videos for an average of less than 2 minutes, but mobile users stick around for about 2.4-5 minutes.

• Video email marketing: Distributing your videos a newsletter helps you make sure all your loyal customers and subscribers hear about them. According to Implix, this can also increase your newsletter’s open and click-through rates. Their study showed that emails that included videos had 5.6% higher open rates and 96.38% higher click-through rates compared to those that did not.

Distributing and promoting your video effectively helps you maximize its exposure. Applying a combination of marketing and SEO can go a long way in increasing the number of views your video receives.

Answering these questions during the pre-production phase gives your video project a clear direction, and allows us to really focus on what you want to achieve. Contact us today for a free consultation if you want to make video content for your online gaming site, poker room, or casino.