In the run up to the general election on May 6^th 2010, the Conservatives have created a website that completely embraces video online, to communicate with and no doubt hopefully inspire potential voters.

The website offers a large player box that takes up over 80% of the homepage screen. The box rotates between video and static images and text. The Conservatives clearly think video online is an essential medium in getting their key party messages across online. An essential medium to:

• Communicate
• Inform
• Inspire

If video online is important enough for a political party to depend on it in the run up to one of the most anticipated elections in years, I would suggest it is important enough for golf venues and destinations to use in getting their key marketing and sales messages across to golfers online.

As an example within golf, have a look at one of our client websites Donnington Grove Country Club where video online is already being used to great effect.

For more information on video production for your golf club, resort or destination and to learn more about the huge benefits of using video online, get in touch at enquiries@visual-golf.com or call us on +44 (0) 208 789 1876.

How powerful can video online be? Enough to change a country?

Tim Stansbury
Director
Visual Golf – golf video production

Emilia Romagna Golf have recently re-launched their website and (we’re glad to say) have heavily incorporated video into it. To go through to the new website follow this link:

Emilia Romagna Golf 

The regional film we produced is embedded into the top left part of the website and continually appears throughout the site. They (and we) believe this promo film is the best way to give potential travelling golfers a flavor of what the region has to offer, finishing with strong brand and sales messages and encouraging viewers to take action. The KEY goal was to communicate and inspire!

For more information on video production for your golf club, resort or destination and to learn more about the huge benefits of using video online, please get in touch at enquiries@visual-golf.com or call us on +44 (0) 208 789 1876.

Tim Stansbury
Managing Director
Visual Golf – golf video production

US internet users watched 32.4 billion videos online in January 2010, according to comScore Video Metrix service: Follow this link to read all about it – http://bit.ly/dfuGHA

Visual Golf – Golf video production, distribution & marketing

Visual Golf is now working with Golf Club Network, the provider of golf club websites and email marketing solutions, as a preferred supplier of video content.

Golf Club Network is endorsed by the English Golf Union (EGU) and Golf Union of Wales (GUW) and already works with over 150 golf clubs across the UK, providing cost-effective online website solutions which deliver golf clubs’ online objectives and build revenues.

Golf Club Network websites are built using the latest technologies and being able to add video content is just one of the many features their websites can offer clubs.

Visual Golf produces high quality promotional golf videos including footage of golf courses, facilities and key club staff which delivers a product that ultimately inspires golfers to visit a venue and play golf. Video content is the future for online marketing within golf and following major developments in technology and software, video offers superb value for money coupled with clear tangible results.

Kate Davies, Marketing Manager at Golf Club Network said: “Online video marketing is a rapidly growing medium and predictions show that this is set to continue over the coming years.  As golf is such a visual product we can see the clear benefits of offering our existing and future clubs access to a company who specialise in high quality video production. Visual Golf stand alone in terms of golf video production experience and expertise, so they were the number one choice for us.”

Tim Stansbury, Managing Director of Visual Golf said: “We are delighted to be working with Golf Club Network. Online video is the new marketing medium to promote golf clubs and resorts online, so it fits in perfectly with Golf Club Network’s ethos of striving to deliver the next best thing to its golfing clients.”

Visual Golf – golf video production

Online video viewing figures have accelerated in 2009, once again showing strong YOY growth for this new marketing medium.

The figures come from comScore Video Metrix data from the comScore 2009 US Digital Year in Review. Some stand out figures include:

• In December 2009, 86% of the total US online population viewed video content
• The average online viewer consumed 187 videos in December 2009, up 95% from 96 videos in December 2008
• The number of videos viewed grew almost 150%, from 14.3 billion to 33.2 billion

Also of interest is the continuing fragmentation of online video viewing. The top-ranked video site is still YouTube accounting for 26% of total time spent viewing video in December 2009. However interestingly 52% of video viewed was on sites outside the top 25, suggesting increased fragmentation of the online video market. This correlates with more industry sectors and new small to medium sized businesses embracing video online.

What do these figures mean for the golf industry? Well, nothing really.

But what they do do is highlight that video online is continuing to grow at a substantial rate. It means that the standard golfer is more than likely to of watched video online and interacted with it. It means that with more industry sectors using online video to get their product, brand and sales messages across, a potential tee time, golf break or corporate golfer will not be pleasantly surprised by a quality golf venue or destination promotional video, but in fact come to expect it.

As we continue to battle the repercussions the financial crisis, it will be those golf venues and destinations that embrace new forms of online marketing and promotion that come out the stronger.

Tim Stansbury
Managing Director
Visual Golf – golf video production

Ok ok, except for actually being there…

Golf video production. That’s what we’re all about.

Here is a great little article on 7 reasons for online video marketing in 2010

Keep in touch

Visual Golf – golf video production

But its pretty beautiful out there and you can capture some special shots if you:

a) get the right time
b) get the right location and
c) are superb with a camera!

Below are some stunning images from Dave Nightingale, one of our professional golf photographers: 

Enjoy your golf (once it warms up a bit).

Tim Stansbury
Managing Director – Visual Golf
www.visual-golf.com

(1) Internet ‘shoppers’ are becoming increasingly savvy and have come to expect an abundance of information about a golf venue before making a booking. Video is the perfect medium to deliver this information because it allows potential guests to view the facilities, golf courses, bedrooms and restaurants of a golf venue, providing a much greater insight than still photos and / or static text, greatly increasing the possibility of a booking.

(2) By featuring its staff, video offers a fantastic opportunity to provide golf venues with a much-needed human face. People connect with people!

(3) By providing an authentic, engaging and realistic portrayal of golf venue, video can have an emotional impact that the written word struggles to match.

(4) Videos are far more authoritative than the written word. People tend believe what they can see, far more than what they read.

(5) The human mind is programmed to remember pictures and images far better than the things we hear or read.

(6) Video improves the ‘stickiness’ of a website and increases conversion rates.

(7) Videos are great for SEO. They can be repurposed and propagated online, driving highly-targeted traffic to a venue’s website.

(8) Video production is increasingly affordable and accessible. A high quality video can be made for a relatively small amount of money.

(9) Videos are incredibly versatile and therefore highly cost-effective, allowing any golf venue to make its marketing budget go further. For example videos can be streamed online, distributed to 3^rd party operators, included on e-mail signatures, duplicated onto DVDs, used in one-on-one meetings or at large scale events. The right video can serve a golf venue’s needs for a long period of time and the footage can be easily re-edited for use in future productions.

(10) Free hosting websites continue to emerge and when used in tandem with these sites, videos can become even more powerful marketing tools.

(11) The viral potential of videos means that information can be distributed much quicker and much further than conventional methods.

(12) Video streamed online is an environmentally friendly communications tool. It reduces paper usage, as well as the carbon footprint associated with large scale mail-shots.

However to capture the attention of an online audience notorious for its short attention span, it’s very important to produce unique and creative videos with production values that mirror the standards and facilities on offer. That’s why it’s usually a job best left to the professionals.

Visual Golf produce videos for a wide range of golf venues right across the budget spectrum – clients already include Aphrodite Hills in Cyprus, Emilia Romagna Golf in Italy and Donnington Grove Country Club in the UK. We provide clients with unique services supported by a huge amount of experience within both video production and golf travel.

To find out more about our work and to view a selection of videos produced by Visual Golf, visit www.visual-golf.com

Tim Stansbury
Managing Director – Visual Golf
www.visual-golf.com

A quick Visual Golf blog entry linking back to this article from a few weeks ago on eMarketer.com –

In short the article highlights the correlation between businesses that are succeeding and an increase in marketing spend. However of particular interest for us was the finding that successful small businesses are shifting their marketing activities away from traditional channels towards cheaper, trackable digital media initiatives.

In a statement from Laurie McCabe, a partner at Hurwitz & Associates who carried out the report:

“The survey clearly reveals that the use of low-cost web-based marketing tools is playing a strategic role in helping businesses succeed. Making a few changes to incorporate more online tools into the marketing mix seems to be a key ingredient to small business success.”

Step up video online! As these trends continue to filter into specific industries, we will continue to urge the golf industry to embrace online video content for 2010 to also benefit from the return on investment that companies before them have clearly done.

Tim Stansbury
Managing Director – Visual Golf
www.visual-golf.com

It is well worth considering the power of video sharing online.

According to a recent study conducted by Interpret LLC, an American media and technology measurement and market research firm, “Regardless of time of day, one-third of people who watch a video online share it with friends, family members and colleagues.”

Someone doing your marketing for you? Fantastic. Businesses across all industries must take advantage of this increasing trend for sharing by leveraging online video opportunities properly.

Only a handful of golf venues and golf destinations currently use video to its maximum potential… imagine producing a quality inspirational golf resort video, featuring on your website and then sending out marketing activity with direct links back to the website and video. If every one in three viewers then share it with friends or colleagues, the numbers continue to build and start to get very exciting indeed.

Golf video production has huge potential and those golf resorts and destinations getting video produced in 2009 will be one step ahead of the rest.

Tim Stansbury
Managing Director – Visual Golf
www.visual-golf.com