Markup: HTML Tags and Formatting

Header one

Header two

Header three

Header four

Header five
Header six

Default Text Align – Left Align

This is a paragraph. It is left aligned. Because of this, it is a bit more liberal in it’s views. It’s favorite color is green. Left align tends to be more eco-friendly, but it provides no concrete evidence that it really is. Even though it likes share the wealth evenly, it leaves the equal distribution up to justified alignment.

Center Align

This is a paragraph. It is center aligned. Center is, but nature, a fence sitter. A flip flopper. It has a difficult time making up its mind. It wants to pick a side. Really, it does. It has the best intentions, but it tends to complicate matters more than help. The best you can do is try to win it over and hope for the best. I hear center align does take bribes.

Right Align

This is a paragraph. It is right aligned. It is a bit more conservative in it’s views. It’s prefers to not be told what to do or how to do it. Right align totally owns a slew of guns and loves to head to the range for some practice. Which is cool and all. I mean, it’s a pretty good shot from at least four or five football fields away. Dead on. So boss.

Justify Align

This is a paragraph. It is justify aligned. It gets really mad when people associate it with Justin Timberlake. Typically, justified is pretty straight laced. It likes everything to be in it’s place and not all cattywampus like the rest of the aligns. I am not saying that makes it better than the rest of the aligns, but it does tend to put off more of an elitist attitude.

Blockquotes

Single line blockquote:

Stay hungry. Stay foolish.

Multi line blockquote with a cite reference:

People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully. I’m actually as proud of the things we haven’t done as the things I have done. Innovation is saying no to 1,000 things.
Steve Jobs – Apple Worldwide Developers’ Conference, 1997

Tables

EmployeeSalary
John Doe$1Because that’s all Steve Jobs needed for a salary.
Jane Doe$100KFor all the blogging she does.
Fred Bloggs$100MPictures are worth a thousand words, right? So Jane x 1,000.
Jane Bloggs$100BWith hair like that?! Enough said…

Definition Lists

Definition List Title
Definition list division.
Startup
A startup company or startup is a company or temporary organization designed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model.
#dowork
Coined by Rob Dyrdek and his personal body guard Christopher “Big Black” Boykins, “Do Work” works as a self motivator, to motivating your friends.
Do It Live
I’ll let Bill O’Reilly will explain this one.

Nested Unordered Lists

  • List item one
    • List item one
      • List item one
      • List item two
      • List item three
      • List item four
    • List item two
    • List item three
    • List item four
  • List item two
  • List item three
  • List item four

Nested Ordered Lists

  1. List item one
    1. List item one
      1. List item one
      2. List item two
      3. List item three
      4. List item four
    2. List item two
    3. List item three
    4. List item four
  2. List item two
  3. List item three
  4. List item four

Ordered – Unordered – Ordered

  1. ordered item
  2. ordered item
    • unordered
    • unordered
      1. ordered item
      2. ordered item
  3. ordered item
  4. ordered item

Ordered – Unordered – Unordered

  1. ordered item
  2. ordered item
    • unordered
    • unordered
      • unordered item
      • unordered item
  3. ordered item
  4. ordered item

HTML Tags

Address Tag

1 Infinite Loop
Cupertino, CA 95014
United States

Anchor Tag (aka. Link)

This is an example of a link.

Abbreviation Tag

The abbreviation srsly stands for “seriously”.

Big Tag (deprecated in HTML5)

These tests are a big deal, but this tag is no longer supported in HTML5.

Cite Tag

“Code is poetry.” —Automattic

Code Tag

You will learn later on in these tests that word-wrap: break-word; will be your best friend.

Delete Tag

This tag will let you strikeout text, but this tag is no longer supported in HTML5 (use the <strike> instead).

Insert Tag

This tag should denote inserted text.

Keyboard Tag

This scarcely known tag emulates keyboard text, which is usually styled like the <code> tag.

Preformatted Tag

This tag styles large blocks of code.

.post-title {
	margin: 0 0 5px;
	font-weight: bold;
	font-size: 38px;
	line-height: 1.2;
	and here's a line of some really, really, really, really long text, just to see how the PRE tag handles it and to find out how it overflows;
}

Quote Tag

Developers, developers, developers… –Steve Ballmer

Strike Tag (deprecated in HTML5)

This tag shows strike-through text

Strong Tag

This tag shows bold text.

Subscript Tag

Getting our science styling on with H2O, which should push the “2” down.

Superscript Tag

Still sticking with science and Isaac Newton’s E = MC2, which should lift the 2 up.

Teletype Tag (deprecated in HTML5)

This rarely used tag emulates teletype text, which is usually styled like the <code> tag.

A Paginated Post

Curabitur suscipit suscipit tellus. Etiam ut purus mattis mauris sodales aliquam. Praesent egestas neque eu enim. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus.

Etiam imperdiet imperdiet orci. Nullam nulla eros, ultricies sit amet, nonummy id, imperdiet feugiat, pede. Sed augue ipsum, egestas nec, vestibulum et, malesuada adipiscing, dui. Donec mollis hendrerit risus. Nam pretium turpis et arcu. Sed aliquam ultrices mauris. Praesent venenatis metus at tortor pulvinar varius. Fusce pharetra convallis urna. Praesent blandit laoreet nibh. Sed lectus.

Fusce vulputate eleifend sapien. Donec venenatis vulputate lorem. Phasellus tempus. Nam eget dui. Cras id dui. Ut tincidunt tincidunt erat. Praesent ac massa at ligula laoreet iaculis.

Markup: Image Alignment

Welcome to image alignment! The best way to demonstrate the ebb and flow of the various image positioning options is to nestle them snuggly among an ocean of words. Grab a paddle and let’s get started.

placeholder-02

The image above happens to be centered.

placeholder-03The rest of this paragraph is filler for the sake of seeing the text wrap around the 150×150 image, which is left aligned.

As you can see the should be some space above, below, and to the right of the image. The text should not be creeping on the image. Creeping is just not right. Images need breathing room too. Let them speak like you words. Let them do their jobs without any hassle from the text. In about one more sentence here, we’ll see that the text moves from the right of the image down below the image in seamless transition. Again, letting the do it’s thang. Mission accomplished!

And now for a massively large image. It also has no alignment.

placeholder-04

The image above, though 1200px wide, should not overflow the content area. It should remain contained with no visible disruption to the flow of content.

placeholder-05And now we’re going to shift things to the right align. Again, there should be plenty of room above, below, and to the left of the image. Just look at him there… Hey guy! Way to rock that right side. I don’t care what the left aligned image says, you look great. Don’t let anyone else tell you differently.

In just a bit here, you should see the text start to wrap below the right aligned image and settle in nicely. There should still be plenty of room and everything should be sitting pretty. Yeah… Just like that. It never felt so good to be right.

Images With Captions

And just when you thought we were done, we’re going to do them all over again with captions!

Look at 580x300 getting some caption love.

Look at 580×300 getting some caption love.

The image above happens to be centered. The caption also has a link in it, just to see if it does anything funky.

Itty-bitty caption.

Itty-bitty caption.

The rest of this paragraph is filler for the sake of seeing the text wrap around the 150×150 image, which is left aligned

As you can see the should be some space above, below, and to the right of the image. The text should not be creeping on the image. Creeping is just not right. Images need breathing room too. Let them speak like you words. Let them do their jobs without any hassle from the text. In about one more sentence here, we’ll see that the text moves from the right of the image down below the image in seamless transition. Again, letting the do it’s thang. Mission accomplished!

And that’s a wrap, yo! You survived the tumultuous waters of alignment. Image alignment achievement unlocked!

Sed cursus turpis vitae

Aenean viverra rhoncus pede. Aenean viverra rhoncus pede. Fusce vel dui. Sed a libero. Nunc nonummy metus.

Etiam vitae tortor. Vestibulum turpis sem, aliquet eget, lobortis pellentesque, rutrum eu, nisl. Etiam rhoncus. Nullam quis ante. Ut tincidunt tincidunt erat.

Ut tincidunt tincidunt erat. Praesent egestas neque eu enim. Donec vitae orci sed dolor rutrum auctor. Vivamus euismod mauris. Morbi mattis ullamcorper velit.

Phasellus nec sem in justo pellentesque facilisis. Nulla consequat massa quis enim. Nam quam nunc, blandit vel, luctus pulvinar, hendrerit id, lorem. Vestibulum rutrum, mi nec elementum vehicula, eros quam gravida nisl, id fringilla neque ante vel mi. Quisque rutrum.

Aenean imperdiet. Praesent ut ligula non mi varius sagittis. Proin magna. Sed in libero ut nibh placerat accumsan. Vestibulum fringilla pede sit amet augue.

I Dont Have A Featured Image :(

Fusce neque. Phasellus volutpat, metus eget egestas mollis, lacus lacus blandit dui, id egestas quam mauris ut lacus. Fusce a quam. Nunc egestas, augue at pellentesque laoreet, felis eros vehicula leo, at malesuada velit leo quis pede. Phasellus a est.

Aenean leo ligula, porttitor eu, consequat vitae, eleifend ac, enim. Vestibulum ullamcorper mauris at ligula. Nullam accumsan lorem in dui. Nam adipiscing. Nullam accumsan lorem in dui.

Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Donec pede justo, fringilla vel, aliquet nec, vulputate eget, arcu. Curabitur ullamcorper ultricies nisi. Duis vel nibh at velit scelerisque suscipit. Praesent blandit laoreet nibh.

Vertical Featured Image with Disabled Comments

This post should display a featured image. Non-square images can provide some unique styling issues. This post showcasesa vertical featured image.

Vestibulum fringilla pede sit amet augue. Curabitur ligula sapien, tincidunt non, euismod vitae, posuere imperdiet, leo. Quisque libero metus, condimentum nec, tempor a, commodo mollis, magna. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Nulla neque dolor, sagittis eget, iaculis quis, molestie non, velit.

Vivamus laoreet. Nunc nulla.

Mauris turpis nunc, blandit et, volutpat molestie, porta ut, ligula. Nullam cursus lacinia erat. Aenean imperdiet. Nullam quis ante. Ut id nisl quis enim dignissim sagittis. Duis leo. Praesent egestas neque eu enim. In hac habitasse platea dictumst. Vestibulum purus quam, scelerisque ut, mollis sed, nonummy id, metus. Donec interdum, metus et hendrerit aliquet, dolor diam sagittis ligula, eget egestas libero turpis vel mi.

Nam ipsum risus, rutrum vitae, vestibulum eu, molestie vel, lacus. Nunc nulla. Suspendisse feugiat. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Donec venenatis vulputate lorem. Sed hendrerit. Integer tincidunt. Quisque libero metus, condimentum nec, tempor a, commodo mollis, magna. Sed a libero. Curabitur turpis. Praesent egestas tristique nibh. Morbi mollis tellus ac sapien. Aliquam lobortis. Pellentesque posuere. Suspendisse eu ligula. Praesent ac massa at ligula laoreet iaculis. Donec vitae orci sed dolor rutrum auctor. Aenean massa. Fusce a quam. Curabitur vestibulum aliquam leo.

Maecenas vestibulum mollis diam. Donec sodales sagittis magna. Ut tincidunt tincidunt erat. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos hymenaeos. In ac felis quis tortor malesuada pretium. Fusce a quam. Mauris sollicitudin fermentum libero. Sed cursus turpis vitae tortor. Pellentesque egestas, neque sit amet convallis pulvinar, justo nulla eleifend augue, ac auctor orci leo non est. Aenean leo ligula, porttitor eu, consequat vitae, eleifend ac, enim.

Sed hendrerit. Suspendisse non nisl sit amet velit hendrerit rutrum. Vivamus consectetuer hendrerit lacus. Praesent porttitor, nulla vitae posuere iaculis, arcu nisl dignissim dolor, a pretium mi sem ut ipsum. Suspendisse faucibus, nunc et pellentesque egestas, lacus ante convallis tellus, vitae iaculis lacus elit id tortor.

Sed fringilla mauris sit amet nibh. Phasellus ullamcorper ipsum rutrum nunc. Donec vitae sapien ut libero venenatis faucibus. Sed augue ipsum, egestas nec, vestibulum et, malesuada adipiscing, dui. Nunc interdum lacus sit amet orci.

Norant fuit nullo uno aliis

Liquidum caeca premuntur obstabatque matutinis galeae unus. In circumfuso fuerant solum orbis fixo aethera ad. Gravitate addidit amphitrite. Congestaque mixta mixtam altae. Ne terra possedit margine aethera sua cuncta lapidosos occiduo. Ripis flamina sectamque adhuc flamma videre chaos: consistere. Liquidum quoque pluvialibus boreas.

Liquidum erant hanc nova secuit altae. Persidaque agitabilis aere mundum. Pondere perveniunt mundum dextra posset:! Aberant caeleste flamma spectent toto? Frigida ad discordia occiduo pondus iapeto inposuit. Limitibus pugnabant fontes sata. Calidis undae! Prima nullus haec levitate nondum vesper supplex nebulas convexi dissociata.

Fratrum egens. Norant fuit nullo uno aliis moderantum. Orbis animal? Diremit pace bracchia diversa non. Postquam triones caligine titan. Subdita piscibus pressa. Retinebat freta mutatas uno quoque summaque erat:. Toto triones vindice sui summaque deerat instabilis melior. Mundo secant obliquis supplex campoque mutatas.

Nam quam nunc, blandit vel, luctus pulvinar, hendrerit.

Mauris turpis nunc, blandit et, volutpat molestie, porta ut, ligula. Nullam cursus lacinia erat. Aenean imperdiet. Nullam quis ante. Ut id nisl quis enim dignissim sagittis. Duis leo. Praesent egestas neque eu enim. In hac habitasse platea dictumst. Vestibulum purus quam, scelerisque ut, mollis sed, nonummy id, metus. Donec interdum, metus et hendrerit aliquet, dolor diam sagittis ligula, eget egestas libero turpis vel mi.

Nam ipsum risus, rutrum vitae, vestibulum eu, molestie vel, lacus. Nunc nulla. Suspendisse feugiat. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Donec venenatis vulputate lorem. Sed hendrerit. Integer tincidunt. Quisque libero metus, condimentum nec, tempor a, commodo mollis, magna. Sed a libero. Curabitur turpis. Praesent egestas tristique nibh. Morbi mollis tellus ac sapien. Aliquam lobortis. Pellentesque posuere. Suspendisse eu ligula. Praesent ac massa at ligula laoreet iaculis. Donec vitae orci sed dolor rutrum auctor. Aenean massa. Fusce a quam. Curabitur vestibulum aliquam leo.

Maecenas vestibulum mollis diam. Donec sodales sagittis magna. Ut tincidunt tincidunt erat. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos hymenaeos. In ac felis quis tortor malesuada pretium. Fusce a quam. Mauris sollicitudin fermentum libero. Sed cursus turpis vitae tortor. Pellentesque egestas, neque sit amet convallis pulvinar, justo nulla eleifend augue, ac auctor orci leo non est. Aenean leo ligula, porttitor eu, consequat vitae, eleifend ac, enim.

Sed hendrerit. Suspendisse non nisl sit amet velit hendrerit rutrum. Vivamus consectetuer hendrerit lacus. Praesent porttitor, nulla vitae posuere iaculis, arcu nisl dignissim dolor, a pretium mi sem ut ipsum. Suspendisse faucibus, nunc et pellentesque egestas, lacus ante convallis tellus, vitae iaculis lacus elit id tortor.

Sed fringilla mauris sit amet nibh. Phasellus ullamcorper ipsum rutrum nunc. Donec vitae sapien ut libero venenatis faucibus. Sed augue ipsum, egestas nec, vestibulum et, malesuada adipiscing, dui. Nunc interdum lacus sit amet orci.

Having a Smartphone Does Not Make You a Photographer!

Snapshots share moments. Professional images convert users and sell products.

There is a lot more to professional photography than clicking the button! From photo styling and composition to lighting and digital post production we will make you look your best.

Yes, we have smartphones as well! And we use them to take a quick shot to post on Facebook or text to a client. But in the studio or on location your images deserve a lot better than that!

Images are essential to visual storytelling, and they need to be as good as possible to stand out. Blurry images, odd looking food, and badly lit models just don’t do it! And don’t even get us started on product shoot challenges! Commercial photography services help you avoid all of that! –

The Professional Advantage

You worked hard to build a high quality brand and business. Your images have to match.

Experienced photographers and stylists not only have the latest camera gear and lighting equipment at their disposal, they usually have years of experience and know how to draw on. So when things go wrong, the client is frantic, and deadlines fast approaching the pros are more likely to get it done. And don’t forget, you are not just taking a picture, you are telling a story. Don’t you want your story the best that it can be?

Use An Expert

Whether you need a specialist architectural photographer to document works in progress or showcase your project, or an advertising photographer to provide high quality pictures for brochures and annual reports, your web site or printed promotional material, we ensure that you get what you really want.

We Love Commercial Photography!

And, we’re really good at it. We believe great photography inspires business. So, whether it’s an in-studio photo shoot at our studio or an on-location photo shoot, we make great photography happen for your company or organization.

Whatever your need may be – corporate event photography, corporate portraits, model or product photography – we can handle it. With our affordable rate for a half-day or full-day photo shoot, our commercial photography services will work within your budget. We provide the professional photographs you need for catalogs, websites, & marketing materials.

5 Tips for Successful Online Video Marketing

The use of video marketing online is more popular than ever and the reasons for its growing popularity make it understandable why. You have much more chance to rank on the first page of the search engines than any traditional text page. They are inexpensive to make and will stay on the Internet forever. Video and social media platforms work well together too, and most of these sites encourage the sharing and posting of videos. 

Experience success with your video marketing when you use these quality tips:

The Title Has to Stand Out

This is what attracts most people to reading an article or any post as well, which is why your online marketing video should have an original title that stands out. Great titles attract the most attention, which leads to high volumes of traffic. When you use the correct keywords in your title, you will have a greater chance of ranking high in the search engines.

Excellent Content is Crucial

The success of any online video has lots to do with the content of the video. Make sure that you know what your viewers would want to see, and make use of a “How-to” video if possible, because they are extremely popular for the value they usually offer.

Advertise Your URL

Make use of the text box feature to add a URL to your website, blog or any landing page. This is a great opportunity to gain exposure through your online video.

Include a CTA

Making use of a CTA (call-to-action) at the end of your video, for example, is a great way to obtain more information from the viewers. Get them to sign up to a newsletter, direct them to a landing page or website, or ask them to leave comments about the video.

Educate the Viewers

You could tell people more about the type of services or products that you offer, or you can even do a formal review on one of the products that you offer. Share all the necessary benefits and features with the viewers as well. Let them know everything that they need to know concerning your services and products.

Internet Video Marketing Bottom Line

It has become vital to utilize video marketing on the Internet properly, which is why you need to include the above tips in all your video marketing efforts and strategies. If you do this, it will have a positive effect on various aspects of your business.

The Importance of Online Video Marketing

Designing marketing strategies is one of the most important ways of penetrating a product into a market wisely and effectively. Demand of a product depends on the willingness of an individual and the ability to buy the particular product. Todays’ market has very high competition. Same product is being manufactured under different brand tags. The company which has gained customer satisfaction is the leader of the emerging market. A company has to look into various factors for making its position secure in the economic sector. Advertisements and promotional videos play a very important role in making the consumer aware of a particular product. Online Video Marketing strategies are therefore very effective in building a consumer base.

Services like Google’s YouTube are one of the most efficient services of online video marketing. Following points will show how Online Video Marketing can build up your consumer base –

Videos can be more interactive

A Video is surely more interactive than a photo ad or a banner. Moving animated objects with sound definitely attracts a larger crowd of interest. Using these tools, people can get to know more about a particular product of their interests and compare with other firms manufacturing the same product.

For e.g. – Nokia launches a new phone into the market. Extensive banner and ad posters can never do the same effect when compared to a video posted in YouTube or an advertisement in T.V. People can graphically analyze the pros and cons of the product and take decisions accordingly.

High Portability and Cross Platform performance

Billions of computer users across the world can get access to the video anytime or anywhere without any performance issue. The invent of High-Definition Videos and advanced animations have added a treat to the eyes. Eye candy graphics on large LCD and LED T.V.’s surely attract people. Ability of the marketing video to run anywhere makes it highly portable.

For e.g. – The video made can run in both T.V. as well as the computer. A larger crowd is thus approached and thus people get aware of the particular product.

Startup of a small business

Many small companies need some startup endorsements and advertisements. Uploading a video giving a quick peek into all the products and services provided by the company into YouTube can give a kick start to the firms’ economy. Initial startup is required by all small firms in order to compete in the market dominated by the larger ones.

Google Search Page integration

Many companies have started providing services of making online marketing videos and integrating them into search engines’ pages. They guarantee optimized search engine results page one rankings. With reasonable pricing, these firms have really boosted up the economy of major firms in the marketing field.

Online Marketing Videos is really a nice strategy to build up economic and marketing strategies. Combined with quality service provision, a company can gain very high customer satisfaction and hence build up a respectable position and emerge as the market leader.

The Importance Of Video In Digital Marketing

Video marketing techniques are flooding today’s social media outlets and websites. These days almost any type of business would benefit from the production of a short video to introduce their products and services. Studies have shown that consumers are at least 64% more likely to purchase a product or service that has video representation. This makes establishing a personal connection with buyers through the means of video marketing a key element in the future of online marketing.

Impressions

There was once a time that attaching a picture of one’s products or services was enough to entice buyers. While images can most certainly enhance your business and communicate with a consumer, videos have a much further reaching effect on today’s media driven culture. People are presented with so much information that they have to make a decision about what they take the time to read and view. Video promotions will bring a clearer understanding of the benefits of a product or service. Consumers also find it more convenient to watch a video while trying to accomplish other tasks. Providing this convenience to the consumer has proven to be a highly effective marketing technique.

It has been estimated that somewhere close to 75% of business professionals watch promotional videos at least once a week for relevant products and services. At least half of the content is watched straight from YouTube.com. Of those that watch these online ads, half of them will end up visiting the promoted company’s website.

Live action ads are also more likely to be shared through social media outlets versus text based information. It’s been recently rumoured that Facebook has updated its algorithm to favour video posts above all other types of content. A business now has the ability to reach a larger viewing audience by creating or sharing memorable or funny videos. Video ads and promotions will entice a person to an emotional response. Most often, a person will share information they identify with the most, allowing your business free exposure to a potential clients friends, family, and followers.

Confidence

The rapid growth of e-commerce has resulted in more consumers becoming comfortable with the idea of making their purchases online. This makes it increasingly important for companies to establish an engaging and personal connection. Videos that welcome a consumer to the website (such as this one) gives an immediate association to the product or services. Naturally, movement catches a person’s eye and compels the viewer to pay closer attention. Websites that utilise videos to draw the attention of the viewer have an immense advantage over those that rely on simple text and images.

While techniques used for promotions are constantly evolving, consumer behavior still suggests that purchases are made when personal connection has been established. It is normal for a person to feel a greater connection to another person when they have the ability to read body language. Videos bring that association to a consumers mind and allows for greater trust and confidence in a business.

Not only is personal connection established through the use of this form of media, but seeing a product in action will produce a greater faith in its capabilities. The use of eye catching visual media will help a buyer feel more confident in their purchase. This brings trust and credibility to a company’s website and products.

Cautions

It has been proven that video content has increased conversion rates in sales. However, poor production quality may have the reverse effect on a consumer. Products and services that are not presented well can drive away prospective business. As with all marketing techniques, quality should always be of the highest concern. When creating video ads and promotions for your website, be sure to carefully consider your ad campaign. If you aren’t skilled or knowledgeable in video creation, contact a professional digital agency (such as CBO) who are video experts. When you have high quality media with appealing concepts, you can be confident that your business will achieve greater success.

Why Online Video is The Future of Content Marketing?

Video is taking content marketing by storm, but you’ll have to do more than just make one to realise its full potential.

If it were five years in the future, would you be reading this article or would you be watching it? As online video continues its inimitable rise, it’s an interesting question to ponder.

 

By 2017, video will account for 69% of all consumer internet traffic, according to Cisco. Video-on-demand traffic alone will have almost trebled. Leafing through a swathe of statistics on the subject, I’m hard pressed to find any indicator that doesn’t suggest rapid growth.

With online video quickly becoming a key means for people to satisfy their information and entertainment needs, small businesses that fail to include it in their internet marketing strategies will do so at their peril.

Video is the future of content marketing. That is, if it’s not the here and now.Various studies show more than half of companies are already making use of the medium – a figure that’s predicted to rise as more and more realise the possibilities. Nielsen claims 64% of marketers expect video to dominate their strategies in the near future. It’s not difficult to see why.

When it comes to potential reach, video is peerless. YouTube receives more than one billion unique visitors every month – that’s more than any other channel, apart from Facebook. One in three Britons view at least one online video a week – that’s a weekly audience of more than 20 million people in the UK alone. Video can give you access to all this. Video done well can give you a slice of it. What other form of content can do the same?

The success stories of videos that have gone viral are legend. A recent campaign from Volkswagen, for example, saw a trio of its videos viewed a combined 155 million times. If such numbers seem out of reach for companies without 12-figure revenue streams, they at least demonstrate video’s inherent shareability. Engage viewers and they will share the video with others. They will spend longer on your website and more time interacting with your brand. For any social media campaign, any SEO exercise, video is without doubt one of the best tools in the kit.

It is naturally engaging and, in an age of information overload, it’s vital for small businesses to offer content that is easy to digest; if not, consumers will simply move on. Video does this very well. If a picture paints 1,000 words then one minute of video is worth 1.8 million, so say Forrester’s researchers. Little wonder then that Axonn Research found seven in 10 people view brands in a more positive light after watching interesting video content from them.

But is video really possible for small businesses? Absolutely. Production costs have fallen significantly in recent years and you no longer need to be a technical whiz to work out how to use it. Apps such as Twitter’s Vine, with its six-second maximum clip length, have dramatically increased the opportunity for businesses on a limited budget to get stuck in. Nevertheless, if you’re to realise a decent return on your investment, you will need to bear the following in mind.

Always consider the audience you are trying to reach and ensure the video is relevant to them. If it’s not the most appropriate means of getting your message across, you are probably wasting your time.

Do not neglect social media and be sure to promote across multiple channels. If you want to fully realise video’s potential, you must make it easy for users to find and share it. Don’t neglect mobile either. Ooyala has claimed a tenth of all video plays happen on mobiles and tablets, and it’s an increasingly important segment, with mobile phones holding 41% more share of video consumption at the end of June 2013 than at the start of that year.

Finally, be creative, not only with the videos themselves but in the campaign strategy you build around them. As my head of marketing likes to say, creativity wins over the cost of production every time. Get that bit right and video won’t just be the future of content marketing, it’ll be the future of content marketing for you.