According to the BIA Kelsey Group, viewers engage more after watching a video, with clicks for more information increasing by 30-40% and phone inquiries by 16-20%. Web video is a proven selling technique and is far cheaper than traditional advertising.

In this series of blog posts, I’m going to summarize articles and tutorials I read during the week. If you don’t have the time to scour the web for blog posts about web related news, technology, and techniques, then come back here every week for a summary of my most interesting finds! This week’s installment includes:
• Email Newsletter Designs
• Style Your Links
• Sell advertising on your low traffic blog
• Designing sites with AJAX

Videos help sell products even when customers don’t watch them. Shoppers who viewed the videos bought at a higher rate than those who did not view, but based on multivariate testing, visitors who did NOT watch the videos converted at a significantly higher rate than those who saw the same product page without the option for video viewing.

I am a brand ambassador for Discover. I didn’t know that’s what I was, but that’s what marketing reports and studies would label me. They would call me that because I am a happy, enthusiastic, and loyal customer who tells others how happy Discover card makes me. I am an advertising executive’s dream. I am want you want your customers to be like. I am hundreds of thousands of free (and perhaps more effective) advertising dollars.

Traditional Economic theory states that the reason a consumer acts or doesn’t act is incentives. Incentives entice, bait, and give the user a reason to act or abandon. Incentives also help a user stand out where all options seem the same.