Marketing Through Digital Video

The publishing industry, including publishers, authors, booksellers and specialists such as Circle of Seven Productions, have embraced the digital video era.  Promoting books through video is no longer a new event.  Whether it is an author interview or a Book Trailer, books now have the opportunity to compete with other entertainment industries that utilize a visual medium.

The next evolution of digital video will take book video from online to out-of-home advertising.  Circle of Seven Productions just signed a contract with Transit TV which displays video on buses in five major cities; Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Atlanta, Orlando and Chicago. With a projected 10 million impressions per week it is hoped that the public will be entertained and encouraged to pick up a book for their commute from home to work and back.  Other out-of-home advertising that industry leader Circle of Seven Productions has used is playing book video in malls.  The Mall Network has what they call “Smart Screens” which can now play digital video.  Circle of Seven Productions obtained a list of all the smart screens that play near bookstores in the malls and are specifically targeting those screens.  More and more digital video is becoming accepted by additional outlets.

Sheila Clover English, CEO of Circle of Seven Productions released an ebook this week entitled The Book Trailer® Revolution: Book Marketing and Promotion Through Digital Video.  The book is available on the Circle of Seven Productions website – ebook.  Much of the information is targeted specifically to the publishing industry, but the valuable information can be applied to many other industries.

Clover English, a video distribution expert, addresses distribution venues and targeting the right audience as well as looking at etiquette surrounding online video distribution.  Mrs. English started promoting the use of Book Trailers® back in 2002 when she trademarked the term.  At that time you couldn’t find the term on Google or other popular search engines.  A New York trip to meet with several of the top publishing houses confirmed that no one had heard of such an idea, but now the book video industry is booming. In order to stay ahead of the competition, Mrs. English created a network of production professionals and hired a full time staff to research and maintain online distribution efforts as she looked beyond the online realm and into television, movie theaters and out-of-home advertising.  Circle of Seven Productions was the first company to put digital book video in movie theaters, bringing them, and book video, to the attention of media such as Newsweek magazine and NPR. 

Digital video marketing and advertising opportunities continue to grow and with them, book video that not only entertains, but encourages reading.