Corporations have used videotaping for training and marketing for many years. Today companies are taking advantage of new and more interactive applications as they use video clips on Web sites and CDs/DVDs. By taking advantage of today’s technologies and keeping an eye toward the future, companies can save money, operate more efficiently and portray themselves as forward-thinking corporations.

For instance, there are some cases where corporate videotapes can sell a company to clients more effectively than a brochure. Yargus Manufacturing, a blender and conveyor manufacturer in Marshall, Illinois, recently compiled several hours of videotaping, which was organized into a 30-minute informational video. This was sent out to industry representatives to introduce them to Yargus’s capabilities and equipment. This type of introductory videotape can be sent as a VHS, a DVD or a CD-Rom. Yargus opted to send its video out in CD format.

Videotaping also can be used for training sessions. Although prerecorded training videos are available on a multitude of topics from proper forklift techniques to environmental testing procedures, companies often need to train their employees on tasks specific to their operations. Training sessions can be scheduled, but it is often difficult to gather everyone needing training at one time or place. Scheduling multiple sessions requires excessive time from training personnel.

A Terre Haute, Indiana manufacturer wanted to educate its employees on proper cutting techniques. Because the employees work different shifts and ceasing production to hold training sessions was impractical, the safety director wanted to videotape the cutting techniques so employees could view the procedures in more than one session. In many cases, videotaped training can allow employees to review the lessons as many times as necessary to learn the material.

Finally, companies can take videotaping to the next level by making the viewing medium interactive. Instead of simply recording one video stream that is viewed as a single continuous piece, video clips can be placed into a presentation format. Viewers can choose what they want to view and when.

Marketing professionals in many industries have found major benefits associated with marketing products and services through a CD or DVD presentation. Discs can generate four to six times the response rate of traditional direct mail. They not only can present a far greater amount of information, but they also are better remembered by the recipient, who often views the presentation at a time and place where he or she is more receptive to the message. And with the added capabilities of directly linking to a Web site and collecting and measuring data, CD and DVD presentations can have a huge return in database generation as well as response rate.

Video also can be incorporated into corporate Web sites and CD presentations. For instance, Honey Creek Mall videotapes events and incorporates the footage into its Web site and leasing CD. This way, visitors can read and see mall activities in action.

A company doesn’t need to spend a fortune on multimedia technology, especially if it works with an integrated marketing firm that has in-house audiovisual, CD/DVD production and Internet capabilities. Videotaping and CD/DVD production services are reasonably priced, and careful preplanning can further decrease the expense. Using this technology can save time and money on training functions for your company, and it can provide a major return on investment when it´s used to market your products and services.

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