Video has become one of the effective ways to produce sales leads and increase conversion rates. Many companies will be spending millions on marketing their videos this year, but we wanted to write a post for those companies working on a shoe string budget but still wanting their message to be heard. Once we’ve produced your amazing video, how do you push it out effectively? Here are three steps to marketing your new Ydraw video.
The Day Your Video Launches
1. Email Blast – Email campaigns are one the most effective ways to communicate with your clients and potential customers. We are always looking for new ways to build our email list with genuine leads and find what types of emails convert the best. One way we get high click-through rates is by including a thumbnail of the video and short description of the article.
By linking the article to a blog post or landing page with the video attached, it gives us the opportunity to educate our audience through both video and sales copy. We always include relevant links to previous blog posts and our homepage—the longer you can keep potential customers on your site the quicker you’ll increase your conversions (linking to previous articles also boosts your SEO).
2. Tweet Multiple Times – If you have a following on twitter, tweeting about your video 3 or 4 times the day it launches is a great way to drive traffic. This may sound spammy but because the Twitter community moves so fast, this behavior is acceptable. However not everyone has a huge twitter following, so how can you fix that?
Twitter can be hit or miss for many companies. It is easy to get overlooked by the millions of tweets that are going on all the time. However, if you can find your niche you can drive consistent traffic to your site and create a place to interact with fans of your company. Here is a great way to boost your twitter campaigns:
http://tweepi.com/ – This a site that allows you plug in the twitter URL of leaders in your industry and follow their followers. This a great way to reach out to tweeters who are already interested in your product or service. This tool also allows you to unfollow tweeters who don’t follow you back, this is important because Twitter limits the amount of people you can follow if only a few people follow you back. Tweepi is one of the most effective tools to build a genuine twitter following. This technique takes time, but as you gain a bigger following more people will be willing to follow you back.
Don’t forget to use hashtags in your twitter post. This will increase visibility!
3. Post On Google+ — This social media platform has become a way for business professionals to share their passions. Rather than seeing status updates on what your friends ate for breakfast, people are posting their latest blog post and tips to improve your company. The most effective way to post on Google+ is to use effective hashtags and link your post to a relevant community. If you do some digging you’ll find some communities of like-minded individuals who would benefit from your content and interact with your posts.
Be sure to build out of Google+ profile. Google+ posts are now ranking in Google searches, by filling out your profile you’ll improve your rank.
YouTube vs. Other Video Hosting Sites // the Good and the Bad
When you think of online video hosting, the first site that comes to mind is YouTube – and this also applies to the 80% of Americans with internet access. If you have a whiteboard animated video for your business that you want the world to see, uploading it to YouTube should be your first move. However, what exactly are you getting into by letting YouTube host your video, and are there any other viable online video hosting options? Here’s a list of YouTube’s good and bad, followed next time by a list of several video hosting sites that deserve a second look:
The Good:
Free! This is perhaps YouTube’s greatest quality – all you need are a username and password and you can upload as many videos as your little heart desires
YouTube provides batch uploading and multiple encoding options
Users can upload videos up to 15 minutes long and accepts file sizes up to 2GB
YouTube has one of the largest viewerships on the internet and the largest audience of any video site
YouTube is the second largest search engine, and because it’s owned by Google, all of its content is indexed into Google’s search engine
YouTube has a social nature which makes it great for sharing across major social networks and embedding into websites alike
Though limited, there are customization options for your video player and channel design
There are several SEO features, and you can add a link to your website in the description section
You can search for trending keywords and optimize your videos for them
Resolution on Youtube can be up to 1080p or higher, which is generously high video quality for a free site
Embedding your video is easy with customizable player dimensions. YouTube also allows embedding of entire playlists or channels
The Bad:
During times of high traffic, viewers may experience inconsistent streaming which can lead to video abandonment
Though there are customization options, they are limited to your programming knowledge
YouTube limits your thumbnail choices to three random images
Many companies and schools block internet users from browsing YouTube, restricting them from viewing your services
If your video or its thumbnail image shows up in Google’s search results there’s no guarantee they will be for your own domain
You can’t use your own ad network, and sometimes the advertisements featured on your video can be for a competitor – when it comes to ads, YouTube has the only say
There is virtually no customer service – often questions or requests will not be answered or you will only receive non-specific generated answers
Their user guidelines are arbitrary at best and difficult to dispute, and YouTube has the right to shut down your account at any time for any purpose
Though YouTube has its setbacks, it is still the #1 most recommended video hosting site. You just can’t beat free, even with several restrictions. However, if you’re on the search for the perfect video hosting site and YouTube doesn’t meet your requirements, check back for a list of the next top video hosting options.
A few months ago, I bought a car. Now, this was quite the investment for me because I hate buying anything that puts me into debt for a few years, as I’m sure all of my readers can relate. But hey, I needed a car that was more reliable than my legs.
Now, you may be wondering why in the world am I talking about cars? Oh let me tell you why- simply because I had a not so pleasant customer service experience I’d like to share.
I will go into the nitty gritty details later on, but for now let’s just say there was quite a lot of miscommunication, broken promises, and down right unprofessionalism. I mean, I’m all about getting to know my salesman, but I’d rather not know about your drinking problems and recent divorce. (Just in case you thought that was a joke, it’s not).
After said experience, I was not afraid to let “unnamed car dealership” know how I felt about my experience with their business. Not because I wanted to be a whiny baby and complain- but because I hoped in my attempt to communicate how I felt I could help them see how they might perfect their process for future customers. I certainly didn’t want anyone else to be the “lucky customer” that I was.
Here’s what I had to say to them:
1. Focus on ME. I’m the paying customer.
–That’s right, you read me right. Focus on me. Why would I want to invest thousands of dollars into something, if I didn’t even feel like the provider was focusing on my specific needs? If I say I need a sedan with 4 doors, AC, under such and such price- then don’t try to give me a truck with a nice stereo system that’s far over my price.
— Here’s what would’ve worked: Maybe to some people, buying a car isn’t a lot of money for them- but for most, it is. If the salesman would have assured me that my money was being well spent and honed in on my specific needs, I would have felt so much better about handing over that sum of money to the company. Don’t show me a car that is $4k out of my budget. It will only cause frustration. My expectations would have been met, if I were given options that fit within what I was looking for. I truly believe this requires any salesperson to remove their selfish motives.
2. Give me what you say you’re going to give me.
— If you tell me that my car comes with a full detail, a tank of gas, a hat, a bag of cookies… whatever…. Then you had better give it to me, otherwise my trust has completely gone out the window (as it surely did with this dealership).
— Here’s what would’ve worked: Simply follow through! I can’t say it enough. Never over-promise and under-deliver. Now, I understand that sometimes mistakes happen and promises cannot always be fulfilled. However, if that’s the case, I would have felt important if the salesperson would have made up for the broken promise by offering something similar in its place. This shows responsibility and care on the company’s end. Not to mention the fact that fulfilled promises, in whatever way, can ensure repeat business. I can guarantee this company would have had my business again (because they sell great cars) if they had delivered.
3. Communicate, communicate, communicate- Oh, and did I say communicate?
–My salesman, let’s call him Bill, was all about blaming what didn’t get done on those around him. Not only did Bill have someone else to blame, but so did Bob-his manager, who promised us that he would personally take care of things when they were not. Did Bob or Bill follow through on their communication skills? Did I get any sort of heads up of when I was to pick up my car, ever? Well, considering the fact that I’m writing this, I’d say it’s a big N-O.
— Here’s what would’ve worked: Clearly communicated deadlines and expectations are so crucial to a customer’s happiness. I was so excited to have this new, shiny car and when I was told they would detail the car over night and they’d call me in the morning, I was so disappointed when no call came. I ended up going there later that night, only to find my car had yet to be detailed. A simple phone call that morning, letting me know that my detail had been delayed, would have been just fine. Communication is honestly so vital to every part of customer service. A lack of communication can lead to an assortment of problems. All I wanted, and all I think every customer wants, is clear communication.
So how can you apply this experience into your life?
We know that cars may have absolutely nothing to do with your company, but it has everything to do with investing your money or your customers investing their money into you. And we understand that sometimes you or your customer have to sell plasma, take from a 401k, borrow money from life insurance, and sometimes from his/her own mother to make such an investment. However, please remember that as a provider- it is crucial for you to value your buyer and give them the best experience as possible. This, in turn, will give you great referrals, return service, and a good name.
Hashtags have become part of the American culture. With celebrities leading the charge, hashtags have found their way into the news, business campaigns, and everyday life. It’s become a source for breaking news and a creative way to gain attention to your product or service. As you continue to push your videos on social media it’s time to start looking at ways hashtags can boost your campaigns.
Before we jump into the best way to market your next video with hashtags, let’s go over some ground rules so you don’t alienate your social media fans before you get started.
Here are the 3 Laws of Hashtaging
1. Don’t Over Do It – there is a limit of two hashtags per tweet, maximum of three on Pinterest, and zero on Facebook. The moment you allow hashtags to overtake your posts your audience will start feel like they are being spammed.
2. Keep ‘Em Short and Sweet – #hashtagsarenotintendedforfullsentences. Contain your hashtags, they should add value to your post—not consume it.
3. Stay Relevant – It’s no secret when a company is only interested in views; they start using hashtags that are popular but not relevant to their posts. It’s easy to slip into this pattern when you are starting out and desperate for interaction but this not a tactic that converts. There may be more eyes viewing your status or post but this will likely turn off the reader as they were searching for something else.
Marketing with Hashtags
Hashtags originated on Twitter and can now be found on Pinterest, Google+, and Instagram. If you are posting on these social mediums without leveraging hashtags you are limiting visibility to your posts. Whether your goal is to create a hashtag campaign or use popular hashtags to reach a larger audience they can be very effective in marketing campaigns.
Stay Up-to-Date on Trending Hashtags
Begin by finding popular hashtags. http://whatthetrend.com/ is great place to stay up-to-date on what hashtags are trending on Twitter. When you get ready to launch your next video check to see if there are any applicable trending hashtags you can include in your posts.
I like to use http://top-hashtags.com/instagram/ to get live updates on trending Instagram hashtags. It’s the one social medium that allows for the use of many hashtags without backlash from fans. Instagram allows fifteen hashtags in every post. Use them wisely, the more applicable the hashtag the more likely you’ll see interaction from your fans and users on instagram.
Hashtag Campaigns on Twitter
Pushing a new product or service through a hashtag campaign on Twitter can be a very effective way to gain interaction. However, not every hashtag campaign is made equal. Some campaigns can be a huge boost for companies while others can actually hurt a company’s image.
Edge Shave Gel launched a hashtag campaign called #soirritating. Knowing that Twitter is popular place to complain, they offered a hashtag for tweeters to do just that. To encourage interaction, Edge’s social media team responded with solutions to the problems irritating their fans. This campaign resulted in 6,800 tweets and gained attention from many media outlets.
This campaign was successful because Edge played into the culture that is already present on Twitter—people like to complain. By leveraging this knowledge they created a platform for people to vent to them and receive interaction back. Any mid level tweeter finds excitement communicating with celebrities or well-known companies. Fans ability to directly communicate with their celebrity crush or interact with large scale companies is one reason Twitter is such a unique social medium. If you can provide this for your fans you will personify your business and create a relationship with them. Real fans will buy just about anything you put out.
Taco Bell is great example of a company who takes the time to interact with fans directly.
When two social media giants meet on Twitter you can always expect great things.
So what happens when a hashtag campaign goes wrong?
McDonald’s launched a Twitter campaign called #McDstories that did not go as planned. The campaign was intended for fans of the restaurant to share fun stories about eating at McDonald’s. As the hashtag was promoted it attracted an onslaught of negative stories about McDonald’s food. Some shared stories of finger nails being found in their food, others talked about receiving food poisoning, and others joked at the low quality meat. This was certainly something McDonald’s wasn’t intending. They were able to stop the campaign in just two hours but the responses were retweeted throughout the day. This will go down as one of the worst campaigns in Twitter history.
So why did things go sour for McDonald’s? One of the campaigns biggest pitfalls was a broad hashtag. It allowed for both negative and positive stories about McDonald’s. They failed to focus on a giveaway or new product. Successful campaigns have a clear purpose but are creative enough to draw the attention of fans.
As you begin to push out your next video look for ways to integrate hashtags into your campaign. Video is one of the best ways to receive interaction on social media and can be very useful when aligned with the right hashtag
5 Government scandals you didn’t realize involved whiteboard animation
Because whiteboard animation is a relatively new internet sensation, it would make sense to blame video scribing for the trouble our country keeps getting into. You thought it was the Obama administration, didn’t you?
Here are 5 surprising ways in which whiteboard animation has played a hefty part in the latest US scandals:
1. NSA
Americans everywhere were outraged when news of the National Security Administration’s sifting through private emails and phone calls reached their ears. There are many rumors circulating about why the NSA felt the need to invade civilian privacy – but only one is true. And that is that James Clapper’s nephew’s girlfriend had told everyone at a family Christmas party how much more business her mother was able to generate by purchasing a whiteboard advertising video and hosting it online. Unfortunately for Clapper, and ultimately America, he had never heard of whiteboard video before and was simply trying to find a way to learn more. He figured the best way to do that was to listen up on millions of internet-surfing Americans to see if he could piece together bits of information and finally figure out what whiteboard explainer videos are all about.
2. IRS Scandal
Let’s not be hasty in blaming poor old Lois Lerner for the recent IRS party-targeting debacle. No, let’s do – because she can’t possibly blame her viewing of a whiteboard video wherein a little girl and her mother were having a tea party for a scandal like that. Mommy issues can be resolved with the help of a good therapist, and she definitely could have afforded one.
3. GSA Conference Fiasco
The lavish GSA conference held in Las Vegas is said to have excessively spent on ultra-fancy suits, gourmet dining and no doubt all the call girls $800,000+ will buy. But what the GSA is unwilling to admit is the hundreds of thousands of dollars spent actually went toward producing and viewing some of the most hilarious whiteboard animation videos known to man. Including the infamous Star Trek parody, which was so funny they laughed themselves sick – or maybe it was just the memory of the $50,187 that was spent on producing the video that upset their fragile stomachs. Either way, Martha Johnson had apparently developed an unhealthy obsession with explainer videos, and used the conference as a way to get her fellow employees hooked – thereby putting an end to any and all teasing and “whiteboard fetish” remarks around the office. I mean, what would you do in a situation like that?
Sadly, those hilarious whiteboard videos will never be seen by anyone else, because they were soon after destroyed by sheer embarrassment and shame. After all, that money could have paid the welfare of almost 900 Californians for a month!
4. Rising National Debt
Because Martha and President Obama have gotten together to play crazy eights every Tuesday night since his inauguration, it was only a matter of time before Barack developed a fascination with whiteboard animation, too. After billions of dollars were spent without reason Americans became suspicious. Some would have started questioning their own political moral codes if it hadn’t been for all the focus they put towards lobbying for Green Energy and Obamacare – which as it turns out are just excuses for him to develop more explainer videos – because producing whiteboard marketing videos is what he wants to do when he grows up.
5. Politicians Exempt from Personal Responsibility
Politicians across the nation say whiteboard videos are so engrossing that they can’t help but do whatever they are told while watching. A whiteboard video’s call to action is simply non-ignorable. Any self-exemption from responsibility by a politician can almost always be traced back to viewing a whiteboard marketing video, and statistics have shown this to likely be 100% true.
Well, now you know. America is on the path that it is because of whiteboard animation videos. Now, you can either be offended and turn to the streets to protest, or you can recognize the kind of great things whiteboard video can do for your business and jump on board the gravy train.
