This past week we shipped off two of our Project Managers (Kristen and Lexa) to Miami to teach Estheticians about how they can be using social media and video marketing to grow their business. Here’s a quick run down of what they shared!
WHY should you be using video in your marketing plan? And HOW should you be utilizing your social media?
Let’s start with video…
Let’s be honest, people are lazy these days and don’t care to read a bunch of information. This is where video comes in. Getting them to click play is a much easier task, than getting them to read paragraphs of information. BUT there are things you need to consider when creating a video to use.
For example, our attention spans are down to a record low and we have 5 seconds, yep you heard me…5 SECONDS to grab our viewers attention. This means you SHOULD NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE start with branding. You don’t need an opening title that has your logo, or anything like that. If you choose to do that, before you know it your 5 seconds have passed and your potential customer is long gone. Instead, you’ll want to jump into your subject right away. Then proceed to EDUCATE your audience. More education, and less promotion. Try to focus your content on your CUSTOMERS needs. What do THEY want to see, and how can YOU help THEM. Solve their problems and they’re a customer for life. Try to stay away from only talking about your company, and how great you are. Your content should speak for itself.
Not sure where to start when it comes to implementing video? Here’s some advice.
Create a library of the following types of video: 1. 3 WHY Videos (1 minute each)
-Share WHY you are doing what you are doing
-Start with 3 60 second videos 2. 3 HOW Videos (1 minute each)
-Share educational videos
-Start with 3 60 second videos 3. 3 ALL TO ACTION Videos (1 minute each)
-Share promotional videos with a call to action at the end
Tip: Check out what your competitors are doing and then think like your customer…what would YOU want to see if you were them.
Okay, so you’ve created your video library, but now what?
RUN VIDEO AD CAMPAIGNS! This is an amazing tool that not enough people are taking advantage of. Through video ads you can get your video in front of your ideal client. This kind of marketing is genius. You can determine your audience by selecting the location, age group, gender, languages, demographics, interests, behaviors, and more. Now if we are being honest here (and we always are), anyone can set up an ad campaign but they require trial and error to determine how to best utilize them. If you have the budget, hire a professional (spoiler: that’s us, we are the professionals). They’ll be able to better track what is and isn’t working for you, so that they can adjust your campaigns.
Moving on to social media…
When somebody comes to your page, it’s important that we immediately draw them in and give them a reason to click “follow”. You don’t want them to be confused about who or what they are following.
4 THINGS TO INCLUDE IN YOUR BUSINESS BIO: WHO: Who you are/company name. WHAT: What you do. State the products/ services you offer. CALL TO ACTION: Website, booking site, etc. OFFER: Discount code, link to tutorial, etc.
Keep in mind what the goal is. We want to use social media to grow and showcase our business and what we have to offer. Don’t show your personal life, what your eating, etc. This doesn’t create value or give your follower a reason to stick around.
Other things you can be doing with your social media:
-Create a personalized hashtag to use on your posts
-Post on your story
-Share customer testimonials
-Create videos to share on IGTV
-Tell your customers/clients to share your product/service on their social media and offer them a discount for any referrals (People want social proof)
-Repost content that your customers/clients share
-Utilize your highlight stories (Share things here that answer your FAQs. This will help make it so you don’t have to answer the same questions all of the time
-Interact with others from your profile (reply to comments/questions you get, comment on other accounts, etc)
-If applicable, use influencers to help spread the word about your business
Other important factors:
-DO NOT post a bunch of stock images/graphics. Be creative and authentic with your posts.
-Produce content that sets you apart from your competitors.
-BE CONSISTENT: Whether its posting weekly or daily, make sure that your profile is up-to-date so people know you are serious about your business.
So the question of the day is what can YOU do to better your social media and video marketing game?
When talking with a Project Manager or other Creative here at Ydraw, it is important to help us understand exactly what your company wants.
Otherwise, how can we blow your mind with incredibly awesome and mystical videos?
One of our favorite things is getting to work with heaps of companies with unique brands and differing requests. Unfortunately, working with a wide range of opinions can make it difficult for our team to pinpoint your companies wishes.
It’s true…we are made of stardust and wishes and magical things, but let me tell you a secret…we can’t actually read minds.
I know, weird right?
For years, we have been diligently looking for a mind-reading crystal ball and unfortunately haven’t found one yet. But…we haven’t given up hope just yet, so we will let you know when that happens!
Until then…
It’s important that we continue to ask lots of questions and paramount that you and your team clearly communicate your wishes.
If you don’t know what you want, and we don’t know what you want, we’re just shooting in the dark. And although our accuracy is near perfect… we aren’t quite there yet.
Listen, we do this all day every day, so trust us when we say we don’t get our feelings hurt. We love working with diverse companies and that is why we have made our process collaborative and flexible.
So be raw, be truthful and communicate clearly.
By the way…
We are POSITIVE that if we did have a crystal ball, it would tell us that YOU ARE FULL OF MAGIC!!
Client: “Can you make sure that Stan, Larry, Steve, Susie, Jan and Frank all get CC’d on it to look at it.”
Us: *Shutters*
Three weeks pass by… and the client responds with all their feedback.
Some good, some bad, but ultimately not the teams initial vision. A lot of the feedback contradicts itself, and their are many unanswered questions that pertain to Stan, Larry, Steve, Susie, Jan, or maybe Frank?
Rule #687: If you want your video to be done right take leadership of it and designate one person to be in charge of your overall brand and video.
Too many cooks will make your food taste complicated and over worked.
That’s today’s message! Discover the story that you want to convey. Discover the emotion that you want to share. Discover the connection that you want to make with your audience.
That was the whole process that I took while creating this video. I wanted to share a story of a discovery. And not just that, I wanted it from a different perspective than my own, and from that of a child. What does a child do when they explore the world around them? The first thoughts that came to mind were playing in dirt, climbing trees, playing with toys, creating art, catching bugs…and BAM! The script came to be, based on those concepts.
Next, I knew the voiceover had to be a child, and the visuals needed to include the child too. So, I enlisted the help of my 5-year-old son, who has a cute voice, and was willing to do some acting as well. He’s adorable. I’m biased.
I wanted his footage to be in this world of bright vibrant creative colors and shapes. So I got to work, and I discovered so much about how to capture those child-like moments. There was also a lot of discovery about how to take the visuals that were in my brain and make them work in an animation.
So next time you set down to discover the story that you want to tell, think about a different perspective of your story. Look at ways that you could do things that you haven’t done before. If you’ve always used a very corporate serious tone, look at how you can inject humor! If your colors have been limited, explore how you can infuse more vibrant colors. That’s what I’m discovering, and that’s what we are doing for our clients here at Ydraw.
We’re coming up on the end of the year, folks! It’s time to look back on your company’s marketing expenditures, evaluate your results and begin planning for the year to come.
But wait, not so fast!
Though it’s always important to look ahead don’t forget to follow through with 2018’s marketing campaigns and finish the year out with a video-marketing bang!
Most companies slow their marketing efforts as the year-end approaches. By consciously doing the opposite of this common trend, you can gain a competitive edge to break away from the pack by keeping your marketing push strong right up until the 2019 ball drops.
Top 3 reasons to for beefed-up fourth quarter marketing:
Spending Deadlines:It ain’t over, till it’s over.
As the year comes to a close, some departments may locate excess budget floating around. With the “use it or lose it” policy found in most organizations, department managers are looking for opportunities to spend these additional dollars.
Don’t let your department get passed up. Be vocal and visible with your video campaign ideas just in case these other departments are looking for ways to spend their dollars.
Stay on top of your marketing efforts. This includes value-based bullet points that highlight achievable results in the current year and extending into the next year. Being organized and keeping your campaigns rolling forward can help justify last minute marketing purchases.
2019’s Budget:Spend More Now= Get More Later.
Now is the time when many companies start kicking off their budgeting efforts and mapping out spend for next year.
During this time, department heads are looking for ways to get the biggest bang for their budgeting buck.
This also makes now a good time to use the current year’s budget to get a head start on next year’s campaigns… think ahead by producing next year’s content NOW!
Marketing Momentum:Stay Visible To Your Audience.
Don’t let preparations for a busy first quarter make you invisible to your customers during the Holidays.
This is the most wonderful time of the year, where they are programmed to spend some serious $$$. Keep your products and services in view with some fresh videos.
Ongoing communications is key to creating leads and keeping your target prospective customers engaged.
Video and Marketing Are A Match Made In Heaven
If you want your message to find it’s way in front of a set of eyeballs and a pair of ears, the proof of video’s prowess is in the statistical pudding:
75 Million people in the U.S. watch online videos everyday.
Merely mentioning the word ‘video’ in an email subject line, the click-through rate increased by 13%.
Nearly 50% of all video is watched on a mobile device.
By 2019, internet video traffic will account for 80% of all consumer Internet traffic
Videos up to 2 minutes long get the most engagement.
Create Videos Now
These forgotten fourth quarter months can be the prime time to wrap up 2018 with a video that will create a buzz leading into the new year while also increasing your spend that may lead to more funding for the future!
Creating new content can ensure ongoing communication with your audience while building and maintaining brand recognition. This constant buzz breathes life into your value proposition, year round.
2018 Budget: Use It Or Lose It… Create With Ydraw And Market Strong All Year Long
