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?
What are cave paintings, essentially? A pretentious art show in the middle of a damp cave, that’s what. I can picture the artist was standing there next to the paintings in a Woolly Mammoth beret looking bored. At some point, there were probably caveman art critics who came along. “Oog no like use of space.”
The paintings ended up drawing notoriety and attention. The same is true with today’s online content.
Videos are made to attract attention and hopefully keep an audience long enough to motivate someone to action. That would be pretty easy to accomplish if today’s online viewers didn’t have the attention span of a toddler hopped up honey smacks and jolt cola.
Sounds patronizing, I know, but that’s exactly what the audience has been reduced to. Recent studies show that online viewers have an attention span of 9 seconds. 9 seconds? I can’t even have a thought in 9 seconds, a hazy recollection maybe, but never a full thought.
Ask any six-second “star” of Vine to explain why anyone would subscribe to his or her channel. I’m sure they couldn’t tell you because, quite frankly, the phenomenon of Vine shouldn’t even exist. People shouldn’t have fans for a six-second joke that has been circulating within 5-6 different Vine user variations. It’s absurd.
Unfortunately, that’s the reality we now live in. As we devolve into human versions of Spongebob Squarepants we have to change the way we approach making video content. So now the job is to shake a pair of keys in front of the audience and have them on their backs, giggling and reaching for the shiny–shiny.
Again, sounds patronizing, but that’s the truth of it.
The meat of the message is in between two carefully crafted intro and conclusion buns. Now, the art of the video is more like the KFC Double Down
A chunk of meat, a bit of cheese, some tantalizing bacon and ends it all with another huge chunk of meat. It may not be very good for you, but it’s popular and people keep on buying it.
This is the formula for a new age. A snack sized informational nugget to fill you up as quickly as possible. Seems kind of difficult, but there are ways to make it work.
Key things to remember with this new format:
GET TO THE POINT. Since videos are inherently getting shorter, your message should get to the audience quicker. The specific fight is to get your point out before the viewer clicks on the ‘Skip Ad’ button. This is the new marketing battle for many companies. First it was recordable TV– viewers could hit a button and skip the commercials, now it’s a small clickable banner in the bottom right corner of your video. How many seconds do you have? It takes 5 seconds for that button to get clicked. Spitting out your point or grabbing their attention in the first 5 seconds will do you well to get your message out there.
EXPECT A DROF OFF. Unless the video you make has a very specific purpose, the most important part of your video will not be the end. The end is where most of your audience has already clicked away so they need to see who you are and what you do before that happens. 20% of the audience has already clicked away within the first 7 seconds, so make that time count. Those first seven seconds could make all the difference between a skipped video and a high retention rate.
A MOSTLY WATCHED VIDEO WILL USUALLY BE THE MOST YOU’LL GET. A mostly watched video on YouTube or post on Facebook, unless it’s a 6 second Vine, is probably the best result you can hope for. As you watch the numbers of where people click away, getting 75% retention on that video is actually amazing. Most videos don’t even last that long. The challenge is not only to get all the information you can in a small amount of time but to also front load the thing as much as possible. Basically, all videos have become the equivalent of children’s shows and the end is now usually saved for a kicker of some sort. Some off chance reward for making it through a video.
Now that you know the formula, the real challenge is getting your message out. The first 7 seconds could be right on point, but the second that video falters, it’s lights out. There is no room for fluff in the entire video. It’s all meat with a bit of cheese. Why am I so hungry all of a sudden? Is KFC still open?
Whiteboard Animation – A Very Useful Tool For Promotion
Call it cease motion, stop motion, common graft, video scribing, doodling, or academic videos. Whiteboard animation is becoming popular. New whiteboard animation companies are starting to pop out of the wood works. The other day I heard about a new one out of the Philippians. Soon you will be able see it over the Internet, television programs,even on business presentations. There’s no denying that Whiteboard animation has a wide variety of application. One day, I was surfing the TV channels and I stumble upon a kiddie program. I kind of stayed for a while, and I just discovered myself watching the whole segment. The story was regarding a boy in the farm rounding up the goats. At the start it was just simple whiteboard and black traces, after that the whole backdrop suddenly transformed into a more distinctive and interesting story flow. The boy is now inside a barn gathering eggs. Well, the whole point is… it’s instructional and at the same time, eye-catching. That idea of it is great! It captures the concept on how you can efficiently train kids about good manners in a very exhilarating and fun way. Well, that’s just for the informational aspect for children.
Think of the possibilities! Think how you can spread information in a unique and engaging strategy. Teachers can employ this medium to teach their students, and I’m considerably confident that what ever subject the teacher teaches the student, the attendees could definitely get the idea of what the animation is attempting to get across for them.
How about the use of Whiteboard animation on a business enterprise presentation? This could be an interesting approach on how a presenter gets his message across in a far more thorough way. People are now bored of viewing the typical slide show they need action. This is a great chance to use Whiteboard animation and surprise the panel with something new. Anything that stands out is a big plus and speaks volumes for your business.
How about in advertising areas? Starting up a business is difficult indeed. But with the right marketing strategy and whiteboard animation video, you can have success immediately. It can set the right tone for business. Of course all starts ups usually have a cash flow problem, but that is one of the reasons Ydraw came into existence. We wanted to make these power videos affordable for everyone so just give us a call. It is important that you become creative and set yourself apart from the time you open your doors. You see, if you start out good you end good, if you start off bad it takes a lot more effort to get your business back on the path. Use whiteboard animation to advertise your product or, whatever you’re selling, to your potential client. It just works.
Whiteboard animation is becoming more like a tool, better yet, a quite efficient tool in conveying one’s strategy. It’s fun, exhilarating to see and it’s truly leaves a great impression on you audience.
There is a fantastic article written in INC Magazine called “How to Deliver a Speech that Gets a Standing Ovation” It provided some great insight. The most important tip I can give is to Get Personal. All great speakers will tell personal stories. The way to tell if you have given a great personal speech is if you walk off the stage and you think to yourself “I can’t believe I told them that”
Get personal. Rebecca MacDonald told her life story—and didn’t spare the details. First, MacDonald credited her upbringing in a socialist system as fundamental to her mindset that “women can do anything men can do’. Then she shared that her husband’s initial skepticism about her launching a Canadian natural gas resale business was a catalyst that spurred her on. “If he didn’t say, ‘Are you insane?’ I wouldn’t be standing here,’ MacDonald said, smiling. When she landed her first customer and sought gas supply, but was thrown out of the Toronto Petroleum Club because she was a woman, MacDonald added: “I didn’t want to face my husband. I didn’t want him to say, ‘I told you so’.’ Once her business started to take off, MacDonald’s husband came to her to suggest, “Darlink, let’s merge,’ recalled MacDonald, with an accent. But MacDonald would only do so if he’d work for her. In 1992, after he helped expand her company into a new market, MacDonald’s husband was killed in a car crash. “That changed me forever,’ MacDonald confided.
Be honest. When asked about her upbringing, MacDonald admitted she had a very strict and dominant mother. “I ran away from my mother,’ she said. “I probably wouldn’t have survived her if I hadn’t moved to Canada,’ and then revealed that her sister committed suicide. “My mother prepared me for life.’
Tell jokes. Although she touched on such intimate and serious subjects, MacDonald managed to keep the overall tone of her talk light and humorous. “Sometimes we get bitchy and catty,’ she admitted, describing one drawback of women. She also spoke of a time her son told a friend visiting their home: “My mom’s actually nice and friendly—she just has cash flow problems.’ Early on, she mentioned that after her husband died she devoted her life to her work and two children. But before she wrapped up her speech last week MacDonald was sure to announce to anymen attending, “I’m single and I’m available.’
Talk to your audience. Whether it was the serendipitous drink that turned into her first supplier relationship, becoming the first woman to take a company public in Canada—or the bout of rheumatoid arthritis that nearly kept her bed-ridden while doing so—throughout her speech, MacDonald related her business and life experiences to the particular crowd she was speaking before: entrepreneurial women.
Act as if each attendee is the only one. She invited the conference-goers to call her any time. She offered up her phone number (it’s on the Just Energy website) and availability (after hours). “I always answer the phone for a woman,’ MacDonald said.
Forget notes, visuals or a PowerPoint presentation. MacDonald held our attention for more than an hour—just by being herself—and without relying on ancillary or distracting materials.
End on a high note. MacDonald wouldn’t get off the podium until she could respond to a question with an uplifting final answer—even if it meant risking missing her flight home to Toronto, where she was due at 5 a.m. the following morning to watch the royal wedding over champagne and biscuits with girlfriends.
Great Example of Video Scribing. This was done by the LDS church not sure who did the Video Scribing but we wanted to show a example of its uses plus we like the message
When it comes to presentations often times we think more is better. This is not the case. By sticking to a simple outline you will have much greater success with your audience. May I suggest a few ideas that I found in a book called Made to Stick? This book contains a simple outline that keeps your ideas and presentations quick and to the point. Remember most audiences will forget what you presented to them within 10 minutes after especially if you bombard them with too much stuff, but the feeling can stay forever. Here is the outline
1. Simple: Strip the idea to its core and bring out the most important concept of your presentation. They call it “finding the core.”
2. Unexpected: Do something that the audience does not expect. Get creative and think of a special way you can get the audiences attention.
3. Emotional: Get their emotions involved any way possible. Tony Robbins is great at doing this. We all love to be inspired! Know what your audience is going through and cater to their needs. Put yourself in their shoes. Your audience has given you an open ear so you need to make it worth their time. (Let me add a quick note about swearing. Profanity is a huge turn off when presenting. I have seen a lot of great speakers use bad language to get the audience to laugh. Donald Trump does this, and it kills him.) A good smile and a great story will get you a lot farther.
4. Stories: A great way to get your audience’s emotions turning is to tell good stories. Unexpected stories. Stories that relate to your audience. I personally like to tell personal stories to let the audience know that I am human and relate to their circumstance.
There you have it. The next time you are writing, presenting, or selling use this simple outline and you will get the success you are looking for
