by Ydraw | Aug 21, 2018 | Marketing, Simple marketing, Video Marketing, video online marketing, Video Strategy Guide
“My Dad is cooler than yours!”
“Na uh, my Dad could beat up your Dad!”
“No way, my Dad can run faster than any one earth!”
“Oh yeah! My Dad is so strong that he can lift up a car!”
“Hey, Hey, that’s enough from you two…”
Do you remember when you were a little kid arguing about why one thing was better than another? It would go on and on, and after a while, the argument was no longer of benefit…it was just an argument for arguments sake.
This same problem often happens in our brand messaging. We want to prove every reason why our product is superior, but cramming every reason into your messaging loses the simplicity, and your target audience will get disinterested. Couple that with the long amount of time it takes to create that messaging, you are not only losing their attention, but you are rarely creating content.
How do we remedy this conundrum?
Simple. That’s it. Simple. Keep your Brand messaging simple.
If it’s easy to understand, it will stick with your audience. The next step is to keep creating and releasing that simplified content on a consistent basis. Once a week, two or three times a week. Whatever your goal is, if you have simple, easy to understand content, that is consistently getting in front of your audience, then you are going to have far greater success with your product.
Now how about a Simple Recap?
LONG-OVER-COMPLICATED MESSAGING + RARELY RELEASED CONTENT = BAD
SIMPLE MESSAGING + CONSISTENT CONTENT = GOOD
Got it!? Now give Ydraw a call. When you work with us, we’ll help you simplify your brand messaging, and start you on our system for releasing consistent content.
by Jace Vernon | Apr 15, 2016 | video
Does Your Business Really Slow Down during Summer or Are You Missing an Opportunity to Keep it Growing?
Ah, summer! The very word brings images of freedom and soaking up the sun at the beach or poolside. You can smell bar-b-que in the air and feel cool soft grass beneath your feet as you jump to grab a frisbee being thrown in your direction.
Spring has officially sprung and Spring Fever has once again become epidemic in places where winter is actually cold. CEOs and students alike can be prone to distracting thoughts of vacation and..getting…OUTSIDE!!
This is yet another time where having a really strong attention grabbing whiteboard video can get your audience thinking about you and your business again.
Spring Fever used to be deadly to a lot of businesses. Not so much nowadays. It doesn’t kill anymore; let me tell you why.
Clients Unintentionally Take You with Them Everywhere They Go
Thanks to mobile devices your business can be in front of millions of viewers faces at times where they aren’t completely immersed in work and/or school. They actually have time to pay attention. This particularly applies when they 1-work remotely or 2-go on vacation.
1-People Work Remotely
Technology has made it so people can work remotely, or, take work on vacation with them. They are able to focus on work without the distractions of daily life or the office buzz. It is just them and their laptop. You can take part of their undivided attention.
2- Vacating Your Life Completely on Vacation is almost IMPOSSIBLE!
Imagine a family going on vacation to the Florida Keys. How many times will they use their mobile devices during the trip?
A-Travel Time
Chances are there will be very little singing in the car and the alphabet game, if played at all, will be short lived. GPS will periodically chirp directions at the driver, interrupting his or her favorite Pandora station.
There will be either a movie going in the back seat or, you guessed it, everyone else will be playing on his or her phone or tablet. If they’re flying, once the airplane hits cruising altitude–guess what?
Long gone are the days when travel time meant being forced to come up with something creative to do while just sitting.
B-Meal and Leisure Times
It takes conscious effort to be present and detached from your cell phone in any situation. This family will likely have good interaction and conversation during meal and leisure times, but with conversation lulls and as family members wind down for the evening, cell phones will come out at least once or twice.
C-No Service and Cell Phone Free Zones
What will happen when they volunteer or are forced to surrender their beloved cell phones for hours on end to “unplug” in a cell phone free zone or an area without service?
SEPARATION ANXIETY!!
Imagine the relief on their faces as screens light up and the buzz of new text messages and emails announcing their existence are heard!
D-Vacation Documentation
Finally, while they are “vacating” their lives they will make sure to post selfies and pictures of the cool food they eat and the fun things they see and do on Instagram, Facebook and their YouTube channels.
How You Can Use Whiteboard Video During Spring Fever Season to Ignite More Interest in Your Business
Let’s face it–dependency on mobile devices is real and is not likely to go away any time soon! So why not utilize this state of the human condition in your marketing plan? It can be a great thing for your business when peoples’ noses are pointed phone-ward.
1-Use Instagram, Facebook and YouTube Ads
Remember Jace’s suggestions in his recent article
“What We Learned About Explainer Videos in 2015”?
This is a fantastic time to start putting them into practice if you haven’t already.
Let’s go back to our traveling family in the last section.
After a fun filled day of deep sea fishing, CEO Joe proudly posts a picture of he and Joe Jr. holding up the 11-foot swordfish they caught on Instagram and/or Facebook. CEO Joe, like most of the general population, will probably glance at his news-feed for at least a few seconds before or after posting, since, it’s really hard to enter the social media world without getting at least a glimpse of what’s going on there.
He will likely revisit and either add more posts or see what kind of popularity rating his post earned among his friends and followers. He might even post a video on his YouTube channel of the glorious moment when the swordfish was caught.
This is where a fun whiteboard video from your company could get noticed, watched and possibly even shared. After all, CEO Joe is on vacation and has leisure time to enjoy social media.
2-A New Season is a Great Time to Make an Online Announcement and/or Launch a New Video
People love “new” things and “news”. They will do a double take at something they haven’t seen before. If you’re planning on releasing a new product or bringing on new programs, aspects or talent, announcing it during a slower season could breathe extra life into your business.
Be strategic and make sure the timing is just right. Your announcement doesn’t even have to be earth shattering or company-changing; news is news and news turns heads.
New seasons can be a great time to consider launching or looking toward creating a new video–just to spice things up!
3-Use a Seasonal Topic to Bring Attention to Your Current Video(s).
Your customers need to know you’re there for them. This means bringing up topics they could be interested in, even if those topics aren’t directly related to what your business offers or sells.
One option is to blog or maybe even create a short newsletter with some helpful hints or healthy summer recipes. You could also post a picture of your amazing office softball team to help reinforce the human side of your business and connect them to you even more.
Regardless, make sure and link your video, old or new, to any form of online communication you put out there. It will get views and repeated views, and repetition is a good thing!
Become part of your audience’s leisure time with a fun distracting and informing whiteboard video that will make them smile.
Approached the right way, Spring Fever won’t kill your business; your whiteboard video really can light a fire under it and help keep it growing!
Thanks for reading How Whiteboard Video Can Keep Your Business from Dying of Spring Fever!
by Curtis Pace | Jan 29, 2016 | animated doodle videos, animated doodle videos, Animated Whiteboard Videos, Hand Drawn Videos, how to make a whiteboard animation, video, Whiteboard animation, Whiteboard Video, Ydraw
Whiteboard Videos and How They Work for You!
Whiteboard videos are a dynamic marketing tool with lots of benefits. They incorporate many aspects of a traditional animated video yet they have an imaginative twist–the animation is drawn on camera as the whiteboard video progresses.
The artistic aspect of a whiteboard video has the advantage of engaging an audience in a unique way. Drawing out the message of an ad while viewers are watching helps keep them focussed intently as the point of the ad is presented. It takes more to distract a viewer who’s eyes are glued to the sometimes hypnotizing movements of a pen in hand on paper as the story and point of a video are revealed.
The creation process of whiteboard videos breaks down to the message, script, sound and animation. All of these key factors work hand in hand–no pun intended. Pinpointing the message your organization would like to share with the world is essential and guides the process.
Message: Choosing your message is relatively simple. Decide what you want your viewers to take away from the whiteboard video. The takeaway may be your organization’s values, service, or the quality of the product being marketed.
Script: Once you are confident in your message, begin writing your script. Scripting is where imagination comes in as you write your message in story form. You’ll also want to write out what is going to be drawn during the art phase.
Voice Over: Next, consider what your whiteboard video is telling viewers and then decide what kind of voice over you want to have–if any. Typically there is either one person narrating the whiteboard video or none at all.
For instance, if you are creating a video for a political campaign you may choose to use a narrator and have the Star Spangled Banner playing in the background.
If you prefer to produce a video free of narration it can be drawn and animated to music as words pop on or are being written out on camera. Your audience doesn’t necessarily have to hear spoken words to get your message.
Animation: When your script is finalized and you are ready to step into the wild world of animation, the sky is the limit. Use your imagination and have fun with it!
As most of us are visual learners, the whiteboard video style of drawn out animation helps us grasp the message(s). It is truly an art form and can translate your message into something exciting and fun. Just as children love cartoons, grown-ups are still captivated by animation.
Financially speaking, creating a whiteboard video advertisement is very economical. Compared to a typical television commercial there are overall lower production costs.
Because whiteboard videos are produced for the internet, there is an added aspect of consumer sharing.This means that your whiteboard video can be shared between internet users via social media and is, in a sense, a form of word of mouth advertising.
Choosing a whiteboard video as a way to advertise has many benefits and is an excellent way to promote brand awareness.
There are many platforms where you can launch your whiteboard video including the landing page of your website, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, email blasts, etc.
Enjoy the creative process and add whiteboard animation to your brand marketing.
Try using a whiteboard video for your business today.
If you want to know more about Whiteboard videos click here post.
by Ydraw | Jun 12, 2014 | video
Would any market savvy business owner toss aside a polished, entertaining, informative system that delivers “YOU NEED THIS PRODUCT/SERVICE IN YOUR LIFE!” messages and keeps potential purchasers watching intently with eye pleasing drawings and storylines of audio delight???
BREAKING BUSINESS NEWS!!! Hundreds do every single day!
It’s crazy and it’s a darn shame.
Common reasons why businesses pass on utilizing explainer videos to energize and leverage their marketing budget buck:
1.) They just plain don’t understand the power videos have on the brains of the masses.
2.) There is a misconception that whiteboard animation will cost them an arm and a leg… and possibly an eye… plus their left kidney… along with a sliver of their spleen.
NOT TRUE. WE DO NOT ACCEPT BODY PARTS AS A VIABLE FORM OF CURRENCY.
Never you fear, I am here to help clear up any misunderstandings.
Successful business men/women/people throughout the ages have mastered the art of ROI (Return On Investment.) If anybody were to be cautious about spending thousands of dollars on a video… it would be me. As a matter of fact, it was me.
Ydraw was created because I needed a whiteboard video for my company. I wanted to, in a short amount of time, explain what my product did… as opposed to a flat, static photo of what it was. An explainer video was the perfect solution to accomplish this with movement, emotion and excitement.
As I began my search, (way back in 2011) There were only 2 companies providing these types of videos. RSA and Social 21. I knew this was going to be the next big wave of viral marketing potential. I wanted it… wanted it bad! There was just one hiccup. The price tag!
$20,000-$50,000 for a RSA animation video!?!?
What in the world??? Were these videos shipped to your doorstep in diamond studded 24 karat gold envelopes and hand delivered by The Queen herself? Thus Ydraw was born.
Ways to maximize the return on your whiteboard animation video:
1.) Upload your video to YouTube and other video sites. (This will jumpstart seo, traffic, and leads)
Traffic can be difficult to create, especially since Google is continually making adjustments to their algorithm. Your odds of hitting the front page of Google are substantially increased with a video than with any other type of digital medium.
Farmers plant seeds, fishermen cast hooks, hunters set traps. CEOs should be searching for endless sets of eyes… these eyes lead to brains… those brains lead to leads… the leads lead to sales. Video marketing will transform your fishing hooks into fishing nets, leaving the shorelines of your profits overflowing with clients you’ve caught.
The first step I took after starting Yinc Marketing was ordering a ‘Fast and Easy Whiteboard Video’. I instantly uploaded it to YouTube and made sure I filled out the title, description and keyword tags correctly. 3 weeks later I found myself at the top of Google on a couple of keywords (Check out the screen shot below and you will see that I am still there). I may not be seeing “27 car pileup on the freeway at rush hour” traffic but it still produces leads and we all know leads=sales.
These results were from a ‘Fast and Easy Video’ created by Ydraw. Economically stellar… so obviously my ROI is huge (Yes, I’m bragging). Here’s the video.
[Tweet “What Can a Whiteboard Animation Video Do For You?”]
[Tweet “Where should you place a video on your site?”]
2.) Place the video on your Website homepage, above the fold.
Videos are a MUST on your home page. Websites need to be based around consumer experience. Grabbing and keeping interest is key. Unless your content writer rivals Hemingway… most readers will bore easily of wordy text. Your video should be the center of attention, so the minute a visitor clicks their merry little way onto your site, the first thing they do is hit the play button.
A word of caution from your marketing mentor:
I am aware how much you enjoy your cookie cutter, sappy, environmentally friendly stock images that make zippo sense nor do they have any correlation to pretty much anything. I understand you want to show photos of an Asian woman taking control of a high powered male saturated meeting… not to mention the salt and pepper haired African American gentleman grinning serenely as he stares upon his freshly opened cardboard box of recently shipped product joy. How else can you show your sophistication, exuberance, diversification, political correctness and overall blanketed relativity?
Just imagine the previous paragraph was typed in a sarcasm font… Sarcasm fonts don’t exist… but they should.
Click this link and you will understand.
The quote of the day:
“Using a specific ratio of Asian people, to black people, to women, to white men. We want to make sure we represent a version of your needs and interests or at a version of your skin color.”
Great video isn’t it?
Your homepage is prime real estate. Think “curb appeal.”
Keep it clean, tidy and geared towards your intended audience.
Here are a couple of companies that excel at this.
http://hydrablue.com
http://crazyegg.com
http://www.copyblogger.com/
The simple formula is: headline, subheading, and video.
3.) Run Video ads.
I recently wrote an article on “How to run YouTube ads and profit from your competitor’s YouTube pages.” I suggest reading it! No matter the size of your company, you should be running ads. How can you expect to be discovered by your target audience unless you throw yourself out there on the stage? It won’t break the bank.
Think ‘investment.’
I had a lead contact me this week regarding a whiteboard animation video. She took her search to YouTube. She clicked on a competitor’s video. In rolls the pre-roll add… and what do you think she saw??? Boom… Ydraw… Double Boom! Like an NBA blocked shot, I Dikembe Mutombo’d my competitor. *waves finger* BOOM!
You see what I did there? Did you catch that?
Instant Replay:
1. Client is in need of my services.
2. She decides to browse whiteboard videos on YouTube.
3. My video ad plays before the other video starts (Boom).
4. Customer calls me because I made the first impression.
5. I get a sizzling hot lead.
And the crowd goes wild!
Clever business doesn’t get much more rewarding than that!
[Tweet “How to run YouTube Video Ads”]
I could go on and on and on and on and on…and on about the benefits of whiteboard animation videos for your company, product or service. I could write forever but the sun is shining and I have eager potential clients to catch in my video marketing net of pure awesomeness!
If you enjoyed this article, share it. If you need a video, call us. If you still find yourself on the fence… well, you can always gather up another heaping handful of random stock photos that speak to your soul. (← sarcasm font.)
Enjoy your day!
What can a whiteboard animation video do for you?
by Ydraw | Jun 2, 2014 | video
Do you have any idea what you can do with an interactive video? It’s a whole new way of storytelling while allowing your audience to take control of their experience. 99.9% of the population has not caught the vision yet, but it’s ok. These videos are new, exciting, and soon people are going to catch the vision. Steve Jobs told Business Week,
“A lot of times, people don’t know what they want until you show it to them.”
This is what I am about to do. I want to give you a couple of ideas on how you can use interactive videos for your next video or how you can take your current video and make it interactive. I created this in about 30 minutes, so forgive the quality and integration. 🙂 Below I posted Range Rover’s interactive video.
Things you can add:
Formbuilder, Video links, Text Links, Socialsharing, Images, Text, Resume, Vote Maps, Skip, Loop, Pause, and Product Placement.
Range Rover Interactive Video And Website
Range rover did an amazing job with their interactive video. They actually developed their whole site with html5. It’s basically one big video telling the story of the new Range Rover.
Here’s their site:
http://rangerover.landrover.com/us/en/#
Ydraw Interactive Video
Coming Soon
Aren’t interactive videos cool? They are fun, they inform the audience, and they make people actually complete a task. Because interactive videos force viewers to complete a task or make a choice, they keep the viewer’s attention longer than other videos.
Let us know if you have any questions or comments about how to use interactive videos. We’d love to help.