The State of Content Marketing 2012

Earlier this year, Outbrain surveyed senior-level brand marketers and agency executives as they gathered to judge entried for the 2012 Effie Awards. Here are some of their key findings:

Video is tops among content marketers
One hundred percent of the marketers surveyed utilize content marketing as a part of their overall marketing strategy and are currently creating digital content specifically for informational and/or entertainment value to consumers. Eighty-seven percent of marketers create video content, making it the most popular medium. Written content, such as blog posts (67%) and articles (44%), also has a place in content marketing strategies. Other visual mediums such as slideshows and photo galleries are used by 44% of respondents.

The State of Content Marketing 2012

 

20 Ways An Internet Marketing Agency Can Use Website Video

Source: 20 Ways An Internet Marketing Agency Can Use Website Video http://www.reelseo.com/internet-marketing-video

 

Internet marketing agencies hold a serious advantage over most other businesses when it comes to harnessing video on their Website. Here are 20 different ways any Internet marketing agency can use video on their website, plus some tips on just how to do it with just the right level of engagement (and not be intrusive like traditional agencies).

Internet Marketing Agencies & Website Video Marketing

Let’s start with my own definition of what I mean by an “Internet marketing agency: ”A business or organization around the promoting and selling of products and services online that includes one or more of the following – market research, advertising, content, digital interactivity, optimization, training – for improving business performance or brand.”

• “Agency” – A business or organization established to provide a particular service, typically one that involves organizing transactions between two other parties.
• “Marketing” – the action or business of promoting and selling products or services, including market research and advertising.

Internet Marketing Agencies vs. Traditional Agencies

The good Internet marketing agencies are different from traditional agencies in one big way: They are forward thinking and relevant in today’s hyper-dynamic Internet marketing environment.

• They are built chiefly around solutions for newer media audiences – including social networks and search – vs. traditional print and broadcast media.
• They are more active in their own social media platforms – YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, other video distribution sites, etc.
• They are more likely to feature video on their websites, and some get that they need video content which is more engaging and less of a traditional promotional video advertisement.

Why Marketing Agencies Should Use Website Video Themselves

We covered earlier how audiences and client prospects have an increasing expectation for Internet marketing agencies to have a professional Web video presence – both on their own Website and popular distribution channels. Fortunately their business model and focus on Internet marketing overall puts them in an excellent position to take advantage of web video marketing as an extension of their own promotional, networking, sales, and customer service activities.

Here's The 20 Ways a Marketing Agency Can (Should) Use Website Video

9 Rules of Social Media Or What Would Don Draper Do?

If you are in Social Media, then don't try to deny it - you ARE in marketing.

And you'd better not be saying "Who is Don Draper?"

The show Mad Men is our current cultural reference for the origins of today's marketing. And although traditional marketing can't match the power of today's social media and its reach, the philosophies behind traditional marketing are always relevant, no matter what the medium.

So sit back and learn from these quotes of the character of the #1 SOB in 1960's marketing - Don Draper. Nobody liked him but he knew what the hell he was doing. (Think Steve Jobs.)

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1. Don Draper: Advertising is based on one thing: happiness.

Nobody wants to read posts that are depressing or disturbing. And they don't RT or share them either. There's a reason.

Inspire. Teach. Motivate. Make followers happy.

2. Don Draper: I don't care if you work ten seconds if you bring me something I like.

You could spend all month working on content strategy, but if people won't like reading it, you've failed. If it inspired you, and more importantly, it would inspire your followers, then don't over-analyze it; post it.

3. Don Draper: You want some respect? Go out there and get it for yourself.

If all of your posts are links to someone else's material and quotes from the greats, what is setting you apart from everyone else who's posting the same stuff?

4. Don Draper: [Reading aloud from a piece of paper] "The man is shamed by being openly ridiculed and rejected; it requires an audience."

Pete Campbell: What is that, fortune cookie?

Don Draper: It's from that book you were all supposed to read.

Pete Campbell: Oh.

Do your research. If you are going to post with authority, know what the hell you are talking about. Don't show your ass by not keeping up with what your followers already know.

Social Media participants show their asses more often than you might think. Most often in discussion questions. If you're paying attention to what others post, you'll notice. I do.

5. Peggy Olson: Sex sells.

Don Draper: Says who? Just so you know, the people who talk that way think that monkeys can do this. They take all this monkey crap and just stick it in a briefcase completely unaware that their success depends on something more than their shoeshine.

If you want to be provocative in your posts, make it make sense. Make it have relevance. Don't use it just for cheap attention.

YOU are the product. You - FEELING something. That's what sells. Not them. Not sex.

Social Media has the unique aspect of requiring you to reveal yourself as a person. Whether you are a company, a sole proprietor, or just you personally. That is why Social Media is more popular than traditional media. People like to connect - and that is through emotions, feelings, personal nature.

Take if from another (real-life) marketing guru, Simon Sinek: "People don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it."

6. Don Draper: Every woman wants choices, but in the end, none wants to be one of a hundred in a box.

Post like you are talking directly to your individual followers. That's golden. Followers want to feel they are recognized for their (perceived) uniqueness. No one wants to feel their interests are generic. Read about Chris Brogan's Unfollow experiment to understand more.

7. Don Draper: And there are so many real problems in the world.

Don't post crap just to be able to post. Don't waste your followers time. Make it real. Make it worthwhile. Make it stick.

8. Don Draper: People tell you who they are, but we ignore it - because we want them to be who we want them to be.

If you are working too hard trying to make your followers into your wannabes, they'll see right through it and leave you or ignore you. They'll know you aren't listening to them and that will turn them right off.

9. Don Draper: When a man walks into a room, he brings his whole life with him. He has a million reasons for being anywhere, just ask him. If you listen, he'll tell you how he got there. How he forgot where he was going, and that he woke up. If you listen, he'll tell you about the time he thought he was an angel or dreamt of being perfect.

And finally, give a damn about your followers. Quit being the posting narcissist. People who take the time to create a Social Media account are putting themselves out there. They are human beings, like Willie Loman, and "attention must be paid."

When is the last time you clicked on a followers page or profile? Their Twitter bio, their Facebook info tab, their LinkedIn profile?

Do you take the time to learn who your followers are?

- If not, you're slinging your posts like a slingshot at no particular target...

Basic tips for using your Constant Contact for effective marketing!

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Working On Business Instead Of In Business

Your business goes as you go. If you spend all your time working in your business, your business will not grow, because you aren't taking the time to think about its growth and how you want to market your business.

The one thing in your business you need to have a handle on, and be in control of, is the marketing. You don't necessarily have to do all of the marketing yourself, but ultimately its success or failure will come back to you.

If you are spending all your time in the business on a day-to-day basis, you don't have enough time to work on the marketing of your business.

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No matter what business you are in, you are really in the business of marketing that business.

One of the best tips I have ever heard about this is that you need to do at least one thing every day to market or grow your business. That seems like a simple tip and something that we can all do. And it is, if you don't get caught up in the day-to-day stuff and not get to it or forget to do one small thing to market your business.

For example, you spend 8-10 hours handling a major issue in the company, you are totally drained and just want to go home, have some dinner, and enjoy a couple minutes of quiet time before you go to bed. If you are aware of the importance marketing holds in your business, you will take the time to do one thing before you leave for the day that has the potential to get you a new client. It might be something as simple as sending a newspaper article with a small sticky note on it to a prospect, or it could be something more complicated like writing a good article for better exposure, but if you take the time to do it, you won't ever feel like your business is drying up because you will always have business coming in.

If you decide you are too tired and skip this one small thing, go home and ignore it, which is the easy thing to do, it will get skipped more times than you do it, and eventually you will find that you are not doing it at all. Your business will eventually suffer and all it would have taken is a little more of your time to make it successful.

One thing, everyday.

Diane Conklin is an internationally known marketing and business strategist. She is also an author, entrepreneur, coach, consultant, event planner, speaker and direct mail expert, who for over 12 years has specialized in showing entrepreneurs and small business owners how to integrate their online and offline marketing strategies, media and methods, to get maximum results from their marketing dollars, through direct mail and other media.

Diane specializes in helping entrepreneurs and small business owners grow their companies to the next level and showing them how to outperform their competition by measuring their marketing and strategically using multi-media campaigns to stand alone in their marketplace as the go-to provider for their products and services.

To get maximum results from your marketing dollars visit http://www.completemarketingsystems.com

 

How To Create Sizzling Online Videos For Your Business

When your video is on-line it can be doing its magic for you everyday, around the clock, marketing your company's content to prospective customers as well as devoted clientele. Combine this while using the the effective use of social websites and you will have a powerful blend to share and spread your content. The potential uses are endless. In the following paragraphs I am going to give the best techniques on having your videos noticed above your competitors and working for your business round the clock. Let's begin.

Find pre-screened, certified video producers through video production websites that list a network of over 2,000 video professionals.

For those who are unfamiliar with making use of and producing videos, or possibly considering about getting your video recorder to work for you for the very first time, listed are some wonderful ideas and effective strategies to enable you to get going.

Let's start with social media sites because by using this powerful platform, your video sales message can easily propagte extremely fast and quite easily. Social networking sites encourage sharing and makes it fast and simple to insert hyperlinks and imbed videos that are captivating, entertaining and most specially ones that give quality value information that is essential and timely to the conversation at hand. The opportunity to go viral with your video clip is there so the challenge would be to develop video content material that people will be more than pleased to pass on.

Let's start with some tips on optimizing your videos to help getting them seen and passed along.

Prepare a catchy heading and make use of your target keywords - When you see titles which are not well crafted or employ random numbers and garbled phrases, you're certain these videos are rarely getting a whole lot attention unless of course the content is terrific and people who bump into them by accident start passing them along. To provide you with the most effective chance of having people find your videos online in the first place, you will need to make use of the headline to catch your potential customers eye. Search engines use these to help rank your videos and get them found online.

That brings us to the following point of having superior content - Getting discovered is one thing but getting passed along in social platforms requires that your video content is worthwhile. Brief to the point videos that really help answer a question or provides usuable solutions to peoples problems are key to having your videos deserving of getting passed on. Including humor or amusement value also has its advantages if at all possible to incorporate in your message.

Now that you've got great content in addition to a catchy headline, let's put in a bit of branding inside your videos. Include your logo or website address in a location which is visible yet unintrusive. This will help to lead these potential customers in the right direction every time they choose to find out about you. As you create a growing number of high quality videos, this will result in a branding effect that will make it easy to remember, the very next time they desire more information about your specialty.

Helpful hint - Use your website address on the descriptions that can come with your video. Put this first just before writing out your information as this would be a very good opportunity to guide your online visitors on to get more information. Also include catchy descriptions and make sure to add in key phrases that your target audience regularly utilize to find the kind of information or service that you provide.

And finally, add your videos on your own blog and other web properties that will help spread your word. And don't forget to make use of other video sharing websites so you have your content distributed in a variety of mediums where people may easily find them.

Creating How 2 Training Videos for Work and Business

 

If you're a expanding enterprise you've most likely reviewed a handful of training videos yourself as this is an effective method for saving time and get firms to teach and also orient staff members in numerous measures along with tasks. Regrettably, the vast majority of training videos are a snooze, as if taken straight out of an procedures guide book ready to bore you to tears. Yet if we are to understand the right way to do our jobs correctly, we need to go through the complete training video and find out as much as we could.

It would not necessarily need to be this distressing. 

Educational Videos or Training Videos Work Really Well For Business Video Production :

Having sophisticated messages easily understood

Quick as well as effective workforce training

Instruction video lessons is usually watched again and again and reviewed at any time necessary

Saves money

Retention and comprehension

If your small business has a large workforce that should need education in intricate techniques and procedures, then having customized and well tailored training video production will likely be an essential asset to match your company's distinct training requirements.

Here are some excellent simple yet very effective recommendations that can be used to help make your training videos simple, effective and exciting.

 

1. Make A Complex Message Easy To Fully understand And Remember

A little bit imagination will go a long way to get your workforce to engage and retain the most vital portions of your communication. When delivered properly, it'll be the main difference between something they can connect with or something they're going to soon forget. Simply by engaging their senses as well as emotions as part of the learning process we could get them to absorb the material without much strain. Normally, companies make use of video as an addition of their uninteresting operations manual so there is not much engagement or progress in getting the subject matter to stick. 

Employing well crafted story-telling which is presented in an engaging storyline will make a tremendous difference in getting your message across and received full heartedly.

 

2. Keep Your Video Creativity From Going Over the top

Creativity in getting your message across will take you out of the doze and forget zone but an excessive amount of creativeness can on occasion ruin your message. An excess of Hollywood production, over powering audio, movie like directorial aspirations and such may be enjoyable and even memorable however, if the major purpose is to educate and train then take care not to miss the objective by crossing the line.

 

3. Reiterate Essential Messages To Help Retention

Ensure That your most crucial message is repeated and re-enforced a few times in different ways so by the end of your company training video, the message had been communicated loud and clear. 

 

4. Hire A Professional Training Video Producer

Hire seasoned video production specialists or video producers that specialize in training video production. Experienced video producers employ a lot of strategies and methods which they employ to seize an audience attention. Constantly changing the elements on-screen to various perspectives, graphic and imagery will keep your audience engaged to the information in front of them.

Choosing a great training video production service will make your training video production a exciting venture. Make sure the video producers you choose are on the same page with regards to your vision and crucial key messages you must convey. A great professional video producer won't only focus on high quality, are pros at getting the training message across with video in a uncomplicated yet engaging way, but should also be a great bunch of individuals to work and collaborate with in getting the project made the way you need.