In today’s digital-everything landscape, your brand doesn’t just need video content. Your business needs a video content marketing agency partner. And we’re not just saying that because that’s what we do. You take every other aspect of your business seriously and know when it’s time to outsource to the professionals for the best results. And video content might seem like an easy prospect, especially considering the capabilities of today’s beginner-friendly devices and editing software. But video marketing is so much more complex than just hitting record. And no one understands those layers of intricacies better than a video content marketing agency.
Because Your Brand Needs Consistency
It might seem feasible to take on video creation and marketing. But one of the primary pillars of video content marketing success is consistency. It’s not uncommon for brand managers and business owners to have really great initial ideas about video content. But soon, the schedule gets hectic, and the ideas run short. Next thing you know, you’ve missed a few weeks of posting, and your audience has since moved on to more engaging content. Instead of falling into this cycle of wasted time, you could hire a video content marketing agency to design a consistent schedule of production. Your videos will be relevant ongoing and will maintain a level of consistency that video campaigns need for success.
Because Your Business Needs Sales & Conversions
You need a video content marketing agency because you’re not in the business of shooting videos. You need sales, and your marketing needs to translate to conversions. Shooting your own short video messages isn’t going to bring in more business if you don’t understand the dynamics behind what makes video work. An agency is specialized in creating videos that engage and inspire. And the professionals know precisely how to use video messaging to move an audience through the sales funnel.
Because Your Videos Need to Build Trust
Video content marketing isn’t just about discussing your product or service. It goes beyond showcasing your business’s unique offerings. Those who watch videos certainly need to be educated, entertained, or enlightened in some way. But how you go about creating content that genuinely engages can determine whether or not your video-viewing audience trusts you. Hiring a video content marketing agency for your brand can ensure your brand voice and tone are trustworthy. And marketing agency professionals can help you cater your message to improve the customer’s journey in an authentic and reliable way.
Because A Video Campaign Should Have Real Results
The best part about working with professionals to manage your video content is being able to have someone to put real numbers to the results. Track views, conversions, and engagement to ensure your marketing budget is tracking real-time ROI. And if one strategy isn’t working, you’ll know almost immediately. Making adjustments to improve your brand campaign as you go can translate to ongoing success and results.
Because You Don’t Have to Do It Yourself
You’re busy running your company, calling clients, and managing teams. Making a few videos with your smartphone might not seem like a major undertaking. But in the end, your expertise more than likely lies within your business offering and not video content marketing. And you probably don’t have the extra time to dedicate to developing, scheduling, and tracking a proper video content campaign. Knowing you can partner with a video content marketing agency means you don’t have to go it alone.
When you’re ready to create a video content campaign for your brand and company, you’ll want a professional partner to help guide your efforts. Consider partnering with a video content marketing agency like ours. Our expert content strategists can help you launch and manage a video content strategy that works for your brand and, ultimately, your bottom line.
https://lucemedia.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/filming-4371566_1920.jpg12801920Mark Toneyhttps://lucemedia.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Logo-1-300x73-1.pngMark Toney2021-01-07 14:30:002020-12-30 02:30:525 Reasons Your Brand Needs A Video Content Marketing Agency
Social media marketing is an important tool that can ensure you are able to reach your audience where they spend the most time online and foster engagement. However, it is vital that you know the right types of content to use, and how that content should be utilized on various platforms. Of all the options available in B2B marketing, B2C marketing and other social media efforts, video content is one of the most powerful, and can be used in a myriad of different ways.
The Power of Video Content Marketing
If you’ve opened Facebook lately, or spent any amount of time on Twitter, you’ve no doubt seen the explosion of video content firsthand. CISCO’s Visual Networking Index says, “By 2019, video content will be the driving factor behind 85% of search traffic in the US.” HubSpot points out that “43% of people want to see more video content from marketers”, as well as the fact that almost 52% of global marketing professionals feel that video content marketing offers the best ROI.
However, there are a few other important considerations here, particularly when it comes to B2B marketing. For instance, while mobile viewing is the most common with B2C marketing, business-related videos are generally watched on a PC or laptop (86% of them, actually). The best videos (top 5%) manage to retain over 3/4 of their viewers from the beginning to end, but the average retention for all video content marketing is 37%.
Video content marketing is vital for your success in social media, but how should you use this type of content on the various platforms out there? From Facebook to Instagram and everything in between, there are significant differences between the social platforms you use on a regular basis, and you cannot take a one-size-fits-all approach here.
Understanding How to Use Video Content in Social Media Marketing
Video content can and should play a central role in social media marketing on every platform your business utilizes. However, each platform has its own unique use cases.
Facebook
Facebook is the one platform that pretty much all B2B marketing campaigns should utilize. You can use your video content in several ways here. Test out Live Videos to get immediate engagement and replay capabilities, but don’t neglect regular news feed videos. Keep your video content short (two minutes or less is best in most cases, although you can go up to 45 minutes according to Facebook’s rules). With Facebook, strive to create some type of emotional connection with your audience and you’ll notice more shares. Also, don’t neglect to include captions, as most videos on FB are watched with the volume off.
Instagram
Instagram now supports Instagram Stories. These are generally short videos that can be used in a very similar way to Snapchat. You can create behind the scenes videos, short humorous videos and more. Note that this is a relatively new feature, so there are few tried and true “rules” as yet.
Snapchat
Use Snapchat video like you would Instagram – create short videos that highlight your company’s culture, behind the scenes content, how-to content and the like. Again, these should be relatively short (two minutes is pushing the limit).
Twitter
The maximum length for video content on Twitter is just over two minutes, which makes sense given the platform’s focus on brevity. Focus on creating video content marketing that focuses on news and/or newsworthy aspects you want your audience to know about your product or service. Product announcements, very brief how-to guides and the like can work well, too.
Pinterest
Interestingly, Pinterest can be used in your video content marketing plan. The platform has a native video player, and users are able to watch your video from a close-up of the pin. This means that you need to pin the video from the landing page where it’s located, and then choose the appropriate thumbnail. DIY and how-to content perform best on this network, as do tutorials.
YouTube
Yes, YouTube is considered social media, and it can be used in ways that other platforms cannot. Feel free to get creative here, and post longer video content than you would on other sites, as YouTube is specifically geared for this type of content and the user base expects it.
Ultimately, your social media marketing plan should hinge on using video content. It is the fastest-growing content type, and can be used successfully in B2B marketing and in B2C marketing. If you’re not harnessing its power, you’re definitely missing out on one of the most useful tools at your disposal.
https://lucemedia.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/shutterstock_681948319.jpg22883384Mark Toneyhttps://lucemedia.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Logo-1-300x73-1.pngMark Toney2020-12-11 14:30:402020-12-10 15:49:31Video Content Marketing: The Most Important Tool for Social Media Success
It seems like every day, digital marketers are faced with new and unique challenges every time they log on. What can small to medium sized business owners do to get a competitive advantage? Let’s dive into the numbers and see where the industry is likely going in the coming year.
Is Content Still King?
Yes and no is the simple answer. While inbound content marketing and keyword acquisition remain primary drivers behind many digital marketing efforts, really focusing on the customer/client experience is becoming increasingly important. Look at these three statistics from HubSpot’s State of Inbound 2020 Report.
Nearly 40% of marketers says that content marketing is a very important part of their overall marketing strategy. (Hubspot, 2020, p.10).
“Content Marketing Strategy” is the most searched query related to content marketing. (Hubspot, 202, p.10)
77% of companies have a content marketing strategy. (HubSpot, 2020, p. 10).
At face value, these facts seem obvious; there isn’t a company that can survive without sales. However, there are well over half of marketers stating SEO and content creation are the top inbound marketing priorities on their to-do list.
Given the direction of SEO, Google’s overall goal, and what other professionals theorize, there will most likely be a shift towards overall user experience, combined with great content. Content is still king, but it must be engaging and provide the visitor with value.
What Can I Do Now?
Do an audit of your current content. Is it thin? What can be improved, how can you better explain a concept? When it comes to adding value, the goal is for your article, guide, or tutorial to be the end-all, be-all for a specific search.
If you don’t have any content yet, start writing, or consider hiring a writer. What subject related to your industry do you know like the back of your hand? Even if others have already created content around your subject, what can you do to improve theirs and make it your own?
This could be anything from adding a different method of completing a task, or simply adding helpful visuals to a process. Is there anything you are constantly asked by your customers? Are there common myths in your industry that need to be debunked? These may be great places to start.
If you haven’t already, start taking advantage of your Google Analytics. Analyze the numbers; is your bounce rate low? No? Why? Look at your site from your visitor’s perspective, what do you like, what do you dislike, how can this be improved? Consider hiring a third party company to do an audit.
Run your site through Google PageSpeed Test, what can you do to improve your score? Are there any broken links? How does your site appear on smaller or larger screens? Continue to develop great content, but ask yourself, “How can I improve the visitor’s experience with this content?”
Facebook and LinkedIn, Do Professionals See a Difference?
Some may argue not. If you look at the two social networks, you’re the same person on both. The only difference is you’re wearing a suit and showing your resume in one, and wearing jeans and sharing pictures of your family in the other.
Let’s look at the numbers, 78% of people use Linkedin for professional purposes, which is 2% down from last year’s report. On the other hand, 74% of people use Facebook for the same thing, which is up 1% from the previous year.
Based on the numbers, it appears most people use them interchangeably, which shouldn’t come as a surprise. They’re both social networks; so the goal of each is the same: toconnect, build relationships and provide value.
It doesn’t matter if you’re in a suit or sharing pictures of your pets, you’re the same John Doe on Linkedin as you are on Facebook. Besides, most people can easily find you on Facebook from your Linkedin profile anyway.
So what does this mean? Connections are becoming more casual. Social media marketing is becoming less rigid and it’s easier to reach decision makers. In the social media realm, there is no gatekeeper. The only person you have to get past is the prospect himself and whether or not he’ll accept your message or friend request.
What Can I Do Now?
Make sure you have a business page on both Facebook and Linkedin. Take advantage of a branded URL, by claiming it in your page’s settings. By doing so you will have access to metrics and analytics you have not been able to see before. If you are doing a lot of business on a Facebook personal page, you have a 5,000 follower limit; business and professional pages do not.
If you already have a personal page setup, don’t worry. Facebook will allow you to merge your personal and business account one time. This is a way to generate a large following very quickly for your business
Do this for all online profiles, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. Take advantage of every network at your disposal.
Next, start posting engaging content. Create open and productive discussions. Doing this first gives your profile value. Once you’ve had at least a week’s worth of content, start reaching out to prospects to connect. Ask for their opinion on something you’ve posted, but don’t immediately go for a sale, rather, open a line of communication first.
Think about how you create a relationship – either business or personal with another human being. You chat about topics – sometimes finding common ground and interests. When you see each other, you talk about those commonalities and eventually expand your conversations to other areas you find interesting.
So, in the beginning, focus on the conversation and begin to relate relevant content to their business. Eventually you may begin to uncover some problems where you can begin to sell.
Lastly, this doesn’t mean give up on Linkedin either. Continue to use Linkedin and other sites to your advantage. Create a consistent brand of yourself and your business across all channels and you’ll reap the benefits.
Use Video To your Advantage
Up until the past few years video was just another tool in the digital marketer’s toolbox. It was nice to have, but was second to ‘more important’ subjects like keyword density, LSI keywords, and more. As already mentioned above, creating great content and focusing on the user experience are both extremely important. Video tends to hit both of these areas if done properly.
It shouldn’t be a huge surprise either. If you live in the United States, it doesn’t take a genius to see cellular carriers boosting off their massive 4G or LTE coverage across the country. Couple this with more cities and businesses adopting free Wi-Fi and it’s no surprise streaming to portable devices is higher than it’s ever been.
Log onto YouTube using your business Google account and email address. Create your own custom, branded channel. Grab a branded YouTube URL that best represents your company. Do an inventory of all video you may have posted to your website, social platforms or in some other way have created. Upload these videos to this new channel to start getting them indexed.
You might think it takes a lot for your business to get into video marketing. The truth is, it doesn’t. Odds are likely you have a full HD camera (such as your smartphone) in your pocket and several apps, like Snapchat or Instagram, that you can begin utilizing today.
Give your audience an inside look into how your business operates, show them what it’s like behind the scenes in a fun and engaging way. Otherwise, try to provide some other sort of content that has value.
For example, if you’re a distributor of work clothes for construction, create several short clips explaining the uses for different fabrics. Which fabrics work best in this weather, or which fabrics can stand up to sparks flying from metalwork. The beauty of video is the viewer doesn’t have to do anything but watch. While the videos don’t have to be perfect, be sure the content of them is.
If you have the ability to spend more money, consider hiring a freelancer to turn your current content into short informational videos. Build a collection of these on YouTube. Create video shorts of products highlighting their features, or show the level of customer service you provide if you’re in a service industry.
Lastly, don’t micromanage every little factor mentioned in this article. While everyone of these parts is a piece of a larger engine, in the end, it’s all about how well you can service your customers. Listen to what they have to say, focus on their needs, and let that help guide you through the online landscape.
Every day is a new opportunity to connect and create a sale. There’s new networks and new prospects entering the market by the day, and they’re looking for what you’re selling. Follow the tips listed above and you’ll put yourself leaps and bounds ahead of competitors. Providing value and focusing on the customer/client experience will undoubtedly improve your success in 2018.
https://lucemedia.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/shutterstock_403991497.jpg30064500Mark Toneyhttps://lucemedia.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Logo-1-300x73-1.pngMark Toney2020-11-20 14:30:192020-11-10 16:58:36Digital Marketing Trends for Small Businesses in 2020
When it comes to digital marketing, you may be running the most amazing social media ads in the world, but what happens when users click on the link? Where do they go? Whatever link you specify for them to land on is called the “landing page,” and if it’s not effective, your digital marketing strategy is bound to fail.
Why You Need Landing Pages In Your Digital Marketing Strategy
Landing pages are often used in digital marketing advertising campaigns like those run on social media sites like Facebook or Pinterest, although any page visitors “land” on first is a landing page. For a successful digital marketing strategy, it’s important you recognize each and every landing page as an opportunity to capture a potential client’s interest.
What’s the point of your landing page? Copyblogger shares five purposes yours can have:
Get a visitor to click to go to another page
Get a visitor to buy
Get a visitor to give permission for you to follow up by email, phone, etc.
Get a visitor to tell a friend
Get a visitor to comment or give you some sort of feedback
As you can see, the whole point is to drive visitors to take action.
How to Create Landing Pages That Will Drive a Successful Digital Marketing Strategy
A successful landing page includes 10 elements for digital marketing success.
The Focus Remains on the Visitor
Is your landing page designed to target your digital marketing strategy’s target consumers?
Just as your target audience needs to be the focus of your digital marketing strategy, your visitor needs to remain the focus of your landing page. Everything on the page needs to be created with the goal of resonating with them.
As MailMunch explains, “It’s very easy (and common) to sit down and write copy for a landing page without ever really thinking about the customer. The copy is all about them. The features, practical outcomes, and tangible elements of the offer. Your copy needs to help prospects understand why they should care.”
A Single Call to Action / Digital Marketing Goal
What’s your digital marketing goal? When visitors come to your landing page, what you do you want them to do? That’s your call to action. Communicate it clearly throughout the page.
It may seem counterintuitive – after all, many people like options – but by taking away potential distractions they’ll easily move onto the next step you’d like them to take.
In fact, one study found that removing a navigation menu altogether increased conversions by 100 percent! Research also shows that landing pages with multiple offers get 266 percent fewer leads than those with a single offer.
Also think about a potential offer you can extend to visitors. For example, if you’re asking visitors to join your email list, maybe you can offer some sort of helpful industry research or guide to provide incentive. Another offer could be a discount on your products or services, or entry into a giveaway. Regardless of what you choose, keep your customer front of mind and make sure it ties seamlessly into your call to action.
It’s also important to place your call to action strategically. It needs to be at the top of the page, visible without the visitor needing to scroll. Depending on the page’s length, repeat your call to action so consumers are reminded of it as they scroll down.
Consistent Branding
Your landing page should fit into your digital marketing strategy seamlessly.
Consistent branding will ensure your landing page fits in naturally with the rest of your digital marketing strategy.
Your landing page needs to fit within your overall branding theme through similar fonts, colors, language and visuals; it should be a natural extension of your other digital marketing elements.
Your landing page should also be a natural next step in your digital marketing strategy. If they click on a social media ad, banner ad or email newsletter link and end up on your landing page, it should be a seamless fit with the prompt they saw.
As WordStream explains, “If a user clicks an ad about sleeping bags, don’t drop them in the camping section – you want to bring them to their exact desired destination. Match the user’s need as closely as possible – that’s where the conversions happen!”
Short and Sweet Text
Your landing page’s text should be concise, with a low word count, strategic formatting, compelling headlines and simple, specific language.
You have about 5 seconds to capture a visitor’s attention. Make it count by using bullet points, numbered lists and bold (selectively and strategically). Your copy should highlight just the most important points of your product or service.
This infographic also shows the correlation between the number of words on a page versus the conversion rate. For example, those in the service sector with fewer than 100 words convert 50 percent better than those with more than 500 words.
As you review your landing page copy, consider these digital marketing tactics:
Speak to the heart first, then the head. MailMunch explains, “As consumers, we make decisions with our hearts and justify those decisions with practical data and functionality.” You can use headlines to capture attention that speaks to visitors’ emotional desires, then use the text that follows it to provide practical, articulate backup of your initial point.
Tie features and benefits together. You can lay out all the features in the world, but if you don’t explain how they benefit the consumer they’re pointless. MailMuch puts it another way: “Features by themselves may appear dull or boring, but when they are tied to benefits, they become compelling and interesting.”
Engaging Visuals
Your landing page should feature compelling visuals that complement your digital marketing strategy.
You can have the most amazing digital marketing text in the world, but without compelling, engaging visuals, consumers are going to see a wall of text and move on. Images and videos can break up the text and capture visitors’ interest more effectively. MailMunch suggests:
GIFS to illustrate the offer
Text formatting such as bold text, italics, headers and different color fonts
Neil Patel also explains elements of a tidy visual digital marketing design, considering the look of the page as a whole.
A clean, simple design with plenty of white space keeps people trained on your call to action.
Big font makes it easy and compelling for them to read and understand what your site is all about.
Bullets make big blocks of copy easy to scan.
Videos pack a big impact into a small space and can increase conversions.
Images and graphics that are relevant to your product and related to your audience support your message instead of diverting attention.
Remember that less is more. Choose your images and videos carefully.
Strategic Formatting
There’s more formatting strategy than the headlines, bullet points and bold as recommended above. Research shows the eye naturally looks in an F or Z pattern. Take this into account as you decide where to put which information on your landing page.
A lot of successful landing pages also include form fields for visitors to fill out. Keep these short, only requiring the necessary information; studies show that decreasing the number of fields from 11 to 4 increased conversions by 120 percent.
Established Credibility
Social proof can carry a lot of weight in a digital marketing campaign.
How can you show visitors they can trust you? Neil Patel explains, “As social creatures, humans tend to place greater value on things that other people have already approved. That is why most sites will tend to display evidence of such social validation.”
This digital marketing concept is also known as “social proof.” The idea is that a third party reinforces your main points, proving that you’re trustworthy. Research from Nielsen backs this up, showing that 83 percent of consumers trust recommendations from their peers over advertising.
While not every landing page visitor will have friends that can endorse you, you can provide social proof by including:
A list of your customers
Testimonials from clients
Press mentions
Usage statistics
Case studies
Reviews and ratings
Mobile-Friendly Design
Studies show consumers are spending more time browsing on their phones rather than their computers. In just one year alone, from 2016 to 2017, the number of website visits from mobile devices grew from 57 percent to 63 percent, and the percentage of website time spent on mobile devices from 40 percent to 49 percent.
For digital marketing success, you need to make sure your landing pages are visually appealing, easy to navigate and responsive on users’ mobile devices. Before promoting your page, make sure you and your team test them on your own phones and tablets, ideally with as wide a variety of browsers and operating systems as possible.
Quick Page Load Speed
If your landing pages take too long to load, it will negatively impact your digital marketing success.
How long does it take for your landing page to load? Studies show 40 percent of consumers abandon a website that takes more than 3 seconds to load, and if an e-commerce website is making $100,000 a day, a 1-second page delay could cost them $2.5 million in lost sales every year!
You can reduce your page load time by removing unnecessary text and graphics. When you test the page on different mobile devices (as well as your desktop), pay attention to how long it takes to load.
Split Testing
The last, but certainly not least important digital marketing guideline, is to split test, or A/B test, your landing page! How do you know if it’s effective if you don’t test it?
Make a few different versions of the page and then run them against each other. Watch the results to see which performs better, then test another element. Test as much as possible – page layout, wording, images, etc. – so you can end up with the most effective landing pages for your digital marketing strategy.
https://lucemedia.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/shutterstock_561912007.jpg55388306Mark Toneyhttps://lucemedia.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Logo-1-300x73-1.pngMark Toney2020-10-30 15:00:142020-10-27 17:23:15Why You Need a Successful Landing Page and How to Create One
Many new developments have taken place in the last five years in digital marketing. In addition to helping businesses achieve their goals, digital marketing has a great impact on how we do business. From running a website and making that website visible on search engines to increasing web traffic and offering better customer experience – digital marketing has been easing it all.
Digital marketing and associated technologies have elevated the ease of doing business, allowing us, entrepreneurs, to stay focused on what’s important for our business. In fact, it is one of the most important parts of business strategies. A considerable part of inflows and outflows of a business is on digital marketing.
This post talks about some of the hottest and most practiced digital trends at present that help you keep your audience hooked.
Artificial Intelligence & Chatbot
Everybody is talking about artificial intelligence. It is the part of digital technology that, if deployed strategically and correctly, can help bring down the cost of human errors while amplifying the profits of your process.
Chatbots, a kind of AI application, are also making a huge score these days. With their programmed artificial intelligence, the bots can accurately sense and solve the issues and queries of your customers quickly. There is no need to deploy your experienced professionals to handle basic and initial conversations. Introducing chatbots in your web CMS saves your agents’ time, so they can focus more toward your organizational goals.
AI offers exceptional opportunities in the sky of digital marketing. AI applications are going to have a major role in predictive analytics, bringing out better experience, and targeted and re-targeted marketing.
Live & Video Marketing
A picture is worth a thousand words. That’s an old saying. But, a high-quality video can speak better than pictures can. Video is a versatile and engaging content format.
Video marketing has emerged as a key driving factor in the field of digital marketing. It is a way of using videos (whether live, pre-recorded or edited) to promote your brands, products or services effectively. Live videos are an excellent way to increase engagement and brand identity.
Video marketing has become a popular trend nowadays. You can see it for yourself by checking out your Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn feed. You will see videos and video ads mostly.
Going live is another effective way to engage and convince your audience. Live videos are a part of video marketing strategies at leading brands that often do Facebook Live or YouTube Live.
Visual Content Marketing
Promoting your products using appealing visuals – such as graphics, infographics, memes, or texts written and arranged in a visually attractive way – can be labeled as visual content marketing. Visual content marketing also involves video marketing. And it is quite a popular digital marketing best practice presently.
“11% more B2C marketers than B2B marketers say visual content is the most important type of content today.” ~ Social Media Examiner
It is different from traditional practices, for example: content (text) marketing, video ads, and pamphlet/brochure distribution. Visual content marketing, in a digitally driven era, takes place on your website or on your social networks, from where you get most of your traffic and engagement.
Visual content is easy to digest for consumers. Once digested and your message is delivered, your audience is already convinced. If you are considering visual content marketing, you have a wide variety of content formats to use. These are some of the most popular types and formats of visual content which you can use in your visual content marketing campaigns.
Social Media Influencers
People having an influential presence (or following) on social media are social media influencers. They are celebrities of social media and also, often, in real-world scenarios. Their followers listen to them. Influencer marketing can give 11 times more ROI than traditional online marketing.
For a modern business, influencer marketing has its own benefits. You can keep your audience with you with the help of this new age marketing technique.
You could find and hire a social media influencer to promote your brand on social media. Even top brands are chasing and following social media influencers; you could follow the trend for your business or become one.
Database or Customer Based Marketing
Database marketing is still a top trend. However, in this technologically advanced era, you pitch your product online through social networks or email marketing, making the most of your customer database. Database marketing this way is the direct marketing of the modern digital world.
Real-time data, insightful performance reports, and enhanced customer views are the key of modern database marketing. The market can create and implement strategies – all thanks to highly advanced database marketing applications.
Database or customer-based marketing involves gathering information from customers such as their name, address, email, phone number, and many other details through social media, paid advertisements, or direct form fill campaigns. Once the database is ready, it is segmented and ready to be pitched.
Database marketing stands as a powerful support to your SEO efforts. They have the potential to boost traffic and sales for your online business. However, you will need to make sure that your website is ready to handle increased traffic to avoid getting penalized by search engines. You will need to devise thoroughly-calculated database marketing strategies to obtain desired results.
Bottom Line
Once digital marketing itself was a trend. Today, it has dozens or even more sub-trends having an impact on the performance of your website or online business. The trends keep changing, but it takes a wise entrepreneur to identify and make the most of those trends before they become an old school. The trends, technologies, and techniques underlined in this post are going to have a huge impact on how businesses are done online and how digital marketing is implemented.
Why Google My Business, Google Maps, and Online Reviews are CRUCIAL to your business? Here’s What You Need To Know.
Google My Business provides you with the ability to list your business location on Google Maps and local search results. You can display valuable and key information about your business, including the opening/closing times, contact phone number or a link to your website. You can display important information about your business, including the opening/closing times, contact phone number or a link to your website. More recently Google has also released a new feature allowing you to post a link to articles or up and coming events.
Setting up your Google My Business listing is one of the simplest and most effective ways of establishing your business to be found online. More and more search queries are becoming geographically specific, and Google’s algorithms have been developed to consider user intent. Why do this? Check how often your business shows up in local searches by clicking here. (Scroll down to FREE Online Visibility Check)
So, how important are Google Reviews for Local SEO in 2018? Several studies regarding Google reviews provide proof of the reasons that your business should be soliciting reviews. These reasons include things like “most consumers read reviews before making a decision” and “people trust online reviews as much as personal reviews.”
These reasons are completely valid and will come into play creating larger conversion and clickthrough rates to your website when a potential customer has found you and is deciding between your business and a competitor. For these reasons Luce Media Video Talks About Google My Business and Google Reviews
When it comes to reviews – here is the bottom line.
The quality and quantity of reviews on Google is one of the most important ranking factors for local SEO. And, when a person scans the search results for a local product or service in Google, the business listings that include customer reviews present greater credibility and, naturally, receive more clicks.
Watch as Mark Toney, CEO of Luce Media talks about the latest information for small to medium-sized businesses in completely filling out the information on Google My Business as well as the importance of soliciting Google Reviews for your business.
We can not stress the Importance of Google My Business, Google Maps and Good Reviews for Small to Medium Sized Businesses.
This is just one of many of the aspects we focus on for your business -and encourage YOU to look at all these variables. Do you want to GROW your business? Do you want more online presence?
Luce Media works strategically helping all of our clients grow. Get started today with our FREE Social Media Analysis. We analyze your website, all current social platforms you are on plus tell you immediately what your Online Visibility looks like. I guarantee you will learn key elements to grow your business. And it is FREE.
If your business needs help with social media marketing in McKinney, TX., please call us at (469) 907-1057. Luce Media has deep expertise in Digital Marketing, B2B Marketing, Internet Marketing and is a well-established Digital Media Consultant in McKinney, TX.
https://lucemedia.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Google-My-Busines.jpg6521417Mark Toneyhttps://lucemedia.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Logo-1-300x73-1.pngMark Toney2018-07-13 21:30:142018-08-17 19:21:21The Importance of Google My Business and Good Reviews
Since its launch in April 2016, Facebook Live video has swept the world.
As a platform, Facebook Live has unparalleled reach when it comes to reaching fans organically. Facebook’s News Feed algorithm highly prioritizes Live video, meaning your followers are way more likely to see one of your Live videos than any other content you post.
You might be wondering where to start and what to do. That’s why we’ve put together this list of 10 Things You Need to Know Before You Go Live on Facebook!
Let’s get started.
10 Things You Need to Know Before Going Live on Facebook
1. Set a Goal
While celebrities, influencers, and more prominent brands have the gravitas and fanbase to use Facebook Live for more casual purposes, like broadcasting their surroundings or going Live for a few minutes at a time to interact with fans, chances are you don’t have the same resources.
Because of this, you need to focus the time you spend on Live.
Ask yourself what goal you’re trying to achieve with the video, as well as if and how the broadcast will help you make it.
If you can, try to choose an objective that’s more specific and results-driven than “social engagement” or “brand awareness.” Though these things are great, they should be secondary to other goals like lead generation or sales.
Once you and your team have settled on an objective, plan your video with that objective in mind. It should reflect in the topic you choose, as well as the way you present it.
For example, if we were putting together a Live video for a fitness center that wanted to highlight the benefits of personal training, we might choose to do a Live Q&A with one of our trainers, showing off his knowledge and encouraging viewers to sign up for a training session.
2. Have an Outline or Direction
Even though Facebook Live is relatively spontaneous as far as content mediums go, it’s still a good idea to craft at least some sort of outline, depending on the intent of your video.
This goes hand-in-hand with having an objective in mind, like the way you organize your speaking points should point Live viewers towards your goal – don’t go Live for the sake of going Live!
Before you go Live, outline your talking points and go over them with your co-host (assuming you have one). Get at least a rough idea of what you want to say, as well as any specific points or examples you’re sure you want to include.
My colleagues did a Live video a few months back about using content upgrades to generate leads for our sales team. Though it wasn’t without its hiccups, one “victory” of the broadcast was the way we organized it. It was clear and structured, highlighting the different steps of the process and the tools (within our product) viewers could use to generate leads for their own team.
Having an organized outline based on the goal of communicating the value of Wishpond and driving signups helped immensely with the quality of our broadcast.
That being said, don’t be afraid to go off-script – it is Live, after all! Be loose and have fun with it!
3. Prepare a Pre-Show
Even after you’ve announced your live video, many of your would-be viewers won’t show up right at the start of your broadcast.
Because of this, you’ll want to put together some sort of pre-show to fill time in your Live broadcast leading up to the start of your presentation (whatever that may be).
Don’t jump right into the meat of your content the moment you go Live. Either go Live 15-20 seconds before your scheduled start time to let people come in as they get notified, or start on time but don’t get into your content until a decent amount of people join your show.
You can do a couple of different things for this “pre-show” portion. If you’re not up to entertaining, feel free to pop in a countdown timer to get people ready and waiting. If you do feel like interacting (and we recommend you do), talk to your viewers. Welcome them to the broadcast, answer their comments, and get them excited for the show to start.
This is also a prime time to get your viewers to share your video – remember, Live videos get a massive boost on News Feed placement, so getting your fans to share your Live broadcast can significantly increase its organic reach.
4. Interact with Your Viewers
One of the principal benefits of Facebook Live is the fact that it allows you to interact with your fans in real-time, meaning you’re about as close to face-to-face as you can get without actually meeting them.
Though it’s not necessary, we’d recommend you put at least some effort into responding to fan comments and answering questions! It’s an easy way to make your Live broadcast super engaging, and it makes fans feel appreciated, meaning they’re more likely to stick around and watch.
At the start of your broadcast, greet people by name as they join. You don’t have to get to every single person, but acknowledging your viewers gets them pumped up for the upcoming broadcast.
As far as questions go, we’d recommend you set aside breaks in your broadcast or save for them the end, as opposed to answering them on the fly, which could put a serious wrench in your broadcasting flow and make your broadcast feel disorganized.
5. Promote Your Live Video
A Live video is a special occasion, and as far as promotion goes, you’d be well off treating it like a webinar.
By this, we mean you should put as much effort as you can into getting as many people as possible to show up for the Live broadcast as people, even though they’ll be able to watch it back later once the replay has gone live.
Here are a few ways you can make sure your Live video reaches as many people as possible:
Send an email: One benefit of having a mailing list is that you can reach out to them in cases like this! Send a simple newsletter a week or so before your Live video to your subscribers, linking them to your Facebook profile and letting them know when they’ll be able to catch you going Live.
Post on social: If you’re doing a Live video on Facebook, it makes perfect sense to promote it there, as well. Create a set of posts that count down the days to your Live broadcast to remind fans to tune in.
Advertise!: Though you can’t boost a live post, you can boost an announcement in the days leading up to it. Though it’s not a sure-fire way to get people to watch as you go Live, it opens the door for new potential fans to check out your broadcast.
Go Live beforehand: Do a short Live broadcast informing viewers that you’ll be going Live in the next few days. Though this might seem silly, Facebook’s News Feed algorithm heavily boosts Live video, meaning more people will see it. On top of that, you can prompt viewers to turn on Live notifications for your Page so they are reminded when you go Live next (and in the future).
6. Recap As You Go
Live Videos are unique in that people can join anytime during the broadcast.
It’s great in the sense that people don’t need to be ready beforehand – they can jump in as soon as they see it on their News Feed.
On the other hand, it can be tough as a content creator because people who join your video late might not be able to follow what you’re saying.
Because of this, it’s important that you periodically recap what you’ve been talking about as you go. Every so often, you can say something like “if you’re just joining us now, we’ve been talking about [recap].” This will help retain viewers who may otherwise leave because they have no idea what you’re talking about.
7. Check Your Hardware
There’s no worse feeling in a Live broadcast than having your audio or video randomly cut out, or watching your broadcast back and realizing everything is blurry, or you can’t hear anything.
Luckily, these are all issues you can easily avoid!
Before you double-check your setup, put some effort into making it as good as possible. Aim for high quality and reliability – an iPhone 7+ camera might be better than your 2012 MacBook’s webcam, but it also has a higher chance of dying while you’re broadcasting.
Pick a reliable setting as well – bright, solid-color backgrounds work great (see below). If you can, do a practice run-through with all of your hardware to make sure it’s all working.
Here are some quicker audio-visual rules of thumb:
Adequate lighting: Making sure your subjects are well-lit means you’re not left with two silhouettes on an overexposed background. Use some additional lights if you need them.
The sound is everything: Seriously. People can deal with 360p video (remember 2008?), but if they can’t hear you, they’re going to leave. I guarantee it. If you can, use an external mic (like a USB condenser mic) for your audio – it’s dozens of times better than your laptop’s built-in mic.
Use a tripod: Unless you’re live-streaming an event, you want your video to be as steady as possible. Thankfully, a tripod takes care of this easily.
8. Use Third-Party Broadcasting Software
Though we don’t condone or recommend it, there is a way to stream a Facebook Live video without actually being Live.
Without going too far into detail, Facebook allows you to broadcast Live to your page using an external program, such as Open Broadcasting Software (OBS). Because OBS can stream video and audio from a number of sources, you could technically stream a pre-recorded video to Facebook Live using the software, just as Tesla did in the example below.
Third-party broadcasting programs like OBS can also be helpful if you’d like to edit your videos slightly before they go Live. These cases might include adding overlays (like logos or graphics, as you can see below) or if you’re just not sure you’ll get it right on the first take.
That being said, don’t chop up your video or stream a professionally edited video as if it’s Live – your fans will know, and they probably won’t like it.
9. Get Viewers to Subscribe to Live Notifications
If you’re considering making Live video a big part of your social media marketing strategy, it’s essential to maximize the number who show up to your broadcasts.
One way to increase the chances your fans will tune in is to get them to turn on Live notifications. We touched on this earlier in the article, but it’s important enough to merit its own point.
We’d create a post or graphic with the following information, and maybe append it to your Facebook Live announcement mailout, too.
Here’s what your viewers need to do:
Visit your Page on desktop or mobile
Click the “Notifications” button under your cover photo
Pressing the “edit options” pencil icon in the drop-down menu
Turning on notifications under “Live videos” for “All Live Posts.”
And that’s it! It’s super simple, and you now have the benefit of having your fans be notified every single time you go live.
This increases the effectiveness of future Live broadcasts, too, and your viewers only need to do it once (though we’d add this information to every Live announcement for new fans or people who haven’t already done it).
10. Add an Ask or CTA
Finally, add some sort of CTA to your Live broadcast. This is a tactic that will give you the best chance at generating some kind of immediate return on Facebook Live.
Either add an “ask” to the end of your video (or sporadically throughout it) to direct viewers towards your ultimate goal, whether that’s your e-commerce store to get them to buy the product you’re highlighting in your video, or to a sales page to get them to book a call.
One great way to add this without needing to bring it up during your video continually is to use OBS (or another software) to add it to your broadcast as an overlay. Make it unobtrusive, so your video is still the primary focus of the broadcast, but visible and enticing enough that people will act upon it.
Either way, make sure you give viewers an avenue to convert in some way – trust me, driving a sale or demo from a social media marketing strategy is a good feeling.
Wrapping it up
There you have it – 10 awesome tips and strategies to think about when you’re planning your next Facebook Live video. Hopefully, you’ve learned something new about this rapidly growing video format!
If you have any questions about Facebook Live (or just Facebook in general), we’d be more than happy to answer them in the comments below.
If your business needs help with social media marketing in McKinney, TX., please call us at (469) 907-1057. Luce Media has deep expertise in Digital Marketing, B2B Marketing, Internet Marketing and is a well-established Digital Media Consultant in McKinney, TX.
https://lucemedia.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/ABOLISH-NEGATIVITY.jpg435700Mark Toneyhttps://lucemedia.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Logo-1-300x73-1.pngMark Toney2018-06-23 22:30:352020-06-15 15:17:2210 Things You Need to Know Before Going Live on Facebook
Instagram is reportedly just hours away from launching a new long-form video hub in a bid to take on YouTube.
New editing tools expected to boost video upload limit from 60 seconds to an hour. At the moment, Instagram users can only upload videos that are a maximum of 60 seconds long, but the tech site says IGTV will increase that limit to up to 60 minutes.
The social network is aiming to attract internet celebrities, rather than media companies, with the new feature, The Verge reports. Instagram is also believed to be “courting individuals to start producing content”, the news site adds.
If the rumors are true, IGTV will pose a greater threat to YouTube than to video messaging app Snapchat, which features more content from “traditional outlets” such as MTV and Vice. Instagram has reportedly been in talks with content creators about making longer videos as it fights for younger audiences.
IGTV users will be able to link to existing posts and websites through the video feature, which could help social influencers drive traffic towards their online stores, says Engadget.
There may also be a financial incentive with a “monetization” option, the website adds. Some YouTubers make a living on that platform through advertising revenue. The image-sharing platform is well-placed to earn a lot of money from advertising if takes a leaf out of YouTube’s book.
If the new video features were to prove popular, Instagram might launch a dedicated IGTV app, according to TechCrunch. This follows other recent changes by Instagram and owner Facebook.
IGTV is expected to be launched today during an Instagram press conference scheduled to take place at 9am PST.
https://lucemedia.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Instagram-logo.jpg168300Mark Toneyhttps://lucemedia.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Logo-1-300x73-1.pngMark Toney2018-06-20 15:38:412018-06-20 15:38:41Instagram to Launch Long Form Video
https://lucemedia.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Grow-you-business-graphic.jpg436832Mark Toneyhttps://lucemedia.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Logo-1-300x73-1.pngMark Toney2018-03-31 23:11:112020-07-21 13:37:48Social Media Marketing for Small Business - The Lucé Media Academy
Have you checked out your competitor on Instagram recently and noticed how well their posts are performing? Almost every post is flooded with engagement. They’re getting hundreds of likes and comments, while you struggle to get even a handful of people to leave a comment. And when you do get comments, they rarely go beyond generic “This looks great” or a random smiley face emoji.
What magical formula are they using to get Instagram engagement? Is there a secret code you’re missing out on? Are they really that much better at Instagram marketing than you? You want to crack their Instagram strategy and make it work for you, but you’re not sure where to start.
Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Here are 12 things your competitors do to increase Instagram engagement, that you might be overlooking.
1. Actually Engage
We’re starting this list off easy. To drive more engagement from your followers, you need to interact with them. Social media isn’t a one-way street. If you want to build an engaged audience, you need to acknowledge your followers. Remember, every comment you get means someone took the time to stop, look at your post and share their thoughts. After all that, why wouldn’t you respond?
If you want to build up engagement, know that it takes time and you need to start conversations on posts other than your own. Asking questions, responding to comments and replying to Stories are some of the few ways you can engage more with your audience.
As your account starts to grow and you get more comments, you might not be able to respond to everyone. But that doesn’t mean you should give up entirely.
You can still Like comments or try to reply to as many as you can. Ted Chin creates captivating edited images and videos. Despite having hundreds of comments on each post, he still takes the time to engage with his followers as much as possible through quick replies and plenty of emojis.
The takeaway is whether you get three comments per post or 300, take the time to reply, and you’ll have a much easier time getting Instagram engagement.
2. Duplicate Your Best-Performing Posts
What works for you might not work for someone else. Take a look at your past months’ best-performing posts. Is there a common theme among your top performers? Perhaps the photos are bright and have blue tones. Or maybe the camera angle is from the side instead of above.
Here’s an example of a brand that found what works with their audience and integrated it into their strategy.
Camber Coffee is a coffee roaster. But every few posts, they share something unrelated to coffee such as landscape shots or nature-related photos. This might seem like an odd strategy for a food and drink company, but they’ve consistently posted like this long enough that it’s become part of their brand.
3. Post Instagram Stories With Call-to-Action
With verified Instagram accounts, you might have the opportunity to add links in your Instagram Stories. If you don’t have the option yet, you can always refer to the link in your bio or a different CTA.
Creating CTAs in your Stories prompts your fans to take notice of the product and gives them the opportunity to learn more. It increases engagement on your Stories and potentially increases clicks to your website.
Anthropologie uploaded images designed explicitly for the Stories format and themed it around pants. Each product had a See More link at the bottom that people could instantly go to for purchase.
More laid back in their approach, Framebridge used Stories to promote a blog post. It was linked for each part of the Story.
Furthermore, the Stories were timed with an Instagram post that also featured Pepper.
4. Promote Across Networks
It goes without saying that the audience for your Facebook Page might not be the same as the audience on your Instagram account. Chances are that some of your Facebook audience is on Instagram, but they don’t know that you exist there yet. Don’t be afraid to sprinkle some cross-network promotional posts to encourage more followers.
Dwell used a Facebook post to not just promote a home tour, but also to mention that more details could be found in their Instagram Stories. Instead of the usual “Follow our Instagram account!”, they offered something more enticing for their audience. For their existing Instagram fans, the live tour was still exciting content.
5. Be Strategic With Instagram Ads
When Facebook added Instagram to their Ads Manager, new targeting possibilities opened up. Sure, you can boost a post or promote your account, but you could also be more nuanced and strategic about it.
Take advantage of the customization by using retargeting. For instance, if you visit a shoe company like Toms and begin to interact with their posts, it’s possible that you’ll start to see other shoe companies being advertised to you.
After clicking on a few shoe ads, we found the above being advertised to us without ever engaging directly with the company.
Custom audiences can come from many sources. But to start, you can use:
Your newsletter lists
People who have visited your store
Those who purchased from your website
People who’ve engaged with your Facebook or Instagram accounts
From there, utilizing the lookalike audience feature, you can find even more people similar to any of the above audiences.
Getting familiar with all the Instagram advertising options can put you ahead of your competitors. And with retargeting, you can improve conversions and lower your ad costs.
6. Incorporate Videos
Grab someone’s attention with auto-playing videos and boost the post with ad dollars. Mediakix found that sponsored videos received three times more engagement than photos. So if you’re not using Instagram videos yet, it’s time to get started.
Instead of using a photo of someone texting, SFMOMA used a fun video to show off a new project. The video prompted over 24k views and 98 comments, most of which were people tagging friends.
Salt & Straw used a video to give a behind-the-scenes look at a new ice cream flavor. With over 262k views and 88 comments, it was a successful way to promote a new product and build engagement.
7. Partner with Creatives
Much like an influencer marketing program, partnering with creatives for your product or services lineup can give both parties a larger audience. It can be something as small as swag or as large as a mural in your cafe.
Away partnered with photographer Gray Malin for a limited-edition set of luggage colors. The luggage lining used is one of his photographs. Naturally, the product promotion involved Instagram posts, dedicated hashtags, and in-store signage.
When you partner up with a person or brand that has an active audience, some of their Instagram engagement tends to rub off on your own company. Their audience will visit your page to comment and like the posts that feature the influencer.
8. Give Sneak Peeks & Hints
Followers love being let in on a secret. Even if they’re public posts, giving sneak peeks and hints of new releases makes the audience think they’re part of a special group. It entices them to guess at what’s going on and encourages them to revisit the profile to see if something has been announced.
Elle-May gave her followers a preview of a new women’s section in the 1924us store. The previews resulted in dozens of comments from her followers and less than a week later, multiple items were already sold out.
9. Write Witty Captions
Along with an eye-catching photo, creating a witty or uniquely branded voice on Instagram can help you stand out from everyone else. Create a company voice that people want to hear from and you’ll find that they can’t help but strike up conversations with you.
Here’s an example of how Max Milla used the caption to play on the location name. It’s fun, short and engaging.
10. Time Your Posts
Find out when the best time to post is for you. You want to post when most of your followers are online and engaging on the app. Even with the best photo and wittiest caption, you could still miss out on engagement if you’re posting at the wrong hour.
We did some research into the best times to post on social media, and here’s what we found for Instagram.
Instagram business accounts offer analytics that tells you when your followers are most active.
Use this information to schedule out your posts so you can spend your time engaging.
11. Encourage Customer & Employee Posts
Utilize branded hashtags to help you organize user-generated content. If you engage on these hashtags and incorporate a UGC strategy, more people will take notice and begin using the hashtags, too.
Your employees can also be your strongest advocates. Their accounts give a more personal, unfiltered perspective of the company. Remember, people like feeling as if they’re in a secret club. If you reshare from your employees, you’re offering perspectives that your brand normally wouldn’t offer.
Bon Appetit frequently reposts from their readers and their staffers. Each has their own hashtags: #BAstaff and #bareaders. The hashtags give their audience a quick guide on who originally posted the content and encourages a community vibe in their page.
12. Analyze Your Competitors
Here’s something you might not have thought about. But there’s a good chance your competitors are analyzing your brand and others in your industry. So why not do the same? Don’t feel like manually gathering up a bunch of data about your competitors one by one?
If they’re doing something interesting on their page, perhaps you could try it out on yours if it fits within your brand.
Should You Buy Instagram Engagement?
When you’re at a point of desperation and just can’t seem to get anything going, you might get tempted to buy Instagram engagement to give the appearance that you have an active following. You probably already know our response to this, but you should never buy Instagram likes or engagement of any kind.
On the surface, they probably seem like helpful engagement tools, but the reality is they do more harm than good. For one, you’re deceiving your real audience which is never a good idea. On top of that, Instagram has been cracking down on accounts that rely on bots and automation. For instance, your posts might not show up for the hashtags you use or worse case scenario, you could get banned altogether.
Leave the fake engagement alone and focus on building a real audience if you want long-term success.
Which Instagram Engagement Metrics Should You Measure?
By liking posts and leaving thoughtful comments—not self-promotional, but substantive—brands can use Instagram to cultivate a stronger community and drive brand awareness. Users can quantify and qualify their engagement efforts using Instagram’s data.
Give Your Instagram Engagement a Boost
Getting Instagram engagement is more important than ever. Engagement is one of the metrics Instagram uses to determine where your content shows up in your followers’ feeds. When your followers consistently comment and like your posts, Instagram sees it as a sign that they want to see more of your content. As a result, your posts will become prioritized in their feed.
So if you want to get more eyes on your content and build your audience, use the tips above to get more engagement on Instagram.
Luce Media has extensive experience in all things related to Instagram – creative posts, Instagram Stories, Instagram Ads, and analytics. Contact us today for a Free analysis on your Instagram efforts and how they may be improved.
This post first appeared on Sprout Social at this location – https://sproutsocial.com/insights/instagram-engagement/
https://lucemedia.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Instagram-pic.jpg22183328Mark Toneyhttps://lucemedia.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Logo-1-300x73-1.pngMark Toney2018-03-23 19:48:062018-07-17 03:22:41Things Your Competitors Do to Increase Instagram Engagement
If your landing pages take too long to load, it will negatively impact your digital marketing success.
Promoting your products using appealing visuals – such as graphics, infographics, memes, or texts written and arranged in a visually attractive way – can be labeled as visual content marketing. Visual content marketing also involves video marketing. And it is quite a popular digital marketing best practice presently.
