Video and Social Marketing
Social media has grown immensely. Virtually any online or offline business or organization can benefit from producing and distributing promotional videos on the Social Media Platforms. Online marketers have discovered that there are many benefits on offer, not least: more traffic to landing pages direct from the Social Sites; and higher search engine rankings and more traffic from Google, Yahoo, and MSN. This generates more leads, more sales, and more profits!
Internet marketers, specifically, have revised ways to promote their products and services by using free platforms such as YouTube, Digg, Facebook and more, to attract prospects into their sales funnells. Indeed there is a glue that binds together YouTube, Viddler, Digg, Twitter, StumbleUpon, Flickr, MySpace, Facebook, Squidoo, Blogger, Ezinearticles, Yahoo Answers, Mininova, Knoll, Hubpages and Itunes.
These tools help build a list to enable database marketing, build backlinks to further SEO efforts, drive sales of existing products, find joint venture partners or super affiliates, listen and communicate better with clients and/or prospects, promote a new product and raise a company’s online profile and brand awareness.
Currently, the most popular sites are YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook. They help one find, develop relationships with, and communicate with prospects and/or customer base. Spending a percentage of one’s time to develop meaningful followers on Twitter, meaningful friends on Facebook, and legitimate subscribers to your YouTube channel, will reap additional benefits.
Video content will create a relationship with potential customers much more readily than traditional text or audio based content. A well “optimized” video, with a comprehensive “distribution” strategy, will generate incredible interest and traffic to your “offer” from video sharing sites such as YouTube, Myspacetv, Viddler etc. – some of the most highly trafficked sites in the world. The major search engines – Google and Yahoo have both adopted a “universal” approach to search rankings that is to include not just the traditional text based results, but higher rankings to photos, audio and of course mainly video content.
Well produced video content will quickly raise online profile to “expert” status. Customers will flock to a marketer ready and willing to be parted from their money. All the major video hosting sites are free. They are all eager to display and promote as many “sales messages” as you can send them. It’s their business. A win-win situation. They get their advertising cash, and you get exposure for a business.
Promotional Videos are relatively cheap to produce. Most of us have a camcorder, digital camera or camera phone. The software required is inexpensive or, in many cases, free. Becoming a Video Blogger will elevate one’s status and trust among the online communities and Social Networking groups. A good thumbnail of a video, along with carefully chosen tags and keywords, will “grab the attention” of potential clients on the most highly trafficked search engines and social media sites, to give one a huge advantage in an ever increasingly competitive marketplace.
There is a downside to this kind of marketing, though. You don’t own your profile pages, for example on Twitter, and you don’t own your Blogger’s blog. These can be, and sometimes are, removed without warning. Wordpress, in particular, can be ruthless if they suspect spam. A particular site may go bust or change their online strategy, which may not include your particular page. So it is essential, at some stage, to develop your own hosted platform, preferably a blog system, as it has many advantages over a static site. Don’t expect to benefit from it if you are a spammer, or “get rich quick” character. It takes work, organization, and most of all a clear understanding of what’s involved, along with a step-by-step plan to follow. You don’t need to be a professional marketer or SEO expert to promote your business on the Social Platforms, just learn what it is necessary to know and take action.
Key Marketing Strategies for Online Businesses
Thinking of starting your own online business? Well then, for starters you’d better hire a professional to help you set up your website. But if you think money will come rolling in just because you’ve set up your own website, you’re wrong. There’s still much to do to ensure you have a strong marketing presence. Here’s a rundown of tried and tested marketing strategies you can employ to launch your online business to success.
1. JUMPSTART TARGETED INTERNET TRAFFIC
Your goal is to make yourself known to the virtual community. There are several ways by which you could achieve this:
Participate in online message boards and forums in order to network with a large group of people. Enlist in forums and message boards dedicated to your industry, and get involved in productive exchanges that will help you provide insight on your company and what you do. Grab the opportunity to appear on live chats and web seminars—these permit you to become a public speaker to a virtual global audience without the expense of travel. Don’t forget to lead them back to you and your company’s site by leaving links they can follow.
Get your articles published online. Capitalize on your expertise in your field by getting articles published online. There are websites on the Internet that drive web traffic for revenue. Submit articles to these sites and get millions of people to know about your views. Create content that targets meaningful and current events, and then make sure that you provide links to your company website. Get articles published on as many websites as you possibly can, and you should start to see the traffic to your website increase over time.
Optimize online search engines. Hire a professional to create website content that is optimized for the major search engines as they can help you increase your web traffic.
2. CREATE LONG LASTING VISUAL IMPACT
People are influenced by visual stimuli. That is why they form opinions about your business at the click of a mouse. Visual impact is an interplay of various factors. It starts with physical appearance: Does your logo look professional? Do your site’s layout and format provide a positive reading experience? Is your choice of colors stimulating? Are your photos clear and appealing? Make sure a visit to your site provides a pleasant experience. Then of course, along with making sure you’ve got your bases covered when it comes to the superficial level, you must commit yourself to providing good content and outstanding service.
3. GET THE BENEFITS OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
Social media are typically internet- or mobile-based tools that allow you to communicate with business partners, customers and potential clients in a comfortable and conversational manner. Find the right social media marketing vehicle for your business. Get to know the people in your social network, don’t just try to sell and promote your products or services. When you interact, you create relationships; when you create these relationships, you create opportunities to share your products and services. Make social media marketing work for you by taking genuine interest in establishing relationships. This takes a lot of time and effort. If you can’t do it yourself, hire someone who can do it for you.
Nobody wants to be called a flash in the pan. That is why it would take a lot of hard work to establish and maintain an online business. But if you are enthusiastic, dedicated and consistent, success would surely be within reach.
What is Personal Branding?
Personal branding requires managing one’s reputation, style, look, attitude and skill set the same way that a marketing team would run the brand for a can of Pringles or bottle of Coors beer.
The central idea is that you can develop a set of symbols and associations with oneself, granting one’s name, face and work the same benefits that companies with unadulterated brand equity (like Coca-Cola or Apple) has the benefit of.
If one does not have confidence in oneself or in his or her work then he or she will have a lot of trouble branding himself or herself. There are several ways to build one self-confidence but what it actually comes down to is improving one, constantly and laboriously.
Where Does Personal Branding Take Place?
Personal branding is not something wherein one can invest an hour or two in, and then never have to think about again. It’s a 24/7, full-time job that takes a lot of attention and tenacity. Fortunately, once one gets into the habit, it’s something that can fit effortlessly into one’s life without having to keep it at the forefront of her or his mind. One will definitely need to take stock of and make changes to one’s personal and professional life and most likely make some changes to both.
When Should You Start Branding Oneself?
Unless one has a time machine, today, right now, is the very best time to start working on one personal brand. Whether you realize it or not, you probably already have the beginnings of a personal brand that you’ve been building up since you began one professional career. Whether you want to continue in this direction or strike out with a whole new brand, the sooner you get started pushing that brand the direction you want it to go the sooner one brand will be strong enough to help you get where you want to be professionally.
Why Do You Need a Personal Brand?
There are many reasons you should want to develop a personal brand. Building a positive reputation can lead to increased word-of-mouth advertising for you and one services. When one reputation spreads and precedes you, it also makes interactions with potential clients that much easier, allowing you to spend less time convincing them to hire you, and more time negotiating the scope of services and payment (and actually working on the project).
Managing a personal brand helps you build a kind of brand equity, which will grant one name and products a certain star power.
By recognizing and optimizing one personal brand, you will become part of and associated with specific ideas, movements, aesthetics, cultural attitudes and people. The more you refine one brand, the more targeted one message becomes and the more you will be doing the work you want to do, with the people you want to be working with, and at a price point that everyone can agree on.
And those are just the short-term benefits! In the long run, taking the time to filter out the rough and think through what kind of professional you want to be and how you want the rest of the world to see you can actually make you a much more skilled, fulfilled and happy person.
It was Abe Lincoln who said, “I don’t think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday.” Don’t be looked down on by Abe: improve oneself today.
LEARNING FROM MORTGAGE BROKERS:
Marketing Strategies That Can Help Success-Seeking Entrepreneurs
The mortgage brokerage industry is one of the most lucrative and highly competitive businesses ever. That is why mortgage brokers need to step it up and make their presence felt in order to attract a large clientele. Every success-seeking entrepreneur can take a page off the mortgage brokers’ marketing strategies book and apply it to his own circumstances. Let’s take a look at these strategies we can benefit from.
PUT YOUR BEST FOOT FORWARD
Marketing professionals will tell you that YOU are your best marketing tool. Therefore, the first thing you have to do is capitalize on your development.
Show your clients that you’re the master. As with any business, product knowledge is vital for success. Clients need to hear the confidence in your voice when you do business with them. They will not secure your services if they feel that you aren’t the best person to help them with their needs. That is why it is important for you to master your product and equip yourself with confidence and charm.
Write it Right. Correspondence is at the heart of every business. Make sure that you practice effective written communication skills. Make sure to use the correct tone in your correspondences and that they are error-free. A well-written correspondence reflects efficiency. Retain the services of someone who can help you with your communication needs—or better yet, master effective writing skills yourself.
KEEP ADDING TO YOUR PIPELINE
The key to a successful business is to make sure you get clients to your door. No matter how good your product or service is, if you have a weak client base, business will not prosper. It is vital to keep adding to your pipeline. Explore various ways to retain and bring in clients.
Get Referrals. Make sure you never run out of prospects. Let people know what you do and how they can contact you. Ask for referrals. There might be a prospective client for you from your present network’s own contacts.
Build and Cement Relationships. Creating good relationships brings about more business. Goodwill has a great power of attraction. Use goodwill to draw potential clients and retain the ones you already have. Why not provide freebies? It can be simple, useful items or even non-tangible ones such as free downloads on the internet. Hosting free seminars is one other way of establishing goodwill. Many people welcome learning opportunities, especially if they are free.
Remember when your mother told you not to forget your “please” and “thank you?” Well, she was right to remind you as these two words are magical and have a wonderful way of establishing relationships. People appreciate gestures of gratitude as it makes them feel valued. Make sending thank you notes a habit, it is one way of raising your income by large percentages.
Incorporate a personal touch to your business transactions. Remember simple things about your clients such as their names, how they like their coffee, the brand and color of pen they use, and the like. People dislike being treated as just a statistic. That personal touch will undoubtedly make them feel appreciated for the business they bring to you, and they wouldn’t have second thoughts of doing business with you again or recommending you to a friend.
Establish mutual relationships, refer and be referred. With any business, establishing a wide network of contacts is very important. Not only does it help facilitate smoother business transactions by knowing who to contact for a specific need, but also because there are rewards for helping your contacts increase their business. People you’ve done a favor for feel “indebted’ to you and in return send business your way too.
NEVER STOP MARKETING
Continuous marketing is the lifeblood of a business. Effective marketing will ensure visibility of your product or service. Here are tried and tested strategies to help you along:
Send out press releases. It is important that clients know how great you are. This is what would make them choose you. Sing yourself praises by regularly sending out press releases that boast about your accomplishments.
Blow your own horn—be a braggart (but with subtlety). Generally, bragging is considered negative. But in this case, it is simply pointing out the things you achieved because in business you want to be valued. Make sure your client knows what you have done for them. Increase your value factor by making your client aware what you are getting paid for, and so that he would refer you to someone else in the future.
Leave tracks and make your presence felt. It’s all about increasing your visibility. Establish a website where you can blog about frequently-asked-questions in your line of business, your clients’ successes, and other informative matters related to your business. Practice pre-emptive blogging and give your readers the heads-up about things that will be happening in the community and in the market. Establish more credibility by sharing your views regarding current issues related to your business. Make your presence felt by joining business forums and remember to provide a link back to your site to increase traffic to your site and thus increase your visibility.
Putting your best foot forward, constantly adding to your pipeline, and continuous marketing are just a few of the marketing strategies we can borrow from mortgage brokers’ book. Give these marketing strategies a try and see your business grow faster than you ever imagined.
Converting your brick and mortar to an online business
Most goals and strategies that work with brick and mortar are appropriate online too, and vice versa. The underlying concepts are identical, but executions differ. Some might have the tendency to look at brick and mortar and online marketing in different ways, building distinct strategies and marketing plans for each.
Directing and delineation are rooted in the idea that a business’ products, services or ideas are helpful to some people and not to others. That principle remains unchanged whether one’s business is online or brick and mortar. One differentiates his or her business from competitors with the purpose that people can value the benefits that a business brings to them that others do not. One targets an audience by imparting marketing messages so that those benefits are uncovered to the people who need them. For brick and mortar, that could mean advertising in certain newspapers that target customers read. Online, those same messages can be delivered straight from one’s Website. It may also be through pay per click advertising or by means of emailed newsletters.
