Category Archives: Video marketing

How to Increase Your Company’s Success through Online Videos

Small Business Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Video marketing, Viral marketing, YouTube Marketing

Success through Online VideosBusinesses today have to make more and more adjustments to our ever-changing world. As nearly all business operations are becoming digitized, one modification that any business can and should make is using online venues to share videos with viewers. Television commercials and advertisements are still effective, but it is becoming common and almost expected that a business will have a social media presence. Facebook and Twitter aren’t enough on their own anymore.

Where to Begin

It can be overwhelming to decide the when, how, what, and where with your videos. There are four very popular video outlets right now: YouTube, Vine, Instagram Video, and Vimeo. Each of these applications has its own pros and cons. YouTube is the most accessible of the four. There isn’t a time limit set for YouTube videos. However, the advertisements can be a distraction to your own marketing strategy. Vine and Instagram Video are most effective if your company has an actively used Twitter account. These apps are fantastic to use for short teasers of new products or ideas that your company is up to. It’s best to keep these shorter and more engaging for your audience. Vimeo is mostly used by businesses to put a video on their website. Unlike the other sites, Vimeo is not free for business use. However, it is a fairly good deal and provides you with storage space, commercial free videos, mobile compatibility, and your own company watermark on the video. Vimeo is less likely to go “viral” but has a more professional feel to it.

Many companies have wisely utilized the use of videos for advertising their product or services without making it seem like just another commercial. Do not use your online videos like you would a television or radio advertisement. Your videos do not have to be a perfectly produced work to put on the Internet. It can be as simple as how to use a product, introducing the CEO, showing bring your dog to work day, etc.  Anything that will engage your audience is going to be successful in some way.  Above all else, remember to respect your audience. They won’t be interested in something that is too juvenile or too sophisticated for them. Make it worth their time to be watching your video.

Inject Humor

One extremely entertaining YouTube channel to spend time on is the Blendtec channel. They have been making videos for 6 years. A marketing technique they often employ is to place different objects (like glow sticks, baseballs, and cell phones) in their blenders to see if it will blend. Of course, they know their product so it always works. Their videos combine entertainment with showing off what their product is capable of doing. Taco Bell also has an impressive online presence. A lot of this comes from the fact that they are willing to be humorous and entertaining but also keep their actual appearance professional. Their twitter feed is full of funny interactions with customers and their YouTube account has plenty of videos about people just having fun at Taco Bell locations. But when you visit either of their accounts, you can see that they have professionally designed their pages so you know that it is really Taco Bell running the account.

Just Do It!

Online videos are a simple way to reach more consumers and make your product known. It can also be a great way to show a different side of your company or your services. Take advantage of social media and networking sites. They are telling you exactly where you can find potential customers, all you have to do is find a way to engage them. Remember to have fun with these videos and make a lasting impression on your viewers.

Our guest post was provided by, Jake Magleby who has written extensively about effective marketing, sales, and financing strategies to help Utah ecommerce website design services. He also has an interest in education and development.

The Most Important Social Media Sites For Small Business In 2013

Pinterest, Small Business Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Twitter Marketing, Video marketing

Social-Media-Marketing-Top 3 for 2013Any small business can tell you, time is money.  Anything you have to pay for might give you some more time, but it literally takes money out of the college fund in the process. Unlike major international corporations, small business is all about making choices both in terms of time and expenditures.  That situation has led me to create this short social media guide for small business, the sites you should be using starting today.

Youtube, or a video site of your choosing: I’ll preface this by simply saying that the average business doesn’t do video marketing well.  That being said, there is an abundance of opportunity at play here.  Take someone like Gary Varnerchuck who built his own wine store into a 30M+ behemoth (it was originally a small local New Jersey based store) after starting to tape wine reviews that simply weren’t boring like all the others.  He also became a social media star in the process, opening an inordinate number of doors along the way.  If you’re in an industry without a ton of competition in the video niche, why not give it a try?  Some basic video editing software and spending a little cash to have someone create an intro video for you is about all you realistically need.  The results can be immediate and long lasting.  It’s a well known fact that people tend to stay on webpages longer if they see a human face looking back at them, why not take advantage of that by including some video on your site?

Pinterest: Almost all of us have to take pictures in one way or another for our small business.  Be it pictures of wine bottles for my own wine site, or pictures of wineries and vineyards in our blog, I’m sure you have just as many opportunities even if it takes some time to figure out exactly what they are.  The good news about Pinterest is that, users seem comfortable with some level of marketing going on.  Sure, it’s nice to post a variety of pictures on your account, but more importantly no one is going to have an issue when you put up images of each and every one of your products.  If the images and products are good enough, pretty soon you’ll see people sharing them.

Twitter: I saw a car advertisement on television last night that used a hash tag, I think that shows how well Twitter is ingrained into popular culture. While Facebook easily has more users than does Twitter, Twitter makes it much easier to find new business (in my opinion at least).  The reason for that is pretty simple, Facebook is a relationship based site, people you know are the people you interact with.  Advertising can bring in more views and likes for your business, but that isn’t necessarily cost effective for most small business.  Twitter is different in that it is set up by interest.  For my small business, there is always a wine conversation and there are plenty of normal consumers on Twitter saying that they enjoyed a Mondavi Cabernet last night, which is an open invitation for me to ask if they’ve ever tried a different, cheaper and better winery.  I think if you spend some time on Twitter, you’ll see much of the same thing in your industry.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this short article about using social media for small business.  I know for small business, it’s all about ROI, so having a clear sense of focus and goals makes sense!

Our guest blogger, Mark Aselstine, is the owner of Uncorked Ventures, an online wine club based in San Francisco that aims to deliver the highest quality wine in the industry each and every month, directly to his customers front door.  Oh and yes, he wouldn’t mind being the next Gary V.

Outside The Box Creative Marketing Tips

Blogging, content marketing, Copywriting, SEO, SEO video, Small Business Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Video marketing, Viral marketing

Business people should all know the importance of online marketing. Furthermore, from SEO to social media, we should all know the tactics, ways and methods of advertising and promoting a business, service or product online. However, there is also a plethora of online marketing tactics that aren’t as known or thought of as much. Here are a few online marketing tips and strategies that will require a bit of thinking outside of the box.

Video is King among content marketing

Video is a Content King

When it comes to optimizing and creating online presence through content, a lot of SEOs and online marketers choose to go for written content as the surest means. Now written content is king, and blogs and articles are vital for online marketing, however video is also a content king that cannot be ignored.

Google love videos, as do most internet users. YouTube, along with a host of other video sharing websites should therefore be utilized to the maximum in order to draw more interest in for a brand.

Start Up a Blog

Starting up a blog in order to draw attention around your business is such a basic internet marketing idea that it should not even be defined as creative, or ‘outside of the box’. However, there are surprisingly still plenty of businesses without an online blog, which suffer because of this limitation.

The internet has revived humanity’s love for reading, and while most aren’t quite on Shakespeare’s level of literature, blogs fulfill our need to read. Build a blog around the field you’re marketing within and ensure that your opinions are intelligent, original and insightful. Make sure that your blog is identifiably linked with your business. If this is done correctly, readers will begin to align their positive thoughts on your blog to your business and products.

For example, if people think your fashion blog is a trustworthy authority on fashion, then they will trust your authority on the clothes you sell.

Online press

Online Press

Marketing online through literature isn’t all about self-blogging however. You should find online magazines, blogs and online newspapers and try to get other sources to write articles on your business or products.

Conduct an outreach campaign using Outreachr, and find as many potential blogs or magazines that will want to write about your business, or write an article that is hyperlinked to your business.

Make sure that these websites have customers reading their articles and a high domain authority.

A website with a low domain authority, won’t be worth very much as Google only really values websites with a strong online presence when ranking.

It is also important to ensure that these blogs have a fair amount of readers (which usually correlates with their domain authority).

The written content should not be duplicated either and last but not least, the articles written on your business should be of high quality. After all, you will of course want people to read these articles and no one will waste their time with material that isn’t engaging or content that is poorly written.

Our guest post is by Stephen Brian

a content writer and webmaster who lives in the Kent, England.

5 Web Trends Every Business Should Know

SEO, SEO video, Small Business Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Video marketing, , ,

5 web trendsWhether you conduct business in cyberspace or run a local small business, the Internet inevitably will influence the success of your business. Recent years have seen web technologies evolving at an astonishing pace. These five trends represent some of the most vital web trends that businesses should know and consider.

1. Cloud Services are becoming Standard

Cloud services have leveled the playing field between businesses of all sizes. Unfortunately, this also means increased competition. With the cost savings and productivity benefits of cloud services, many businesses will need to consider not whether they can afford to utilize cloud services, but whether they can afford not to use them. From allowing more work outside the office to managing clients, cloud services offer affordable ways to accomplish more at prices any business can afford. For an in-depth guide on cloud services, consider this guide at InfoWorld.

2. Webinars are changing the Way that Businesses Conduct Video marketing

From product demonstrations to question and answer sessions, webinars are quickly becoming a popular way for businesses to engage their clients and customers. Though in-house events and promotions will always have their place in business routines, webinars are becoming an ever-popular way to invite others into some aspect of your business and to build up buzz about a product launch or event. These online events are also a great way to capture information for marketing purposes. Chris G offers a brief overview of how webinars work and what they have to offer your business.

3. Virtual Environments are the Next Hot Trend

Virtual environments, such as those offered by InterCall, are one of the newest ways to host events and extend your business’ online presence. From virtual trade shows and meetings to employee training or online learning, virtual environments combine popular elements video marketing, Internet conferencing, webinars, trade shows and other business events with an easy to use Internet interface. This allows customers, clients or employees to attend from anywhere in the world with a few clicks of their mouse. Many virtual environment hosts make it easy to customize the environment with branding and other visual elements for increased engagement and marketing potential as well. As an emphasis on globalization, cloud services and other technologies continues to grow, this innovative solution will become more popular.

4. Internet Video Conferencing is becoming increasingly Affordable and Vital

Video conferencing is helping to eliminate physical distance as a hindrance to business communication and productivity. From small team collaborations and personal conversations to full-scale conferences with hundreds of attendees, there are a variety of platforms available to meet business needs. Most modern conference call services support numerous ways for attendees to get involved. Features, such as collaboration, conference archiving and file sharing, provide numerous benefits over traditional or phone-based conferencing. Whether they are streaming the conference to their smart phone while on a business trip or sitting in a virtual conference center with other attendees, the result is a fully interactive and engaging experience for everyone. Computer World recently outlined 7 of the most popular solutions.

5. Social Media is Here to Stay

In the last year, social media has solidified its place in the business process. While the coming year will likely see many businesses analyzing the benefits of social media with increasing depth, it is certainly not going anywhere. Customers are beginning to view social media as a common communication platform as well. A recent post at eWeek outlines some of the findings from a recent Gartner study on social media expectations. Gartner predicts that by the end of the year, businesses that fail to establish a social media presence and monitor it regularly could see a significant backlash from both existing and potential customers. If your business has not yet established a social media presence, BlogTyrant offers a great guide on choosing the right platforms and getting started.

The Internet continues to change the way that the world does business. From making it simple to communicate around the world to providing new and powerful ways to market your brand or products, the Internet is an essential tool for any business. These five trends are likely to shape businesses in the coming year.

About the Author: Stephan Jukic is a freelance writer who generally covers a variety of subjects relating to the latest changes in white hat SEO, mobile technology, marketing tech and digital security. He also loves to read and write about location-free business, portable business management and finance. When not busy writing or consulting on technology and digital security, he spends his days enjoying life’s adventures either in Canada or Mexico, where he spends part of the year. Connect with Stephan on LinkedIn.