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5 Things Your Video Marketing Strategy Should Include - from www.forbes.com

5 Things Your Video Marketing Strategy Should Include

John Rampton

CONTRIBUTOR

This year has been called “The Year of Video Marketing,” as businesses find new, inventive ways to use the medium to reach customers. Videos stand out on social media, giving customers a quick overview of a product without overwhelming them with text. In less than thirty seconds, a customer can get the information he needs about a business through a short, visually-appealing video.

Thanks to developments in tech tools, it’s easier than ever to create a fun video at little to no cost. Businesses can use their own smartphone cameras or sign up for a service that creates animated explainer videos. But it’s still important to carefully craft a strategy for your video-marketing activities to maximize your reach. Here are five things your video marketing strategy should include.

Publishing Schedule

Just as you time your tweets and Facebook posts to run consistently, your video marketing plan should have legs, as well. Instead of posting one video about a new product, think of your campaign in terms of a series. What type of story can you tell that will allow you to post it in multiple parts over the course of several weeks?

Once you’ve determined the content of your videos, set up a schedule. Space the videos out evenly, timing them to lead up to a big product launch or event. Continue to strategize new video campaigns that can keep your brand fresh in customers’ minds long after that big date.

Short-Form Videos

Social media has revolutionized the way online users communicate with each other, with short, concise statements trumping longer forms of content. Micro-video apps shorten videos to less than ten seconds, making them ideal for sharing on sites like Twitter and Instagram. In this format, customers can quickly view a message as they scroll through their social media feeds. Brands can quickly send a message that will be seen by a larger audience, especially on Vine and Facebook, where they automatically play as a user scrolls past.

“With the emergence of micro video apps like Twitter’s Vine and now Instagram’s video sharing feature, we’re seeing even more movement toward real-time video sharing,” says my friend Jayson DeMers, founder and CEO of AudienceBloom. “And not just any videos; with Instagram allowing 3-15 seconds per video, and Vine allowing precisely 6 seconds, users are even more likely to create and share videos from their smartphones.”

Tutorials and Tips

One way to connect with customers is by posting tutorials relevant to your line of work. While it may seem as though you will be giving away your secrets, you’ll actually establish yourself as a subject matter expert, leading viewers to want to learn more about your business. A salon could offer styling tips, for instance, and a marketing firm could do a series on building your brand using the latest social media site.

Tutorials also provide built-in series potential. Rarely will you post just one how-to video. Provided your tips are useful, you’ll likely find customers keep coming back to see the next video in the series.

Customer-Generated Content

An even better way to connect with customers is to put them behind the camera. User-generated content is more likely to generate a response than company-generated content. Instead of spending hours coming up with a script and producing a powerful video, invite your customers to create one of their own. Offer a prize for the best video showcasing customer use of your product and you’ll likely get an overwhelming response.

The best thing about customer-generated content is that it will show other people’s passion for your product. When potential customers see that, they’ll want to know what all the excitement is about and possibly give your product a try.

Call to Action

One mistake many marketers make is in creating a great video without attaching a call to action. Customers may enjoy your message, but if they have no idea what to do after watching it, your hard work will have been for nothing.

The call to action can be something simple, like a coupon code for use on your website. For local customers, attach an offer of a discount for any customer who mentions the video in your store. Just a few words at the end of your video could lead to a conversion that otherwise wouldn’t have happened.

Video marketing is a great way for brands to stand out from the many text-based marketing efforts being launched each day. When conducted correctly, a video marketing campaign can help your brand reach new consumers and turn them into loyal customers.

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Twitter Basics: 5 Simple Steps to Get You Started - from Huffingtonpost.com

Co-authored by Monica McLemore, PhD, MPH, RN, assistant professor at the University of California San Francisco, and Candace W. Burton, PhD, RN, AFN-BC, AGN-BC, FNAP assistant professor at Virginia Commonwealth University.

First things first: what's Twitter? Twitter is a microblogging, content-sharing social media website, which is one of the most visited websites daily. On Twitter, you have only 140 characters to get your point across in what are called "tweets."

There are almost 6.5 million registered Twitter users who send nearly 58 million tweets per day. Twitter has been around for almost 10 years. It's not too late to engage and participate! Do you want to use Twitter but you don't know where to start? We hope this helps.

Here are 5 simple steps to get you started:

1. Choose a "handle"

Your Twitter handle is how you will be known so choose it wisely. Do you want it to be some version of your name, like ours (@MonaShattell, @mclemoremr, @DrCBurton); or do you want your handle to be "issue based", about something or some topic that you would like to tweet about (e.g. @NoStigmas, @FeministLady,@MenStopViolence), or are you part of an organization that would like to start a social media presence using Twitter (e.g. @WomenInHigherEd,@TurningPointBHC)? It may also be a nickname or something that has meaning for you personally, such as @barbs73 or @DataSnake.

2. Sign up for a Twitter account

Follow these simple steps to sign up for a Twitter account. All you need is your name, cell phone number and a password. The information you enter on the Twitter website will generate a text message with a confirmation code, which you will then enter in the website. If you do not use or like text messaging, you can use an email address for confirmation instead.

3. Write your profile

Your profile should describe who you are, if your handle is your name. If your handle is issue-based, it should describe in more detail what the issues are, and if your handle is for an organization, your profile should describe what your organization does. This is Twitter so it has to be concise -- you only have 160 characters, but you can direct the reader to another website, to give them more information. There are many free web services to shorten websites, which is important to do when every character counts. We tend to use bitly but there are lots of other options.

4. Choose and add a profile image

It's really important to add a profile image next. Do you have a recent headshot or an image that you are particularly fond of? Or, if you're setting up a Twitter account for an organization, your organization's logo works well as a profile image. The worst thing is to leave this empty -- the default Twitter image is an egg-shaped icon, and many users ignore any tweet from an egg on the theory that if the account is a real person, they'll have a picture.

5. Search, follow, and watch

Now the fun part. Open your Twitter account profile page and type the names in the search bar of people you know or are interested in following. Try key words for issues of interest. Consider following news (e.g. @nytimes, @HuffingtonPost), television (e.g. @CNN), and radio channels; organizations to which you belong or are interested (e.g., @AAN_Nursing, @ANANursingWorld, @NINR). When you find profiles that you are interested in following, simply click the "follow" tab. It's that easy. Once you have followed some profiles, you can click on your home tab to view your "feed" or timeline (TL). Your feed is all the latest tweets by persons who you follow. As we've said in, "Why Nurses Need Twitter," don't let the volume of tweets overwhelm you. You are not expected to keep up. Simply check your feed when you want and scroll through to see what's happening. You're on your way! Now go back and read our pieces on "Why Nurses Need Twitter" and "What are the Five Best Practices for Tweeting from Conferences?" to help you benefit from your Twitter account. Happy Tweeting!

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6 Ways to Use Short Video for Social Marketing - from www.socialmediaexaminer.com

6 Ways to Use Short Video for Social Marketing

By Donna Moritz Published February 11, 2015

Have you considered sharing short video content as a social marketing tactic?

Do you think video is only for the big brands with big budgets?

If you haven’t explored short video for your business, you may be missing out on an opportunity for more reach and shares.

In this article you’ll discover six ways you can use short video to grab attention. With the examples below, you’ll find plenty of inspiration.

Discover 6 ways to use short video for marketing.

Listen to this article:00:0000:00

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Why Short Video?

While you might naturally think of YouTube when you think of video, it’s not the only platform embracing video content.

From the moment the first movie trailer was released on Instagram, it was only a matter of time until marketers and businesses began to embrace the power of short video—and the ease of sharing it in places other than YouTube. There has been a rush of creative video produced by brands ever since.

In fact, short-form video content is streamed to us in a range of formats on a variety of social platforms—6-second Vine videos, 15-second Instavids on Instagram, 2- to 3-minute videos on Facebook and news feed videos on Google+. LinkedIn also features video via Professional Portfolio and videos can be “pinned” to Pinterest.

But why is short video so popular? The shift is likely due to a number of factors. The attraction of short-form social videos lies in their “snackable” nature.

Short videos suit our busy lives, brief attention spans and the need to consume content easily and quickly. Because fans are consuming content via their mobile devices while they’re on the go, the shorter the content is, the better.

#1: Show How to Do Something

Showing your fans how to do something (e.g., solve a problem or challenge or use your product) is perhaps one of the easiest ways to jump into creating short video content.

For example, Video Meals has attracted thousands of loyal fans on Instagram by using video snapshots overlaid with spoken step-by-step instructions for creating a healthy meal. These quick videos drive traffic to the Video Meals website and ebook with a link in the description.

And take a look at these videos on fitness site MelissaMade. Melissa creates split-screen video posts that show an exercise on one side, and her describing it on the other.

If this looks like technical wizardry to you, then you’re in for a surprise. Anyone cancreate amazing split-screen videos with a simple tool called Pic Play Post.

One challenge of creating short useful video is distilling your message into its simplest form. Lowe’s has a whole series of helpful how-to videos on their Vine account. It’s amazing what you can show in just 6 seconds!

With the tools available for creating short video content, it’s easier than ever to create a how-to or DIY video. The shorter the video and the simpler the steps, the more likely fans will love it, use it and share it.

#2: Highlight Your Skills

Zach King is a huge success on both Vine and Instagram. Known as the Final Cut King, Zach creates addictive special-effect videos that show everyday situations with a twist! Because each video is short and engaging, it’s hard to watch just one.

By showcasing his skills and including a call to action with his videos, he’s not just being entertaining—he’s also bringing attention to his business (an online school that trains others in filmmaking techniques, including special effects).

For many people, seeing really is believing. Make your mark by showing your audience what you can do and how it benefits them.

#3: Showcase an Event

When a popular event or celebration is coming up on the calendar, it’s likely that others in your industry will be looking for relevant content to share. Clever brands get the jump on a season, event or celebration by posting short video content that’s primed for sharing.

Take a look at this clever video that MyKidsTime made using the Stop Motion app.

Not only did this video resonate with their fans, it was also shared often by other page admins who were looking for great content to post on Facebook around Christmas.

Think about what you can create for the next event coming up in your industry.

#4: Reveal a New Product

You don’t have to be overly promotional to showcase your products. You can make it fun by appealing to your audience’s natural curiosity.

For example, try a video reveal of your newest product. It’s not only fun and creative, but it also appeals to the side of our human nature that wants to be the first to know. HP used a simple video edit to showcase Sprout, their new product:

And active-wear company Lorna Jane featured some of their team to announce their summer shorts sale in a fun way.

Make it about the people, not the product!

#5: Go Behind the Scenes

A short video is a fun way to let your fans see the people behind the business—to show what happens behind closed doors.

Constant Contact often gives their fans a look at the people behind the company. In the following example, they posted a simple video of their Day of Service. Who doesn’t want to know more about a company whose employees have fun together—and one that contributes to charity?

Whether it’s a tour of your office, an event you’re attending or just some behind-the-scenes downtime, showing the fun side of your business can be more effective than just hawking your wares.

When you add short, engaging video to the mix, fans really feel that they get a sense of who you are as a company (not just what you sell).

#6: Use What You Have

Professional videos look great, but you don’t need a huge budget to make an impact. Creative marketers can do amazing things with simple props and everyday objects.

Lorna Jane pulled off a great little video with just a pad of Post-It notes and a Sharpie:

Some of the best short videos don’t rely on big-budget design and animation—they’re the ones that use everyday items. What can you create with the objects around you?

10 Hot Tools for Creating and Editing Short Video

1. Want to start creating short videos? Then you’ll want to consider using some of these tools.Just starting out on video? You can’t go wrong with Instagram’s built-in video tool. It allows you to film in sections so you can seamlessly join your edited video together in a professional way.

2. Hyperlapse is a clever tool by Instagram that allows you to create time-lapse videos. It allows you to condense longer videos for a short video effect—a speedy way to tell your story. Hyperlapse is perfect for behind-the-scenes videos and unboxing videos. You could even take your fans on a “quick” tour of your office.

3. Flipagram is super-easy to use and helps bring your images to life to create beautiful short video stories. It’s perfect for posting to Instagram or Facebook. Many people use the videos to give a shout-out to fans, review an event and more. It’s available in the Apple Store, and it’s available for Android and Windows as well.

4. The Videohance app truly makes your videos look beautiful. It allows you toedit in real time on your phone by adding effects, borders, light leaks, text, music and more. With Videohance, it’s easy to create something that looks quite professional! It’s available for iPhone.

5. The Stop Motion app is easy to use and so much fun. As an alternative to Google Play, it allows you to create videos with the fun stop-motion technique. You can also check out Stop-Motion Lite. Both are available on iOS.

6. Whereas other video apps focus on the visuals, Adobe Voice focuses on the voice and turns your story into an animated video in minutes. Speak into the device to tell your story in short sentences or sections, then add animation, images, photos, sound and text. It’s available for iPad.

7. Put simply, 8mm will take you back in time. This low-cost app allows you tocreate old-fashioned 8mm movies in real time. The app is available for the iPhone and iPad.

8. Not strictly a video tool, Cinemagram allows you to animate one part of an image, which is a cool effect, and one worth having in your kit bag.

9. The iMovie app is another in-phone editing tool you can use on the go. It has a lot of the popular features of the desktop iMovie program, allowing you to add audio, text and special effects from your phone. It’s available for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

10. Kinemaster Pro Video Editor is a full-featured video editing tool that enables you to work from your smartphone. It’s available for Android (but not all devices).

Over to You

The next time you check out your favorite brand on a social network, take note of any short video content they produce. What ideas do they spark?

With the video creation and editing tools we have at our disposal, it’s so easy for businesses to add short video content to their marketing mix.

Which video creation tactic or tool resonated with you? Are you already using short-form video to tell your brand’s story? Please leave your ideas in the comments below.

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Everything Marketers Want To Know About Social Media Marketing But Are Too Afraid To Ask - from marketingland.com

Everything Marketers Want To Know About Social Media Marketing But Are Too Afraid To Ask

Contributor Sahil Jain shares the top questions asked by marketers at a recent social media event, along with the expert panelists' answers.

Sahil Jain

More often than not, marketers and the companies they work for have limited resources. Unless you have an infinite amount of time or money, driving success on every single social channel is simply unrealistic.

So, what should you focus on as a marketer? Today, I’m addressing real business questions that every marketer should consider.

I was recently on a panel with speakers from LinkedIn and Facebook where we discussed social channels available to businesses and how to optimize your presence on them.

Over 1,000 marketing professionals attended the event, and there were hundreds of great questions. I’ve compiled a list of the the top questions that every marketer wants to know but is too afraid to ask — these are the actual questions (and paraphrased answers), simply stripped of any personal information (name, company name, etc).

Q: What Are The Two Social Media Platforms I Should Be On?

A: It really depends on what type of business you are and your objectives for the campaign. If you are selling to other businesses (i.e. you are B2B), then LinkedIn is an absolute must, and I’d couple that with Facebook or Twitter in conjunction with a Google AdWords campaign.

You should always have Google AdWords or Bing Ads running alongside your social efforts. Similar to display, social can generate awareness, while Google/Bing will help you capture intent.

Q: I Would Love To Use Social Media, But I’m Worried About Negative Feedback. What’s The Best Way To Get Around This?

A: Be engaged with your audience. Address all feedback diplomatically. When running social ad campaigns on Twitter, for example, you can actually filter out negative sentiment as part of campaign setup.

See this example of how Chipotle handled negative feedback.

Q: Should I Invest In LinkedIn Or Facebook? How Will I Know Which Platform Is Better Or A More Productive Use Of Time?

A: There are great reasons and use cases to invest in both. LinkedIn is highly accurate and where most individuals keep their professional profiles up to date. Many do not keep their personal information as up to date on Facebook.

If you are targeting B2B or business professionals, while LinkedIn may be more expensive (for pay-per-click advertising), it is the route to go from what we’ve seen. B2B on Facebook should not be written off, as it does work — but your approach from a targeting perspective may be different.

On Facebook, using the standard job title or job function targeting isn’t necessarily ideal. Be creative using custom audiences, lookalikes and overlap targeting. Keep in mind that Facebook is where most people are keeping in touch with their friends and family. Leverage that mindset in your creative or targeting (i.e. interest targeting).

Q: What Advantages Does Pinterest Have Over Facebook?

A: Pinterest is very new, so it is hard to know from a paid perspective. That said, here is additional information on Pinterest Promoted Pins.

Keep in mind that Pinterest is a highly visual network. It is great for retailers, makers, etc. Leverage attractive creatives on Pinterest that people are likely to re-pin to their pages; that is how you’ll get inherent virality.

Q: Will Facebook Or LinkedIn Provide Services To Help Launch My Digital Campaigns?

A: Unfortunately, at lower budgets, Facebook and LinkedIn do not have account managers who are going to build your campaigns for you or manage them.

That said, both companies are great in terms of documentation, tutorials, onboarding webinars and account managers who will help you with advice and early strategy.

Q: What’s The Best Solution For Small Companies That Go Global? Should They Have One Facebook Page For All Markets Or Separate Pages With Targeted Content?

A: That’s a great question. It depends on if you plan to promote in different languages or really appeal to those different international cultures with your content. It would be recommended to do both of these, in which case, a separate page per major international presence is not a bad idea at all and likely preferred.

That said, if you are stretched thin, a single page is fine. Just be mindful to target your paid channels/ads to the audience that will appreciate the content the most.

Q: I Am Looking To Build Our Profile And Followers / Fan Base. Any Suggestions?

A: Be sure to start by creating a Twitter handle, Facebook Page and perhaps LinkedIn Company Page for your organization. (Below is what AdStage’s social media presences look like.)

From there, create content your audience will engage with and begin building up a presence. Once you have started creating a reasonable treasure trove of content, start promoting that content using paid ads so that you can target new followers who may be interested in your brand.

Q: How Do You Manage Content On Multiple Channels Like Facebook And LinkedIn?

A: There are tools available to help you manage your campaigns on multiple networks including LinkedIn and Facebook.

That said, from a strategic standpoint, keep in mind what each network caters to. LinkedIn is more focused on B2B professionals whereas Facebook is where you mingle with your friends and family. Thus, your content should adapt to the different environments.

Q: How Often Is Too Often To Post? And, What Time Of Day And What Day Of The Week Do You Recommend?

A: It depends on the type of content and what network you are posting to. At AdStage, we post a few times per day on the hour. Our content is all help/how-to content that our followers learn from.

If you are posting promotional content, I’d recommend a slower cadence.

Q: What Types Of Posts Work Best? I Was Told A Picture With Words Performs Better Than An Ordinary Picture.

A: What I can tell you are types that don’t work well: random stock photos or photos of your logo.

Focus on something engaging, with minimal text, that shows the value they’ll get from the product/service/content. Here are some examples.

[CLICK TO ENLARGE]

Q: I Have Read That Content Should Be 20% Product Related And 80% “You” Related — Do You Agree?

A: I do agree — though I would always recommend to be as much “you” related as possible. By this I mean that it should speak to the users and their needs rather than just extol your product.

Help your readers become better at their trade and get value, they’ll then respect the brand that created the content.

Q: If I Use My Facebook Page To Post Offers, I’m Wondering What I Should Be Doing Next To Get The Most Out Of It?

A: Facebook has “Offer Ads” that you can explore using. This way, you can extend offers to users who are not just following your page.

The reason you want to use paid is that at some point, your organic reach will be maximized. Paid allows you to target and capture net-new audiences.

Q: Can Social Media Be Used As A Tool To Ask For Feedback Rather Than Using A Survey Tool Or Our Website?

A: Absolutely. Some of the largest brands tend to post questions to drum up user engagement on the given post.

You can see this use case often on Twitter. Many brands even promote the organic post to reach a much broader audience and entice them to answer the question or join the conversation(s).

Q: How Do I Get People To Engage With Something That Isn’t Inherently “Sexy”?

A: Imagery can make a big difference, and that’s the first thing that comes to mind.

Also, people are fascinated with gaining knowledge. Why not create content that peels back the curtains on the science, process and technique behind the trade? Then, target audiences that tend to have an overlapping fascination.

Q: What Metrics Should I Consider For A “Successful” Post? Does Number Of Likes Matter?

A: The answer totally depends on your goals. I don’t think Facebook would recommend just going for post engagement necessarily (likes, comments, etc.). Your piece of content should have a material goal.

Some other metrics to consider are conversion rate, time spent on the article, sign ups, email captures, and purchases. A successful post is one that leads to the achievement of your overall business goal.

Q: What Is The Maximum Or Minimum Audience Size That We Should Target Per Ad?

A: Your goal should be to maximize your target audience. Don’t go too broad where you start targeting people who are not in your intended target audience.

Q: How Do I Target People From Our Database On Social Media?

A: If you have an email, phone number or Facebook/Twitter ID for the people in your database, then you can use Facebook Custom Audiences and Twitter Tailored Audiences to target these users.

Here is a guide on how to remarket to these folks on Facebook. Twitter has a similar tool called Tailored Audiences and it uses a Website Tag or Twitter ID.

Q: When Should We Use Retargeting?

A: We strongly recommend you are always running retargeting campaigns alongside your native PPC campaigns.

Retargeting is limited as it only runs off of your website or mobile app visitors / traffic. So, your inherent reach will be limited.

Use PPC to bring new visitors into the funnel who will then be retargeted. PPC on LinkedIn, Facebook, Google, etc. should be used, at a basic level, to “fill the funnel,” and then retargeting is used to “nurture” that funnel of users you’ve brought in.

Q: What Do You See As The Next Big Platform In Social? What Will It Do Differently?

A: We aren’t yet sure which new social platform will emerge for the masses. Some are speculating Pinterest will do well, while others are focusing on more niche networks that cater to much larger brands like Snapchat. I think exciting platforms to keep an eye on right now are: Pinterest, Amazon and Apple.

Some opinions expressed in this article may be those of a guest author and not necessarily Marketing Land. Staff authors are listed here.

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Social Media Optimization (SMO) of SEO: 7 Key Steps - by Steve Rayson

Social Media Optimization (SMO) of SEO: 7 Key Steps - by Steve Rayson

From: http://www.socialmediatoday.com/content/social-media-optimization-smo-seo-7-key-steps

Social media optimization (SMO) was originally designed to drive traffic from social media sites such as bookmarking sites and social networks. However, SMO is now significantly more important and not simply because social networking has grown but because SMO also improves SEO performance. Good SMO will drive traffic from both direct social site referrals and from search engines.

The Origin of SMO

Social media optimization (SMO) was first used in 2006 by Rohit Bhargava in his article the 5 rules of social media optimization. At this time the core focus was driving traffic to websites from social sites.

This remains the core purpose of SMO as outlined in Wikipedia "SMO is similar to search engine optimization in that the goal is to generate traffic and awareness for a website. In general, social media optimization refers to optimizing a website and its content in terms of sharing across social media and networking sites."

The SEO Shift

In Rohit's initial article the focus of SMO was on linkability, portable content and easy bookmarking. This has changed over the years as social networks have changed and also as search engines have looked to social signals to help rank content. Wikipedia says "social media optimization is becoming increasingly important for search engine optimization, as search engines are increasingly utilizing the recommendations of users of social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ to rank pages in the search engine result pages."

Arguably traditional SEO focused on the technical structure of websites rather than the user experience or even the quality of content itself. SMO is very concerned with the quality of the content, the authority of the author and the user experience of interacting with the content and the author. These aspects of SMO can help improve SEO performance as search engines increasingly look for social signals to aid the ranking of pages.

This was highlighted very clearly by Joshua Berg and Mark Traphagen in a recent Google+ hangout on SMO and SEO. Joshua and Mark are two of the most knowledgeable people in this area and both commented on the growing importance of the social web to search engines.  Joshua Berg commented that “social signals provide a much better way of filtering out the noise and improving the quality of search results”  and Mark Traphagen agreed that “as the social web emerges it provides a better set of signals about what is valuable on the web.”

This was reinforced in a post last week by Dustin Stout. He concludes "social proof is now being factored into search engine rankings. There are various studies that have been done on this, but all of them agree that the more social shares a website or blog post has, the better it is likely to rank."

Social signals may not as simple as the number of shares or the size of a person's network. For example, the network size may be less important than who is in the network and who interacts with a user's content. Social networks provide vast volumes of data which can be analysed to identify patterns and collective preferences. Machine learning, the construction of systems that can learn from data, is increasingly being applied to this data to develop new insights so search engines are likely to use something more complex than just the number of shares.

Word of Warning: Excessive Link Dropping Is Not SMO

You might be tempted to think that one way to SMO your content is to join every LinkedIn Group, Google Plus community, etc., and to share links to your content seeking shares or comments. You would be wrong, very wrong.

This behavior is not only frustrating for other users but counter productive. Firstly real users are likely to unfollow you or hide your posts on Google Plus or even report your content as spam. The situation is even worse with machine learning. If there is no interaction with your posts and links, such as sharing, commenting or liking, then this would indicate to any machine trying to learn from the data that your content is not valuable. Thus the more you post the more your content may be seen as not valued or authoritative.

You would be far better focusing in specific communities and really engaging with a relevant audience and authoritative experts.

7 Steps To improve Your SMO

Joshua Berg is one of the leading advocates of SMO. He has promoted a seven step model REALSMO, which is:

Reputation - build your reputation as a reliable qualified source Engagement - encourage more engagement, sharing & reciprocate Authority - become a notable authority in your field of expertise Leadership - harness originality & creativity, be a Thought Leader Social - be social, find and engage sociable experts in your field Media - know your social media platforms to maximize influence Optimization - improve technical aspects to increase optimization These seven steps provide a good benchmark against which you can assess and plan your current SMO activity.

If I may be allowed to stand on the shoulders of a giant I would add my thoughts to each of these seven steps as follows:

1. Reputation

Your reputation in my view starts with ensuring you are either an expert or you act as an expert curator. This means undertaking thorough research and producing original content or curating quality content. This will make you a respected and qualified source.

Your reputation is also about how you engage and support people. Your reputation will be enhanced if you openly share your content and expertise including content that is not your own, engage with others through discussions and commenting, and if you are friendly and helpful to people.

I think fundamentally your reputation is enhanced by simply being helpful to people.

2. Engagement

You need to actively engage with your audience. This can include commenting, mentions, shares, likes, and plus ones. No one is as smart as everyone so share other peoples' content and provide a good user experience by providing feedback and comments.

You need to target the networks with which to interact and make it easy for people to interact. It may be that people will interact with content on your site but you may find a far greater number of people willing to interact in their existing communities such as Google+ communities and LinkedIn groups. You can combine these by using say Google+ comments on your blog. Asking users to create accounts on your site will discourage users from commenting so use existing social logins such as LinkedIn or tools such as Disqus.

You can also encourage people to engage with a call to action, for example if you find this article helpful please share it. If you think I have missed anything please add your comments below.

3. Authority

There are many aspects to authority. Search engines are interested in ascertaining what individuals and brands are seen as authoritative and trusted by real people on the Internet. The most obvious example of a move in this direction is Google Authorship. Setting up Google Authorship can help establish you as an expert and show your profile prominently in search results. For example. I have spent many years researching the elearning market and writing a monthly market update. Thus when you search for 'elearning market' you will hopefully see my result (image below) with my picture and a link to my profile.  

google authorship example

You can also enhance your authority and the value of content through social proof. In essence the more your content is shared through plus ones, retweets, bookmarks or likes the more it indicates the value and usefulness of your content. It may also encourage others to read your content. For example, my recent post on Google+ and SEO received over 2,500 plus ones and a thousand retweets. Hopefully this means a fair number of people found the article helpful and shareworthy. I am sure it also helps the SEO, as if you search for "google+ SEO" the article was at the time of writing appearing high on page one of the results page.

SMO best practices

4. Leadership

To me leadership is about high quality research, thinking and original content production.

A leader will research everything they can about their areas and share thoughtful insights which will add value to your audience. Poor quality content will be perceived as such and as a consequence will not be shared.

As a leader you can also create value for your audience through content curation. This means adding value to content by providing a summary, adding context or a perspective to the content you are sharing.

5. Social

You also need to build high quality networks, quality potentially matters more than quantity. Seek out the experts in your field, read what they say, engage them in debate and share your ideas.

6. Media platforms

It is important you focus on the right platforms and communities

Where does your audience hang out? Find and focus on the platforms, communities and groups where your audience hangs out.

Some platforms are far more effective in improving the SEO benefits of SMO than others. In my view the most effective platform is Google Plus for many reasons which are set out in the article I mentioned on why Google Plus will improve your SEO.

This was reinforced in recent days by the post I mentioned from Dustin Stout on social signals and Google+. His research led him to conclude that Google is counting all activity from all Google+ posts back to the original blog post. Thus in Dustin's view "Google is trying really hard to give your shared links all the social credit they deserve."

7. Optimization

I have included below some of my thoughts on the practical and technical aspects of optimizing your SMO below.

Share buttons - make it easy to share for users by adding share buttons to your content. You should also show the numbers of shares to demonstrate social proof.

Social Icons - group and display your social icons in a prominent place on your site.

Subscription options - group together subscription options such as email, RSS, and newsletters.

Shareable content -  some content is more readily shareable such as infographics or 5 top tips articles. I think this is partly because it is short and scannable. However, I hope and believe longer but well written content will also be shared.

Social login - use social login options to make it easy for users to comment.

Rich snippets - social networks pull in rich snippets, data designed to summarise the content of a page. These are very useful for users. The different social networks pull in this data in different  ways. Facebook uses OpenGraph, Twitter uses Twitter Cards and Google Plus will take values from OpenGraph, you just need to set up your authorship profile for your rel="author" tag to work correctly.  If you use WordPress you can use the Yoast plugin to manage and optimise these rich snippets

Title tags - Optimize your title tags for sharing, especially on Twitter where there is a character limit and include your name.

Images - they really do say more than a thousand words. Include images that add value and include an image that can be used as a thumbnail for your content.

Thanks again to Joshua Berg for his Real SMO framework and for the work of Dustin Stout and Mark Traphagen. I hope through my reflections and additions I have added some value to the way you think about and approach the SMO of your SEO.

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Check out this video to see what WeTubeU can do for you!

Check out this video to see what WeTubeU can do for you! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z9Xr3A8IxY

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Why online video is the future of content marketing - from The Guardian

If it were five years in the future, would you be reading this article or would you be watching it? As online video continues its inimitable rise, it's an interesting question to ponder.

By 2017, video will account for 69% of all consumer internet traffic, according to Cisco. Video-on-demand traffic alone will have almost trebled. Leafing through a swathe of statistics on the subject, I'm hard pressed to find any indicator that doesn't suggest rapid growth.

With online video quickly becoming a key means for people to satisfy their information and entertainment needs, small businesses that fail to include it in their internet marketing strategies will do so at their peril.

Video is the future of content marketing. That is, if it's not the here and now.Various studies show more than half of companies are already making use of the medium – a figure that's predicted to rise as more and more realise the possibilities. Nielsen claims 64% of marketers expect video to dominate their strategies in the near future. It's not difficult to see why.

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When it comes to potential reach, video is peerless. YouTube receives more than one billion unique visitors every month – that's more than any other channel, apart from Facebook. One in three Britons view at least one online video a week – that's a weekly audience of more than 20 million people in the UK alone. Video can give you access to all this. Video done well can give you a slice of it. What other form of content can do the same?

The success stories of videos that have gone viral are legend. A recent campaign from Volkswagen, for example, saw a trio of its videos viewed a combined 155 million times. If such numbers seem out of reach for companies without 12-figure revenue streams, they at least demonstrate video's inherent shareability. Engage viewers and they will share the video with others. They will spend longer on your website and more time interacting with your brand. For any social media campaign, any SEO exercise, video is without doubt one of the best tools in the kit.

It is naturally engaging and, in an age of information overload, it's vital for small businesses to offer content that is easy to digest; if not, consumers will simply move on. Video does this very well. If a picture paints 1,000 words then one minute of video is worth 1.8 million, so say Forrester's researchers. Little wonder then that Axonn Research found seven in 10 people view brands in a more positive light after watching interesting video content from them.

But is video really possible for small businesses? Absolutely. Production costs have fallen significantly in recent years and you no longer need to be a technical whiz to work out how to use it. Apps such as Twitter's Vine, with its six-second maximum clip length, have dramatically increased the opportunity for businesses on a limited budget to get stuck in. Nevertheless, if you're to realise a decent return on your investment, you will need to bear the following in mind.

Always consider the audience you are trying to reach and ensure the video is relevant to them. If it's not the most appropriate means of getting your message across, you are probably wasting your time.

Do not neglect social media and be sure to promote across multiple channels. If you want to fully realise video's potential, you must make it easy for users to find and share it. Don't neglect mobile either. Ooyala has claimed a tenth of all video plays happen on mobiles and tablets, and it's an increasingly important segment, with mobile phones holding 41% more share of video consumption at the end of June 2013 than at the start of that year.

Finally, be creative, not only with the videos themselves but in the campaign strategy you build around them. As my head of marketing likes to say, creativity wins over the cost of production every time. Get that bit right and video won't just be the future of content marketing, it'll be the future of content marketing for you.

Read more...

Bring the noise: the best marketing and PR for business growth

Live Q&A: Getting online marketing right

How to write a successful blog that also promotes your business

Chris Trimble is director of content at content marketing agency Axonn Media

- This piece was originally published in January 2014

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10 Laws of Social Media Marketing - from www.entrepreneur.com

10 Laws of Social Media Marketing - from www.entrepreneur.com

By Susan Gunelius

Leveraging the power of content and social media marketing can help elevate your audience and customer base in a dramatic way. But getting started without any previous experience or insight could be challenging.

It's vital that you understand social media marketing fundamentals. From maximizing quality to increasing your online entry points, abiding by these 10 laws will help build a foundation that will serve your customers, your brand and -- perhaps most importantly -- your bottom line.

1. The Law of Listening Success with social media and content marketing requires more listening and less talking. Read your target audience’s online content and join discussions to learn what’s important to them. Only then can you create content and spark conversations that add value rather than clutter to their lives.

2. The Law of Focus It’s better to specialize than to be a jack-of-all-trades. A highly-focused social media and content marketing strategy intended to build a strong brand has a better chance for success than a broad strategy that attempts to be all things to all people.

3. The Law of Quality Quality trumps quantity. It’s better to have 1,000 online connections who read, share and talk about your content with their own audiences than 10,000 connections who disappear after connecting with you the first time.

4. The Law of Patience Social media and content marketing success doesn’t happen overnight. While it’s possible to catch lightning in a bottle, it’s far more likely that you’ll need to commit to the long haul to achieve results.

5. The Law of Compounding If you publish amazing, quality content and work to build your online audience of quality followers, they’ll share it with their own audiences on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, their own blogs and more.

This sharing and discussing of your content opens new entry points for search engines like Google to find it in keyword searches. Those entry points could grow to hundreds or thousands of more potential ways for people to find you online.

6. The Law of Influence Spend time finding the online influencers in your market who have quality audiences and are likely to be interested in your products, services and business. Connect with those people and work to build relationships with them.

If you get on their radar as an authoritative, interesting source of useful information, they might share your content with their own followers, which could put you and your business in front of a huge new audience.

7. The Law of Value If you spend all your time on the social Web directly promoting your products and services, people will stop listening. You must add value to the conversation. Focus less on conversions and more on creating amazing content and developing relationships with online influencers. In time, those people will become a powerful catalyst for word-of-mouthmarketing for your business.

8. The Law of Acknowledgment You wouldn’t ignore someone who reaches out to you in person so don’t ignore them online. Building relationships is one of the most important parts of social media marketing success, so always acknowledge every person who reaches out to you.

9. The Law of Accessibility Don’t publish your content and then disappear. Be available to your audience. That means you need to consistently publish content and participate in conversations. Followers online can be fickle and they won’t hesitate to replace you if you disappear for weeks or months.

10. The Law of Reciprocity You can’t expect others to share your content and talk about you if you don’t do the same for them. So, a portion of the time you spend on social media should be focused on sharing and talking about content published by others.  

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Online Video Advertising is Growing Many Times Faster Than TV, Search, And Most Other Digital Ad Markets - from businessinsider.com

Online video is growing faster than most other advertising formats and mediums.

Video ad revenue will increase at a three-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.5% through 2016, according to our estimates.

That's faster than any other medium other than mobile. And much faster than traditional online display advertising, which will only grow at a 3% annual rate.

In a new report from BI Intelligence we explore the key drivers of the skyrocketing growth of video ads, examine the cost and performance of the emerging digital ad format, and look at the major players that are shaping the industry.

Access The Full Report By Signing Up For A Free Trial Today »

Here are some of the key trends we explore in the report:

Online video ad revenue will reach nearly $5 billion in 2016, up from $2.8 billion in 2013, while TV ad revenue will decline by nearly 3% per year during the same time period.

Video ad views exploded in 2013, topping over 35 billion views in December, averaging over 100% year-over-year monthly growth during the year.

Online video ads are significantly more expensive than other formats, but prices are steadily declining as more publishers rush into video, and placements open up.

Video ads have an average click-through rate (CTR) of 1.84%, the highest click-through rate of all digital ad formats.

Viewability, the question of whether video ads are actually seen by multitasking online viewers, has emerged as an issue, but we believe that overall demand for online video is too high for viewability to put too much of a crimp in the video ad market.

Streaming devices and connected TV accounted for just 2% of online video ad views in the fourth quarter of 2013, but companies like BrightLine are experimenting with formats to grow this new niche market.

The growth of mobile and digital video advertising has been paralleled by fundamental changes in the online advertising industry —  programmatic advertising, which we covered in a recent report, has begun to reshape the entire digital ad market, including video.

Newly launched video ad platforms have been among the companies to adopt programmatic tools, including real-time bidding, ad exchanges, and advanced analytics.

The report is full of charts and data that can be easily downloaded and put to use.

In full, the report:

Explores the key drivers of the growth of online video ads, and compares it to the growth in online ads generally

Examines how video ads stack up against other digital advertising formats in terms of both cost and performance.

Looks at the issue of viewability, and explains how the problem could impact future spending on video ads.

Outlines the major players in the video ad space.

Explains how startups like BrightLine and Alphonso are using innovative approaches to bridge the gap between digital and TV ad spend.

For full access to all BI Intelligence's charts and analysis on the video industry, sign up for a free trial.

BII

Read more:

http://www.businessinsider.com/digital-video-advertising-growth-trends-2014-5#ixzz3SQafPims

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Rancho Bernardo Rotary 50th Anniversary - Produced by WeTubeU

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How Social Media Can Elevate Your Marketing Automation

How Social Media Can Elevate Your Marketing Automation - From Forbes.com

Over the past two or three years, full-power marketing automation has finally become available to businesses of all sizes. It’s now relatively easy and affordable to set up systems of triggered messages that help your leads to progress along the sales funnel. And with an effective social media marketing program in place, you can attract new, highly targeted audience members who are likely to find your product to be a great fit for their needs... Read more at:http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnrampton/2015/01/12/how-social-media-can-elevate-your-marketing-automation/

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Didn't Get our January Newsletter? Sign up for our mailing list!

Clients, Associates and Friends, Happy New Year to all! I hope everyone had a good holiday season and your ready to get back to work. This is the time to really crank out promotions, email marketing, social media postings, press releases, video marketing and crowd sourcing programs. It is also a great time to evaluate the effectiveness of your website, add video, photos and testimonials. Make sure your blog is updated on a regular basis as well. We offer 2 hour complimentary consultations in the month of January to review your marketing plan, website and marketing collateral and get you started on implementation or revision. Call, click or email us today to arrange your session today. Please visit our YouTube channel at YouTube.com/WeTubeU1 for over 250 videos to view. Let's make 2015 your best year ever. All the best, Lane Elliott and the Staff at WeTubeU and Off the Rock Media Contact: Lane@WeTubeU.com www.WeTubeU.com Lane Elliott 858-391-8430 Office 858-869-5025 Cell

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Social Media Trends in 2015

Social Media Trends in 2015 It was a great year for social media in 2014, but what are the biggest trends to expect in 2015? We’ve collated the leading contenders.

1. Video is bigger than ever

We will see video dominate social media channels in 2015 as it becomes the medium of choice.

Last year Facebook surpassed YouTube on video views via a desktop, amassing one billion views a day -this was probably due to recent algorithms showing more videos on everyone’s Newsfeeds and its ‘autoplay’ feature.

More and more brands are jumping on this bandwagon with subtly branded videos popping up everywhere, not just on YouTube but Facebook, Vine, Instagram and Snapchat. According to Cisco, video will account for 69% of consumer internet traffic in two years’ time.

shutterstock_193510067

2. Organic (free) Ad reach is dying out

Historically, a post from a Facebook page with thousands of likes would typically reach about 16% of fans.However in 2014, it declined to around 6% as a report from Ogilvy states, forcing brands and companies to embrace its paid social advertising.

There’s more content than ever inundating users’ Newsfeeds, and recent algorithms mean organic reach might soon be a thing of the past. This doesn’t just apply to Facebook, but Twitter’s promoted tweets and Instagram’s sponsored ads, to name a few.

However a recent study from Forrester found that Instagram offered the most reach out of seven social channels with a per follower engagement of 4.21%. This means that for brands to remain relevant in 2015 they will have to up their spending on social media and diversify their strategies – Facebook likes isn’t the main goal any more.

3. Social media goes niche

2015 will see the rise of smaller, niche social media trends with a focus on hobbies, passions and privacy/anonymity.

Recently there has been a notable increase in focused social platforms becoming interest based and adapting to individual audiences such as; Fitocracy for fitness fans; Foodie for food lovers or Polyvore for shoppers.

While Ello, which has labelled by some as ‘hipster’, promises users to never sell their information to third parties or monitor their posts as it’s “creepy and unethical”.  It’s difficult to predict whether this millennial–marketed platform is a truly substantial contender for Facebook or a fad.

These are also Facebook’s independent Rooms and Whisper to throw into the mix, which are heavily geared towards anonymity. It will be interesting to see how brands target users of this trend.

4. Shopping on social

The first tentative steps towards Scommerce happened last year; the concept was probably obvious looking back. There have been various efforts to integrate commerce across social media channels, from Twitter to Pinterest.

Twitter created their Product Cards which feature an image, description and any key details – great way to highlight products and services to users.

Nordstrom’s innovative use of integrating Pinterest included their most popular Pinterest products with labelled signage instore and the Nordstrom hahstag. Jeff Bullas states “the campaign was so successful that today every Nordstrom outlet across the US showcases its most popular items on Pinterest with a ‘Top Pinned’ section inside physical stores.”

Twitter introduced the ‘Buy’ button to a segment of users in beta testing, with Facebook following suit. The ‘Buy’ button could potentially enable brands to increase sales though the simplified process (customers aren’t redirected to brand’s website). From: http://oursocialtimes.com/social-media-trends-in-2015-2/

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The WeTubeU team at the North San Diego Business Chamber's event at Z-Code Magazine!

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How You Can Embrace the Holy Grail of Online Marketing - from entrepreneur.com

How You Can Embrace the Holy Grail of Online Marketing By: Mikal E. Belicove Unless you’ve been sitting in front of a cathode-ray tube TV for the past few years, you’ve seen how important video has become as a marketing tactic. 

In fact, paid advertising on YouTube converts more customers than any other online platform, according to AOL Platforms. The number of digital video viewers in the U.S. is expected to increasen by more than 22 million between 2013 and 2017, according to eMarketer.

“Ultimately, video is so effective for business marketing because it works,” says Bettina Hein, founder and CEO of Pixability, a Boston advertising and video marketing platform for YouTube. “As the star power—and business pull—of video-content creators only grows, we’ll see more brands effectively leveraging their industry’s independent creators to cross-promote and co-create.” 

The beauty of online video is the fact that interactions and conversions can be tracked and measured—something brands could never do with precision on TV. According to the latest data available from the National Venture Capital Association, of the 4,041 VC deals struck in the last year, more than 10 percent (455) were for media and entertainment startups like those that help businesses and brands generate awareness and sales online. 

As evidence of interest in the online video space, Disney this year acquired YouTube video supplier Maker Studios for a reported $500 million, while Otter Media—a joint venture between AT&T and The Chernin Group—has taken a majority stake in Fullscreen, the largest independent YouTube network. Not to be left out, AwesomenessTV, one of the most-subscribed-to teen networks on YouTube, was acquired by DreamWorks Animation SKG, which went on to purchase Big Frame, a multichannel network that connects YouTube creators and advertisers, for $15 million.

So what’s next for online video, and how can entrepreneurs take advantage? 

Crowdsourcing platforms are promoting independent filmmakers and producers to small companies that want to leverage user-generated video. By partnering with the likes of Tongal.com, Poptent.com or Zooppa.com, a company can have its video marketing assignment seen by thousands of filmmakers across the world, many with built-in followings. The results can be used to help a business tell its story, engage its audience and drive awareness and traffic. 

Additionally, companies are turning to online native advertising (aka product placement)—no longer a tactic used exclusively in television or the movies. By aligning your business or brand with a YouTube creator whose following matches your target demographic, you can knock off multiple birds—content creation, audience alignment and a high-profile endorsement—with one stone. Branded Entertainment Network, Sponsify, MediaSpike and Brandertainer are among the companies that facilitate native advertising in online video.

Finally, there are the networks, which affiliate themselves with multiple online video channels. For businesses that possess the in-house talent and creativity to launch a YouTube channel, these networks can offer assistance with programming, funding, digital rights management, audience development and product placement under one roof. Among such networks are Collective Digital Studio, StyleHaul and ChannelFlip. 

As it turns out, the means for effective storytelling no longer resides exclusively within your four walls. Outsourcing for the creativity, production value and distribution you need to compete in the age of video makes sense now more than ever before.  From: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/239677

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"10 Digital Marketing Trends for 2015"

Get a jump start on your marketing in the new year with a video from WeTubeU! "10 Digital Marketing Trends for 2015" "Based on what we've seen in 2014, what can we expect in the  marketing world in the coming year? How should marketers prepare themselves?

It's the season of tinsel and top 10 lists, plum pudding and predictions — the time when marketers look ahead and resolve to evolve in the year to come. If you thought 2014 was full of surprises, wait until you see what the new year has in store" Read more at: http://www.clickz.com/clickz/column/2386192/10-digital-marketing-trends-for-2015