On the snowy, northeastern Christmas of my 11th year, our parents gathered all five kids around the kitchen table to deliver the news.
We were moving to San Antonio, Texas.
I was devastated. Texas? I imagined what our new home would look like.
We’d be miles from any neighbors — who would all look like they walked straight off the “Hee Haw” set — with a dusty, rock-filled front yard punctuated by the occasional tumbleweed rolling by.
If only I had access to online content back in those days, I wouldn’t have been terrified at all by the silly stereotypes I believed to be true.
But every day, the internet makes it easier to inform and educate them so we can bust through stereotypes and really connect.
Their false assumptions don’t stand a chance when you use the three techniques below to create a remarkable message that engages your prospects.
1. Showcase your product
Video is ideal for showing exactly how your product works and why it’s the best on the market.
One company that does this well is OtterBox, whose YouTube channel features lighthearted product demos and user-submitted stories that show customers putting OtterBox technology cases to the test.
Your video doesn’t have to be fancy. It’s more important to:
Edit carefully so your video comes in under three minutes — bonus points if it’s under two
If you sell a service, video can also make your offerings come to life. Interview customers who’ve gotten good results. Show all the benefits of your service by filming before and after videos. And build interest by aiming your camera at the end result, showing prospects what they can expect.
2. Share your reality
People enjoy doing business with actual people, not faceless corporations.
Show prospects you’re just like them by sharing a little about yourself on social media (once you discover where your customers are hanging out), on your blog, and in your email newsletter.
Keep it light, tie it in with a topic you know your audience is interested in, and include them in the conversation the first chance you get.
If your business is large, you can make your company more approachable by allowing employees to share personal details on your website or company blog.
Let them post photos, share their hobbies, or post short videos that show them outside of work.
Any time you share some of your own reality, your two-dimensional internet presence becomes more three dimensional, and that makes your company — and its offerings — more appealing to prospects.
3. Shatter your stereotypes
You may be in a business that people tend to stereotype:
All graphic designers are flaky, artsy types who can’t meet their deadlines.
All engineers are nerdy and use pocket protectors.
All web developers spend long days in windowless rooms and don’t know how to hold up their end of a conversation.
All writers are broke and have no business sense.
All accountants think about numbers all day.
Of course, none of these clichés are true.
If your business is typecast a certain way, accept it and set the record straight online.
If you’re a graphic designer, post an infographic showing how often you meet or exceed your clients’ deadlines.
If you own an engineering firm, post photos of the cool hobbies your employees spend time on outside of work.
If you’re a web developer, host a pool party and invite your best clients, then post a video on your website.
Content creation is such a huge slice of the Internet marketing pie. Ever had someone cut a piece of a pie, and then joke that the rest of it is their piece? When content creation does that, it's not joking.
Google updates its algorithms all the time, This isn't news, but the changes aren't complicated to understand, either. Basically, it's all about providing value to site visitors. And what do site visitors want? Quality content. BAM! Just like that, you understand it.
And in today's day and age of digital media, it's not all about written articles. Multimedia content opens a whole world of possibility to marketers and audiences. If you do it right, you can score viral levels of attention for your website with video content.
Not convinced? Check this out...
The Benefits of Video Content
There are SO MANY benefits to using video content, but here are the top three to be aware of:
1. You Can Target Multimedia Search Engines Like YouTube
When we hear "search engine," the names that come to mind are Google, Bing, or Yahoo. It's true that people find videos through those means, but more often than not, people bypass these search engines to search directly in the likes of YouTube or Vimeo.
If you don't have anything to show for their search, you're missing out on some potential traffic. You can see just how much you'd be missing out on in this snippet of an infographic from a Marketing Tech Blog post:
As you can see, YouTube is the second-biggest search engine (after Google) with more than 4 billion views per day. It's another way for people to find you, so why not take advantage of that?
2. People TRUST Video Advertisements and Recommendations
Yep, that second half of the infographic snippet above is bang on, too. Whether it's because they don't think scammers and spammers would bother with video production, or it's the human element that the visuals and audio can give to video content, consumers trust it.
Videos starring yourself (or a friend, if you're a little camera shy) can be the easiest of all to make, and the most endearing to an audience. Got a webcam? Or a phone with video capability? Then you're most of the way there! More about that in the "how to" section below...
3. It's Just Way More Interesting
People need to be entertained. They're fussy. Even when they want some boring information about a boring product, they want it to stand out and entertain them. Some brands are fantastic at it.
Here are two boring products with fantastic interesting videos to draw attention to their product and brand:
"Purina Friskies" Cat Food:
"PooPourri" Air Freshener:
Two boring products, cat food and air freshener, but I have seen these videos passed around friends just for entertainment. That's lot of exposure to people who weren't even searching for those products, but might need them either now or in the future. And that kind of video stays with you for a lot longer than a boring ad.
With the Internet constantly at people's finger tips, they're like a lazy emperor sitting on a throne, waving his hand absent-mindedly as he commands some poor visiting performer, "Entertain me, or I will cut off your head and move on without a second thought."
You need to catch consumers' attention as they watch videos on their iPads, sitting on their "thrones." So the next question is: How?
How to Create Video Content People Actually Want to Watch
The best way to tell you how to do it is to answer four basic questions about video content production.
1. Where Do I Start?
Everything must start with a concept! For some, this is the most fun part. For others, it's a dreaded mission akin to getting that dastardly ring to Mordor. Either way, the best advice I can give you is to look around for inspiration.
YouTube Searches for Concept Research:
Funny ads
Your niche name
Your product type (e.g., cat food)
Your product type reviews
"How-to" videos related to your niche
See what comes up, and just watch the videos that naturally stand out to you, not the ones that are boring. What makes them interesting? Do they still have enough information about the product? Think about what you would ideally like to create.
Obviously it doesn't have to just be a narrative video. You might want to just review a product, or create a how-to, but this research should still give you ideas for how you could add an interesting touch to your videos.
2. What Do I Use to Record my Own Video?
You basically have 4 main options for filming your own videos. They vary in quality and cost but they're all great options to get some video content going.
Webcam
Great for product reviews, or for how-to's if your webcam is portable, like a laptop cam.
Phone camera
Super portable, great for filming in any location without hassle, especially for short clips or "vines."
Your own camera
Own your own camera already? Great! Get some use out of it, play around with what you can do around the house or neighborhood...
Hire a videographer for a more professional video
This is obviously the most expensive option (unless you invest in a professional-grade camera of your own), but if you're already making some cold hard cash, it can be worth investing in this to get one or two key brand-promoting videos in circulation on the web.
Video production doesn't have to be hard or complicated. You just need to play around with a little trial and error to get your head around what you're filming.
After all, I hear that Albert Einstein was a pretty smart dude, and he said himself, "A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new." It's not about being Steven Spielberg straight away: it's about giving it a go and finding your groove over time, and having some fun along the way.
3. To Stock Footage or Not to Stock Footage? That is the Question...
If you don't want to do any of your own filming, you can always use some stock footage. I need to warn you though, that stock footage can look really, really bad... If it's too obvious, then you're losing a lot of the genuine nature that video content can bring to your brand as it starts to look outright fake and boring.
I'm not saying you can't use stock footage, I'm just saying I want you to do it right. Make sure that it's high quality... While perusing the Interwebs, as the kids these days call it, I came across this stock footage video:
This video was made by the stock footage site dissolve.com, which makes it another great example of entertaining brand promotion.
The footage itself is fantastic and beautiful, and you could use similar stock footage with amusing and obvious narration to make a point about your brand and why it's awesome.
I think the ultimate rule with stock footage is to not use it too seriously. If you are using it in a light or comical way, or even an inspiring story (being careful not to be cheesy or cliché) then it can be really great.
The bonus with stock footage is that you only have to do the audio. For this you have three main options:
Record it yourself: Again, a phone or webcam mic will do in a pinch.
Hire a voice actor to do it: You can find them on sites like Fiverr.
Use royalty-free music and subtitles for the message you want, either throughout, or just a title at the end to make your point.
Once again, be careful not to be too cheesy or cliché.
It's a good idea to use royalty-free music in the background of narration too, not just when using subtitles.
You can find royalty-free music by searching for it in Google, but you'll either have to pay for it, or hunt around to find something that's free AND good, which can take a little while... I know because I've done it myself!
4. What Do I Use to Edit my Videos?
Video editing can be the most daunting part for some people. I use Adobe Premier Pro personally, but that requires a bit of money and effort to get and learn to use properly. If you want something simple that won't break the bank, here are two great options for you:
Alternatively, you can hire a video editor to do this for you. A cheaper option would be to use a freelancer, once again from a website like Fiverr.
If you have a little more spending money to play with and you're after something really professional, even if you filmed the footage yourself on your phone, use a service like Candidio. These guys are really friendly. They gave me a Skype tour of what they have to offer, and I have to say it looks pretty darn good!
Any of the above options are fine. None of them are "right" or "wrong"; it all just depends on your budget and preferences.
The No. 1 Tip for Video Creation
I want to leave you with my own personal number one tip for creating great videos...
Just have fun!
It sounds silly, I know, but I can't stress this enough. Not only will it keep you motivated to keep working on your videos; it'll keep your videos interesting. If you find it boring, chances are others will too. If you have fun with it, chances are that will show through in the final product.
Life is too short to make bad videos. So have fun, and make great ones instead. Get some friends to help you out with ideas. Make a day of filming, and do some bloopers for you and your friends to watch with a cold beer or two at the end of the day.
Interview someone who's passionate about the topic of your niche. There's likely someone in your local community who will have a job that aligns with your niche topic, or some students who study it.
Whatever you do, just give it a go, get something up, and see if you can't get some nice new traffic opportunities for yourself.
A quick final note: Just like with your written content, it pays to do a little keyword research for your title to make sure that people can find it easily in YouTube or even via Google. You can easily do that using the keyword research tool in AffiloTools here. If you're not very familiar with keyword research yet, or it's something you struggle with, there's a free lesson for you here.
And of course, feel free to comment below if you have any tips for video content that I haven't covered. We'd love to hear 'em!
The internet has become increasingly cluttered since its development. Studies say that an average consumer is exposed to over 10,000 brand messages per day through social media. With that much content being targeted at consumers, it can be difficult for your message to stand out and be seen by your audience. Unfortunately, there is no secret formula to make social media posts go viral, but we do have some advice to better your chances of standing out from the crowd.
What Is Content Overload?
From Facebook to Snapchat, and all of the platforms in-between, there is a plethora of platforms your company can utilize to target your customers. Studies show that 94% of small businesses and 93% of B2B’s use content marketing on these platforms, that’s a lot!
The average attention span of any consumer cannot physically handle the amount of content that is driven towards them on a daily basis. To produce content that brings value to your company, you’ll have to stand out among the millions of advertisements and brand messages your audience is already exposed to. Why is content overload an important aspect to consider while you develop your digital marketing strategies? According to data from DOMO, there are 347 blog posts published every single minute on WordPress alone. There are also 200 million emails sent and 48 hours of videos uploaded to YouTube. With statistics like that, it’s more likely that your content will go un-seen by your consumers than it is that they will receive your message and respond to it. If you haven’t been considering content overload before, you definitely should now! At this point, you may be wondering, “What can I do? How do I develop a successful content marketing strategy?” Let’s find out.
Know Your Audience
One thing that successful content marketers all have in common, despite the various platforms and unnerving amount of content within them, is their knowledge of their audience. Not only do they know exactly who they’re trying to target, they develop separate pieces of content that targets each of their potential users.
Although it may be difficult to hone in on the various segments of your audience, it’s not impossible. There are a few different avenues where you can gain valuable understanding on what type of content to create.
Competitive Research
This is simple, what is your competition doing? Have they shared videos, posts, or blogs that have gained great traction from their audience? If so, your mutual target audience responds well to such content and it might be a good idea to develop similar content that can achieve similar results.
Feedback
Feedback is valuable at any stage during marketing strategy development. What’s the best way to get this feedback? Ask! Reach out to your audience and ask what type of content they’d like to watch on YouTube or read on your blog. Building surveys is easy! Pick a simple tool such as SurveyMonkey and administer them through your social media platforms, apps, newsletters, or website!
Analytics
Most websites or hosting platforms offer some sort of analytics page, even on Facebook and Pinterest! Take time to review these and discover what your users do on your website. What section of your website is most popular, which page yields the most utilization from your customers, and which pages tend to have a high drop-off rate? All of these analytics are clues to what your target audience is interested in. Build content around these topics and keywords to increase the amount of times they’ll land on your page, rather than your competitions!
Use Formatting that Works
Formatting can make or break the success of your content. Simple details, such as the font type you use, can impact how effective your content marketing is. There have been hundreds of studies that show most consumers respond well to interactive images or videos that are well-researched and are relatable to the consumers they’re driven towards.
Images
Images have clearly been the most effective form of content marketing on social media. Turning a long winded paragraph of information turn into a, highly-shareable, infographic can yield powerful results for you and your company. Proof of this can be seen in the mass amount of social sharing sites that revolve around images, such as Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr, and recently, Facebook! Did you know that a post that includes an album or picture receives 120-180% more engagement from consumers than text-based posts. On Twitter, Buffer has reported that tweets with images received 18% more clicks, 89% more favorites, and 150% more retweets! Images are clearly preferred by consumers, utilize them!
Supported by Research
Another frustrating aspect of information-overload and the ability to publish on the Internet is the amount of false information that can (and is!) published. Consumers know this, consumers see this, and consumers think about this as they’re exposed to digital marketing strategies. It’s important to prove your credibility to your consumers; it allows them to feel confident in sharing and quoting the data later. An easy way to break through some of the content overload clutter is by researching and sharing valid information!
Interactive Design
Interactive games, activities, and content are naturally appealing to our brains (and your consumers’ brain too!). This is why content like interactive infographics and quizzes gain so much traction among audiences.
You don’t need to design a quiz or develop a game in order to be interactive with your customers, but if you want to give that a try, Apester is a great resource! You can also try your hand at interactive videos through Zaption!
Videos
Similar to interactive design, videos are also known for getting positive results from target consumers. YouTube has been popular but we’ve also seen an increase in video popularity as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Periscope have developed more video-friendly platforms! Axonn Media recently conducted a study on 600 consumers and found that 75% of users shared video content more than any other type of content. 7 in 10 of those people stated that their perception of brands becomes more positive after consuming video content from brands!
Personality
One of the most important aspects about content marketing is relating to your customers and your audience. One thing, that has been proven time and time again, is real and relatable content that sparks some sort of emotion from your audience. Credibility of brands is more important now than it has ever been before, and adding personal touches and personality to your content is key. One great example of this is the Facebook page for Humans of New York, which continues to see follower growth and user engagement like no other.
The reason this page has become so popular revolves around the emotional vulnerability that each photo and post brings out.
Making an Impact
Content marketing is difficult; there is no secret recipe to building content that will immediately go viral. Making your brand stand out takes research through analytics, well-crafted content and effective delivery methods. Already have some fantastic content crafted and need to be sure it gets exposure? Use PushConnectNotify to share content with your audience. Combine your carefully crafted content with an effective delivery method, like push notifications, to stay in touch even when you may not be the first thing on a potential customer’s mind. When used correctly push notifications help your content stand out, rather than contribute to the information overload. And what could be better than that?
Difference Between Successful People. Do you know the 7 Things Successful People Do! That they will never tell you.7 Secret Things of Successful Young Entrepreneurs do on morning, evening and on work. Do you want to know about which things make successful people different from us?
Successful Young Entrepreneurs are always worried about what they have planned and feel insecure about how to get it done. But, the main thing they have is a self-esteem and self-motivational power.
The following 7 Things Successful People Do That they'll Never Tell you.
1. They have weird routines 2. They are ALWAYS positive 3. They believe in themselves 4. They accept criticism 5. They visualise success 6. They are humble and philanthropic 7. They follow their heart
They do not stay cooped up in their own comfort zone. They reach out, take risks and face their fears. Risks help them reach their potential. Adversity makes them stronger and more capable.
The must know content marketing statistics to benchmark your plans against this year
Content marketing is now at the heart of marketing and we can see how important it is since marketers rated it as the most important technique for driving incremental sales in 2017 in our 2017 marketing predictions article. But what is content marketing? It means different things to different people.
'a type of marketing that involves the creation and sharing of online material (such as videos, blogs, and social media posts) that does not explicitly promote a brand but is intended to stimulate interest in its products or services.'
So, content marketing involves a huge number of different potential formats and content distribution mediums which we recommended are mapped as explained in our free Top 10 content marketing mistakes guide (using the Content Marketing Matrix and Distribution Matrix at the bottom of the article). It is mainly used as a digital marketing tactic, delivered online, but there also many forms of effective content marketing which are offline.
Because online media publishers are engaged in a fierce battle for the attention of consumers, content marketing is becoming ever more competitive. This is driving rapid change, as competition drives innovation and ever more compelling ways to win consumers attention.
In such a rapidly changing environment, it is helpful to keep an eye on the competition and where the industry as a whole is headed. This means it's important to have accurate statistics to hand to both be able to accurately chart where the industry is going and to use to appeal to CMOs, CEOs or CFOs when making the case for budget.
How many are using content marketing?
Content marketing has become an almost universal tactic, with almost 90% of companies using it in 2016, and even more utilising it in 2017 (Source).
75% of companies increased their content marketing budget in 2016, and 43% increased the staffing levels of their content marketing departments (Source).
Every minute, 1440 WordPress blogs are published, and 500 hours of content are uploaded to YouTube (Source). Although though there are 38 million searches on Google every minute, the vast majority of these go to major established sites- leaving many brands competing with thousands and thousands of other content providers to come top of the pack.
How many brands have a content marketing strategy?
Research conducted by Rebecca Lieb of Altimeter Group found 70% of marketers don't have an integrated strategy (Source). But research from LinkedIn found 72% of marketers did have a strategy in place for content marketing (Source). This suggests somewhere in the region of half of all content marketing strategies are not integrated with the rest of the business strategy, which can present big problems and poor communication between departments.
What platforms are marketers using for content marketing?
Social media content and case studies are the most popular forms of content marketing, according to the 2016 B2B content marketing trends report. Blogs and email newsletters are also very popular, with 4 out of 5 blogs using them (Source).
When it comes to blogging, which is both one of the most popular and most effective tactics, there are many content management systems (CMS) that can be employed to manage the process of publishing content online.
The data from builtwith.com shows WordPress and Drupal are clear leaders when it comes CMS, although there are many other smaller providers (Source).
Are brands successfully measuring their content marketing ROI?
52% of B2B content marketers report measuring ROI as among their top challenges, suggesting more than half of B2B content marketers are failing to properly measure ROI (Source).
This is the 4th most common content marketing problem, behind producing engaging content and measuring content effectiveness.
Ability to track ROI varies considerably by businesses size, with the smaller players often unable to track it as effectively. According to an emarketer study, 6 in 10 small businesses are not able to track ROI from their social media activities (Source).
That's for B2B content marketers, but what about content marketing as a whole? SmartInsights partnered with HubSpot to survey European content marketers and found that 51% of content marketers are either not measuring ROI or are struggling to do so (Source).
Is content marketing entering the age of 'content shock'?
Mark Schaefer has been talking about the impending problem of 'content shock' for a few years now. Essentially he theorised that whilst content production will increase exponentially as more and more brands pile in on the action, the rate of increase in content consumption will only increase slightly and then inevitably plateau. This is because we only have so much time with which to consume content. Therefore content marketing will become a victim of its own success, and brands will find that the same techniques become less and less effective each year.
The question on the lips of many is, are we now in the era of Content Shock? The graphic below shows the crazy amount of content created every 60 seconds across the web.
Competing with the 3 million Facebook posts, 1400 blogs and 500 hours of video content published every minute, is difficult, to say the least. If you are feeling overwhelmed by the amount of content you're competing against, you need to develop a strange which focuses on your strengths and lets you win in your competitive niche. Only by becoming highly specialised can we hope to have any hope of beating content shock.
Want to get more out of your social media content?
Wondering how you can save time and increase engagement?
By repurposing popular posts and content on one platform for use on another, you can give your followers more of what they want.
In this article, you’ll discover five ways to find and repurpose your most popular Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram posts.
Find Your Popular Posts
With the right tools, finding your most popular posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram is easier than you might think.
Facebook
On Facebook, you’ll find the most popular posts for your business’s Facebook page by going to Facebook’s Insights tool.
To use Insights, click the Insights tab at the top of your Facebook page. Then in the sidebar on the left, click Posts to see data about your Facebook posts.
Scroll down to see the area where you can filter your posts. If you click Engagement, you’ll see data about Post Clicks as well as Reactions, Comments & Shares. It’s interesting to look at both. However, to find your most popular Facebook posts, disregard content that you paid to promote and focus on the posts that rank highest for Reactions, Comments & Shares.
Twitter
Finding your top Twitter posts is even easier than finding top posts on Facebook. Just head to your Twitter Analytics dashboard. Scroll down and you’ll find your top tweets month by month.
Instagram
Unlike Facebook and Twitter, Instagram doesn’t have a built-in analytics tool. However, you can choose from plenty of third-party Instagram analytics tools.
If you’re looking for something quick, free, and simple, 2016 Best Nine can display your top nine posts for 2016 in a simple graphic. Unfortunately, the 2016 Best Nine tool doesn’t factor in comments or video views, so it’s limited. But hey, it’s quick and simple. What more can you ask from a free tool?
Now that you’ve identified your most engaging social media posts, here are five ways to repurpose the content in those posts.
#1: Pin a Top Instagram Photo on Pinterest
Whether you added a sweet quote to a beautiful scenic image or simply took a shot of your cluttered office and the picture went viral, turning it into a pin is an easy way to gain extra traffic.
First upload the photo to a relevant page on your website. Then log into Pinterest, go to your profile, and click Pins > Save Pin. You can either put in the URL or upload your own image.
After you pin your image, edit the description. Make it catchy and point it back to the page hosting the image on your website. Then post the pin to a relevant board and tell your followers about it. Creating pins in this way will send extra traffic to your website and expand the reach of your content.
#2: Repurpose Well-received Tweets as Graphics
When you have text that your audience loves, repurpose it for easy engagement. Many popular tweets are stand-alone text quotes. You can pop the tweet text onto a picture and tweet it again. Heck, you can also post the image quote on Instagram, Facebook, and even Pinterest.
For help creating the image, try a tool such as Adobe Spark, Canva, or Buffer’s Pablo. After you create an account, choose a template designed to work with a specific social media platform (for example, a Facebook- or Instagram-sized image). Then copy and paste the quote into the text box, choose a background, and tweak the image until you like the result.
#3: Turn Stand-out Facebook Posts Into Blog Posts or Videos
If content marketing is a part of your business’s bag of marketing tricks, coming up with great content ideas can be difficult. With proven Facebook posts, it doesn’t have to be.
Normally the Facebook posts that get the most engagement are longer posts about serious opinions, cited research, or inspiration. If you have a post like that among your top posts, consider writing a blog post that repurposes content from the Facebook post.
Similarly, turn a written post into a video tohelp your proven content reach a new audience. Check out this guide on how to create video on a budget if you’re ready to start with video.
#4: Compile Favorite Quotes or Stats Into a SlideShare Presentation
With over 70 million users, SlideShare is becoming a social media platform in its own right. If you’re not already creating SlideShare presentations, you should be!
To create a great presentation, you need great content. If you already have a list of quotes or statistics that your followers love, all you have to do is put that content into a SlideShare slideshow. For example, this blog post was turned into this SlideShare.
Of course, creating a quote presentation is only one of the many uses of SlideShare for business. You could also create a how-to guide or share popular information about your industry.
#5: Pull Popular Tweets Into a Twitter Moment
Twitter Moments is a new feature Twitter launched in October of last, but it only recently became available to everyone. It’s great for telling a story or bringing together awesome content.
If you have a set of related top tweets, you can combine and reshare your tweets as a Twitter moment.
Here are a few tips for making your moment:
Keep the title and description short and sweet. Give just enough detail to make someone want to learn more.
Create a story, if possible. The best Twitter moments include a narrative.
Use lots of image posts. A picture is worth a thousand words, which is a lot more characters than you get in a tweet.
Conclusion
Repurposing proven content is the easiest way to attract extra engagement out of the work you’ve already spent a lot of time creating. Use these tips to grow your levels of engagement and find out more about your target audience.
You already know this: Social media is about building relationships, not posting things for the sake of posting. Spend time looking at that list you’ve created to learn how you can deepen those relationships with your followers and give them more of what they want.
What do you think? Have any other tips on repurposing content? Drop a comment so we can chat about it!
