Tag: Video Marketing

Navigating The Digital Marketing World During The COVID-19 Crisis

Photo by Gabriel Benois on Unsplash

These past few weeks have indeed been hectic for all of us whether you’re a worker who has been laid off or a small business facing uncertainty due to this pandemic. With that comes big time changes in the Digital Marketing landscape that we’re already seeing happen. These changes will have an impact on how consumers go by satisfying their needs going forward. Even after the COVID-19 pandemic, the behavior of consumers will more than likely stick so this will make Digital Marketing crucial for those small businesses going forward. There are four key areas of Digital Marketing that small businesses need to get ahead of in order to thrive in these uncertain times. Let’s explore them shall we.

Video

Whether you’re a recruiter looking for talent or a small business looking to show off your products, video is a great way in helping accomplish your goals. In fact, we are already seeing companies conducting their work meetings with their employees in increasing fashion via video conference calls. I know I’ve been in several of these myself with my potential Digital Marketing acquaintances near and far. 

A great way small businesses can thrive even in these tough times is via live video streaming. Even before this pandemic, we are already seeing companies in southeast Asia try this and achieve success via this route. Video Streaming has helped in bringing that online shopping experience as if you were in-person at the actual store. South Korea’s LF Corp was able to achieve a 30% year over year sales increase since 2015. The way they accomplished that is by allowing their users to have real-time conversations with the presenter and other users with the ability to purchase the products with just one-click. Video Streaming is indeed a great way for brands to grow their presence in a big way.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

When it comes to building up your online presence during an economic downturn and pandemic like this, SEO is a great way to accomplish just that. Even before this crisis, SEO is heavily utilized by small businesses in order to help accomplish their long-term online goals. With the situation that we’re in now, SEO will be even more important going forward. The search term “SEO” and other related search terms have seen a big time increase in interest since February as Google Trends has indicated.

With these trends in mind, there’s no doubt that investing in your SEO game will be key to success during this pandemic and beyond. People these days are looking towards brands that they feel that they can trust. To build trust with your target audience, get away from those sales jargon and instead work to build content that follows the E.A.T. method. Building content that rallies around Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness will help your cause in helping grow your online presence in a positive way towards your desired customers. It also will help save you money in the long run assuming you continue to always stay ahead of the game in adjusting to the fast-changing needs of today’s consumers.

E-Commerce

With consumers less willing to endanger their health by going in-person to crowded shopping centers and stores during a pandemic, they will be looking towards online options and that’s where E-Commerce comes into play. 42% of consumers are now shopping online more as a result of this pandemic according to a survey by Valassis. These changing shopping habits are more than likely here to stay even after this pandemic so it’s important for businesses to get ahead of the E-Commerce game.

To have success in your E-Commerce game during this time, what you must have to begin with is a banner at the top of your website talking about COVID-19 as far as shipping updates are concerned. Of course, it would also be a great idea to go a step further to keep in touch with your customers via email and social media talking about how your business is responding to this pandemic. This would help make your customers feel safe and in control in doing business with you.

In addition to that, it is important to also keep your site up to date and up to speed especially on mobile devices. Definitely work to give your customers a great shopping experience by having shopping cart/wish list options handy for your online customers as well as a search function and an easy-to-use payment feature to ensure that their online experience is quick, flexible and easy for them. After all, website experience is crucial now more than ever especially in E-Commerce.

Reputation Management

During these unprecedented times, managing the reputation of your business and responding to adversity in a timely manner is important now more than ever. According to a recent study done by Bright Local, 71% of consumers are more likely to do business with brands that respond to reviews. Whether the reviews left by consumers are good or bad, it’s important to respond to them on each review site in a timely fashion. That’s especially true if it’s bad. The way to respond to them is by showing commitment towards resolving the situation at hand.

Today’s customers mean business. With some businesses trying to game the system by getting fake good reviews, customers are looking towards multiple review sites and their peers to ensure that what they’re getting into is legit and will advance their cause in a positive way. It’s also not a deal breaker if you get a negative review. All businesses get them as there are no perfect businesses. What customers pay attention to the most is how you respond to adversity. If you ignore it or are careless towards complaints, of course they won’t do business with your brand. If you show commitment in going beyond the ordinary to listen to the consumer inquiries and work towards solutions, consumers will be more than likely to do business with you. With that being said, it’s important now than ever to work on upping your game when it comes to Reputation Management. It will benefit you greatly long after this pandemic.

Stay Committed To Your Loyal Customers While Staying Safe

Photo by Debby Hudson on Unsplash

Indeed these are tough times for us worldwide whether you’re a customer or a small business looking to achieve great successes. Change is always upon us and this pandemic is another reminder that we must always be adaptive to the fast-changing needs of the customer. We just need to plan accordingly in these four key areas of Digital Marketing and always keep the needs of the customer first before anything else. People-Based Marketing is the name of the game today and every day. By staying true to your customers and showing commitment towards providing them a great customer experience, you will no doubt be set up for success in the long run. 

On a special note, may you all stay safe during this pandemic and listen to all the safety measures put forth by our medical community. I look forward to posting even more Digital Marketing articles like these in these next few weeks and I value each and every one of my loyal readers.

What do you feel is important in keep your online presence active during these unprecedented times and setting it up for success in the long run?Questions? Comments? Feel free to share this article & don’t be afraid to share your thoughts below.

The Importance Of Video Marketing Today

There’s no doubt that Digital Marketing is evolving rapidly and a big part of why that’s the case is due to Video Marketing. In today’s online world, video is more than a channel where one can watch past clips of their favorite shows like Family Guy or Game Of Thrones. It’s also a valuable method of marketing where companies can inform and showcase to their potential consumers of their products and services.It can even be useful to promote upcoming events that are happening in your area. Videos can go a long way in helping drive up engagement, and if planned out correctly, it will eventually drive up conversions. In this article, we will explore why Video Marketing is important and the proper ways you can use Video Marketing to stand out in today’s online world.

Why Video Marketing?

Video Marketing is no doubt important in 2019 as consumer demand of videos is at an all-time high. In fact, a recent study by HubSpot reported that 54% of potential consumers preferred to see video from brands more than any other type of content. On top of that, 85% of all internet users in the United States watched online video content on a monthly basis on all devices according to Statista. No doubt that video content is vital in helping online marketers and brands stand out in a positive way towards online-oriented consumers. Potential consumers are more than likely to retain the information by watching videos than they would via other marketing methods. Video is a great way to help build up your brand awareness about what you have to offer to potential consumers. With that being said, the key to success when it comes to video marketing is authenticity. In this next section, I will discuss in detail the creative ways one can use Video Marketing in helping build brand awareness and connecting with customers in an authentic way.

The DOs & DON’Ts To Video Marketing

When it comes to Video Marketing, there are many creative ways to stand out when it comes to using video. There are, however, things that we must avoid when it comes to Video Marketing so I will start by covering the DON’Ts first.

The DON’Ts

  1. Don’t Act Salesy

Nothing turns off customers than using sales jargon in an attempt to win them over. Today’s consumers are not impressed with those tricks and will quickly tune you out in the first few seconds of a video.

      2. Don’t Post Videos That Are Too Long

Reason being is that longer videos cause the speed of a website to slow down and in Digital Marketing, every second counts when it comes to consumers decided to stay or leave the page.

      3. Don’t Make It All About You

Another big mistake is talking about how great you are instead of trying to connect with your audience in a unique way. Self-promotion is a big turnoff towards potential consumers and offers nothing of value towards them.

     4. Don’t Use The “One Size Fits All” Approach When Posting Videos To Different Social Media Platforms

Don’t assume that the same kinds of videos that you use on Instagram will also work on LinkedIn. The target audiences are different on each social media platform so please tailor your videos to fit the needs of the target audience on each platform.

Now that we’ve covered the DON’Ts when it comes to Video Marketing. Now we move on to the DOs in how one can be creative when it comes to standing out in a positive way via Video Marketing.

The DOs

  1. Plan Before You Film

Always plan what content you’re going to include in your video and the exact sequence it would appear on the actual video. A great way to do that would be to use storyboards which is where you would sketch out each scene like a comic strip and sketch out the story accordingly. That way you’ll be better prepared for when it comes time to actually film your video content.

2. Strive For Authenticity

As Larry Weber once said, “People don’t want to be sold. What people do want is news and information about the things they care about.” In other words, use video to talk about the needs and problems facing your target audience and how what you can do to help them. Put yourself in the shoes of your target audience and tailor your video campaign to fit their needs in order to give them an outstanding personalized experience they won’t forget.

3. Keep Videos On Websites Short But Sweet

The attention span of your target audience shortens the longer your video is especially if you’re new to video marketing. Putting shorter videos on your website would also help your site speed. After all, speed is everything when it comes to your audience deciding whether to stay or leave your site. That being said, if you’re a well-established brand or a well-known influencer like Neil Patel, you have the brand authority to have more lengthy videos. Should you decide on producing longer video content, make sure to include a shorter version of that video on your site and then refer your audience to a video platform like YouTube or IGTV to view the full video.

4. Strive For Creativity When Producing Videos

A great way to get the attention of your target audience is with infographic videos. Videos that contain texts and images relevant to your brand or cause you’re trying to promote with a call-to-action at the end will go a long way in increasing your brand awareness. It will also help those viewers retain the information that they see. This would especially be useful if someone is hearing impaired. Here’s a good example of that here. 


In the video above, Biteable uses appropriate text to inform viewers about the workplace safety stats as well as relevant stats and a call-to-action at the end to advocate for more conversation about how to prevent workplace accidents. In the video above,

5. Keep In Mind About The Target Audience On Each Social Media Platform 

Referring back to the 4th point about the DON’Ts to Video Marketing, each social media platform has different types of audiences looking for different types of content. For more formal and professional-looking content, LinkedIn would be the place for that. For informal content, places like Snapchat and Instagram would be a great fit for that type of information.

6. Strive To Use Videos To Tell A Story About Your Brand

In today’s online world, people crave success stories. Using video marketing to tell your success story about your brand while relating to the needs of your target audience would be a great way to get their attention. To really go the extra mile, include testimonials from consumers who had a great experience with your products. A great example of that is when Dove included an actual consumer in their testimonial video. 

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTI1kgFBpWc&w=560&h=315]

Including an ordinary consumer like Molly in a testimonial video would be an excellent way to get your target audience engaged and they’ll eventually become interested in what you have to offer.

Recapping The Importance Of Video Marketing

“More than 150 million people view videos online every year, most of them ripe to hear your business’s pitch if you produce and market your video effectively.” – Vern Marker

There’s no doubt about the importance of Video Marketing in today’s fast-evolving online world. Now that you have a basic idea on how to and how to not run a video marketing campaign, always remember that the key to success is to know your target audience. Knowing every detail about them is key to success in any marketing campaign and even more important when it comes to Video Marketing. Never be afraid to ask them for feedback. Doing just that will help know which areas in your Video Marketing campaign needs work and you can use that feedback to get better with each Video Marketing campaign. Always keep them in mind and be authentic when reaching out to them via Video Marketing campaigns. If you do these things, you will no doubt increase your brand awareness and have many successes in today’s competitive online world.

What do you feel is key to success in Video Marketing? Questions? Comments? Feel free to share this article & don’t be afraid to post your thoughts below.