Coast Guard turns 220, celebrates relationship with Portsmouth
PORTSMOUTH – Since 1791, the U.S. Coast Guard has been a fixture on the Portsmouth waterfront. The special relationship was formally recognized last November when Congress designated Portsmouth as an official Coast Guard City. "It’s a big deal to us because what it means is a special, unique relationship between the city and the men and women who serve in the Coast Guard in the surrounding area ...

Marketing With Video

10 Must Know Secrets of Video marketing SEO & VSEO

Guide to content:

1. Why an Internet Marketing strategy is so important Now?

2. The ROI that marketing with video can offer you.

3. A short word on social media.

4. The main options for online marketing with Video?

5. Targeting your audience.

6. Be interactive with your video.

7. Video is versatile

8. What are the results of professional video marketing?

9. Brand image is at the heart of your value.

10. Conclusions and recommendations.

1. Why an internet marketing strategy is so important?

Consumers today use the Internet more than any other medium when they are looking to buy. They search online for information about products and services because it is easier, more comprehensive and instant. The art of marketing on or offline is to put your business in the way of the greatest number of buyers. Video allows you to place yourself in front of the greatest audience in History. In November 2009, there were more searches for video than searches on Google. (Source:Newsvend)

You can market you brand through a broad range of tactics and strategies.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) will help your website rank highly in search engines like Google. Additionally social media marketing through communities like MySpace,Twitter and Facebook can create enormous leverage if expertise is applied to the marketing process.

Internet marketing is still relatively new and is evolving all the time. By taking advantage of new opportunities, your business can lay a great foundation for future online marketing campaigns

2. The ROI that marketing with video can offer?

Nothing is as effective at communicating as online video and it is becoming ever more vital as new technologies enter the marketplace.

In a recent survey, an amazing 16% of those viewing a video advertisement online made a consequent purchase. A picture is worth a thousand words, and moving pictures are priceless. Video is the most powerful way of grabbing the attention of the majority who will not stay to read standard text or graphics. The web will explode with interactivity through video, and in the same way that one year after “talkies†appeared, the public had moved away from silent movies forever, websites that are static and passive will be consigned to History.

Video can work on so many levels. It can communicate your brand using animation, appealing images, special effects or E-learning. The difference to TV advertising, is that online video advertising gives you instant feedback on how your prospects are interacting with the advertisement. How useful is it to be able to know how long they watched, what web page they went to, or whether they passed the video to a friend who is interested?

Apart from the wealth of extra information, Professional Video Marketing is far less expensive than TV. advertising and you can reach a highly defined audience. It doesn’t matter if you are looking for a haulier in Blackpool or a worldwide audience, video will take you to them.

3. A short word on social media.

Fact: - Facebook has over 250 million regular users.

Whatever your business, you should have social media as part of your video marketing. The key is to remember that you have to connect the audience to the value you offer, it is not just about pushing your product through Facebook. Can you add value through free information, solving problems or joining them actively in clubs or communities? When you build trust, people within social networks will connect to your brand, and stay with you when a competitor tries to take your space.

If you are lucky, some of your customers will become raving fans, who will support you in your future campaigns. Social sites are not a route to fast riches. They are part of a long term strategy that underpins your reputation and support out in the marketplace. Creating this sort of groundbase is impossible through traditional media.

Factoids:

- 47% of YouTube users have annual incomes of £47,000 ($75.000)

- 6 out of the top 10 internet sites are social. None were on the list in 2005.

(source: socialmediastatistics.wikidot.com)

Action points

Start a Facebook Fan Page and link it to your existing blog to reach a broader audience with no more work.

• Monitor your brand on Twitter and react quickly to customer service issues.

• Open a YouTube account and keep an eye on what your competition is doing with video right now.

4. The main options for online marketing

Apart from video ads. to, there are also different payment models available depending on the your strategy:

1. CPC (Cost Per Click)

You pay per click through.

2. CPM (Cost Per 1000 Impressions)

You pay a fixed amount for every thousand impressions of your advertisement.

3. CPA (Cost Per Acquisition)

This is a revenue sharing plan with your partner advertiser.

4. CPE (Cost Per Engagement)

If a prospect does not press the play button, you pay nothing. When they click play, you are charged. Below are a few of the advertisement formats:

5. Pre play

Usually a 15-30 second advertisement that plays before the video clip starts.

6. Post play

Same as the pre-roll, except it plays at the end of a clip.

7. Overlay

An advertisement that appears in the lower part of a video clip whilst it plays.

8. Companion Ads.

Banner advertisements placed around a video clip to support the brand message.

5. Targeting your audience

1. Demographics

What age group, lifestyle, gender or geographical region are you aiming at?

2. Time propensity

Does your target market surf the internet at a preferred time of day?

3. Contextual

Consider the neighbouring content and where your ad. Is placed so it is congruent with your brand.

4. Reconnecting

Reconnect with visitors who have clicked on your ads. Previously or who have visited your webpage in the past.

IMPORTANT - APPLY VIDEO SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION

Video is 53 times more likely to reach the first page of search engines than text.(Forrester Research) Make sure you tag you videos, title them and add a description alongside that includes your key words and phrase. Remember that long tail key phrases are used by people looking to buy, short search phrases are used by the curious.

When people discover your business, it has much more impact with them when you are delivering a sales message direct to them.

6. Be interactive with your video!

Online video advertising is very different to television advertising. Remember, the beauty of online video is that it can be interactive. It can entertain and interact through the viewer initiating action by clicking on an image or activating a sequential number of associated messages. Your video must contain a clear call to action such as entering their details to download a free gift, or calling your sales department to find out about promotional offers.

It is a good idea for your video marketing strategy to have a combination of branding and direct response videos, so that one can re enforce the benefits of the other. You want to ensure it is as clear and easy as possible for your customer to take the action you are directing them to.

There is a trend for amusing, viral videos that can achieve enormous visibility very quickly by being passed from one person to their friends. “Will it Blend?†became a YouTube monster hit with millions of views, following a very simple idea marketed correctly. Prospects are more open to ideas and Brands passed to them by friends than a self interested ,profit centred organisation.

7. Video is versatile!

Remember, your video armoury should include some of the following :

• Product demonstrations â€" Event Recording for online or DVD distribution â€" Corporate storytelling â€"

• Testimonials â€" Company news videos â€" Board room communication to shareholders â€" E learning.

“In real estate, it is location, location, location. In business, it is differentiate, differentiate, differentiate.â€

Quote from Roberto Goizortua- President of Coca Cola

Video allows you to differentiate to more people ,faster than anything else when produced, marketed and applied properly.

8. What are the results of professional video marketing ?

Whether you want to raise awareness of your brand, drive traffic, educate, or increase response from online/web visitors, video is able to achieve great returns on investment.

The ability to drill deep into the statistics through split testing the impact of different videos, allows a vehicle that responds immediately to the conditions of the journey. At any moment in time, you will be able to check the effectiveness of your videos, change headlines, interactivity or placement. You can respond to your market in real time and drive the results of your strategy through amending your tactics according to clear and detailed feedback.

Unlike television, tweaks and tests can be fast and inexpensive.

For example, you can see in detail which advertising campaigns are successfully driving traffic, or which video sharing sites or social networks are performing for you in terms of conversion.

You just need to respond to the information until you achieve what you want.

You can build a very accurate picture of the public perception of you business, and what is being said about you in the marketplace.

9. Brand image is at the heart of your value.

If you are trading, the likelihood is people are talking about you on the internet. Even if you do not think you have an online image, people are using videos, blogs and social networks to pass comment, raise issues and talk about their likes and dislikes. Video gives you a great opportunity to answer the issues and improve the customer connection and Brand acceptance. If you don’t answer the questions online, someone else will do so, potentially in a very damaging way.

Don’t leave it to chance, become pro â€"active with you audience and create bonds of loyalty. It is very difficult to “drop bombs†on any person or organisation that you have developed a relationship with.

Top Tips to Care for your brand as if your life depended on it by :

Searching on Facebook for groups associated to your brand, sector, or products and get involved in the discussions.

Using Twitter search (search.twitter.com) to search for your brand name and see what people are saying about you right now!

Explore the videos on YouTube to see if any users have created a video about your brand whether it be positive or negative.

10. Conclusions and recommendations

Now is the time to activate video as part of your overall marketing strategy. You can start with a video web presenter on your website for as little as £147 ($227). From a small start ,you can use your Return on Investment to develop a wider video platform, and tap into end â€"to â€" end video services that cover production, post production, video marketing and Video Search Engine Optimisation. Rad Marketing ensure that all major video sharing sites such as YouTube, Kewego and LiveVideo are linked to your business and giving their worldwide audience access to your company.

Once that is done, .build the connections and links into all the other online platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace ETC.

After that you can continue to build your marketing orchestra through online video advertising, driving traffic, increasing brand awareness and attracting new customers directly to your web site or landing page.

“Less is more.â€

Keep your videos, short, entertaining and succinct. Use a professional scriptwriter if possible, it is worth it. Try to keep your videos between 30 seconds and 3 minutes maximum unless you have given the viewer an expectation beforehand. Show benefits ,not just features, and make sure you make the call to action clear and uncomplicated. Look at Video strategy as a package ,not an isolated event.

Don’t wait too long, because your competitors have probably started or are planning how to get the edge over you.

Rad Marketing can assist you with any aspect of video strategy, and would be delighted to brief you on the possibilities and pitfalls of the video marketplace.

About the Author

Rad Marketing help businesses all over the world to promote their products and services using video submission, article submission and VSEO (video search engine optimisation).

Our website offers FREE video training on how to use video and also simple free tool (like google maps) that make businesses appear at the top of the search engines.

If you are stuggleing to unfold the mystery of generating new customers, leads and business online - using the cheapest and fastest techniques on the plannet then swing by our site at

http://www.radmarketing.co.uk

Soon we will be releasing a video marketing service that is cheaper, and far more effective, than newspaper adverts - that don't generate enough enquires.

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