The Rich Media Marketer

Social Video Marketing Strategy in Four Easy Steps

A lot of marketers are making a very common mistake in regards to producing video content for social media. They are creating content without thinking about who will be consuming it. Then they're blasting that unfocused content out to all of their social media followers under the assumption that people who want to see it will watch, and those who do not want to see it will skip over it. 

This is the absolute lease effective method of integrating video marketing and social media that I can think of. So how do you fix it?

1. Start seeing the forest for the trees.

See, many marketers lump the so-called "socialsphere" into two groups: People I Want to Follow Me and everyone else. The people in the first group consist of all of those people who are in a specific industry, or who blog about a particular industry, or who have enormous influence in the particular social media outlet in question. The second group consists of, well... everyone else.

The thing is, this isn't how social media works. Each social media outlet is comprised not of a giant group of individuals, but of a complex series of networks. Your job as a social media marketer is not to get a gigantic number of people following your updates on a given site -- though that is nice -- but to ensure that the greatest number of people engage with your content.

The difference is subtle, but important. To reach an entire network of people, the entire network does not need to be following you. In fact, most of them don't need to follow you. All you really need is one solid contact who finds your content valuable who will then spread your content to the rest of the network.

2. Create incredibly specific content.

Tighten the focus of your content as narrowly as is humanly possible. Really successful video + social campaigns focus on the specific problems faced by the individual members of a company in a certain industry at a particular time of year. Will this kind of video ever "go viral"? Not a chance. But if your solution is a good one, and if the video content is interesting, then people will engage with it.

3. Make sure your content is sharable.

This is a no-brainer. If your target audience is on Twitter, make sure your video content is easy to share on Twitter. Same with Facebook and LinkedIN and whatever other social networks your potential customers frequent. And... um... that's all I have to say about that. 

4. Find the gatekeeper.

You know that one guy in your group of friends who has connections all over the place? The guy that can get you tickets to the game on a moment's notice? The guy who greets everyone in town by name? Maybe you are that guy (if so, skip to the next bullet). But if not, you need to find that guy in your target network, interact with him, and get him to find the value of your video content -- which should be easy to do if you've done a good job narrowly focusing the content of your video. If you succeed at this, your content will spread among his network. A very good thing.

So to review: Identify your target network, create narrowly-focused content for that network, optimize that content for sharing, send it to the person (or people) who is most influential in that network. That, friends, is a successful video + social strategy in four simple steps.

What Pez Taught Me About Video Marketing

I'm what you might call a second-generation marketer. My father started his professional marketing career with Data Terminal Systems back in 1974 -- a full decade before I was even born. As such he has certain sensibilities about the theory and profession of marketing. You might call him old-school. (I say this fully conscious of the irony of having linked to his LinkedIn profile at the beginning of this paragraph.)

For example, my father still professes that there is value in buying booths at trade shows, despite (or perhaps in spite of) people telling him that it's a dying practice. So I asked him why. He told me he keeps buying booths because of Pez.

"Pez?" I asked.

"Pez," he said. Then, as is characteristic of men of a certain age, he launched into a story.

He told me that during every conference, he stocks an enormous number of Pez dispensers at his booth. His company buys them by the gross. All kinds: big ones, little ones, ones shaped like cartoon characters, ones with sports team logos... a smorgasbord of Pez. And at conferences, he stands in front of his booth and asks passers-by if they've gotten their Pez yet.

"Well no, I haven't," they say. "But what does Pez have to do with your product?"

"Absolutely nothing," my father says, "apart from the fact that after I gave you this Pez, you asked about my product. Would you like to learn more about it?"

Bam. Just like that.

Why does Pez work?

1. It's something small. Passers-by aren't overwhelmed by Pez, and they instantly recognize the full value of it (even if that value is relatively minor).
2. It's something unexpected. No one goes to trade shows expecting free candy.
3. It's a universal good. Who doesn't like Pez, after all?
4. Conversion feels good. This is the big one. Because my father incorporates a little bit of humor into the conversion process (and you should hear him deliver this line; I know where I got my unerring sense of comic timing), there is less friction between introduction and engagement. After all, the passer-by was the first one to mention the product, not my father. 

What does this have to do with video?

My dad might not agree that it is possible to recreate the Pez experience online, but I think it is. The problem in doing so is constructing a platform where you can have a direct dialogue with the person you're trying to reach. There are lots of ways to do this -- email is one, blogs another, social media a third, each with its own intrisic benefits and detriments.

But in order to inspire this dialogue, you need something that is small, unexpected, universally good, and frictionless. (I wish those four words made a cool acronym; SUUGF just doesn't do it for me.) And what better way to create this trigger than with video? Take a short, relaxed, thirty-second video about your company's new product in your email newsletter, for example:

1. It's something small. Web video is all over the place. People consume it more readily than any other kind of content, and a thirty second video is hardly a big investment.
2. It (can be) something unexpected. You have to get creative about your content. If you think your prospects expect you to deliver some drab 30-second spiel about your product, throw them a curve and tell them why they shouldn't buy it. ("It makes XYZ process way too easy, and you'll never be able to handle the influx of revenue it will generate," for example.)
3. It's a universal good. Granted, there are a lot of unwatchable videos out there on the Interwebs. But people understand that video is a much more efficient way to consume information, and are therefore much more likely to see the value in your proposition. (A universally good thing.)
4. Conversion feels good. Again, you might have to get creative here, but incorporating calls to action that flow naturally from the content of the video is a great way to reduce friction. And if you could reduce friction in the process of converting a random stranger into an interested prospect, why wouldn't you?

In the end, my father's way of marketing and mine aren't all that different. You need to stand out to engage with people, and the process of engagement needs to be fluid and natural -- or if not natural, at least entertaining. I won't be buying real estate at trade shows anytime soon, and I'm sure dear old dad won't be telling people not to buy his product online, but at least we can see the value in the other's proposition.

 

Flimpbruary Day 28: Working with Flimp

Do you want to know what it is like to work with Flimp Media?  Check out what our clients have to say.

Flimpbruary Day 27: Corporate Video Communications

Did you know that a flimp campaign created for a global employee training initiative generated an average viewing time of 4.1 minutes for a video that was only 2 minutes, 43 seconds in length?

Flimpbruary Day 26: Inbound Marketing with Flimp

Okay, tell the truth. How many of you clicked a link to this blog article just because the title contained the words "Inbound Marketing"?

I thought so.

Inbound marketing, a concept that is the brainchild of HubSpot co-founders Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah, is the process by which businesses attract potential customers to their various Web elements, as opposed to blasting content out to an audience. 

You probably know Flimp as a great solution for video-based email marketing, a practice which takes up permanent residence on the "outbound" side of the marketing spectrum. But did you know we're also great for inbound marketing?

It's true. If you look at the steps to achieving inbound marketing greatness, as Mssrs. Halligan and Shah describe them, you'll see how Flimp fits into any inbound marketing strategy:

1. Create: The most fundamental element of any inbound marketing strategy is content. In order to attract customers, your content has to be valuable and worthy of the attention of your audience. Halligan and Shah call this kind of content "ramarkable" content, in that it is worthy of remark. Flimp can help you create remarkable content, whether you need video production services, creative design for your flimp canvases, or a platform to quickly and easily assemble the creative elements that make up your message. Best of all, you can make your content remarkable without any programming or IT resources.
2. Optimize: Now that you've got your remarkable video content created, you have to make it visible. In the past that meant putting your video on a Web page and surrounding it with a whole bunch of text. If you wanted to put, say, a form on the same page, you'd have to figure out how to distribute the real estate between the video, text and form. No more. The Flimp platform lets you embed invisible, searchable text behind your canvas that search engines can read, but which are hidden from the average Web viewer. Don't believe me? Try this experiment: visit www.flimp.net, and play the video on the homepage. Now take string of 8-10 words -- any string of words, it doesn't much matter which ones -- that the lovely Karen says, verbatim, and run a Google search on the string. See what page pops up. Let us know in the comments section below what you find.
3. Promote: Like most web-based content, flimps are set up to be inherently sharable. But we recently unveiled a social media sharing function that makes sharing flimps particularly slick. As a flimp-builder, if you create a button, image, text field or shape that links to an email to a friend form, people who click on that link will also be able to share your flimp via Twitter and Facebook. (We're working on the other social media sites; those were the ones we got asked most about.) So now it's easier than ever to promote your remarkable, optimized content with a flimp!
4. Convert: You probably already know that our landing page creation tool comes with a form builder, and that it's a really good idea to put a call to action next to a video. You might even know that Flimp video landing pages see an average conversion rate of 23%. But die-hard inbound marketers and HubSpot customers will particularly love this: the Flimp form builder is able to export all of your lead data directly into your HubSpot account. It's true! Under the Settings tab on your HubSpot dashboard, you can access the HubSpot Lead API. Use that tool to generate a Post URL, and then copy that URL into the POST to URL box in your Flimp form builder window and voila! All of your Flimp leads can be tracked in HubSpot. Badda boom.
5. Analyze: Have we mentioned recently that we're the only company in the world that allows you to track individual viewer metrics by email address? And that no other company in the world gives you greater visibility into the initial moment of conversion than Flimp does? Or that we're integrated with Google Analytics, as well as the analytics platforms of almost thirty different email service providers? Or that all of your lead data can be tracked in HubSpot's closed-loop lead tracking dashboard? Yeah, I think we've got analytics pretty well covered.

So y'see, Flimp isn't just about email. No sir. We've got a whole big bag full of inbound-y goodness, too. And we'd be happy to show you how it all works. Just hop on over to the site and sign up for a quick tour of the Flimp platform today!

Flimpbruary Day 25: Form Builder

In "Create and Edit" flimp-makers have the option of adding a customizable response form to any flimp canvas.  The "Form Builder" tool is a great (and easy) way to create custom registration forms without relying on additional programming resources.

 

 The Form Builder enables any flimp-maker to create a custom web form/database.  A form could contain a single field (such as Name) or an unlimited number of fields (First Name, Last Name, Address, City, State, Telephone Number, Email Address, etc.).  While most flimp-makers create forms that can be used email marketing or other database-marketing purposes, there have been forms created for other purposes - such as short-form surveys.

Creating a form takes a matter of minutes.  Forms can be customized to require fields be entered in order for the form to be submitted.  Additionally, the forms can be set up to check for information validation - e.g., if a telephone number field exists, the form is checking to see if numeric digits have been entered.

The forms can even be customized with features including the font color, font style and even what the "submit" button says.

Data entered by viewers into any form will automatically post to the flimp's report.  However, form creators have the option to post data to any web based-database or web based-CRM.  This option can be selected by simply typing in the URL to the web based-database or web-based CRM.

Forms can even be used to pull in information, such as maps or other dynamic directional instructions.

Consider using a form for one of the following initiatives:

• Lead Generation Campaigns
• Email List Development
• Event Registration
• Records Management
• Simple Surveys
• Dynamic Maps / Directions

Beyond the fact that the form builder enables you to easily collect infomation, the other benefit to using a form is that flimp viewers do not need to click off the flimp in order to share information.  They can complete the form while viewing the audiovisual content.

This is an example of what a form could look like:

 

 

Flimpbruary Day 24: Google Analytics and Flimp

In case you missed our super-cool video news release (which, by the way, was SEO optimized even though it was a Flash object embedded in an HTML Web page), Flimp has hooked into Google Analytics. So what does that mean for you? A couple of things:

First, if you're already using Google Analytics to monitor your Web traffic (and if you're not using anything to monitor Web traffic, get on it -- right now) then you'll be able to see your overall marketing performace in relation to your total Web traffic. You can see all this data in one platform -- one that you're likely already using.

But more importantly, you can identify a highly engaged portion of your traffic by email address. Marketers spend a whole lot of time trying to figure out ways to turn engaged but unidentifiable Web traffic into actionable contacts. Flimp does all of that stuff for you. 

It's easy to do. After logging into your dashboard, click User Settings. At the bottom of the pop-up window, you'll see a field where you can enter your Google Analytics account number. Then click the box next to the words Use Google Analytics. And that's it.

No, really, that's all you have to do. So... go do it. (How's that for a call to action?)

Editor's note: We talk a lot about how incredibly easy the Flimp platform is to use -- and it is -- but we'd be remiss if we didn't mention how awesomely difficult it was to make Flimp so user-friendly. So here's a big shout-out to Rich DiBona, designer and Flimpmeister extraordinaire, who makes all of this possible. (We promise to get him to blog eventually.)

Flimpbruary Day 23: Why FLVs Always Trump SWFs

Since the FLIMP Platform is built on Adobe's Flash® Platform, FLV (Flash Video) and SWF (Shockwave Flash) files can both be added to any flimp canvas.  FLVs and SWFs (also known as Flash animation) both provide the audiovisual experience that is a key component of web video marketing content:  moving images with sound.  However, from a flimp video landing page perspective, FLVs always trump SWFs.

1. Flimp Reports can only track "video specific" data, including total viewing time, average viewing time, video starts and video watches to completion, for FLV files.
2. Due to Flash® security issues, SWFs may not always render correctly.
3. SWF files run in a loop, meaning they cannot be paused, stopped or restarted by the viewer.
4. A "video only" snapshot for distribution cannot be captured if the only audiovisual content is a SWF.
5. Design features, including rounded corners and/or drop shadows, can be added to FLV content within "create and edit".

Also, FLV content can be easier to create than SWF content because a Flash programmer is not required to write the SWF code.

SWF files, especially small animated content pieces, can certainly be integrated into a flimp's design, and in many cases are appropriate enhancements to your message. But make sure the SWF doesn't compete with the main audiovisual content.

Google Analytics Now Integrated with Flimp Platform!

Flimpbruary Day 22: Flimp Canvas Size and Background Images

We are in the home stretch of our first Flimpbruary month.  To recap, Flimpbruary has focused on the following

Week #1 - Best Practices

Week #2 - The difference between Flimp and other video tools

Week #3 - Use a flimp for different marketing initiatives

This week we are going to close out Flimpbruary with some Flimp Tips:

• Monday - Flimp Canvas Size and Background Images
• Tuesday - Why FLVs always trump SWFs
• Wednesday - Google Analytics Integration
• Thursday - Form Builder
• Friday - How to use flimps for Inbound Leads

Today's tip focuses on some very basic Create and Edit functionality:  how to increase a flimp's canvas size and how to add a background image set as a watermark.

The "canvas" is what a flimp video landing page is created on.  To either change the canvas size and/or to add an image as a watermark, click on the "Flimp Settings" button in Create and Edit.

Clicking on "Flimp Settings" will open the Flimp Properties tab.  Within Flimp Properties you can:

• Alter the canvas size
• Change the Flimp Title/Descriptive Information
• Add Background and Border Colors
• Add Shadows and Rounded Corners
• Show "Play" arrow on flimp distributions
• Use a video snapshot instead of flimp snapshot
• Add a Background Image (Watermark).

A flimp canvas defaults to a 640 width by 460 height pixel size.  By selecting "Flimp Settings," the canvas can be changed to any width or height.  This enables flimp makers to size the canvas to accomodate the information that will be added to the video landing page.

What many advanced flimp-makers do is create a "background design" (or template" in an external design program, save their canvas to the size of the template (e.g., 800x600) and then save the image as a "Watermark." 

Above is an example of an image saved as a "Watermark."  This can be a very simple way to create a complex flimp.

1. When an image has been saved as a "Watermark," other elements (such as body copy or other images) may not need to be dropped onto the canvas.  This can simplify the creation of a flimp.
2. Since any image can be turned into a weblink, flimp backgrounds saved as a "Watermark" can still be turned into live weblinks.  This can be accomplished by adding in the "image overlay" from the image library to any element on the canvas and saving that overlay at a zero (invisible) transparency.
3. If organizational brand standards require the use of a font style not available within the flimp font library, the "Watermark" approach is a way to create a flimp video landing page while remaining true to a brand.
4. If you don't like the background "Watermark," it can easily be deleted by selecting the "Clear BG" link.