Social Media

Tips for a Successful Video Strategy

Tips for a Successful Video StrategyMap Out Your Video Strategy

Websites aren’t just for written content anymore. Technology has made us more visual and website content has transformed from reading to seeing and watching. Specifically, websites have been an increasing platform for video-based content. Video content provides several benefits for your company or business, and you have to have a video strategy. Videos tell your current and potential customers who you are, they build on your brand, and are an interactive way to engage with your visitors. Today it’s just bad practice to not have any type of video content on your website. According to 9 out of 10 visitors will stay on a site longer if it contains a video, 9 out of 10 visitors will stay on a site longer if it contains a video. Now that you know why having video content is so important, lets talk about tips for a successful video strategy.

The first aspect you should think about when it comes to a video strategy and putting videos on your website is the platform you want to use. The most well known video platform is YouTube. You may think that YouTube is an easy and free way to share your video content with your visitors, and it might be, but our first tip for a successful video strategy is to not solely rely on YouTube as your video platform. While it’s important to utilize and share your social media, when you use YouTube you may lose some control of your video content and platform. Your video platform needs to be easy to control, change, and adapt. It’s also helpful to use a platform that allows you to obtain analytics and statistics on how viewers are engaging with your video.

Intelligent Video Players

If you shouldn’t completely rely on YouTube, then what should you use? The best platform you can use for your videos is any type of intelligent video player. Using an intelligent video player is very important because it’s the glue that holds your video together. An Intelligent video player also can collect information about how your visitors are interacting or engaging with your content. Also, an intelligent video player will have the ability to layer on different elements such as your call to action, such as signing up, downloading, buying, and more. Your intelligent player should also offer a sharing feature so visitors can digitally spread the word, or in this case video, about your company. Intelligent video players are also beneficial because they know how to adapt to all viewing environments whether it’s a smart phone, tablet, or desktop. One of the most crucial reasons that using an intelligent video player over a platform like YouTube is because if you link a video on social media or email marketing, when the visitor clicks the link, it drives them back to your website, not YouTube’s.

Embed Your Videos

The next video strategy tip is to use embeds for your videos on your website. The best way to make sure your audience is being engaged is to play your video through the website. When a video is embedded in a strategic location on your website, it will allow you to explain your product/ service, serve as your call to action, further brand, and more. You can use video playlists to tell a story; you can select and order your videos so they play continuously. Both YouTube and intelligent video players allow the creation of playlists.

Optimizing Your Video for SEO

The last step in your video strategy is optimizing your video for SEO. We have previously written about optimizing your videos for SEO so let this be a little refresher. It all starts with your information. Make sure you have all the fundamental information such as title, video description, tags and keywords that describe your content in its entirety. Don’t forget, you can also transcribe videos.

With how prominent video content is today, you would be doing your website a disservice to not play video on your site. As long as your follow these tips for a successful video strategy, you will impress your visitors and attain new ones.

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Pros and Cons of Using Google Plus

Using Google PlusSince its launch in 2011 Google Plus has been fighting to become a strong social media toolkit. The following are pros and cons of using Google Plus as a marketing tool for your business:

Pros of Using Google Plus

  • First and foremost as a business owner you should keep in mind that all companies small and large alike must have a strong online presence. According to marketing psychologist Martin Shervington, using Google Plus can give you an advantage on search rankings. If your company’s Google Plus page is constantly active, updated and read it’s more likely that it will appear on a person’s search for your area of expertise and or product.

  • Part of having Google Plus is being able to create “hangouts” and “circles.” Hangouts enable communication with your audience; you can video chat or instant message each other without having to leave the Google Plus page. Be it present or potential clients as well as business partners, Google hangouts give room for a more personalized online relationship.

  • Circles on the other hand facilitate finding and reaching your target market. When you make a circle, you’re putting people into a specific group that you create. For instance, NuZoo might create a circle for affordable housing or telecom, both industries that we serve. But we might also create a circle for video professionals so we can share info and communicate with other video producers. The key to using circles is controlling what posts you see from each circle you make; as the creator you are able to put a limit on how many posts from each circle appear on your company’s stream page. This is search engine optimization at its most basic: the more content with your key words in your circles — even from other people in your circle — makes it more likely that someone searching Google will find you.

Cons of Using Google Plus

  • According to the DMR (Digital Marketing Stats Resource Center) only 13% of small businesses use Google Plus and an unknown number of business pages are also present. Meaning you might not be able to measure how much you’re being found, and how big the market on Google Plus is for the products or services that your company provides.

  • Google Plus boasts of having a network of 540 million active users (statistic which has not been updated since 2014). But Google owns YouTube, and everyone who wants to comment or post on YouTube appears on Google Plus, whether they are active or not. DMR 2015 research shows only 4 to 6 million users have actually made a public post.

  • Last but not least is how complicated Google Plus can be; just because it can have an extremely good effect on your company’s organic searches doesn’t mean the end result is going to be a positive one. In one place there are tools for photos, messaging, streams, videos, groups and hangouts. But if not used correctly or consistently Google Plus can turn out to be a waste of time and effort.

Google Reputation

On a final note something that can be both a pro and con about Google Plus is every company or person has their very own “Google reputation.” This includes the comments you post on YouTube videos, your blog posts, and comments on other blogs make up a profile of you.

Google uses this information to create an image of you (person or business). It then uses this to identify who you are regardless of what tool you use.

Depending on your online activity, Google might conclude that your company and page is trustworthy or not, and whether or not it should appear in its search results.

Whether you choose to use Google Plus or not you must always be careful and smart about using social media.

               Contact NuZoo Media for more information

 

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Website Features Every Business Must Have

website features every business must haveThe lack of certain website features can be the reason your website traffic and conversion rates aren’t where you want them to be.

If people are leaving your site without returning or taking action, it might not be about the product or service but the website experience.

The way you represent your business is vital because your website is the first place people go to find out about your services. Here are a few website features you can’t go without.

Mobile

Because mobile devices are a huge component of online activity, going mobile is one of the most important website features you need to have. Customers want a fast and easy way of viewing a website, especially with a small screen space. 61% of consumers like a brand more when they have a pleasant mobile experience according to Mobify. Going mobile shows consumers that your business is innovative updated and active.

 Social Media Platforms

The presence of social media on your site is critical. Social media is great for networking, communicating and showing people what you’re all about. People on social media can help your business grow by writing about your business, sharing your posts and inviting friends to follow you. Use social media to promote your products and offer promotions. Social media also gives you a platform to show your customers how you’re engaged with the community. Have share buttons on the front page of your website where it’s visible and stands out.

 Website Features Every Business Must Have Sign Up Form

This is a call to action. Encourage customers to sign up for your e-newsletter. Through newsletters, you can inform people about your services, news and promotions. Offer incentives for signing up such as a discount on a product. This is a great way to interact with your customers by sending out emails on a consistent basis. Have your sign-up button on the front of your page where it stands out.

Blog

If you don’t already have one, a blog is one of the website features that gives your company a plus. Blogging is a great way for customers to get to know more about your company and the people that work there. Writing articles about your industry, its’ products and services helps position you as an expert and builds trust with customers. Customers can leave comments and questions for an interactive and personal experience. Blogs generate 126% more leads than those without a blog according to Yahoo! Small Business. A valuable part of blogging is that it can generate more traffic through search engine optimization (SEO). If your website has a blog, your website can be easier to find on search engines because they love fresh content to index.

  Contact NuZoo Media for more information

 

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