The Top 10 Platforms for Effectively Managing Social Influencers

Social media is evolving. Brands need to do more today than just have active profiles on different marketing channels.

Successful businesses are increasing their presence by leveraging relationships with social influencers to create brand awareness.

We’re seeing an increase in the use of micro influencers, which made my list of the top marketing trends to look for in 2018. So for those of you who haven’t implemented this strategy yet, it’s time to get your feet wet.

You may be surprised to hear how big of an impact influencer marketing campaigns can have on your company. In fact, 30% of people say they are more likely to buy a product if a non-celebrity influencer recommends it to them.

The results will vary by generation.

For example, if you are marketing to Generation Z, you’ll need to know that 70% of this group say they can relate to YouTube creators more than to traditional celebrities.

This means you don’t have to find pop culture icons like Kanye West or Shaquille O’Neal to promote your brand. It’s great news because this will obviously be more cost-effective for your marketing budget.

But since influencer marketing at this scale is relatively new for most businesses, it can feel as if you’re entering uncharted waters.

Where do you find social influencers? How much should they be paid? Do they have enough followers to have an impact on your business?

Fortunately, there are online platforms to help you get connected with social influencers. I’ve narrowed down the top 10 platforms for managing these relationships.

Review my list to see which ones fit the needs of your brand before you decide.

1. Klear

When it comes to getting connected with social influencers, Klear is a top choice for you to consider.

That’s because their software allows you to fully customize the profile of an influencer you’re looking for based on a variety of factors.

You’ll get to decide which social channels you want to promote on, such as Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, or even blogs.

Then you can select which type of influence you want people to have. This ranges from novices all the way up to celebrities.

Once you click on a prospective influencer’s profile, you’ll get to see insights based on their audience. This will help ensure their reach matches your goals.

Just because an influencer fits your target market doesn’t mean their followers do too. Klear helps you distinguish between these factors.

The dashboard of this software makes it easy for you to manage your campaigns and relationships with multiple influencers at the same time.

You’ll also get detailed reports for each campaign you run to see if you’re getting the results you need to get a high ROI.

Now, you can easily track your success and continue relationships with your best influencers. On the flip side, these analytics can give you a data-driven reason to cut ties with influencers who aren’t helping your cause.

2. TweetReach

Depending on your business and marketing campaigns, you may be looking for tools to help you with specific marketing channels.

The TweetReach software can help you get connected with the top social influencers on Twitter:

Here’s how it works. To find influencers, you’ll need to manually search for a topic related to your brand.

Simply input a keyword or hashtag into the query to see which tweets have the highest engagement.

If you find some people who have a big following and powerful voice within your industry, you can reach out to them directly and work out a deal for them to promote your brand via Twitter.

Furthermore, you can use TweetReach to search for specific accounts. You may have some influencers in mind, but you want to see some analytics before contacting them.

TweetReach provides you with exposure information based on your search terms in specific locations as well. This is useful if you want to get connected with influencers in a certain geographic market area.

3. Buzzsumo

I like Buzzsumo because they have a wide range of marketing solutions for businesses.

They have tools for things such as competitor analysis, brand monitoring, and content discovery. But they also have specific tools for your influencer marketing goals.

Their platform helps connect you with the right influencers. You can find an influencer based on topics or locations.

Once you have an initial list of influencers, you can filter those results based on things such as engagement, reach, influence, and authority. This gives you the ability to pick the most qualified people for your marketing goals.

You will also have reports based on the type of content and domains these influencers share the most.

Most influencers won’t work for one brand exclusively. This information is vital to making sure your influencers aren’t doing anything that may negatively affect the reputation of your company.

All the analytics, data, and reports from Buzzsumo can easily be exported as CSV or Excel files.

This makes it easy for you to manage your results on platforms you feel comfortable with. You can also combine this exported data with information from other software for comparison purposes.

4. Brandwatch Audiences

The Audiences research feature from Brandwatch gives you access to a huge database of social influencers.

The reason why this tool is so helpful is because it ranks influencers based on factors that matter the most, such as the ability to drive conversions.

This is much more important than their number of followers and reach. The software connects you with influencers based on niche markets as well.

If someone has an authoritative voice on a particular topic or within a certain industry, Brandwatch can help you find them.

It’s a great tool to use if you prefer working with up and coming influencers, such as micro influencers, as opposed to people who are nearing celebrity status on social media.

5. BuzzStream

BuzzStream is another great option to consider because their platform can help you get connected with bloggers in addition to social media users.

Don’t underestimate the power of a blogger’s voice and the positive impact it can have on your branding strategy.

All you need to do is search for a specific topic through this platform. You’ll see a list of prospective bloggers that fit your brand or industry.

You’ll have access to reports about their websites and social media pages. This snapshot will tell you exactly how many followers they have on each platform as well as their posting frequency and activity level.

BuzzStream also provides you with engagement statistics for each prospective influencer.

In addition to managing your relationships with influencers, the BuzzStream software specializes in digital PR, link building, and content promotion. All of these features can be used to complement your social influencer campaigns.

6. Kred

This platform is a bit different from all the other options on our list so far.

That’s because Kred is designed for influencers as opposed to brands looking to get connected with influencers.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t still use this platform to your advantage. There are plenty of ways you can go about this.

First of all, if your business is tied to your personal brand, you definitely need to use Kred. Working with other brands can be an easy way for you to build credibility for your company.

For example, let’s say you’re in the modeling business. Rather than looking for social influencers to promote your brand, you should be getting connected with brands to promote their products.

That way, you can earn some extra cash while increasing the exposure for your personal brand and business at the same time.

Kred is also great because it helps connect influencers with other influencers.

Businesses can use these tools to their advantage to discover their Kred score, which is basically a report of how strong their online influence and outreach is on various channels.

7. GroupHigh

GroupHigh is another top choice for brands looking to connect with social influencers and bloggers.

They have a database with over 15 million influencer profiles.

You can search for influencers based on different reach metrics, location, and social presence. GroupHigh also has an option for finding influencers based on their expertise in niche topics or industries.

If you are managing social influencers on multiple platforms, GroupHigh can help you stay organized.

That’s because the software allows you to import all the information regarding other influencer relationships into their system. Now you can manage everything from one location. It’s easy to contact your influencers with just a click once you import their info.

There are lots of different communication options with influencers based on the preferred method of both parties.

You can also see reports on all your social mentions to give you a better understanding of your ROI from different influencer marketing campaigns.

8. Followerwonk

Followerwonk is software offered by Moz. It’s an influencer marketing tool specific to Twitter.

Unlike the majority of options on our list, Followerwonk has a free version you can take advantage of.

This tool helps you search for keywords found in users’ Twitter bios. You’ll get to see information pulled from their profiles, such as the number of followers, account age, tweets, and social authority scores.

In addition to using this tool to help you find new influencers, you can use it to track your existing relationships.

You want to make sure the influencers representing your brand on Twitter still have a strong authority. Otherwise, you may be wasting money on a marketing campaign that won’t work.

9. Onalytica

If you’re looking for a platform that helps you connect with new influencers and manage them at the same time, Onalytica is a viable option to consider.

You have several options to search for new influencers. Onalytica lets you search based on categories, so you can get connected with people who specialize in specific fields.

You can also find influencers based on their demographics.

If you’re looking to market your brand to a specific audience, it makes sense to work with influencers who fit that demographic as well.

But what really makes Onalytica one of the top influencer marketing platforms is the option to search for influencers based on topic and content. You can find people who use similar language to that of your recently published content.

All you have to do is upload something you created, such as a newsletter or blog post, and the Onalytica content matching tool will provide you with a list of prospective influencers.

10. Traackr

Last on my list, but certainly not least, is Traackr.

This platform has a wide range of solutions to help businesses manage their influencer marketing campaigns.

They make it easy for you to communicate with influencers on a daily basis so that you can effectively get your message out to the consumer.

You can also upload influencer lists from other platforms to this software to help you manage everything in one centralized location. That way, it’ll be easier for you to track and compare your conversions, helping validate the success of specific campaigns.

Traackr also has tools to help compare your brand’s total social influence compared to that of your competitors. It also tracks your improvement over time.

All this information is helpful when it comes to measuring your reach and ROI.

Conclusion

For your business to survive and prosper in today’s digital age, you need to increase your social media presence.

To do this effectively, you’ve got to develop relationships with social influencers on multiple distribution channels.

Rather than just blindly scrolling through your follower lists to try to come up with a qualified candidate, you can use online tools to discover, manage, and analyze your influencers.

Refer to my list above to help you find what you’re looking for. Some of the options are more platform-specific, helping you connect with either bloggers, for example, or influencers on Twitter.

It all depends on your marketing goals.

But one thing is for certain, you need to get on the social influencer train now before your competition beats you to the punch.

What types of platforms does your company use to manage relationships with social influencers?

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Mediavine Review: How I Switched From Google Adsense and Increased Earnings by 80%

I've been a huge fan of Google Adsense for years.  I started putting Google Adsense on my sites over 10 years ago, and 7 years ago the income I was making from Google Adsense was enough for me to quit…

The post Mediavine Review: How I Switched From Google Adsense and Increased Earnings by 80% appeared first on Niche Pursuits.

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How to Create Highly Relevant Content That Directly Drives Sales

Content marketing is an absolute necessity for brand survival in 2018.

So you’re on the right track if you are currently creating and distributing content. But for those of you who aren’t seeing results from these marketing campaigns, it can be frustrating.

You’re putting so much time and effort into this, so why aren’t you seeing results? What’s the issue?

I see this problem a lot when I’m consulting with businesses. They don’t have a clearly defined content strategy. If this sounds like you, it’s important that you read carefully.

It’s great that you are continuing to publish new content. But this isn’t effective if your sales aren’t increasing.

Sure, content marketing can be used for lots of different things. Primarily, businesses use content marketing to:

• generate leads
• acquire new customers
• increase brand awareness
• establish credibility
• engage with an audience

All of these are great and critical for success. However, you need to learn how to create content that directly drives sales.

That’s why you got into business in the first place, right? You wanted to make money. I can sum up one of the best ways to create content that drives sales in just one word.

Relevancy.

If your content isn’t relevant, you won’t see high conversions. It’s that simple. So follow this guide on how to drive sales with highly relevant content. Here’s what you need to know.

Understand how the conversion funnel works

Before you can create highly relevant content, it’s important for you to make sure that you’ve got a firm grasp on the conversion funnel.

You’ll see different variations of this funnel depending on which marketing website or expert you are referring to. It can also look slightly different depending on the industry and business model.

But for the most part, the conversion funnel can be broken down into three stages.

The top of the funnel occurs when a prospective customer becomes aware of your company. They’re conducting research or looking for an opinion. Basically, they need an answer to something and they are seeking insight.

Once a consumer knows that your brand exists, they enter the middle stage of the conversion funnel. This is the evaluation phase.

They are still conducting research, but now they are taking it one step further. Consumers are trying to decide if your product or service fits well for them and their specific needs.

Finally, the consumer reaches the bottom of the funnel when they enter the purchasing or conversion stage.

This is the area of the conversion funnel that you need to focus on the most when it comes to creating highly relevant content.

The bottom of the funnel is your chance to explain to your customers why your product and service is the best for them. Show your differentiation from the competition.

Educate the consumer. Explain what it will be like for them if they become a customer.

Marketing campaigns that entice them can include demonstrations, free consultations, free trials, estimates, quotes, coupons, and pricing. Basically, it’s anything to give them an incentive to buy.

Once you understand the conversion funnel, and more specifically, the bottom of the funnel, it will be much easier for you to adjust your content strategy accordingly to drive sales.

It doesn’t matter whether you are a B2C or B2B company, you’ll still need to evaluate your funnel.

Yes, you’ll notice some slight differences between the business models.

But ultimately, the funnel can still be broken down into three stages.

Create a customer journey map

Journey maps are a great resource because it takes you through the buying process even further than the conversion funnel.

Your journey map will focus on elements that take place after the purchase, instead of just before. So while awareness and consideration will still be part of your journey map, you’ll also focus on your customer retention strategy.

Analyze how the customer behaves after their initial purchase. This is very important when it comes to driving sales.

That’s because you’re not always going to focus all of your efforts on how to acquire new customers.

In fact, you shouldn’t be. Yes, of course, new customers are great. But it’s actually less expensive and more effective to target your current customers. So a journey map can help you accomplish this.

You’ll put yourself in the minds of your customers. Once you’re able to do this effectively, you can adjust your content strategy accordingly based on their point of view.

Track leads and conversions

Where are your leads coming from?

If you don’t know the answer to this question, it’s a big problem. This is one of the reasons why your content isn’t relevant and driving sales.

Knowing how customers discovered you can help you understand why they made a purchase. Based on this information, you can create content that’s more specific to their needs.

Since the majority of the customer journey is done on the Internet, it’s easy for you to track their behavior.

The best way to track your leads is with UTM parameters.

Not sure what a UTM parameter is? Don’t worry, it’s actually pretty simple. In fact, I’m sure you’ve seen this before.

If you’ve ever clicked on a link from an advertisement, the URL will be long and somewhat complex looking. Even if you’re just on a company homepage.

That’s a UTM parameter. It’s a way for websites to determine exactly where a lead came from. For example, did it come from Facebook, Twitter, Google Ads, a social influencer, or email marketing campaign?

You’ll have different tags for each distribution platform to know precisely where the lead came from.

Furthermore, you’ll have tags for each post within a specific platform. So for example, knowing it came from Facebook is great. But where on Facebook? Which specific post?

You’ll be able to figure this out with your UTM parameters. It’s easy to set these up with Google Analytics.

Just navigate to the “Demos & Tools” menu and select “Campaign URL Builder” from the list of options.

Another reason why UTM parameters are so important is because it can help you accurately measure your ROI.

You know how much you’re spending on each campaign, so you’ll be able to see direct sales results to measure how successful everything was.

Just make sure that you accurately fill out the entire form so you don’t get confused.

After you fill out the required fields, this tool will automatically generate a custom URL for you to use.

I could go on and on about this topic. But I want to stay focused on creating content that drives sales. So for those of you that want a more thorough explanation, check out my ultimate guide to using UTM parameters.

Promote diverse ads on social media

Now it’s time to take this process one step further. I’ve explained what you need to know about UTM parameters, but now you’ve got to put them to the test.

Social media is a great place to do this because you’ve got lots of options.

You can use paid promotions to target specific audiences. So you’ve just got to come up with ads that use different types of content.

Start with a hypothesis. What types of content do you think will have the highest conversions?

This will vary based on your industry, business model, target market, and other factors. But you need to make sure that each campaign is different.

Don’t get me wrong. You definitely don’t want to waste money on irrelevant ads. But it’s important that you rule out content that doesn’t work early on. Remember, we’re focusing on relevancy here.

Then you’ll use the UTM parameters that you’ve previously set up to track how effective different ads were.

Now you can appropriately adjust your content strategy based on which ads had the highest success rates and directly drove sales.

Develop a customer persona

Now that you know which content speaks to your audience the most, you can develop a customer persona to improve your conversion rates.

This will help you learn more about exactly who you’re selling to. It’s similar to what we did earlier with the journey map, but a customer persona has much greater detail involved.

Again, based on your findings, you’ll continue to adjust your content strategy.

Look at the factors associated with who you’re selling to.

It’s much more specific to your broader target market.

That’s why you won’t just develop one customer persona, you’ll be building several of these.

Each one depends on lots of different factors. But ultimately, customer personas will give you more inspiration so that you can stay relevant with your content strategy.

Take advantage of different formats of content

Don’t just stick with one type of content. Mix it up.

Some different strategies to consider include:

• blogging
• infographics
• case studies
• video content

This will vary depending on the platform you’re using and the audience that you’re trying to target.

But based on the research that you’ve conducted between your conversion funnel, customer journey map, UTM parameter tracking, and customer personas, you’ll have plenty of information to use for each type of content.

The best type of content is personalized. You can even use tricks like storytelling to enhance your content. These tips will ultimately lead to more sales.

Research shows that generating traffic and leads are the top marketing obstacles that businesses are struggling to overcome.

But by diversifying your content strategy, you’ll increase the chances of your content appealing to a wider audience.

That’s because it will be relevant based on their wants and needs.

Keep up with the latest news and trends

To stay relevant, you need to always keep your finger on the pulse.

Understand what’s happening locally, regionally, nationally, and across the globe. Keep your eye on important news.

You’ve also got to keep track of news and trends within your specific industry. Analyze your competition. Did someone else beat you to the punch?

If a competitor is having success with a strategy, you need to know about it. So find some accurate news sources. Subscribe to industry newsletters and attend events.

Whenever something major is happening that’s trending, you can use it to promote your content.

For example, do you remember the ALS ice bucket challenge craze of 2014?

If you were manufacturing buckets or selling ice, you could use that as a marketing ploy for your content strategy. Even if you were selling bathing suits, goggles, or anything similar, you could get creative here.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying you should try to take advantage charities. I’m just trying to show how you can capitalize on trends and other newsworthy headlines.

Just be creative and apply it to your content strategy.

Conclusion

You need to make sure that your content is relevant if you want to generate sales.

Figure out how to leverage different elements at the bottom of the conversion funnel. Then, create a customer journey map to help give you a better understanding of what the consumer wants.

Use UTM parameters to track their behavior and measure the success of different campaigns. Promote those ads on social media.

Once you realize which promotions had the most success, you can build customer personas to dig even deeper into the minds of your customers.

Use all of these resources, tools, and analytics to identify the type of content that speaks to your customers the most. Adjust your content strategy accordingly.

Stay up to date on the most recent news and trends to stay relevant.

If you follow the tips that I’ve outlined in this guide, you’ll see a significant impact on your sales numbers based on your relevant content.

What type of highly relevant content is your company using to drive more sales?

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How to Create a Killer Video Promotion to Increase Engagement

People love watching videos. That’s why 87% of marketers use video content to engage with their audiences on the Internet.

More than half of marketing experts across the globe say they get the highest ROI from their video promotions.

When it comes to social media, videos generate 1,200% more shares than both text and pictures combined.

Another reason why videos are great is because it’s easier for viewers to comprehend your message while watching videos. In fact, your audience will retain 95% of information they consumed through a video as opposed to just 10% of information they consumed through reading text.

It’s no secret that video content has been dominating the latest trends.

But with so many videos out there flooding the market, you need to make sure your video promotions can stand out from the crowd.

The majority of consumers prefer watching video content on YouTube and television:

These are the platforms you should prioritize when creating a new video promotion.

Don’t get me wrong, just because videos are a great way to market your brand doesn’t mean you should completely abandon your other marketing strategies.

You should still continue blogging, sending emails to your subscribers, and staying active on social media. Another reason why video promotions are so awesome is because you can incorporate them into all these other distribution channels as well.

It’s easy to add videos to your blog, embed them into your emails, and share them on social media.

Here’s something else to keep in mind. Yes, consumers love videos. But that doesn’t mean that everything you publish will automatically be a huge success.

You’ve got to learn how to engage with your audience through promotional videos, which is why I created this guide. Keep these tips in mind if you want to continue running successful video promos.

Identify your audience

Your video promotion won’t appeal to everyone.

That’s okay. You shouldn’t try to reach every person on the planet with your marketing campaigns.

The first step in creating a killer video promo is to identify your target market. For starters, I’m assuming your brand has already done this.

But not everything you offer is necessarily intended for all your customers. You may sell products for men and women of all ages. Don’t try to appeal to these different audiences with the same video.

Instead, segment your target audience based on the goal of your campaign, which we’ll discuss in greater detail shortly.

Here’s an example of how Lululemon used this strategy in this ad:

Lululemon sells yoga clothing, gear, and accessories. This brand primarily sells to women. But recently, they launched a men’s line as well.

This video promotion is aimed specifically at male audiences.

Don’t worry. By doing this, you won’t be abandoning the rest of your customers. You’ll just need to come up with additional promos to target them as well.

Next, you’ll use different distribution strategies appropriate to the market segment you’re targeting.

Stick to a reasonable budget

You don’t need to spend a ton of money on your video promotions. The cost will largely depend on what you’re trying to accomplish.

What do you need in your video?

For example, you may need to rent a facility, hire actors, or work with a celebrity, which may cost you a lot of money, but you may not need any of that.

Keep in mind, to be successful, you’ll need to make lots of promos. You don’t want to dump a ton of money into each one.

For the most part, you can make a great video without breaking the bank. Use your employees and friends as actors and look for locations that are free to shoot.

You also need to keep in mind how much it’s going to cost you to distribute your promotions. If you’re planning to just upload them to your YouTube channel and share them on your website, social media pages, and email lists, there won’t be any cost.

But if you’re filming an ad for television or paid promotions on social media, the costs will vary.

Marketing experts cited the cost and budget as the number one reason preventing them from spending more money on video advertising:

But if you can find ways to keep your costs low, this won’t be an issue for you.

That’s why it’s important to come up with a budget before you get started. Then you won’t have any surprises or money problems once you start filming.

Focus on one goal

What’s the point of your video?

Are you trying to promote an event? Advertise a sale? Build hype for a new product or service? Or maybe you’re trying to get downloads, add subscribers, or drive traffic to a landing page?

Video promotions are great for building brand awareness as well. The possibilities are endless.

Regardless of your reason, it’s important that you create one video promo for one goal. As I said earlier, this goal is also related to your target audience, which you’ve previously identified.

Do not go overboard here.

If you try to accomplish too many goals in one promotion, it’ll confuse your audience, and the engagement will suffer. Later, we’ll talk more about your ending call to action, but it should reinforce the goal of your promo.

Make sure you’ve got the right equipment

You don’t need to hire a professional director and camera person to film your video promotions. It’ll help you keep your budget within your means, as discussed above.

If you’re planning on making lots of promotional videos in the future, which you should be, it’ll be worth it for you to invest in the right equipment now.

Here are some things you’ll need to get:

• quality camera
• microphone
• lighting equipment
• editing software

These are necessary if you want to make sure your promotion looks professional.

Publishing a poor quality video can create the opposite effect of what you’re trying to accomplish:

Research shows that unprofessional videos cause consumers to have a negative association with the brand that published them.

Don’t underestimate the importance of getting the proper equipment.

Write a script

No matter how creative you are, don’t try to wing it when you’re filming a video promo.

Even if you have a general idea of the content of your promo, write out each line ahead of time. Write the lines for all the actors as well as any narration lines.

You should also consider dead air time when nobody is speaking. Include pauses and breaks in your script as well. All of this needs to be accounted for before filming starts.

Having a script will keep things organized. That way, you’ll use your time efficiently whenever you’re filming.

Trying to figure out the best way to word a scene on the filming day is an ineffective allocation of your time. Instead, your efforts should be focused on getting quality shots.

Having a script that’s ready to go will also help eliminate any friction or confrontations with your staff.

Depending on the managerial structure of your brand, there may be several people who have an input and strong opinions about your marketing campaign.

The last thing you want is for people to argue about the direction of your video while you’re trying to film it. Working out the details ahead of time will make sure everyone involved sticks to the script, pun intended.

Time is of the essence

How long is your video promotion? 10 seconds? 30 seconds? a minute?

You need to plan that before you get started. The most important part of your video promotion is capturing the viewers’ attention at the very beginning.

Research shows that as time increases, engagement decreases. Don’t ease into your videos.

Chances are your audience may not get through the entire thing. But a strong introduction in the first ten seconds can keep them hooked and engaged throughout the duration of the promo.

The length of your video will also vary depending on your distribution method.

HubSpot studied the ideal length of a promotional video based on the distribution channel. These were their findings.

Instagram promos should be 30 seconds long. That’s because the average length of videos on this platform with the most comments was 26 seconds long.

Plus, Instagram’s platform encourages users to keep scrolling. Shorter videos make the most sense here.

Twitter videos should be short as well. People are used to reading short updates on this platform since they have a 140-character text limit. Plus, the average length of Twitter’s videos of the day was 43 seconds long.

Video promotions on Facebook that were one minute long had high engagement rates.

YouTube videos can be a bit longer. The optimal length of a YouTube video is roughly two minutes because users tend to spend more time watching videos on this platform.

Make sure your timing is sorted out before you start filming. Otherwise, the promotion could feel dragged out if you don’t get right to the point.

Choose a theme

What’s the mood of your video? This may seem like a strange question, but you need to answer it.

Figure out what kind of emotions you want your audience to feel when they’re watching your promotion. These are the top positive emotions felt by viewers watching viral video content:

Having a clear theme will keep everyone working on this project on the same page.

If you don’t know where to start, here are some theme recommendations to give you some inspiration:

• humorous content
• serious and informative
• sad
• romantic
• dramatic
• inspirational
• confrontational
• corny and quirky
• music video
• entertainment
• sense of luxury

The list goes on and on, but these are reasonable places to start your brainstorming.

Here’s something else you need to consider. Music. Will there be any music playing in your promotion, or will it be only people talking?

The type of music included in your video promo will give your audience a good sense of your theme.

Make sure you stick with just one or two themes at the most. Don’t throw a joke into a promo that has a serious and informative theme because it will confuse your audience.

Pick a style

In addition to your theme, you also need to determine a style of your promo.

Are you using actors to replicate a real life scenario? Or maybe you’re using live footage.

If you’re not using actors, you may want to use an animated style or b-roll video. You could have a screencast with a narrator speaking or use a whiteboard demonstration.

Here’s a quick video promo on the Dollar Shave Club website:

It’s promoting their shave butter. This video has a lot going on, but it’s used effectively.

It uses a combination of actors and animations to create a fantasy scene that’s humorous. The actor puts on the shaving butter and then feels as if he’s swimming in it.

As you can see, you’re allowed to combine styles. You can always use a voiceover to enhance the style and prove a point.

Film multiple versions of your promo

You’ve got all your equipment set up, so you might as well take advantage of it.

If your end goal is a 30-second video promotion, don’t film just 30 seconds and call it a day. Mix things up.

Film longer versions of your promo as well. You can always edit it down later based on your distribution channel.

For example, you can create a two-minute-long video intended for YouTube and then release a 30-second clip of it on Instagram and a minute-long version on Facebook, according to the optimal length of videos for different channels I discussed earlier.

You could also consider filming a long version and release part of it at a time. Create a series out of your promotion so viewers anxiously anticipate the sequel to find out what happens next.

End with a strong call to action

Your CTA will be the extension of your goals I discussed above.

The call to action should be at the end of your video and reinforce whatever you’re trying to accomplish.

If the video is being distributed online, it could end with a website for people to visit or a download link to click on.

Include a phone number if you want your audience to make a call.

Use phrases such as buy now, save today, or sign up for free.

Again, this will all vary based on the goal of your campaign.

Here’s an example of the last clip of a Little Caesars video promotion:

The message is clear. Pay $5 for a pizza.

This entire promo talks about how you can just walk into one of their locations and leave with a hot pizza that’s ready to eat. It differs from most pizza restaurants where you’d have to order your pizza and wait for it.

The CTA at the end of the video reinforces this message.

It should be very obvious to anyone who watches your video what type of action you’re trying to get your viewers to do based on your call to action. Don’t be ambiguous. Get straight to the point.

Conclusion

Consumers love videos. Your brand needs to learn how to master video marketing campaigns.

The first thing you need to do is identify the audience your video will target.

Set a budget, and stick to one goal per promotion. Get yourself proper filming equipment, and write a script to stay organized.

Decide on the length of your promotion. This will vary based on your distribution methods.

Choose a theme and style of your promo based on what type of emotions you want the viewers to feel while they’re watching it.

Film multiple versions of the video promotion. You can always cut it to an appropriate length later.

All great video promos end with a strong call to action.

If you follow these tips, your video promotions will have high engagement rates and ultimately lead to more conversions.

How is your brand using video promotions to engage with your target audience?

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How to Distribute Content Effectively Across Multiple Channels

Your content is great. You’ve been applying new strategies and learning how to master the art of storytelling to make your content more engaging.

But now what? This is useless if you’re unable to distribute it to your audience.

I see this problem all the time when I’m consulting businesses. They have excellent writers who know how to write great blog posts, but nobody is reading their work.

The key here is learning how to distribute your content so it can reach the widest audience possible.

If you’re using only one distribution channel, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity.

Some of you may be thinking, “If it’s on my website, someone will eventually see it.”

That’s not true. You can’t rely on your website alone for content distribution. That’s because people consume information in a wide variety of ways.

For example, if you have a B2B company, you should be aware that majority of your content is being viewed on desktop computers.

B2C companies, on the other hand, need to put more emphasis on optimizing their mobile websites for Google searches.

But effective content distribution goes way beyond the types of devices your audience is using. Using multiple methods of distribution gives more people a chance to see your content.

Use this guide as a reference for how to successfully deliver content to your target audience. Here’s what you need to know.

Establish an active presence on all your channels

Your distribution won’t be effective if you’re adding content to each channel only once per month. If you want more views and engagement, the first thing you need to do is make sure all your platforms are active.

This is the best way to make sure that as many people as possible have regular access to your brand.

Start simple. How many social media profiles do you have? Create accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube if you haven’t already.

You’ve been adding new subscribers to your email list, but how often do you send them messages?

People subscribed to your emails because they wanted to hear from you. They follow you on social media because they are interested in your products and services. Don’t let them down by going silent.

While you should post often, make sure you don’t get too carried away. Otherwise, this strategy could backfire and you could be perceived as annoying.

We know that 57.5% of social media users unfollowed a brand on social media because they thought the brand posted too many promotions.

Find that middle ground. Post content daily, but do this without blowing up your followers’ timelines.

Understand your audience

As I said earlier, not everyone consumes content the same way. Conduct research to clearly identify your target market.

Once you know whom you’re trying to reach, it will be easier to figure out how to target them based on their consumption habits.

First of all, think about the platform you’re distributing on. This will tell you how your audience wants to consume.

For example, take a look at your Instagram followers. If you’re debating what you should post on your Instagram profile, stick to pictures and videos. It wouldn’t be effective to write short blogs in the caption of a photo.

Instead, focus your website on more text-heavy content, such as blogs. Send newsletters to your email subscribers. Keep your Twitter audience updated with short newsworthy headlines.

Does this make sense? Make sure the content is tailored to each channel based on your audience consumes.

But you also need to realize not everyone has the same social media preferences. Take a look at some of the differences between how Millennials and Baby Boomers consume content:

If you’re targeting Baby Boomers, you’ll be better off using Facebook as a primary distribution method. Don’t use hashtags. Give them written content.

But if your brand is targeting Millennials, you’ll need to focus more on Instagram, hashtags, and photos to have an effective marketing strategy.

Timing is everything

So, you just wrote a new blog post. Now what?

Do you instantly share it on all your distribution channels at once? Not necessarily.

You can add it to Facebook on one day and Twitter the next. Add a promotion to your Instagram story a few days later to drive traffic to your blog post.

Here’s the thing. There is going to be some overlap between your followers on different distribution channels. You don’t want to bombard them all at once with the same marketing pitch.

Put yourself in the shoes of your customer. They open Facebook and see a link to your new blog post. Then they log into Twitter and see the same headline.

Later that day, they’re reading through their emails and see you emailed them a link to that blog post as well. This is overkill. Plus, it can annoy your audience. They want to hear from you, but not that often.

You also need to consider the actual day and time when you’re posting new content. The optimal time will vary based on the distribution channel:

Use this as a guide to make sure that as many people as possible can see your posts. But this will depend on what you’re talking about.

For example, let’s say your brand is releasing some type of breaking news that’s time-sensitive. Obviously, you shouldn’t wait until the next optimal time to tell your audience.

You’ll want to get this information out on all of your channels right away. But if it’s just a general discussion topic that’s not time-sensitive, it can wait.

Make sure your content is relevant

The best content is always on topic and relevant to your brand.

Yes, I know that earlier I talked about breaking news as an example of time-sensitive content that should be shared right away.

However, that doesn’t mean you should be sharing every news story you hear.

For example, let’s say your company manufactures home furniture. There’s no reason for you to be alerting your customers with weather updates unless, of course, this weather is somehow impacting your business, such as a delay in shipping.

Also, earlier I said you should distribute content on different channels based on a specific time or day of the week.

But that doesn’t work if you’re promoting an advertisement or offer that expires soon, such as a flash sale.

Take advantage of automation tools

As I said earlier, you’ll need to stay active on all your distribution channels. But I realize this can be a challenge.

You’re busy. I get it. I’m sure you’ve got dozens of tasks you think are more important than posting new content.

If this sounds like your situation, you’ll definitely want to try some of my favorite time-saving social media marketing tools.

Automated tools can make your life much easier. For example, take a look at Hootsuite:

The platform allows you to schedule your social media posts automatically. This can save you a ton of time.

Now, you can write a new blog post and then schedule the post on the day and time that will get the most engagement depending on the platform.

It’s easier to do this all at once instead of manually posting each time.

You can dedicate just one or two days a week to schedule your posts and let the automation tools take care of the rest of the work for you. Plus, seeing everything in a calendar view on the platform will help you make sure the distribution is even.

Repurpose old content

This piggybacks on our last point. You’ve got to work smarter, not harder.

If you have some marketing materials or documents written a couple of years ago that are still relevant, you can reuse them.

You may have written a very informative blog post with lots of data and facts to back up your claims. But at the time, you didn’t have the marketing skills to get it distributed to a wide audience.

The views and engagement on that page were really low. But that doesn’t mean you can’t bring that post back to life. You’ve got a couple of options here.

First, you can write a new article on the same topic, changing the title. Use your old post as a reference to make the writing process go faster.

Or you could republish an old post with updated statistics. Here’s an example of how HubSpot uses this strategy with its blog posts:

Statistics change over time. This is especially true when it comes to marketing data. That’s why I always try to use the most recent sources to back up my data.

HubSpot recognized that the research they conducted in 2012 was outdated. So, they updated the statistics and republished an old post.

Your content must be shareable

Did you notice anything else in the HubSpot’s example above?

The post is plastered with sharing icons. Readers can distribute this content to others with just a click of a button through channels such as:

• Twitter
• Facebook
• E-mail
• LinkedIn
• Facebook Messenger
• Slack

Including these icons makes it much more likely that readers will share your content. Otherwise, you’d have to rely on them manually copying your link, opening a new tab or window, and then sharing it with their friends.

It’s too many steps to be an effective strategy that you can rely on.

There are other ways to approach this strategy as well. When you share posts on social media, you can try to encourage user-generated content as a distribution strategy.

Run a contest or promotion that requires a re-tweet, post, or share as an entry submission.

This will get your content in the hands of as many people as possible.

Leverage your relationships with influencers

As you can see, you don’t have to distribute content alone. In addition to your followers, you should form relationships with social influencers.

These people already have an active audience engaged with their posts.

When a social influencer shares something, their followers will be likely to follow up to find more information.

Don’t think you need to pay big bucks to work with a celebrity. In fact, you may have better luck working with micro influencers:

This strategy is valid on all your distribution channels. Nearly 40% of Twitter users have made a purchase based on an influencer’s tweet.

Further, 70% of teenagers say they are influenced more by YouTube personalities than traditional celebrities, and 40% of Millennials say they can relate to their favorite YouTube stars even more than they can relate to their friends.

Make sure you find an influencer who speaks to your target market. It’s a highly effective way to distribute your content.

Track your results

When running any marketing campaign, you’ve got to use analytics tools to see how effective your distribution strategy is.

Most of your platforms will have these tools built-in. You can track engagement with your email marketing software as well as your social media networks.

If you’re using third-party tools to distribute content, they will provide accurate analytics. This is a great opportunity for you to evaluate your methods and make adjustments.

Stick with strategies that are working well. Fix the areas that need improvement.

Conclusion

Your content is useless if nobody sees it. That’s why you need to figure out how to get it in the hands of the widest audience possible.

The most effective way to do this is by leveraging multiple distribution channels.

First, you need to make sure all your channels are active. Understand your audience and give them content they want based on their preferences and platforms.

Focus on timing and relevance. To save time, take advantage of automation tools and bring old content back to life.

Make sure all your content is shareable. Use social influencers to help with your distribution strategy.

Always track your results so you can determine if your methods are successful. If you follow these tips, you’ll have higher engagement and conversion rates from all your distribution channels.

Which marketing channels are you using to distribute your content successfully?

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The Top 12 Tips to Running a Successful Video Blog

Blogging is one of my favorite ways to drive traffic to your website and engage with your audience.

But for those of you who have been staying up to date about the newest marketing trends, you know that video content has been on the rise.

In fact, experts predict that 80% of the global Internet traffic will be videos by 2019. More than half of marketing executives say that video content is their most profitable ROI.

Blogs that contain videos have triple the amount of inbound links compared to blog posts without videos.

So it’s understandable why you might be interested in starting a video blog.

Based on all of these numbers, it’s no secret that people love to consume video content. But establishing yourself as a prominent video blogger can be a daunting task, especially if you’ve never done it before.

There are so many factors to take into consideration.

What kind of equipment should you use? How do you behave in front of the camera? How do you promote your new video blog?

You’re not the only one who has recognized these video trends. Research shows that businesses are planning to add more content distribution channels in the next year.

Do you see a common pattern in the top three responses? All of these are platforms for video distribution.

So for those of you that need some pointers for launching a new video blog or improving your existing one, you’ve come to the right place.

These are the top 12 tips to keep in mind if you want to run a successful video blog.

1. Invest in a high quality microphone

Audio is one of the most important aspects of your video blog. People need to be able to hear what you’re saying.

Having a quality microphone can help make sure that you’re not wasting any time recording your blog. Sometimes, you’re going to have poor video quality. It happens.

But even if your video sucks, you can always salvage the audio and use that for something like a podcast. Or you can use the audio to voiceover a presentation or something else that’s not live.

Your computer has a microphone built into it, but you can do better. Even some cheap cameras don’t have the best microphones.

If your video blog is something that you want to take seriously and do often, high quality audio needs to be a priority.

So which type of microphone should you get? I’ll be honest with you, I’m not an expert when it comes to this type of equipment. You’ll need to do some research yourself.

But with that said, you shouldn’t have to spend a fortune on this investment. You should be able to find what you need for roughly $100 or less.

Just make sure that you’re able to balance your audio levels with the microphone. Test it out each time before you start broadcasting so you don’t waste time recording audio that’s unusable.

Know your environment. Where do you plan on recording the most?

There are certain microphones that are meant for different things, such as being in a large room with echoes, outdoors with high winds, or in areas with crowds and lots of background noise.

So find a microphone that’s suitable for your broadcasts. It’s worth the investment.

2. Make sure you have proper lighting

We’ve all seen videos that look unprofessional. Everything from those low-budget local commercials to your family home videos.

It’s unacceptable for your video blog to look like this. So it’s important for you to understand the concept of a basic three point lighting setup.

Sure, sometimes you’re going to be filming on the go. So it’s not always reasonable for you to be carrying around an entire studio worth of lights with you.

But if lots of your video blog content is going to be filmed in your home or apartment, you should definitely have these lights set up like the example above.

Lighting can do so much for the quality of your video. These are the three terms that you need to get familiar with.

• key light
• fill light
• back light

Your key light will serve as your primary light. For the most part, it’s placed on the right side of the camera and should be roughly three feet higher than your eye level.

The key light will be the brightest of these three lights. Angle it at a downward angle so it replicates the sun and has a natural lighting effect.

Due to the angle of your key light, there will be a shadow. So you’ll need to a fill light on the opposite side of the camera to eliminate that darkness.

With two lights placed in front of you, you’ll need a back light behind you so that it looks natural. Otherwise, you may have some dark shadows on your shoulders.

The back light should be diffused so it’s the least bright of the trio.

You don’t need to spend a fortune on your lights, but you should keep in mind that inexpensive lights won’t last forever. So if you’re in this for the long haul, it may be worth it to invest now and save yourself some money down the road.

Whenever you’re shooting outside of your home or office, you need to position yourself properly with natural lighting resources.

Use the sun to your advantage when you’re filming outdoors. Try to position your camera so the sun would be at the same angle as your key light.

3. Add captions to your videos

Not everyone will be watching your video with volume. So you’ll need to add captions to your content.

You’ll have much higher engagement rates if your video blog has captions. Videos with captions have 40% more views. Furthermore, the chances of a viewer watching your entire video increases by 80% if you make closed captions available.

Are you planning to share your video blog on Facebook? Take a look at these numbers.

85% of videos on Facebook are watched on mute. So it makes sense that captions can increase the view time by 12%.

Think about all of the different scenarios when someone will be watching your video blog. They might be at work, at school, or in a room full of people that they don’t want to disturb.

Do you watch all videos with the sound on? Probably not. So make sure that you add captions to all of your video blogs.

4. Get yourself a decent camera

Let’s get back to talking about your equipment. In addition to a microphone and lights, you’ll also need to have a reliable camera.

Again, I’m not saying you need to go spend thousands of dollars on this. Just make sure that you take certain factors into consideration before you make a purchase.

Depending on where you are going to be filming, you won’t always have access to a power outlet. So battery life is really important if you’re filming on the go.

You should also consider the size of your storage cards. You’d hate to be in the middle of filming great content and run out of space on the camera.

The physical size of your camera should also be at the top of your priority list. Make sure that it’s small, easy to hold, and convenient to transport.

If you don’t have your camera with you at all times, it’s not the end of the world. You can definitely use your computer or smartphone for some videos.

But if you are really serious about becoming a successful video blogger, carrying a high quality camera with you everywhere you go will give you the opportunity to film great content any time you have some inspiration or see something that’s cool and worth filming.

You should also know the video format that your camera records.

Popular formats include .mov, .avi, .mp4. This is important to know depending on how you plan to edit, export, and share your videos. You want to make sure that the format can easily be converted.

5. Find the right screen capture software

Sometimes you won’t even need a camera to video blog. Well, at least not for all of your posts.

If you want to show your audience how to do things on your computer, you’ll need to be able to record your actions with software like ScreenFlow.

You’ll have to pay for the software, but it’s worth it if you plan to do any screen recordings on your Mac.

For those of you who are PC users, you can use something like Camtasia instead.

There are other options out there too. But these are my top choices for Mac and PC. So you can use them as a reference point in terms of price and features if you’re shopping around.

6. Be personal and engaging

Part of being a successful video blogger means that you need to have a great personality. So don’t be shy, timid, or boring.

If you’ve got a sense of humor, let it shine.

Remember, this is your video blog. So there aren’t any rules when it comes to the type of content that you’re sharing.

Just be aware that anything you say or do could affect your personal and professional brand. So I’d recommend staying away from controversial topics. But go for it if that’s a risk you’re willing to take.

Mix up your content so it’s engaging. Nobody wants to watch the same thing every day, week, or however often you plan to upload a new video.

7. Give your audience a reason to watch

This relates back to our last tip about engaging with your audience. There are some questions that you need to answer about the direction of your video blog.

What is the point of your video? Are you teaching your audience how to do something? What are your qualifications?

Sure, video blogs can be entertaining, informative, or both. But you need to make sure that your audience has an incentive to watch.

Unless you’ve got one of the best personalities in the world, nobody is going to want to just listen to you talk about your day.

Understand what your audience wants and give it to them.

8. Learn how to edit effectively

You’ll need to know how to edit your videos before you publish and upload them. Just make sure you don’t go crazy with this.

Lots of cuts and edits don’t look professional. If you’ve got a Mac, you can use basic software like iMovie to get the job done.

It’s great if you’ve got multiple iOS devices that you’ll be recording on.

For windows users, Movie Maker is the equivalent free software.

These tools are necessary because they can help you accomplish basic needs like trimming clips and piecing videos together.

You can adjust the audio and things like that as well. Just don’t go overboard with too many effects or it will look unprofessional.

9. Encourage users to comment

Another way to keep users engaged is by enticing them to comment on your video blogs. This can be easy if you position your videos accordingly.

Ask for their opinions. Try to spark a discussion or a debate.

If you take a stance on a particular subject, say something like, “Well let me know what you guys think in the comments section.”

Respond to comments as well. This is a great way to keep people coming back to your content even when you haven’t uploaded a new video.

If you’re handling this effectively, you could be getting new comments on videos that you uploaded months or even years ago.

10. Host an interview

If you think your content is getting stale or you need to spice it up with something new, bring guests onto your video blog.

Sure, people may love you. But seeing the same face over and over again could get old and boring.

So bring in an expert on a particular subject. Do you have any connections to an athlete, movie star, or some other celebrity? Even if they are a D-list actor, a fresh face can help you build hype for your video blog.

If you don’t have those kinds of connections, just ask your friends. I’m sure you’ve got someone in your circle or in your family who is funny and has a great personality.

It’s all about keeping your content fresh. So don’t think that your video blog needs to be about just you every time.

11. Distribute your content

Once you’ve recorded a video blog, you’ve got to get it into the hands of as many people as possible. YouTube is the best platform for video distribution.

All of my video content starts on my YouTube channel.

The great thing about YouTube is that you can always repurpose your videos after you add them to your channel.

Post these videos to social media. Add video blog links to your website. Send video content out to your email subscribers.

If you’ve got a written blog as well, you should be writing about your video blogs and embedding links in your content to drive more traffic to your videos.

Again, I’d start with YouTube first. But some video bloggers like to use other distribution channels as well, like blip.tv or Vimeo.

12. Keep recording

You won’t use every piece of film that you record. So don’t be afraid to tape as much content as you can.

That’s why it’s important to have a camera with you as often as possible.

You can always filter through the content later and discard it if it’s not that great. Or save it to your archives and maybe find a way to use a clip for a later broadcast.

But regardless, it’s important that you’re always recording so that you don’t miss out on any opportunities.

Telling your audience about an experience is one thing, but being able to show them the video to back it up will make your video blog that much better.

Conclusion

With video trends on the rise, it’s a great idea to start a video blog. But with so many other people out there doing the same thing, it can be difficult to separate yourself from the crowd.

Take the tips that I’ve outlined above and apply them to your video blog if you want to be successful.

You need to start off by doing simple things like getting the right equipment and editing software.

After that, it comes down to your personality and marketing ability to get your video content out there for people to see.

Follow these basic concepts and your video blog will rapidly grow in terms of traffic, view time, and engagement.

Which tools, software, and principles have you used to drive more traffic to your video blogs?

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