Category: Martech

Your brand or company is an extension of your work ethic. Entrepreneurs all over the world toil endlessly to give birth to an idea that was formed in their minds. The Disney universe is an extension of Walt Disney’s imagination, and Ali Express came into being because of Jack Ma’s life story.

When you come up with a revolutionary idea, the first thing you face is harsh criticism. We are creatures of habit, so our brain negates the ideas that move us away from our comfort zone. Once we beat this habit, something beautiful and meaningful comes into existence.

As an owner of a new enterprise, you have to wear many hats at once. You may or may not be comfortable in building your personal brand, but it is crucial to start working on it. Personal branding bridges the gap between your personal and professional life. When you bring value to the business environment, people immediately start taking you seriously.

Martha Stewart and personal branding:

Let’s take the example of the housekeeping queen that is Martha Stewart. This remarkable lady built a whole brand around her name, and until today we see Martha Stewart’s brand as a product of her creativity and hard work.

There are so many things you can do the ‘Martha Stewart way.’ Be it weddings or crafts; this person created a brand around things she was insanely good at. I would rather choose a recipe from Martha Stewart’s cookbook, rather than believing in anything on the internet.

Creating an experience around your brand is essential. If you are a true professional at what you do, there is a way to project that positive image that impresses people. Stewart started her lifestyle business from catering, and slowly escalated to the top by writing books about it. She is one of the most trusted lifestyle influencers in America because of her unique sense of style.

Once you have kicked off with the business, work on your brand and make sure you keep your personality secure from habits or things that can tarnish the reputation of your company.

Personal website:

It doesn’t matter if your professional venture is a few years old or a few weeks old, you have to invest in a website. Personal websites are like the internet real estate of your own brand. People visit your site to learn more about you and your work that led to the creation of a company. Successful entrepreneurs like Seth Godin are famous for their quirky blogs which work as a marketing medium for little or no cost.

Don’t underestimate the potential of a personal website or blog. However, don’t do it just because the cool people are doing it. You must be invested in this affair and reach out to your audience regularly to collect feedback.

For B2B causes, a personal website becomes your knight in the shining armour. People look up to you for news, professional info, and future investment opportunities. You can craft a unique digital narrative simply by crafting a website that depicts the best version of you as an entrepreneur.

Here are some vital things to have in observance when creating a personal website:

• URL: your website should contain your name in the URL. For example, rickbennet.com looks like a trustworthy site owned by Rick Bennet, the Moreover, the site will turn up first when people search for you on the internet
• About page: this is where you should put all the right info. Investors and current vendors will visit the about page to know more about you and your work
• Add an active page that can be a blog, a news section or a press section. It gives an impression that you are regularly in the news
• Include a call to action like a sign-up form for your newsletter. The newsletter is a great marketing tactic for entrepreneurs because the email has more chances of getting noticed by people, compared to a time-bound social media post
• Add an active phone number and email ID so people can contact you easily. Don’t make it difficult for people to reach you

Provide value:

If you are dwelling in a saturated market, people may perceive you as just another entrepreneur. If you work hard to provide value to the audience, they may be able to distinguish between you and the rest, giving you a competitive edge.

‘next to doing the right thing, the most important thing is to let people know you are doing the right thing.’ – John D. Rockefeller

Helpful content, positive marketing strategies, sales cycle, paying attention to your customers and building a sustainable brand are all ways in which you provide value to your audience. If you are a newbie in your field, start by researching your target audience and the message, then the content and execution will flow naturally.

Write more “how to’’ posts and refrain from calling out your competitors and highlighting what they are doing wrong. Whatever you do, stay humble to the core and maintain the monotony in your business messages.

As an owner of a new business, if these tips seem overwhelming to you, you can always hire a Contact Manager who can do this job for you. Contact Managers help you flourish while maintaining your positive image in front of the business fraternity.

If you’re new in the business game, then you may also contact them to learn more about various strategies and learn about things such as sales cycle definition and other critical concepts that will help you in understanding how you must successfully proceed forward with your business

Digital PR:

A Contact Manager will also assist you in managing your PR. If you are doing good work, you shouldn’t be the only one talking about it. Other people should talk about it as well. That’s where digital PR comes in with utilizing advanced technologies. Guest posts, leadership articles, lectures, and conferences are great platforms to spread your valuable insights to the world and get some credibility built around your business.

If you are a regular contributor to a publication, your author profile will rank higher than others, earning you valuable links back to your site. Regarding other mediums, you should maintain synonymity around your digital profile, and people should know about the decent things you have done in the industry.

Do you have a tip to help newbie entrepreneurs on this long and tedious journey? Tell us in the comments section below.

Author Bio

Andrea Bell is a blogger by choice.  She loves to discover the world around her. She likes to share her discoveries, experiences and express herself through her blogs.

Find her on Twitter:@IM_AndreaBell

An important element of crafting a winning content marketing strategy is live video. The tribe of content marketers leveraging Facebook live video and YouTube live streaming is multiplying. This can be attributed to the fact that YouTube has an estimated 1.5 billion active monthly users and stands second to Facebook. Facebook has an estimated 2 billion active monthly users. The numbers are colossal!

Can live videos be used to grow and build a business? Yes!

According to Facebook, users are 3 times as likely to watch a live video as compared to a non-live video. Facebook live video and live YouTube streaming can help you generate business leads, acquire new customers and retain the existing core base.

According to Statista, Facebook live and YouTube are the go-to platforms for streaming live videos. Let’s look at the state of live video streaming platforms.

Platform	Preference Percentage
Facebook Live	17%
YouTube	16%
Snapchat Live Stories	12%
Periscope	9%
Twitter	9%
YouNow	8%
Others	5%

Here is an informative account on how to use live videos to grow your business and make money live streaming.

#1: Host a live session

Thinking of hosting an on-location event?  Have you finalized the venue? Have you taken overhead costs such as food, transportation, stationery (books, pens, etc.), etc., into consideration?

Here is a simple and cost-effective solution – Broadcast live so that you can do away with over-head costs. Only a small number of your audiences will be able to join you for an on-location event. By hosting a live session, you can target a big chunk of audiences.

#2: Answer questions

Content marketers and influencers are known to write informative and insightful blogs. Audiences may post their queries and concerns in the comments section. It may take a day or two for the influencers to answer all the questions. Sometimes, it may take a week. In all likelihood, questions may be repetitive and extremely complicated. Providing lengthy answers is not a viable solution. Lengthy blog posts and answers can eat up your valuable time.

Shouldn’t customer service be top-notch? If yes, how should you ration time between doubts clarification and promotion? YouTube live streaming and Facebook live video are here to help.

You can use Facebook live video to host a Q&A session. This encourages audiences to tune into live video sessions. They can get their doubts, concerns and issues addressed sans any delay.

#3: Give audiences behind-the-scenes videos

Audiences are keen on learning about how you work. They want to know more about your core competencies. They want to know how you treat your employees. Introduce your staff to your viewers. If you give your audiences an inside look at your business, they are likely to be delighted.

Let’s say you make ice creams and dairy products. Dairy industry in the US is messed up completely. Cows are exploited a big time. For all intents and purposes, your business can be a first class exception. You can show your customers how you treat and how much you care for animals. You can broadcast the entire quality inspection process. 

Such videos can improve customer confidence in your brand and boost your sales

#4: Conduct live tutorial sessions

I use Facebook Live to explain complex processes and methodologies. I have expertise in using Adobe Photoshop. I organize live tutorial sessions to explain how to efficiently use Photoshop software. ‘

I also maintain a Facebook group and more often than not, I give free mini-courses to the members.

Audiences may not be receptive to lengthy blog posts. However, they connect well with live videos.

#5: Host Product / Service Launch sessions

Thinking of launching a brand new product/service?

People go crazy during product launch sessions. This is one of the reasons why Apple announces new product launches, upgrades, and redesigns by hosting live sessions. Check out Apple’s archive of product launches and services. You will gain a mountain of knowledge!

#6: Promote your scheduled events

Still using Twitter to promote your upcoming events? There is little harm in resorting to traditional techniques. But did you ever think of using live videos? Create a post to keep your audiences informed on your special announcements. When you go live, unfold the specifics and details of your upcoming event

Don’t forget to share your easy-to-remember URL. It is likely that viewers may not have enough time to write it down. It’s best to post the link in the comments section. It’s easy to create easy-to-remember URLs. Use tools like Bitly.

#7: Generate huge product pre-launch buzz

For all intents and purposes, you can bet your chances on YouTube live streaming to generate huge product pre-launch buzz. Let’s say you have a shipment of an innovative product which is yet to hit the markets. Tease your audiences by using a live video. By teasing your audiences, you are building excitement.

Provide a link to take pre-orders. If your prospective customers have any doubts, clarify then and there. Capitalize on the excitement!

#8: Share breaking news

Be the first one to share industry relevant breaking news. Share your opinion(s) on how exciting or terrible the news can be. Tell your audiences to keep viewing your timeline for updates and events.

#9: Go live with an industry influencer

Invite an industry influencer or an opinion leader. Do a live interview with him / her. Your leads are likely to multiply.

Final Thoughts

It’s important to focus on the quality of live videos. Purchase a tripod and a stabilizer to stabilize your videos. Shaky content is loathed by audiences. If you are keen on doing live streaming with a smartphone, invest in a tripod mount. And yes, optimal lighting is also mandatory. Purchase a portable LED lighting solution. Nobody likes dark and poor quality videos.

Found this post useful and insightful? Keep watching this space for more informative content on Facebook live video and YouTube live streaming. Cheers!

No one likes to read papers anymore. They are considered by many to be a waste of time, energy, and money in today’s era of lightning-fast media. Why should you wait for the early morning newspaper when you can simply swipe your smartphone screen and get updated without having to get out of bed?

This is a groundbreaking change in consumer behavior which is being felt across the wide commercial sphere. Sensing this transition in public taste, marketers have decided to alter their promotional techniques, shifting from old-school tactics to technologically-incorporated strategies.

One such strategy is the use of virtual reality (VR).

People love watching videos online. It’s now something we can do at any place and at any time. Now imagine if we could interact with the video content as well. This brings us back to virtual reality.

VR is a computer-generated simulation which imitates reality and enables users to actually physically interact with the artificially created visual scenario. It’s nothing short of a thrill ride, which you as a marketer can easily monetize.

The main question then becomes: is VR the new marketing vehicle? If so, will it work? 

All about the Immersion

Looking at an image of new sports equipment is one thing. Getting the chance to virtually engage with the equipment in order to test it out is an experience of a whole other level. Which one do you think would attract more leads? The second option, obviously. Why? Because it builds a much more immersive and interactive connection with the product. And it is only possible because of virtual reality.

Potential Adoptions

Businesses are continuously looking for new ways to entice young people and to convert consumers into clients. To do so, they tend to rely on social media marketing, email marketing, and content marketing. But all of this is already being done by their competitors.

So how can they stand out and get an extra advantage? By changing their groove and adopting a new innovative technology, like virtual reality, into their strategies.

In what potential sectors can VR benefit the conversion rate and bring in profits? Take a look at the following industries which can possibly implement the VR advertising strategy:

• Travel: With VR, people can experience luxurious flights over the Atlantic Ocean and into the heart of the sunset, the best an airline has to offer, right from the comfort of their home. Or they can travel to exotic places in an artificial simulation as a part of a travel agency’s ad campaign. How cool would that be!?
• Real Estate: Virtual reality takes traditional home viewing to a whole new level. Now, you can check out new estates and get virtual tours of properties, even ones under construction, by simply wearing a VR headset and interacting with the sellers’ avatar. Imagine, seeing the house of your dreams in VR even before its creation! In addition to this, and speaking safety-wise, you can also check out the most optimal spots for installing your wireless home security cameras, where they won’t jut out and ruin the outlook of your home.
• Retail: People love to shop, but they can’t practically travel to a foreign market just to buy that perfect pair of sneakers, can they? So what can they do? Visit the store in VR right from their plushy armchair, and then buy whatever they like using a simple hand or head gesture. Revolutionary, right?
• Education: Reading up on concepts in books gets boring after a while, doesn’t it? What if you could walk through the lives of famous scientists and virtually see them at their work, or visit famous landmarks right from the classroom using VR? Wouldn’t this sort of learning experience stay with you forever?
• Music: Watching a music video is all well and good. But being able to participate and interact with the video in virtual reality is a totally phenomenal experience for users. They’d be more than willing to buy such a track using their Xfinity deals, wouldn’t they?

Gear Restriction:

Although virtual reality sounds quite promising to many businesses, there are many who are still reluctant to adopt it. Why? The main reason is the equipment hassle and cost. It is still quite cumbersome to set up, even though it provides an out-of-this-world experience.

Thus, VR gives people a preliminary choice. It allows them to virtually test a product before buying it. To expand their experiential scale. To achieve the impossible using this technology.

Though it is still in its developmental stages, it seems to modify the sphere of marketing tenfold and projects it into a progressive future.

It is important that your marketing videos are able to engage viewers and keep them watching while encouraging them to respond to it in some way or other.

While videos are naturally more engaging than most other types of content, there are still a few areas that can make a huge difference in their engagement – just check out these awesome examples!

Assuming you’d like to create more engaging marketing videos, there are 4 key areas that you should focus on:

Video duration

People tend to have short attention spans nowadays, and the longer a video is the more likely viewers are to stop watching. As such if you want to retain and engage viewers, it is important that you optimize the video duration.

The ‘best’ duration for engagement will vary depending on your platform and target market. Generally it is best to keep it under a minute, and sometimes even under 30 seconds for some social media platforms.

First few seconds

During the first few seconds of a video, viewers will decide whether to keep watching – which makes them extremely important. Typically that decision takes place in the first 8 to 10 seconds, though it can sometimes be a bit more than that.

At the end of the day, however, that means you have a very short timeframe during which you should do your utmost to interest viewers by outlining what your video is about and highlighting its benefits.

Emotions

Have you noticed that funny, inspirational, or even controversial videos tend to have high levels of engagement? That is because people are more likely to watch and respond to videos that trigger emotions, and you should attempt to do the same.

Provoking an emotional response to a video can be tricky, but it is one of the reasons why storytelling can help to frame the video, make viewers feel connected with the subject, and emotionally invested.

Call to action

The call to action in marketing videos is particularly important in terms of engagement because it is what you’ll use to encourage viewers to perform certain actions. Try to make sure your call to action is strong, and gives viewers a good reason why they should perform the action by letting them know how it will benefit them.

Be sure to take into account these 4 areas during the planning stage, and also make sure that you record high-quality footage that looks good. If you want a way to create impressive marketing videos, you should try using Movavi Screen Capture Studio. It will let you capture video from your screen as well as other sources, and you can edit it using it too.

With the built-in editor in Movavi Screen Capture Studio, you can compile marketing videos, enhance their quality, apply special effects, add captions, include background music, and much more. In short by the time you’re done you should end up with an impressive-looking marketing video that is more likely to attract attention and engage viewers – especially if you focused on the areas listed above.

If you’re in marketing, there’s a good chance you’ve heard some buzz about ‘marketing automation’. For the past five-plus years it seems like most marketers (and sales reps for that matter) have been dazzled by the concept. And for good reason — it’s intended to make marketing and sales efforts easier and more impactful.

For almost everyone else, the term is probably somewhat familiar but also quite vague.

If that sounds like you, here’s the (very condensed) scoop:

Marketing automation is the use of software to automate repetitive marketing actions (like social media scheduling and campaign emails) with the goal of making those actions easier.

Should You Do It?

While marketing automation continues to gain even greater traction — pushed along by smarter and smarter technology — it’s important to note that it isn’t for everyone.

On the plus side, marketing automation can provide enormous gains in scalability and ROI. But it can also minimize your impact elsewhere by consuming too much of your efforts, or worse yet, damage your customer relations if executed poorly.

So, before you start setting up your marketing automation system, take a run-through this decision checklist:

Marketing Automation Decision Checklist

#1 “You Have the (Automation) Dream, but Do You Have the Team?”

Do you have the people and cash? Sure, automation is meant to make your life easier, but you still need actual humans to put into action.

Be reasonable in what you and your team can put into action. Perhaps automating every single marketing task isn’t reasonable, but a few are. Look at your big time-consumers (perhaps a webinar or event email list) and look for tools that can help you automate that one task.

Also remember that many automation tools require a subscription fee. Shop around and find the tools that are best suited to your needs and budget.

#2 “Show Me the… Lists!”

Do you have enough leads for segmentation? A small lead list will make it impossible to create segmentation for your automation programs. As a result, the same small group of leads will be the recipient of every single marketing automation you send out.

(Spoiler alert: bombarding your leads with email after automated email will quickly earn you a spot on their spam list).

So, rather than investing in automation just yet, spend your time building up that lead base. Once you reach a base that’s large enough to segment by customer persona you’ll be ready to put those automation efforts into action.

#3 “You Say You Know Me and but Do You Really Know Me?”

Do you understand your customer base? According to Microsoft, customers are exposed to as many as 600 messages every day (in the form of emails, ads, text messaging and so on). For brands, having the right messaging is therefore critical to getting noticed within this sea of noise.

But getting that messaging right means you need to know a bit about your customers in the first place. Remember, customers expect personalized experiences these days, and customized messaging is a huge part of that experience. One thing that could help you with that is a customer service software.

Tailored messaging that speaks to your customer’s needs and journey will get noticed. Boilerplate, one-size-fits-all content — well, you can guess how that’ll do.

If you don’t know enough about your customers in order to create authentic messaging in your automation efforts, your best bet is to hold off until you do.

Last Thoughts

Marketing automation can be a powerful ROI tool, but it isn’t right for everyone. Before diving in, be sure to fully evaluate where you’re at in terms of resources and lead base. And don’t be afraid to start small. Not every marketing task has to be automated straight out of the gate. Have fun and good luck!

About the Author: Dean Ara
Dean is the Principal and co-founder of Total Product Marketing — a B2B marketing agency specializing in channel marketing, positioning, and branding for technology clients.

In the past, voice search was that one feature that everyone knew about but no one actually used. Well, recently Google decided that it was a time for its remodel, which made them invest some serious work in its improvement. As a result, nowadays over 55 percent of the teen populace and 41 percent of adults use this feature on a daily basis. It is expected that by the year 2020 about half of all searches will be conducted in this way. Because of this, it is more than clear that voice search and its SEO value are no longer to be underestimated and here are a couple of things you need to learn about them.

1.    Voice search is mobile friendly

It isn’t by accident that 2015 was the year of the major turnover when it comes to the voice search. You see, this was the year on which Google officially announced that the number of mobile inquiries officially surpassed the number of searches made from PCs. Needless to say, voice search is much more mobile friendly than the traditional search box typing, seeing as how it gives you a hand free option and reduces the chance of making a typo on the tiny smartphone screen. Google executives probably knew just how important this feature is and what they would risk if one of their competitors was to surpass them in this field.

2.    Long-tail keywords

One of the reasons why voice search was so inefficient in the past was due to the fact that it tried to interpret the phonology of words without taking broader context into consideration. Because of this, the value of long-tail keywords becomes more than apparent, seeing as how long-tail keywords always have broader context attached to it. Just by adding a single proposition next to the keyword in question, you are giving the search engine something to use in their interpretation of the phrase.

Now, according to experts behind a reputable SEO company, the major difference between the use of a long-tail keyword is in the traditional search and a voice search. For instance, when people type, they commonly omit proper suffixes and even propositions. The reason why they do this is to save time. However, with voice search, such practice would seem quite unnatural, which makes voice-search-oriented keywords much more grammatical. In other words, these keywords are usually in the form in which they would be in a real conversation.

3.    Location-based inquiries

When it comes to voice searches, a lot of people use them when they need something answered as quickly as possible, preferably on the run. In other words, they usually want to know where they can eat, buy or rent a room. Because of this, it might be wise to focus a bit more on local listings. Similarly, to the situation with long-tail keywords, the location of the person asking the question might also be able to give a broader context. One more thing, listing your phone number and address is also something used in Google’s ranking efforts of your page.

Apart from this, the geographical location of your business matters as well, especially if you are doing SEO in a non-English speaking country. You see, the region you are in might give away the language that is used. Interestingly enough, this could even help out the tourists around any mispronunciation they might make. Therefore, such practice usually works out in everyone’s interest.

4.    Scannable pages

Another important thing you need to take into consideration is the fact that successful voice-search isn’t where your story ends, quite the opposite. Imagine a person who can’t be bothered to type in a simple three-words-long question in the search box. Now ask yourself the following question – would this person be willing to go through the wall of text in order to find the answer they are looking for? The answer to this question isn’t one that is hard to reach.

Therefore, you need to make sure your content is skim- or scan-friendly. What this means is that it needs to be such that a person accessing it has an easy way of discerning all the valuable information in a matter of seconds. You see, the time one spends on your website isn’t such an important metric here and, although 3000 words long blog posts are all the rage at the moment, this is not a practice you should adhere to in a voice search SEO.

Another thing you should do is make sure that your content is touch friendly. You see, most people will simply try to scroll through the page in order to find the information they need and it is your job to make this as simple for them as possible. This means leaving enough whitespace to make the layout scroll-friendly and making clickable elements transparent enough that they can be easily avoided.

In conclusion

At the end of the day, new SEO trends appear and reemerge every day, however, this upset represents something that deserves your full and undivided attention since it is a game-changer. Getting the grip on voice search SEO requires that some of the most experienced digital marketers abruptly change the way they look at the algorithm, which is always a difficult thing to do. Just try to remember the example with long-tail keywords and you will get the full picture. On the other hand, with the ever-growing popularity of the voice search option, they might soon not have a say in the matter.

In today’s world of online marketing and the outlandish amount of visibility it provides, it can be easy to fall into the trap of just dabbling in SEO and thinking it will pay for itself in a matter of days. The truth of the matter is that all and any work that gets put into SEO can end up becoming a problem in three seconds flat. Without constant monitoring, all the work we put into optimizing our site can go down the proverbial drain and actually do more harm than good. This is why it is imperative to familiarize ourselves with common problems and learn how to deal with them.

Spotting The Problem

Before jumping the gun, it’s important that we’re aware of the areas that tend to be problematic and are able to spot them. The first and obvious way to notice bad SEO is the sudden drop in traffic, the other would be a warning from Google themselves. If your site has grown an abundance of broken links, spamming or content milling, rest assured that you will be warned. The same goes for keywords they tend to fluctuate and should be monitored at all times to adjust to the market. And, the most malicious of all – fake link removal requests. Simply put, someone is trying to trick you into removing quality links from your site, tanking it in the process.

Perform Regular Link Audits

This will be your first line of defense, checking your links on a regular basis will help prevent future headaches. It can get tedious, but safety should always be our primary concern. By performing regular audits, your business will have enough time to adjust to any problems that might occur and to deal with them effectively without impacting your SEO ranking. Otherwise, we expose ourselves to that awkward “boss conversation” when Google decides to give as a little one-on-one. Link audits only work if they’re carried out constantly, if you get an unnatural link warning – it’s already too late.

Monitor Site Speed

As one might be aware, a site’s speed directly influences its SEO ranking. Keeping an eye on said speed should be on top of the priority list to ensure smooth sailing. Any changes in site speed should be looked into thoroughly to determine the culprit. If lucky, it will be a fluke or something you can mend. If not, if nothing can be found, then the site might have fallen victim to a practice called forceful crawling. This malicious tactic essentially overloads your server which can even lead to crashes. This is a giant red flag and contact your webmaster right away to figure out what’s going on and find the culprits.

Look Into Webmaster Email Alerts

When setting up everything with our Google overlords, there is a nifty little option called Email Alerts. This little option is easy to set up and gives site owners a real-time notification every time something out of the ordinary happens. These include malware and spyware attacks, any kind of server side problem or any penalty from Google themselves. Aside from the last one, all the others provide owners with enough time to act on these threats accordingly instead of finding out about them two months later when they already see a drop in their rating.

Root Out Content Scraping

One of the biggest no-nos of Google’s ranking policy is the spreading of duplicate content. With this being such a glaring issue, it is extremely important to hunt down duplicate content and have it taken down right away. There are a number of tools like Copyscape or businesses like Websitesthatsell SEO Company that specialize in these kinds of cases. Another option is to file DMCA and be extremely thorough with the details. After all, this site is a business, there is no reason to pull any punches when faced with attacks like these that could literally capsize everything – hit them where it hurts.

Rinse and repeat

Now that these are out of the way, remember to do this often. Everything online is in a state of perpetual fluctuation, there is no telling what tomorrow might bring. This is why constant overwatch is mandatory to keep a business afloat, both for good and bad SEO. It’s a never-ending fight, or if you’re more of a Greek mythology person, it’s the equivalent of Sisyphus pushing his boulder up the hill. However high we may rise, the world will always try to pull us down, and it’s up to us to see whether we’ll buckle under the pressure or soldier through it like our main man Sisyphus.