Internet Marketing Tips, Tools and Strategies

Video marketing is a great way to connect with your customers (or audience) and is playing a huge part in where the Internet Marketing industry is headed. Users are more inclined to watch videos now - they are easier, more dynamic, more entertaining, and more personable. Also, it doesn’t take much to get started with Video Marketing - you don’t need fancy equipment, a big production budget, or a super star in front of the camera.

Here are a few tips to create successful videos that promote your company:

What is your video going to be about? Think about that before starting to record. Target some keywords and not only use that in the title and description (more about this later) of your video, but be sure to actually discuss that topic (and keywords) in the video! Also, create an outline of your key points to help you cover all the items you want to discuss. Mentioning some of your keywords in your video is going to be more and more important as video search engines become more sophisticated and will continue to scan the content in your videos.  

An outline can also help you hook users in with content. I suggest “front loading” your marketing video by telling the viewer what they are going to get from this video in the first 10-45 seconds. You want them to watch the whole video and feel like they are being rewarded (or getting something) for watching the entire video.

Share your video and I don’t just mean on YouTube. Oh and by the way, you absolutely need to be on YouTube! Be sure to link to your video on all your social platforms – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. YouTube even makes this easy by allowing you to link to these and other social sites (orkut, tumblr, Blogger, Myspace, hi5, Bebo, and StumbleUpon) by clicking a link located under the video’s share tab. You should also consider creating a podcast feed for your videos.

Another great social trick to get more video views is to post your marketing video in the comment section of appropriate (for your industry) and popular Myspace pages. Example: sharing a cake baking how-to video on Martha Stewart’s Myspace page.   

Optimize your marketing video for search. When writing your video’s title, description and tags be sure to include your target keywords. Be sure to also include a link to your website within the description – hint: format your link like this - http://yourwebsite.com/, to make it clickable on YouTube.

Include a call-to-action at the end of your marketing video. You always want to direct your viewer to an action at the end of your video. YouTube allows you to add comments over the top of your video or you could always add a static page at the end of your video. No matter how you chose to do it, the point is to drive traffic back to your website for a sign-up, download, etc.

The last thing I want to share with you is this - Keep it short. Be yourself. Be energetic. Be comfortable.

Now get out there and start shooting your video!

There is a lot of information floating around about social media. Some people rave about how great social media is while others believe it's a total waste of time. Below is a list of common misconceptions that businesses often have about utilizing social media.

"Sites Like Twitter And Facebook Are For Kids"
Fear: Business owners have trouble understanding that it could be possible that the same site that kids use to socialize with friends could also be utilized to connect a business with it's target audience.
Fact: Yes, there are a lot of teens and college students on social networking sites. However the fastest growing demographic has been those 35 and up. In fact internet users age 35-54 make up 40.6% of MySpace visitors. Social media is a great way for organizations to reach out and connect with their audience to grow business.

"Building Online Relationships Is A Waste of Time"
Fear: There is no reason to network with people you will never meet. It will not drive my business.
Fact: Social media is a medium in which you can network with your target audience, clients and customers. There is no such thing as time wasted when you are networking with your target audience. Not all of your contacts will become customers but they can still provide feedback on services and products plus you can keep them informed about what is happening in your organization.

"You Cannot Measure Social Media"
Fear: It will be impossible to measure ROI on social media.
Fact: Social media is internet based which automatically makes it measurable. You can look at the number of fans that increased over time, the number of comments posted on your channel, the number of discussion threads on your forum, or the number of ratings your video received. These performance indicators can be measured to determine campaign success.

"Social Media Is Free"
Fear: I can easily create my own Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn page. Why is it being suggested that I need to pay money to implement these campaigns.
Fact: A lot of the technology is free but simply creating an account on Facebook is not a social media campaign. You need to ask yourself:
~How do I increase the number of fans I have on my Facebook page?
~How do I get users to subscribe to my YouTube channel?
~How do I get people to retweet my message to their followers on Twitter?
~How do I get users to subscribe to my blog?
You need the campaign, creative and the drive to get your social media plan working for you.

"This Is Something I Can Probably Do In-House"
Fear: We have employees who are using social media. Why not use them to grow our business online?
Fact: Most employees are probably using social media for personal reasons, connecting with friends, sharing photos etc. When leveraging and monetizing social media for business it's an entirely different ball game. For creativity, campaign ideas and experience the key is to find an expert in this field to put your plan into place.

With these common misconceptions explained you can click here :
to read more about Social Media Marketing

The short answer - yes and no. Most of the population have come a long way from learning how to send an email a couple of decades ago to updating our Facebook status and "tweeting" on a daily (sometimes hourly?!) basis. But is there a practical use for business in the hyperconnectivity of today's social networking sites? The answer, again, is yes and no.

Email and email marketing are still effective ways to communicate for many businesses, and offer an opportunity to stay in touch with your clients in a cheaper and easier way than traditional snail mail campaigns. And for many of our clients, email is still going to be an integral part of the internet marketing mix. That said, there is a tremendous opportunity to also connect with your existing and potential clients through these other social media channels.

For example, I was shopping in a local toy store this weekend and the shop owner reminded me they were having a fall sale beginning the following week. She was having a hard time locating a coupon for the upcoming sale during a particularly busy sales rush, then remembered "I'm planning on putting it up on Facebook tomorrow, are you a fan?" I was not a fan, but now I am and I have received the coupon information and plan on visiting the store during their upcoming sale. This is a great example of how retail is a great fit for social media and why. We have also found that certain service industries like spas and hair salons can create fun and engaging social media campaigns. There are also a select few clients for whom these tactics just aren't a great fit.

I'm not sure that email will ever become obsolete, especially as the method of preferred communication in the workplace and for the remaining few who like to be somewhat disconnected when they aren't in the workplace. An article in today's online edition of the Wall Street Journal has some interesting points, though, about where email and online communication in general may be headed. Our recommendation, as usual, is that you should never become too dependent on any one form of internet marketing. The best return on your investment comes when you work with WSI on a dynamic integrated internem marketing strategy that constantly evolves with new technology. And for now, for most of you, that still includes email.