7 Reasons Why Video is Now the Fastest Growing Online Ad Format

7 Reasons Why Video is Now the Fastest Growing Online Ad Format
4 Ways Your Business Can Get Personal Online
How to Re-Package Quotes Into Viral Content
Audiam Wants to Find Money for Musicians on YouTube
5 Tips for Competing as a Little Guy in a Big, Busy Space

Posted: 16 Jul 2013 04:00 PM PDT

growing online

If you Google the phrase "fastest growing online ad format" you'll see there's not much debate about the answer. It's video.

As an online ad format, video is now more popular than search, more popular than email marketing, more popular than blogs and more popular than Facebook. The facts related to that growth are staggering.

For example, in 2011 the Internet Advertising Bureau reported that in the UK alone, the online video spend was up 90%.

When you think about it, it's not that surprising. Online video has always been popular. And with the growth of smart phones and tablets and the ease of creating and sending video content, it makes sense that Web video is only becoming more popular.

If you're a small business owner or manager, there are tons of facts to support adding more video to your website and marketing efforts. Below I've listed what I consider to be the top 7. After reading them, please feel free to add more reasons of your own.

Why Video is Growing Online

1) People Retain More With a Visual and Auditory Combination

People retain 58% more with both visual and auditory stimulation according to Forrester Research.

2) Video is Now More Searchable

Via Google AdWords for video, video is now more searchable by search engines. In fact, a video in Google’s index is 53 times more likely to appear on first page search results according to Forrester Research.

3) Video Has More Potential

Versus other media, video has more potential to be shared and go viral.

4) People Take Notice

65% of senior executives have visited a vendor’s website after watching a video according to Forbe’s Video in the C-Suite report (PDF).

5) People Prefer Video Over Text

According to the same Forbe’s report, 59% of senior executives prefer to watch video instead of reading text and 80% are watching more online video today than they were a year ago.

6) Video Increases the Likelihood of Purchasing

People who view a Web video are 64% more likely to purchase than those who don't according to Comscore.

7) Video Provides Purchasing Confidence

According to Internet Retailer, 52% of consumers say that watching product videos makes them more confident in their online purchase decisions. When a video is information-intensive, 66% of consumers will watch the video two or more times.

In a 2012 keynote address at CES, YouTube's VP of Global Content, Robert Kyncl, predicted that video would soon be 90% of Internet traffic. While Mr. Kyncl may be slightly biased, I wouldn't bet against him. In the next decade, Web TV will be a game changer contributing to even more explosive video growth.

No wonder why Social Media Examiner reported that 76% of marketers say they plan to add more video (PDF) to their marketing effort.

Are you?

Video Photo via Shutterstock

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4 Ways Your Business Can Get Personal Online

Posted: 16 Jul 2013 01:30 PM PDT

personal online

So you’ve got an outstanding business and you’re beginning to develop an online presence? Keep in mind that when you move forward in cyberspace, you’ll need to follow a few rules.

One of those rules is not to let the electronic barrier between you and your prospective customers prevent you from becoming more personable in your marketing efforts. You want everyone in your target market to feel like you are reaching out to each one of them individually, rather than constructing an online presence meant to appeal to the proverbial masses.

Get Personal Online

1. Responsive Web design

Marching forward in the 21st century, you’ll find that responsive Web design is no longer an option. It’s an absolute necessity if you want your business to stay competitive.

Responsive Web design refers to the principle that the website is easily viewed and used on a screen of any size. It uses a technique known as a “media query” to determine the screen resolution of the device on which the viewer has called up your site. Then it renders the output appropriate to the screen size, so every user sees a visually appealing and easy-to-navigate Web page on his or her device, no matter how big or small.

As you might have guessed, responsive Web design is implemented primarily so people using mobile devices can view websites without “paying a price” because they are not on a traditional PC or Mac.

Given the overwhelming growth of the mobile market, your website absolutely has to feature responsive Web design.

2. Customized User Preferences

Enabling customized user preferences is a great idea. It’s especially useful if your website is meant to cater to differing target markets. For example, your Web presence might be an online auction site for various types of fine art.

Some bidders might only be interested in paintings while others are primarily seeking finely decorated pieces. People with disparate tastes should be able to configure their preferences on the site so that when they log in, they see only the kinds of art they are interested in purchasing.

You can also go the extra mile with this principle and allow people to change the actual look and feel of your website to suit their own tastes, at least to some extent. The important thing is that you market to customers in a way that they find easy to customize. That’s a very good thing.

3. Use Social Media

Social media goes by that name for a very good reason. It’s an online means of becoming more social. This provides no small amount of benefit to businesses that wish to cast aside the corporate persona and opt for a more approachable “personality” in their online marketing efforts.

You might be surprised by how many of your customers take to social media with customer service inquiries. Make sure that you monitor your various social media channels consistently, so that you respond to those inquiries. If visitors see that you’re perform responsive customer service on social media, they will swiftly accept you as a business person.

4. Personalized Birthday Gifts

Perhaps you have an online business that asks for people’s date of birth when they register with your site. If that’s the case, then use that information to boost online interaction.

How?

You can provide personalized birthday gifts. This is a great way to say “I care” to someone who is interested in your products or services. It will pleasantly surprise the recipient, because the odds are great that your competitors aren’t doing the same.

You’re giving your prospects a warm, fuzzy feeling about you as an individual and that will likely pay off for your business.

Online Gift Photo via Shutterstock

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How to Re-Package Quotes Into Viral Content

Posted: 16 Jul 2013 11:00 AM PDT

viral content

Quotes are powerful. They pass the test of time, surpass the expectations of those who said them and even survive the fall of empires. One statement made by a figure in history, regardless of who they are, can resonate just as strongly hundreds or even thousands of years later. Well into the future, you can be sure that a good quote will still be circulating, both from antiquity and from what is today modern.

How can you use this to your advantage?

If you have a social media presence, you will notice that content containing quotes are quick to go viral. But even better, they have a timelessness that allows them to stay there. While relevant to a current event, the entire point behind one of these sayings is that it is applicable well after the events they are applied to pass.

Re-Package Quotes Into Viral Content

Know Your Market

Who are you aiming to market this content to? Not knowing who your chosen demographic is will be a quick path to failure. Viral content has been shared and reshared, capturing the attention of a group so they feel they just have to spread it. If you don’t even know who that group should be, how will they know they were the intended audience in the first place?

Once you know your market, you will also be able to catch their eye through direct reference. One great way is by using modern experts in your field for the quotes. Not only will this stroke the ego a bit and give you a line into a possible connection, but it will make the quote recognizable to others in the industry. Helping to solidify who the message was for and who should be passing your content on.

Another benefit of marketing with quotes is knowing exactly what that group will be looking for in content. You can isolate the perfect statement to share and the perfect way to share it.

Repackage With Fresh Media

Viral Image

viral content

If there are quotes on your site already, perhaps from interviews or even reader comments, you can repackage it into new content for a fresh perspective. For example, if you asked for opinions from your readers on a certain issue, you could cherry pick the best. Then take those quotes and make them a text-over-image for easy sharing and appeal to social networks like Facebook and Pinterest.

Quotes look fabulous on the image. Look at how Quoto makes its quotes flye with its picture quotes feature, for example.

Tool: Quotes Cover + pick sources of free blog images for the awesome backgrounds.

Infographics

Another way is by creating an infographic with the details you quote from a past piece of work. Statistics take on a whole new and effective meaning when presented more visually. The same goes for slideshows, videos and other visual media.

Tools: Piktochart and Infogr.am.

PowerPoint Presentations

If you have a series of quotes, they can be easily re-packaged into inspirational presentations.

Tool: Haiku Deck (free).

Videos

PowerPoint presentations are easy to convert into a video and will some nice music, you have a great piece of content to enrich your Youtuve Channel.

Expand Your Reach

Once you have repackaged your content, it is time to expand the reach of that content. Social media is going to be your best friend in this regard. Both Pinterest and Facebook have been mentioned already and they will be your primary networks for gaining visibility thanks to their popularity and frequent use of image sharing. But don’t discount the help that sites like Google+, Reddit and even LinkedIn can provide, depending on your demographic. Then there are other media sharing sites, such as Youtube and Vimeo.

Share all content often and in many places at once. There are tools out there that will let you post to all of your social networks from a single dashboard, such as Hootsuite. While not necessary, it can be helpful and more productive than doing each one manually.

Be sure to encourage your followers to ‘like and share’ your content. Sometimes that little call to action can make all the difference.

Collect and Curate

Start sharing other quoted content. You can do this on most sites, but Pinterest is going to be your main source. Since you are pinning images from other sources, you will be gaining attention each time. People will be more likely to follow your boards when you collect and curate content – and quotes are especially big there.

Do you have any tips for repackaging quotes for viral content?

Confucius Photo via Shutterstock

Image: Quoto

Reach Photo via Shutterstock

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Audiam Wants to Find Money for Musicians on YouTube

Posted: 16 Jul 2013 08:00 AM PDT

audiam

The playing field may be leveling for small independent musicians who, up until now, had difficulty earning money from their music when used on websites like YouTube.

Major record companies and music publishers already have agreements with YouTube to get paid when their songs are featured in videos posted by users, reported Bloomberg Businessweek recently.

Now a small startup called Audiam says it can do the same for the small independents.

Audiam launched overseas last month and should be available to independent musicians in the U.S. by the end of July, Bloomberg Businessweek reported.

The company says its service is free for artists. Once a musician signs up for an account and uploads their music to the site, Audiam begins scouring YouTube for videos that utilize their music.

According to the FAQ page on its website, once Audiam has found the artist’s songs on YouTube, the company authorizes text ads or commercials to be placed on the videos and collects revenues on the artist’s behalf.

Signing up for the service means an artist is allowing Audiam to represent them in the pursuit of revenue for their music on YouTube videos for one year. The agreement renews unless cancelled. Every time a YouTube user clicks on an ad or watches at least 30 seconds of a commercial on an Audiam client’s video, the company will collect money from YouTube.

Audiam takes a 25 percent cut from the revenue it collects for its artists for the service it provides and artists retain all rights to their work.

The service provides a potential alternative for small independent musicians who might not be able to earn sufficient revenue selling recordings via iTunes or Amazon.

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5 Tips for Competing as a Little Guy in a Big, Busy Space

Posted: 16 Jul 2013 05:00 AM PDT

competing with big

Chances are, if you and your company are doing something right, you've attracted the attention of a giant. That could mean you've spent years perfecting your product or service only for Google, Amazon or Microsoft to step in and launch their take on your idea. Then other companies catch onto the trend, too.

They say imitation is the highest form of flattery.

There's nothing wrong with playing in a crowded space with leaders or even jumping in a little late on the action, assuming you're playing your cards right. While it may feel like there's a competitor waiting for you behind every corner, the key to your business' success isn't contingent on empty markets, but rather the strengths that drive your business forward in a validated market.

Instead of panicking when a giant enters your space, or at least after the initial stages of panic, reassess what this means for your company and how you can keep growing to push past the noise.

Tips for Competing With Big Players

1. Move fast, release quickly and launch often. You’re way faster than the big boys.

While competing against the giants (and their seemingly bottomless budgets) may sound daunting, there are several benefits of being a bootstrapped startup and speed is at the top.

Change and refine your product quickly and often if it means enhancing the user experience. It takes big, public companies easily one full quarter to implement a product update and your team can have a modification up and running in just a few days — no politics involved. Use this to your advantage by responding to customer feedback immediately with adjustments and continue to push the innovation envelope.

The big guys put too much at risk when taking chances and are, therefore, too scared to make mistakes.

2. In terms of marketing, know where the puck is going.

Anticipate that giants are going to come after your booming market and coin the right terms as part of your core messaging. For example, let's say "cloud" has been part of your tagline from the start. When Microsoft launched its "to the cloud campaign," your search traffic easily doubled — if not tripled.

Stay current with the language relevant to your space so you can easily jump in the conversation.

3. Respect your customers by not just responding quickly, but changing the product. Please them.

We've all had that same burdensome experience when you wait on the phone for hours, be it with your bank, insurance company or an airline, to get the help you need. Even worse, you could be dealing with a robot telling you to "press 5 for more options."

Customer service from corporate giants is notoriously frustrating and as a small business, you have the major advantage here. Your employees are not only more accessible to customers, they're near and dear to the product, making their customer care more sincere and insightful.

And since customers have become a business' best marketing tool, the impact of quality customer service is immeasurable.

4. Distribute your company under a giant’s brand through partnerships.

That's right — giants can be your friends. While a direct competitor may not be a fit, another giant that could benefit from leveraging your services could be a great candidate for a partnership. Bigger companies that are outside your immediate industry are your best bet, as they'll appreciate saving the time and effort that goes into building the product themselves, especially if they don't have existing expertise in the field.

They benefit from extending their offering to include your services and you're able to capitalize on the giant's wide industry reach.

5. Lastly, the most important element of all – put forth an excellent product.

Of course, there's no use competing in a big, busy market (or any market at all, for that matter), if you're not putting forth an excellent product that people love. The product is the DNA of your business and you can't pursue steps 1 – 4 without mastering it.

Ultimately, you don't need to panic if an industry leader joins your playing field. And if you're considering starting a business, don't be disheartened if a lot of other companies are already offering a similar kind of service. If you carve your own niche, there will be room for your business to grow.

You should still look before you leap and do your research on how you can stand out, but play into your strengthens and don't let a saturated market stifle your ideas.

Big Versus Small Business Photo via Shutterstock

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