Marketing Simplified

The Results are in: It’s Time to Get on Camera

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I’m always honest to my clients… painfully honest if need be. I want them to trust me, so I always let them know when there is a red flag or problem. And here’s what I have been telling them for months:  You need to get on video or you’re missing a big opportunity.

In 2015, Nicola Mendelsohn, Director of Operations for Facebook in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said that by 2021 Facebook would be all video and no text. Around the same time, Mark Zuckerberg said he hoped Facebook would be YouTube’s biggest competitor by 2022.

While I hold the personal opinion that innovation adoption takes even longer than most experts predict (read about the innovation curve to see why I hold this belief here), there is no doubt, (and I’ve kept it no secret), that video is a must for your digital marketing.

…And if you haven’t employed video into your marketing yet, it’s time. The results are in…

According to HubSpot, 81% of businesses used video marketing in 2019. HubSpot also found that 78% of people watched videos each week, while 55% of people watched videos each day.

According to the innovation curve I referenced above, by the time at least 34% of customers adopt a behavior, you should assume it’s here to stay and adopt it, too. This means that daily or weekly videos should be part of your marketing regular strategy.

Need more persuasion? According to eMarketer, in 2019, we spent an average of nine additional minutes daily on our phones compared to 2018. 2019 was also the first year that Americans spent more time on their phones daily than they did watching television. Seven-and-a-half out of ten of those Americans prefer video content versus other types.

If you add one more thing to your marketing strategy this holiday season, make it a video. A short “year in review” video would be perfect.

Nervous about how to set it up? Here’s five key steps:

  1. Face a window or light source.
  2. Look in the mirror and rehearse your content once or twice (but don’t rehearse so much that you sound too scripted).
  3. Use Facebook Live. While it may seem nerve wracking at first to “go live,” it’s truly the simplest and best bet for video beginners. Facebook Live optimizes your camera and lighting for you, it gives you priority in the newsfeed, people know it’s “live” so mistakes are forgivable, and you can download it later and recycle it on other platforms.
  4. Speaking of recycling it, be sure to download it and send it out to your list in an eblast… because email marketing is amazing (I know… I’m a broken record again).
  5. Keep going if you make a mistake. Remember, mistakes, especially “live,” are forgivable. Actually no, mistakes are preferable because they convert even better. Why is it that The Bachelor got so popular? We like to see imperfection on screen…

By the time 2020 comes to an end, will YOU finally get on video? Show me at [email protected]. I can’t wait to watch!

Marketing Blog

The Most Overlooked Piece of Storytelling (and How It Makes You Unforgettable)

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Whether you’re building your personal brand or growing your business, we all know storytelling is powerful. But there’s one piece of the story puzzle that often gets overlooked: the obstacle. Compelling stories have you on the edge of your seat rooting for the main character to succeed and they achieve that with a setback. This … Read More about The Most Overlooked Piece of Storytelling (and How It Makes You Unforgettable)

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