YouTube Works To Broadcast Your Business

It’s a statistical fact customers would rather see moving images with audio than read.  The television age has trained us to enjoy the high energy of audiovisual information and entertainment. So why should we expect less from the Internet.

Social media sites like YouTube not only entertain and engage your audience, but offer other customer targeting assets as well.  Just being on YouTube improves your Web SEO and organic searches. Also your company’s message will  get discovered more easily on YouTube, especially when you effectively integrate with other social media channels.

Why Use YouTube to Broadcast Your Business?

• Quality video engages your audience better than other media
• Studies show decision-makers want to watch, more than read, or engage in email marketing
• Studies also show that people who have seen a video are more likely to believe in the content of the advertisement
• 70% of YouTube’s traffic comes from outside the U.S.
• YouTube exceeds 2 billion views a day
• YouTube has double the prime-time audience of all mayor U.S. networks combined.

• Take a look at our latest video for Savvis “Cloud Technologies” on YouTube.

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Today Video is an Essential Part of Any Web Site.

Video is no longer an expensive add on for those with generous marketing budgets, but an essential part of any Web site or Web marketing campaign.

Today we are exposed to 500 times more information than 50 years ago – we
ignore most marketing messages hence many text/image based Web sites are
now losing ground to rich media sites– after all the web was not designed to be a newspaper or print brochure. Here are just a few of the statistics supporting online video marketing.

• 33.2 billion Americans watched web videos in January 2010 -Comscore
• 95% of marketers admitted that CTR increased when using Web video mails in 2010 – GetResponse
• Web Video ads have shown an average 24% increase in incidence of purchase 2009 – Comscore

The odds are (because of poor marketing strategies) businesses will recover less than 1% their Web investment.
Don’t waste one of your most important marketing assets, add online video to your marketing plan.

Web video is no longer a ‘glossy extra’  but an essential component of successful Web design and development. Statistics show that including video in your Web site greatly increases: visitor time on site, and your return on investment.

Online Shopping You Can Trust

Many Americans enjoy online shopping for the convenience and time saving features. This years holiday online shopping continued to grow despite consumer concerns over credit card fraud and personal data collection. ComScore a leader in measuring the digital world, reports for the holiday season, nearly $21 billion has been spent online, marking a 4-percent increase versus the corresponding days last year.

Although some consumers are still very cautious when it comes to giving out personal information and credit card numbers, the benefits of online shopping out weight the threats, according to the Pew Internet Project’s September 2007 survey:

78% of online Americans agree that shopping online is convenient.

68% of online Americans say they think online shopping saves them time.

However, when shopping online many things can go wrong in cyberspace as in the real retail store. Sometimes it is simply a case of a computer malfunction or poor customer service. Other times shoppers are cheated by scam artists and hackers using cookies and spyware.

To assure customers they are viewing an authentic and reputable online shopping site there are features that should always be visible. Reliable companies should be totally transparent and display their physical address, and provide a full disclosure for shipping and returns. Plus, it is very important to have a privacy policy, and explain any information about the use of cookies on the Web site.

Cookies are pieces of information that can be stored on a computer. Cookies can be used to track a shopper’s viewing habits. Privacy advocates today are worried about data that is compiled without a customer’s knowledge or active consent. This data is often collected and sold to market other goods and services.

Other features to assure customers they are shopping on a secure site include:

1. The site needs to display an https:// in the address bar of a site. The “s” means the site is secure.

2. A padlock should be displayed on the bottom screen; if the lock is open the site is probably not secure.

3. The site needs a symbol of a key. If the key is not broken this is another sign the site is secure.

More About Internet Spies

Cyberspace users are being hijacked by spyware and today there is not much that can be done to stop this invasion. Spyware is a type of software that is installed on computers and collects information about users without their knowledge. Spyware usually comes from software downloads users buy or receive for free. The spyware is usually mentioned in the license agreement that users must click on to receive the download. Many users over look this fine print agreement and are not aware of the malicious software they are downloading.

The states of Washington and Iowa have passed laws criminalizing certain forms of spyware. These laws make it illegal for anyone other than the owner or operator of a computer to install software that monitors web browser settings, monitors keystrokes, or disables security software.

To protect consumers several bills passed regarding spyware through the United States Congress: these include the Spy Block Act (Software Principles Yielding Better Levels of Consumer Knowledge), and the SPY Act (Securely Protect Yourself Against Cyber Trespass), both were passed in 2004. In 2005 the I-SPY Act (Internet Spyware Prevention) passed .

These bills impose penalties and punishments the creators of spyware. They make it illegal to take control of a user’s computer, modify a user’s personal settings, or download personal information without the user’s consent.

However despite these laws, many spyware companies operate as legitimate businesses. They are able to evade prosecution because of the users consent to download the license agreement.

Download free anti spyware.

http://free.avg.com/ww-en/homepage

With a Little Help from Digital Technology

Published articles are no-longer left to the professional writer, or videos to the professional videographer. Today everyone can write or produce, then publish online. Perhaps the wave of excitement about user generated content is actually just every ones inter desire to be creative. Who hasn’t imagined themselves on a stage singing, dancing, or playing in a rock & roll band. The broadcast yourself craze from social media centers like YouTube, has attracted and created all kinds of music stars, video producers and creative types. Or, it has created those who think they are music stars, producers, or writers.

With a little help from digital technology we can now create acceptable still pictures, video images, graphics. Unlike, the days when you had to be able to draw to present a visual concept, digital technology today gives everyone a paintbrush and a digital canvas, and the ability to share their work with millions of viewers online. Through photo galleries, digital videos, blogging, podcasting, mobile phone photography and wikis’ we are broadcasting our message.

User-generated content is now a novelty, but to stay popular and accepted we are going to have to raise our standards. Soon, we will need to evolve to the next level of user-generated content or we will become bored with the current message cleverness. No one knows what the next phase will bring, but it is likely to demand more sophistication in message development.

Digital technology can only take us so far and improve the way we communicate and create. The next wave of user-generated content may demand real visual design and communication skill.

Below is a slide show on trends in user-generated content from RealXstream.

http://www.slideshare.net/guest664176/love-respect-for-content-theory

The Truth About Viral Video

Consumers love funny clever and engaging video content. No one is disputing the viral video phenomena is still sweeping the social media arena. But, is a viral video alone a great digital strategy. Do the most hilarious videos sell products, or create new customers? With the transparency demanded today by the online audience how do you create a video that sells a product? The slightest hint of commercialism in a video can rouse a click from the viewer, and they’re off to the next Web page.

The Web is the best at creating customer engagement, and offers all kinds of services not possible in traditional media. Product information, customer support, and brand awareness all can be bundled together through the Web. But, a single viral video without this media support does not generate customer sales. A great viral video relates to the product and makes an appealing idea stick to the brand.

A well designed mix of promotions and social media tactics will boost and create a deeper connection with your online audiences. It is widely believed a popular viral video will peak in about four days after it is launched. Therefore, having your total marketing strategy in place prior to the video launch is essential.

Spyware a Threat to Marketers

Most of us are not aware of any type of tracking that may be happening inside our computer. However,  spyware and adware can be installed in your computer with or without your permission. This software is mainly designed to collect information about a user by tracking their activity on a computer. After personal data or Web behavior is collected the information is then relayed back to a software manufacturer via the Internet. This new technology is creating an online privacy debate. Among the biggest concerns is undisclosed profiling. The FTC maintains those who claim they don’t collect consumer information but allow advertisers to build profiles are violating consumer rights.

The United States Congress and a number of state governments have proposed legislation to act on this problem. Many feel legislative solutions must require a robust and meaningful notification to users. Internet users must be made aware of the ramifications of the software they are installing. The legislation explains, users must be notified before any tracking of data is performed and users must give their consent before any information is obtained.

Although the information and advertising opportunities are great with adware and spyware, marketers must be careful to use advertising methods transparent to the customer. If spyware continues to invade the Web surfers computer without their knowledge they will become reluctant to access all free software downloads. Many software companies that use this technology legitimately will suffer. The spyware intruders will affect the free exchange of the Internet and genuine marketing opportunities will decrease rather than increase.

Most of us are not aware of any type of tracking that may be happening inside our computer.

Viral Email Campaign Advice

Knowing whom the email is from is of foremost importance. Your email campaign must show a genuine from address. An example of this would be, From: news@yourcompany.com. Any other address is looked at as suspicious and can be rejected by spam filters.

Make sure your email is relevant to the recipient? Having a short, to the point, pertinent subject line is the very important component. This element of an email campaign is one of the easiest to test, and can have a significant impact on the overall result. Is the subject short and inviting? Is it something that makes the recipient want to open and read more? 

Having the most relevant and revealing information in the first couple lines will also assist recipients in identifying what your email is about and if they will open it.  Also, consider that many people will not scroll down in an email preview pane, so having a call to action or value proposition toward the top of the email will help convert reads to clicks.

Different email programs display your email HTML layout differently. It is important you know who your users are. A user profile is essential and gives your HTML programmer the best opportunity to design for the different platforms, your customers may be using.

Remember bells and whistles might be important if you are a media or gaming company, but simple HTML design always drives the best results and limits errors or presentation problems with some email clients.

What is Social Media?

What is Social Media?

The simplest definition for social media is based on the elements of communication and interaction. You can think of social media as you think of any media, it is simply a tool in which you can use to communicate. For social media this means many can communicate through the same channel in a social way.

When thinking of social media in terms of Web 2.0, this can be explained as a way to interact in which there is a 2-way communication. Therefore, Web 2.0 is a truly interactive form of communication.

CommonCraft, a company that specializes in videos for the Web, explains in the video below, social media and the movement it can create by individuals sharing ideas. Their analyses of social media is based on the power of persuasion of small as well as large groups, to change the way we think and interact with anything from products to politics.

Click to View:

http://www.commoncraft.com/socialmedia

Real Metrics for Social Media

Measuring social media  can be less tricky than measuring traditional media. Below are some tips on measuring the new media outlets.

1. Traffic
This is one of the more obvious ways of measuring social media. Remember that quality often beats quantity, though not always.

2. Interaction
Participation is a valuable indicator for many brands.  It says something about the kind of traffic you are attracting. Remember that an engaged customer is a highly valuable one. Interaction can be anything from leaving comments, to participating in support forums, to leaving customer reviews and ratings.

3. Referrals/Sales
Sales from organic Google referrals and also paid searches, all provide measurable results important in your Integrated Marketing Communications.

4. Online Sales Actual clicks turning into sales, this is the simplest form of metrics.

4. Leads
Some companies simply cannot process sales online, because their products or services do not allow for it. For example, the automotive industry, which tends to measure the effects of its online ad campaigns by the amount of brochures requests. B2B operators have the similar situation. If you are a consultant and spend time interacting on LinkedIn, then you need to track inquires about your services. The same applies across the variety social media sites.

5. Search marketing
The SEO factor cannot be understated. Social media can be far more powerful in this regard than you might initially imagine. For example, a well-placed story / video / image on a site like Digg will generate a lot of traffic and a nice link from Digg itself, but the real win here is that it will generate a lot more interest beyond Digg. Remember too that you can use sites like Twitter and YouTube to claim valuable search rankings on your brand search terms

6. Brand metrics
Word of mouth and the viral factor (inherent in sites like Twitter, Facebook and Digg) can help shift the key brand metrics, both negatively and positively. These include brand favorability, brand awareness, brand recall, propensity to buy, etc. Expensive TV ads are measured in this way, so if these metrics are good enough for TV then they’re surely good enough for the internet? Positive brand associations via social media campaigns can help drive clicks on paid search ads.

7. PR
The nature of public relations has changed, forever. The last five years have been largely about the traditional PR folks not really being able to figure out the blogosphere. The distinct worlds of PR, customer service, and marketing are fusing. Twitter means everybody has a blog these days, and somewhere to shout about things to their friends . Social media sites are the biggest echo chambers in the world! In any event, if you can measure PR .