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Video Marketing

You are here: Home / Archives for Video Marketing

What are my top 5 Digital Marketing Insights from Inbound19?

October 21, 2019 //  by WSI Connect

My first Inbound marketing conference is a wrap!

It was a whirlwind of sessions and networking that sparked amazing learning and discussions. Over 24,000 people were in attendance at this remarkable event. I had a packed agenda filled with networking events and sessions. It was inspiring, fast paced and motivating. 

Let’s get started with insight #1.

1. Video is impactful

Video is critical to any marketing strategy. It aids consumers in the buying process, boosts organic search traffic and increases the understanding of your product/service thru an interactive and personal experience. I didn’t have the opportunity to squeeze in a session regarding video however my colleague did. You can read her very insightful post that sums up its importance: The #1 thing I learned from Inbound19

Almost every presentation I attended incorporated video. Snippets or clips that served as an ice breaker to garner audience attention and set the tone of the entire session.

Viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch it in a video, compared to 10% when reading it in text. (Insivia)

Key Takeaway:
Video is an effective tool for your overall digital marketing strategy. It can be an easier way to convey complex ideas in a highly creative format that is universally understood.

2. Storytelling / Authenticity is meaningful

I noticed each one of my sessions at Inbound 19 had a story. They weren’t case studies, self-promotion or client wins… they were personal stories about the presenters struggles, perspective or spark. Each of these stories then tied into the larger session topic and helped the audience dive deeper in its application. I didn’t recognize this pattern until I was back from the conference. I was out with my colleagues for lunch and I began sharing information about the sessions I attended. I began each of my discussions by re-telling the stories that amused or connected with me first. Those stories were essentially going viral thru my retelling albeit on a smaller scale.

One of the more memorable stories was by Sangram Vajre who’s session on How to Take Your Marketing from Good to Great focused on ABM (Account Based Marketing). It was a fresh perspective and he was able to engage the audience from the very beginning with a story about his son.  He was caring for his son while his wife went out of town and decided to take this role from good to GREAT:

  • Average Parenting – the status quo where they get by on TV, food and playtime
  • Good Parenting – picks it up a notch to Dad 1.0 where they play Xbox, watch movies and eat healthier snacks
  • Great Parenting – Dad 2.0 that lets his son watch ALL the Rocky movies and eat pancakes for ALL meals

He then dove deeper by discussing how to connect this parenting concept to how we work with our clients and focus our efforts step by step on creating GREAT marketing solutions.

Integrating super-personalized marketing into your strategy is a way for your business to say, ‘i’m listening. i know what you want… what you need… what you enjoy.’ The more your business shows this to a customer or prospect, the more likely they will be to connect with you and become a promoter of your business.” — Jess Marranco, Hubspot

The key takeaways from these sessions regarding storytelling and authenticity:

  • It should be entertaining
  • The story should be memorable
  • Something the audience can relate to
  • Contains nuggets of knowledge or awaken curiosity

Key Takeaway:
Focus on authentic long-term relationships thru a shared connection or idea.

3. Marketing Automation is essential

Automating our workflows and marketing tasks with seamless and timely touch points frees up time to focus on the customer experience and strategic solutions. When done correctly, it will accurately provide the right information to the right person at the right time. It can help reduce manual entry and keep your data and records accurate. This is important for:

  • Your sales team by having the confidence to act on accurate information
  • You marketing team by contacting and communicating with right people at the right time thru email drip campaigns and workflows
  • And management by increasing leads, deals and therefore revenue 
marketing_automation-wsi_connect

There are no limits to what you can automate thru proper planning. It will empower your sales team and streamline your overall processes which is a successful combination for all teams to thrive.

The marketing automation tech stack can include:

  • CMS (Content management system) or website
  • Email marketing software
  • Landing page and form builder
  • Campaign tool
  • Social media publishing tool
  • CRM (Customer relationship management)
  • Analytics tools

Key Takeaway:
Marketing automation helps to scale growth and reduce time on repetitive manual tasks.

4. Email Marketing is alive

Over the years I am sure you have heard that email marketing is dead. It would appear that number of emails that reach an already cluttered inbox are usually never opened, are deleted or marked as spam. However did you know: 

Email marketing drives more conversions than any other marketing channel, including search and social” – Campaign Monitor

I attended a fascinating session showcasing how to build a list of engaged subscribers thru A/B testing, welcome emails, personalization and focused relevant content. The main question to ask is: Why Should Anyone Care?  The main point many marketers and business owners miss with email marketing is if you are providing value thru the content in your newsletters and segmenting your lists based on answering the main question then your email newsletters WILL be impactful.

Key Takeaway:
Refine your email marketing strategy and focus on answering the main question: Why Should Anyone Care?

5. Accessibility is for everyone

We recently launched a new ADA Compliant service at WSI Connect so I was excited to attend the session called: Accessible Marketing Is Modern Marketing: Building Accessibility In Instead of Opting Out by Christi Olson from Microsoft. She specifically focused on Inclusive Design principles and how to apply them across digital media.

If you aren’t building accessibility into your products, website, or marketing campaigns, it’s like saying to one in five customers, “I don’t want your business.””

ADA-Accessibility_WSI_Connect_Digital_Marketing

Christi took a deep dive into understanding how implementing this across your customers experiences. Below is a high level overview of the top 10 areas to focus on:

  1. Content Writing and Structure
  2. URL and link text and descriptions
  3. Text readability
  4. Accessible fonts
  5. Images and video
  6. Color contrast and shapes
  7. Keyboard navigation
  8. Contact information
  9. Call to action buttons
  10. Event space and registration

Key Takeaway: 
Focusing on accessibility and inclusive design as part of your overall strategy and design instead of an afterthought.

Click for a FREE Consultation
(and discover why you should work with WSI Connect!)

Category: BlogTag: ADA Compliance, Automation, Email Marketing, Hubspot, Inbound Marketing, Marketing Automation, Video Marketing, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, Website ADA Compliance

The #1 Thing I learned from Inbound19

October 17, 2019 //  by Tabitha Middendorf

Hint: It isn’t just comfortable shoes.

This year was my first year attending HubSpot’s HubSpot’s annual marketing conference, Inbound. It was a two solid days of packed learning and lots of walking. Lots. Of. Walking. It was organized chaos that was overwhelming and exhausting.

Long Live Video – #1 Thing I Learned

For awhile now, I’ve been reading (and seeing) that video is king and it continues to be so. This year, the biggest focus I kept hearing on replay was video. V-i-d-e-o.  Video is being used more and more because it provides a way to connect with your prospects and clients, and for you to tell your brand’s story.

Why was this a big theme for Inbound19? Video is an effective piece of content for your digital marketing strategy. It is easier to convey complex ideas in a creative format that is universally understood. Video version 2019 is now being integrated into overall marketing strategies. Why? Over 50% of consumers want to see and learn from video, from a brand they like and trust. Yet, Frankly my dear, I’m scared of video. Let’s face it, many of us are scared of video. Scared to shoot it. Scared to put ourselves in front of it, in it and, especially, share it for the world to see.  We have no problem shooting video of someone else, but as soon as we become the focus – our nerves get the best of us.

Different Types of Video for Digital Marketing

Admittedly, when I think of video I think of my son’s soccer games, the off-key tunes of happy birthday songs, or the typical commercial you see for a product or service.  To the contrary, there are many different types of video to consider depending on your marketing needs and strategy.

1. Demo – Demonstration videos are great for showing how something works and how it can be used. Like those magic bullet blender videos. 

2. Brand – Brand videos are part of an advertising campaign. These videos increase awareness and attract prospects.

3. Event – Event videos are short shots promoting an event.

4. Expert Interviews – Build authority and trust with your audience by interviewing an industry expert. 

5. Education/How-To – Instructional videos are a great tool to teach your audience something new. Consider this video excerpt on How to Build a Competitive Analysis for Your Business (26 minutes in length). 

6. Explainer – Fictional in theory, an explainer video is used to help your prospects better understand your product/service and why they need it.

7. Animated – Do you have a challenging concept you need to convey? If so consider an animated video with strong visuals. 

8. Case Study and Testimonial – Turn your raving reviews into client testimonial/case study videos to further advocate your company and brand.

9. Live Videos – Live videos are fun to watch. The IRL video gives your audience an opportunity for authentic interaction. Live stream your expert interview or next webinar.

10. 360 & Virtual Reality – These videos allow a viewer to see the entire space as though they were present. You’ll see these types of videos when booking a hotel room and you can scroll to view every aspect of the room. You might have also seen or created similar videos on Facebook.

11. Augmented Reality – AR videos allow you to put layers or elements on top of a video.  Pokemon Go is a perfect example of augmented reality. 

12. Personalized Messages – Personalized message videos are great for starting a conversation and maintaining engagement with a prospect or client. 

Did you know video marketers tend to see 66% more qualified leads and a 54% increase in brand awareness? Yes, so it is a safe bet that video is here to stay. 

Inbound19 was a great first experience. Next time, I’ll plan out my sessions according to our company’s goals and my personal goals. I’ll continue to be open to learning and I’ll pack my comfy shoes.

Category: BlogTag: Hubspot, Inbound Marketing, Video Marketing

Video Marketing: The Way of the Future


September 18, 2013 //  by Luke Middendorf

Embrace the Magic of Movies

Dating as far back as 1896, with the legend of the Lumière brothers’ Train Pulling into a Station, and continuing on with beloved classics like Citizen Kane, Casablanca and even modern blockbusters like Avatar, the magic of the movies has captivated our society for more than a century. Over the course of those 100 years, movies have drastically changed, not only in their style and technical composition, but also the way they are received by audiences. And while the reasons for the shock and lasting impact of Train Pulling into a Station and Inception greatly differ – viewers of the former supposedly retreated to the back of the room in fear that a train was coming through the screen, while the latter’s audience grappled with a mind-bending story and unbelievable effects – both movies made a similarly magical impression on people who viewed them, even decades apart.

As a society, we have declared our enduring love for movies. This love is independent of any type of film, as we have shown our appreciation for the many different forms of the medium. And that is the reason April 23, 2005 was such an important day for the world of digital marketing. It’s the day the Internet and movies became one and, in retrospect, the day that video marketing was born.

The rise of YouTube and the dawn of video marketing.

On that fateful spring day, YouTube co-founder Jawed Karim uploaded the platform’s first video, entitled “Me at the Zoo”, which officially launched what is now one of the most popular websites in the world. So, how much do we watch the videos of YouTube? In looking at these stats, it might even be an understatement to say that we have fallen in love with this shorter, often more personal and directly engaging style of movie:

  • Eight years of content is uploaded to YouTube every single day
  • YouTube receives more than one billion unique users each month
  • Over four billion hours of video are watched each month on YouTube
  • YouTube is localized in 53 countries and across 61 languages
  • YouTube is the second largest search engine next to Google
  • In 2011, YouTube had more than one trillion views (around 140 views for every person on earth)

The upshot of all this is simple. Our society loves movies – old movies, new movies, and short movies hosted on the Internet. Only one of these kinds of movies can be reasonably and affordably turned into a marketing tool and thus, you and your company need to embrace the magic of video marketing because it is certainly the way of the future.

Engage Customers Through Video Marketing

Create Effective Videos

Creating videos that effectively engage your customers and nudge them along whatever path you want them to follow (you do have a conversion goal in mind for your video, right??) isn’t easy. It involves high quality (but not necessarily expensive) production, professional delivery and most importantly, a well-defined message.

Determining your video’s message should begin with picking its subject and then figuring out what you want to say about that subject. A helpful exercise might be to think of a product or service that you bought or used based on a video you watched. Chances are the video spent more time trying to engage and entertain you than actually trying to sell you a product or service. But in the end, the video was still somehow related to solving a problem and highlighting the value of a product or service. It’s a very fine line, but completely achievable within any industry with a little bit of focus.

Other tips and tricks to keep in mind when creating your videos:

  • KISS (keep it short, stupid): the slightly modified acronym for simplifying things feels right, especially since the stats support it. The longer a YouTube video goes on, the lower its chances of being viewed to completion.
  • Quality matters: no, your video doesn’t have to be a Hollywood production to be successful, but make sure you use a decent camera, get the lighting right, and film somewhere quiet so your message resonates loud and clear.
  • Ask for something: as with most methods of marketing, forgetting a call to action in your video is a huge mistake, so don’t make it. Provide your viewers with a clear path to completing the action your video is trying to persuade them to take.

How to Get More Viewers

Give Value to Your Video

Much like a blog post that doesn’t get read, a video that doesn’t get viewed serves no purpose. Ensure the value of the videos you worked so hard to create by doing the following things to increase the exposure of your mini-movies:

  • Feature your video on your web properties: you’ve got a website and microsites, so take advantage of this built-in audience and see how they like your video.
  • Share the wealth: you’ve created an engaging and valuable video, so share it with the world on all your active channels. If you’re in the video and you’re nervous about the exposure, don’t be. Share, share, share and who knows, maybe it’ll go viral!
  • Send an email: your email list is another pre-existing source of viewers that you should take advantage of. Even if they’re already customers, a little bit more value isn’t going to hurt them, right? These are only some of the many strategies and techniques for creating effective videos and ensuring they get found and viewed by your target audience.

For more information or guidance on how to embrace and unlock the magic of making movies for your customers, get in touch with a local WSI Consultant today!

Category: BlogTag: social media strategy, Video Marketing, WSI Connect

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