Brand awareness marketing solutions from Edan Gelt today: DIY Guide To Video Placement: In my last blog “Where Video Marketing is the King of Content”, I discussed the importance of creating video marketing to stay relevant online. While writing this blog series, I also created my own vlog “Minute of Marketing” as a how to DIY guide, sharing insights and examples of marketing initiatives. Depending on the type of business you own, your goals and the clientele you cater to will determine where you should share your video content. See even more info at Edan Gelt.
There is no doubt about it, 2020 is perhaps the most difficult year any of us has had to face. This year is also challenging for many of the world’s top brands. Top brands are now being forced to rethink their communication strategies. These leading brand strategies are now focused on communicating in trust, taking responsibility, having direct interaction and effectively communicating to consumers all while remaining empathic and positive.
Engage: It is no longer enough to just have a social media page and presence; you need to jump into your customers’ conversations and understand what they value and give it to them. Create a concise social media strategy and curate your content, including company updates and trends, to maximize engagement on your platforms to establish yourself as an industry leader. Use specific hashtags and maybe even develop your own hashtag to group your content and make it easier for people to find.
When posting, make sure to take advantage of the hashtags (Instagram allows for a maximum of 30 and I recommend you use each one to create a wider reach on your post) but each hashtag must be relevant to your brand and niche so it lands with the correct audience. Each social media post should always have a call to action, regardless of what platform you are using. This means you should ask your audience to share, comment or vote. The more engagement a post has the more likely the platform’s algorithm will kick in and allow you to gain a wider reach to new audiences with similar interests. See even more details at Edan Gelt.
Are you a beauty services provider like a salon or med spa? Create a video of one of your amenities or products and walk through the journey of the client experience. You can do this by speaking about what you’re featuring, capturing the service or even provide a compilation of photographic results. Are you in food services or do you own a restaurant? Mouth-watering food! Feature a favorite dish being prepared over an open fire or paired with wine favorites. Review the measures you’re taking to keep them safe when they choose in-restaurant dining (ventilation, seating spacing, capacity, etc.).
The Power of Free in Marketing: In terms of reaching your target market, free giveaways or free samples are more successful in earning a response from your audience. Free samples are surprisingly more cost effective than traditional marketing. Using “free” as a strategy allows businesses to reach potential customers that may have never reached with traditional marketing. Often, your potential core consumer doesn’t even realize your product or service is needed until they’ve experienced it firsthand. Hence why free samples are the way to wiggle your way into new customers ‘must haves.’
Free is one of the most powerful tools available for customer acquisition if done correctly. By offering a free sample, businesses get customers to try a product without putting up a price barrier, while the customer gets a ‘free’ item while not having to gamble a portion of their budget on a product they may not even like. Knowing this, brands should happily eat the costs associated with free. For more social media and brand communication tips – follow Communication Strategist Edan Gelt and her recent blog series – edangelt.com/blog.
Similar to traditional SEO for websites, Google uses bots to serve search results. It is important to include keywords like “Chicago Real Estate Attorney,” “Orland Park Real Estate attorney,” “5013C Attorney,” etc. to your business listing is key – especially since your direct business website will be listed within your GMB page. Use these in the business description and each time you post a Local Post to your audience. Posting photos to your GMB is extremely important – in fact, businesses that have photos receive 35% more click-throughs to their website than those without photos and 42% more requests for directions from Google Maps. Read even more info on Eden Gelt.
These are examples that have an obvious mechanism toward the building of trust. Consumers have long memories and acts like this will serve these companies well for years to come. But, there are more subtle examples. In the Philippines, the CEO of the McDonald’s operation in that country created a video. This video details the safety measures McDonald’s is taking to protect both consumers and their staff. This might seem like an obvious approach. However, at the same time other companies are portraying their staff as ‘heroes.’ This approach is being criticized for ignoring the fact that the employees are in as much need of protection as the consumers are.
Once you’ve decided what you’re going to feature during your segments – consider what is the most important thing you will be sharing about your business/service/product and say it right at the beginning of your video. For example – today, I’m going to walk you through a HydraFacial or I’m going to tell you about the new tenant law passed during the pandemic. Or, let me tell you about our fantastic chicken alfredo, water ride, marketing tip, new product, etc. Then take them on 1 or 2-minute journey. CONSISTENCY IS KEY! Once you’ve made your first video or VLOG (fancier term), you’re on your way but you can’t stop now. You need to generate content consistently. This can be several times per week, once per week, or even once per month. Just stick with it.