ethnicomm – the blog part I

A growing trend in internet marketing is the use of videos to establish a deeper connection with the target market. Online video marketing is being used to educate, inform and entertain viewers or (potential) customers. Some examples include: testimonials; news bulletins; how-to videos; about us videos with talking heads; and even sweeping panoramas of the corporate showroom or warehouse.

Now that Google has announced that they are adding automatic captioning to all English-language videos on YouTube, the opportunity is even greater if you think about search engine optimization (SEO).

A problem with video is that sometimes you want to go to a specific part – skip the preamble etc. Or, there is a particular segment that you want to highlight. In the past, I have directed (potential) clients to my YouTube channel so they can see how I look on national television or to highlight my marketing experience. Instead of having them sit through 20 minutes of content, I created a link that takes them directly to the first instance where I appear. Other links allow them to skip ahead and go directly to the pertinent information – in this case, me!

How do I do that?

1. Make note of the specific time (in minutes and seconds) on the YouTube video that you want to link to.
2. Copy the URL of the YouTube video and add “#t=” followed by the time in minutes and seconds to the end of the URL (i.e. #t=2m53 means the 2:53 minute mark on the video)
3. Bam! That’s it!

This is what it should look like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K–jbw_l4oU#t=2m53

Want to see a link to a specific part of a YouTube video in action? Clicking on this URL with the time appended takes you to the two minutes and fifty-three seconds point of the video – where I am first introduced by one of my favourite anchors…Dianne Buckner of CBC!

With so many social media sites out there, it is easy to spend too much time being “social” and “networking” and not enough time building your business. Without a proper marketing strategy, your efforts are as beneficial as trying to compete against The Hurt Locker or Avatar for attention.

In school, a cheat sheet helps you get to the answer faster but if you don’t know your stuff, the cheat sheet will not help. In fact, you often waste time that would have been better spent answering the question in the first place. The cheat sheet that CMO.com created (see below), nicely categorizes the key social media sites on customer communication, brand exposure, traffic to your site and SEO (search engine optimization). Now you can apply your knowledge of social media to help guide your marketing efforts.

You can download a larger view by clicking on the image.

Remember: your social media efforts should be consistent with your marketing or web strategy. Use the cheat sheet wisely!

What is the difference between Marketing and Sales? I was asked this question and thought to myself…”

if ONE person was asking, many more are probably thinking the same thing”

Marketing gets the attention of the prospective customer through a variety of means like advertising, public relations, viral marketing, guerrilla marketing, direct marketing and promotions. Marketing seeks to persuade the prospective customer that there is value in whatever they are marketing. They help create the “intent” to purchase the good or service.

Sales engages that prospective customer on a personal level via one-to-one contact, presentations, phone calls, emails and other direct communication. Sales tries to convert the “intent” into an action, a SALE.

Sales also feeds market knowledge and customer experiences back to Marketing. Marketing can then take that information and other market research to tailor future communication so that the right customers are targeted with the right message. They work with the information to tweak their marketing mix (product, price, place and promotion) so that it resonates with the target market. As a result, the sales efforts should be more successful since they are connecting with customers that are more apt to purchase.

Marketing and Sales is distinct but exists side by side..they are reliant on each other.