A great post from ReelSEO.com just showing what video marketing can do. Yes Coca Cola and Peugeot have the money for a large video budget, and as a small business owner, you are probably thinking that video marketing is going to be expensive. How wrong you are. All you need is an inexpensive flip camera, even a web camera would do the job, and just talk about your business market. Offer advice, hints and tips. Create GOOD content!

Enjoy this post:

The adage ‘Content is King’ is now becoming something of a cliché, rolled out regularly to prove the author’s understanding that it’s not just hits that count, but how people perceive your message and what they do with it, turning viewers from passive observers to willing propagators of your content is obviously crucial. A central component of this – creating a synergy between online video and social networking- to the extent that your audience become co-curators in your campaigns.

Coca Cola & the “Content 2020 Project” – Video + Social Marketing

There is a pressing need to go one step further than simply making an interesting or entertaining sales pitch. Coca Cola’s recent UK-focused marketing strategy is very prescient: their latest marketing plan – the ‘Content 2020 project’ – is a push to not just create interesting content, but to grasp the joint video and social nettle. Coca Cola’s mission statement; “we will move from creative excellence to content excellence” – a sign of the intent of the market leaders.

Developing what Coca Cola deem “liquid content” (quick to change, adapt and grow with its audience across any medium) requires a planning process:  a shift from quantitative upfront research such as surveys and statistics, to more of an emphasis on engaging with customers and listening to their insights.

Coca Cola employed CommuniSpace, (http://www.communispace.com/home.aspx) which allowed them to create an online dialogue with customers to evolve ideas further. Coke has seized the ‘70/20/10’ model of content development, and have thrown their enthusiasm behind innovative, consumer and social-based strategies that would fit the ‘10%’ bracket (see below):

• 70% = Low risk content: takes up less time – They know what works from experience. Standard, unremarkable stuff.
• 20% = Targeted at a more specific audience but still a broad scale. Innovate on what works well.
• 10% = High risk content: brand new ideas which will become tomorrow’s 70% and 20%s. Take risks, and celebrate both failure and success. If it works, it works big,

Coca Cola Social Network Marketing Package:

Coke’s original ideas? Encouraging conversations on Twitter with “What’s the one thing you’d do to make the world a better place?”, and “Your Stories” on FaceBook – a collection of fan posts showing how people from around the world have helped make Coke into what it is today. For the specific UK focus, there is a blog featuring the mothers of Olympic Athletes topical, empathetic and appealing to a wide range of consumers. Top it all off with the Mark Ronson led live music events, videos and artist vlogs, and you have quite the interactive package:

Rubber Republica’s Video Marketing Campaign for Peugeot

Then there’s the original initiative of Rubber Republica’s ‘Non-stop’ campaign for Peugeot
Rubber Republic describe themselves as;

“A boutique agency that make engaging and fun things happen to help brands thrive in a world curated by the likes of Twitter, FaceBook and blogs”

The synthesis of a video ad campaign and social media awareness is clear here.

When I spoke to Rory Ahearn of Rubber Republic, he said they received a clear brief from Peugeot’s agency ‘Initial Marketing’, who had found the soundtrack (Rudimental’s ‘Feel the Love’) that would become the music for an experiential road show, and furthermore would create the framework for the launch of the new Peugeot 208. Not just a channel, but a whole series of live events was organized around this product.

Rubber Republic’s challenge

Rubber was asked to create a video that would be the start of a much wider cross media campaign. Peugeot knew it needed something that would be digital and social as the best approach to reach the target demographic for the car which was for a younger and fashionable group.

Rubber Republic confirm this, saying

“The video needed to appeal to younger drivers, [and] genuinely offer YouTube audiences entertaining content while reinforcing the new Peugeot 208′s global advertising proposition ‘Let Your Body Drive’”.

How did they do this? With exhaustive casting and auditioning, in an attempt to create a new online hero, or a massive attempt to start an online trend? No – they simply contacted an individual who was already a social networking sensation, as they confirm: “We (along with the 43 million+ others) first noticed Marquese [Scott] last September when he uploaded one of YouTube’s most viewed videos of 2012: ‘Pumped Up Kicks’”, and made him a central component of Peugeot’s own ‘Let Your Body Drive’ channel.

Peugeot v Nonstop

In this piece we see Marquese working his way rhythmically around an empty multi-storey car park, as a camera slowly pans to follow him. According to Rubber Republica’s website, “The video was shot in one take. There are no edits, no visual effects and Marquese just turned up and did his thing without choreography”.

There is no on-screen mention of product, and the car itself is not even in frame all the time.

This led to wide coverage in blogs and comment sites, with the campaign debuting in the viral video chart at number four. As Rubber Republic put it, the campaign, Initial’s chosen soundtrack and Marquese “was a match made in heaven”.

And the moral is…

When it comes to viral video and social content, Rubber state they had been trying to get various brands to take this approach to promoting their products and services for over ten years.

The three founders of Rubber had started their business by making things that people wanted to watch. They built an environment of ‘enthusiasm for the next thing’. This would become the viral ‘seeding’ means for whatever they did in the future – whatever that might be. The concept was to ask what will entertain and who will watch it and then what brand is a natural fit for that content. And the companies are coming on board to this.

Rory Ahearn deserves the last word:

“Traditional advertising won’t disappear, but finally, smart brands such as Peugeot have realised that a synergy of entertainment and existing cultural trends wins over a sales pitch for certain demographics, and is often a more interesting, valuable and ultimately profitable approach.”

ReelSEO Online Video Marketing Digest

Search Engine Optimisation – A Free Internet Marketing Strategy

What does SEO stands for?

The acronym SEO is most commonly known for the words Search Engine Optimisation.

Okay, well what does Search Engine Optimisation mean?

SEO is an Internet Marketing Strategy that helps improve the visibility of a web site or a web page in search engines. To put it simply, it helps make you more popular in the world of the big wide web!

What is an Internet Marketing Strategy?

An Internet Marketing Strategy or Online Marketing Strategy is the advertising of products and services using the internet as a medium to expose and communicate products and services to consumers. As an Internet marketing strategy, SEO considers how search engines work, what people search for, the actual search terms used and which search engines are preferred by their targeted audience.

How it works

The answer to how it works is really very simple, even if the methods of SEO aren’t. Search engine optimisation uses a number of tactics to draw the attention of search engines to your site. The idea behind it is to make your site fit as closely as possible with the searches performed within your target market. This is achieved by crafting high-quality content with well-placed keywords that influence your website page ranking on all search engines, including Google, Yahoo, and Bing.

Methods of Search Engine Optimisation

There are many different methods that SEO adopts to amplify its field of marketing.

Here is a list of a few proven techniques that you can use to help increase targeted traffic:

Keep domain names short, short names are easier to remember! Include short Primary Keywords, without hyphens where possible
Keep the host location to where you are actually hosting from eg. If you are hosting from the UK use.co.uk.
Include relevant keywords in the URL names and keep them unique to each page.
Keep navigation structure simple
Page content wording is very critical
Create and submit as many articles as possible
Find relevant websites within the same market sector or niche and form a link partnership
Submit your website to relevant or industry related directory’s
Utilise relevant Social Networks and Forums related to your Market Sector
Utilise Blog sites relevant to your Market Sector

Why go through all the effort?

Well, why not? You have your business or company online and you want it to succeed don’t you? To do this you need to do everything possible to ensure that your web site is listed as near to the top as possible, there is a lot of competition out there!

Optimise your site so search engines can find you and you will:

Increase high-quality traffic to your website
Reach customers at every point in the buying cycle
Find new customers and grow your customer base
Grow your revenue and profits

So get started and OPTIMISE!

Implementing successful SEO Techniques requires an extensive knowledge of logic and a very good understanding of the targeted market sector. There are many Web Marketing Companies available that have professionals waiting to do all the work for you, all just a click away.

A little secret

By reading this article you have acknowledged our presence on the web and you have just participated in a SEO campaign!

Thank you!

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Related Search Engine Optimisation Articles

Today, LinkedIn launched its inaugural Financial Services Summit in New York which focused on the role social media is playing in the financial services industry. The first panel brought together representatives from American Express, Citi, Fidelity Investments, Prudential Retirement and Hearsay Social to talk about using social media in financial marketing.

It was curious to see a panel on social media where only two out of six individuals on the panel have Twitter accounts. One was Clara Shih, who runs the agency Hearsay Social, and the other, Frank Eliason, SVP of Social for Citi. The panelists’ lack of Twitter accounts felt like a microcosm highlighting how most financial service organizations are behind in social media.

Not that Twitter is the be all and end all of social media, it is a communication channel for 140 million active users. Saying that, in LinkedIn’s new findings released today, financial advisors are mainly reaching out to prospective clients on LinkedIn with Twitter only used by 8% of them. Even brand identity building primarily takes place on LinkedIn over Facebook, Twitter and Google+ for those working in an advisory capacity.

Though the panelists did mention communication on all platforms, a lot of the issues they are facing aren’t about where the conversations are taking place. It’s rather that financial institutions need to put customers at the center of their decisions as well as enable their employees to do the same.

Below are a few of the key takeaways from each of the panelists. These points could be taken across any organization, especially those who have to deal with compliance issues and regulatory bodies:

Clara Shih, CEO, Hearsay Social

There are two main things that Shih highlighted about how social media is shifting the way financial services market themselves:

1) Proliferation of online identity where people freely sharing what they do, who they are, etc. is very valuable for the financial world. When people get married or have a career change, these are great triggers for financial services discussion and this is when financial advisors and institutions need to reach out to customers.

2) The online social graph (social networking) shifted us from a base founded in search. Today the way we get information is discovery based with more links coming from social media than Google now. Shih stressed that Twitter is mainly used for retail, customer service, offers and deals, Facebook is a perfect place for retail cards and insurance and LinkedIn is used most by ultra high worth individuals. It’s more than a social graph, it’s a decision graph. We need to figure out how consumers use connections and rich information to make the best choice for them and give them the facility to do it.

Most importantly, we have to find a way to enable the advisors, whatever the device they are on and wherever they are. We’ve seen this movie play before many times before. There was a time when it took convincing to get employees to get computers and email. We’ve proven what can be done with technology so once we can ensure compliance, we have to look at ROI.

Kara Segreto, CMO, Prudential Retirement

Segreto is seeing a real trend to shift to more thought leadership with the generation of enough content to completely regenerate and be one step ahead. You also need to commit as a whole institute or it won’t work. There has been a shift from spending time with sales and product to spending more time with technology and tech law and compliance. There’s also been a shift in media mix and spends and financial institutions need to have an integrated approach to the market place.

Audrey Hendley, General Manager, New Customer Acquisition, American Express

Social Media has provided a greater opportunity for deeper engagement with customers at American Express. Social media amplifies brand messaging across different customer touch points and aids with customer service, engagement and retention. It is looking to engage more with small businesses and American Express puts on Small Business Saturday once a year to engage with customers and the community. Hendley stressed that it’s important to know who you are talking to and and correlate your messaging and content to that audience. The more connected customers are to the brand, the more they will use it.

Sean Belka, SVP Fidelity Center for Applied Technology, Fidelity Investments

The goal at Fidelity Investments is to help customers achieve big goals. 20 years ago meant calls and mail, then web and email. Social media is part of the large evolution to be where the customers are. We need to look at technology and try to figure out how that will help your customers. Think – is this going to help them in their financial lives? It’s less about the channel and more about what the customers need.

People want to aggregate multiple sources when making a financial decision instead of a single source like they did in the past. How do we enable that and bring that all together in a low cost way? One of the things Fidelity brought to market in the last year, was to enable customers to deposit checks through their mobile. This way the company can be where the customers are, make it easier for them and create new opportunities.

Frank Eliason, SVP Social Media, Citi

For Citi, social media shifted the control. Now the control is more in hands of the customer and the hands of your employee. This is changing the culture at all companies and we’re forced to be more open. This openness will help build the trust that is lacking in the financial world at the moment.

The huge thing that is under discussed is how we can help facilitate conversation. How can financial institutions listen in the space and understand what is happening in all brands in the marketplace. They then need to take this information to see where they can change things internally. Also how do you build that trust and build those communities? Traditionally, financial services was about community and relationships and that is what social is. Ultimately, you have to find ways to connect the dots. It’s not about the brand, it’s about finding out more about your customers.

In the financial services world, we need to shift from the product perspective and look how customers are using it and doing it. All social spaces are different. First, you need to listen in each space and then ask customers where to communicate, what they want and then keep adapting as the platform adapts. At first everything may be cool with how a platform is used and then elements may not, so you need to adjust accordingly.

A big problem is that most financial firms push messages out and no one cares. We have to remember it’s about human dialogue. When you’re dealing with compliance, traditionally it’d take 3 days to have approval but taking three days to approve something makes for really funny Twitter conversations. To help with this, Citi has 2 social lawyers.

As for trying to stop employees from speaking online, you can’t. They are speaking there and they are connecting to other people. This is not a bad thing, we just have to start doing it in the right way. Regulators are just as confused in this space as financial services are so we need to have the conversation with them. This is important as the real world has changed since the time regulatory laws were first created in 1929. Now is the time to rethink them.

Posts from the Econsultancy blog

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Marketing Deja Vu Getting You Down?

At some time or another we have all experienced that eerie sense of familiarity where we’ve “been there” or “done that” before.  Whether it is an actual memory or simply a “brain fart”, deja vu is an interesting experience.

Let’s assume for a second that deja vu is real.  If you found yourself in a situation you knew for certain you had experienced before that had ended badly would you have the tools necessary to change your course of action?  Many organizations have faced and continue to deal with “marketing deja vu” or ending up in the same situations over and over again.  What can you do to avoid making the same marketing mistakes more than once?

*Speaking of deja vu: If you are looking for additional tips on improving your marketing strategy be sure to reference the posts from the TopRankBlog archive that appear in this post.

4 Tips For Avoiding Marketing Deja Vu

#1 – Learn From Your Previous Marketing Mistakes

The best way to avoid repeating mistakes?  By learning from each experience.  Do not expect that you will have different set of outcomes from the same actions.  We must remember that marketing mistakes can mean a decrease in current customer base, as well as the loss of potential new customers.

3 Tips for Learning From Your Marketing Mistakes:

• Mistakes happen, the worst thing you can do is avoid dealing with the problem
• Move on but don’t forget the lesson you learned
• Don’t let frustration get the best of you

We All Make Mistakes:  20 Social Media Marketing Do’s & Dont’s

#2 – Create A Structured Marketing Process

Errors can in large part be attributed to lack of process.  A structured process provides a framework and guideline for accomplishing your marketing goals.  Marketing process improves your ability to:

• Plan effectively for future marketing needs
• Implement & Scale your marketing plan
• Test, implement, and refine marketing tactics

Implement A Process: Practical Tips to Make Your Blog More Useful & Interactive

#3 – Don’t Rationalize Bad Marketing Decisions

One of the biggest mistakes we can make as marketers is to rationalize bad decisions.  It is important that we accept and face the fact that we didn’t make the best choice.  Once we’ve overcome the hurdle of admitting fault it’s time to take action:

• Focus on why a particular marketing tactic didn’t work
• Determine how your team can improve going forward
• Debrief other team members so they can avoid making the same mistakes

To Be Avoided: 4 B2B Social Media & SEO Blunders to Avoid

#4 – Ask for Help & Advice to Improve Your Marketing Plan

Pride should never get in the way of improving your marketing strategy.  Some of the best ideas come from where you least expect. Suggesting collaboration with other team members and influentials can:

• Help you come to a conclusion for next steps faster
• Remind you of mistakes they may have made in the past that you will want to avoid
• Provide a fresh set of eyes that may have a different perspective

Get the Help You Need: 4 Tips for Becoming A Better Influencer

Take Action

You may have heard some or all of the tips listed above prior to reading this post.  However, I want you to ask yourself:  How many of these tips has my team actually implemented and stuck with?  A good starting point to get on the right track to avoiding ‘marketing deja vu’ is to ask yourself and your team a few simple discovery questions:

• What are 3 instances in where your marketing team has made the same mistake more than once?
• Did you expect different outcomes each time the mistake was made?
• What were those expected outcomes?
• What have you done to rectify these mistakes, or adapt your process to avoid them in the future?

Remember, if you can’t answer these questions on your own perhaps you should try asking other team members.  Or you may want to consider or contacting an agency like TopRank Online Marketing to learn how you can attract and engage current and prospective customers by avoiding common marketing mistakes.

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