Viral Videos and Their Cultural Impact
Viral Videos and Their Cultural Impact
Over the past few years, the video industry has grown exponentially. Websites, like YouTube have changed the face of advertising, entertainment and politics by offering users the ability to upload and share seemingly unlimited amounts of video. The Internet has become an absolute juggernaut in ecommerce, advertising, politics, and communication and viral videos and online video productions for entertainment and information have become commonplace for individuals, groups, and corporations who want to promote, entertain, or inform.
Many artists and musicians have used viral video to promote and spread their work. Politicians are extensively using the free mediums to spread their messages and promote their agendas and platforms. Additionally, viral videos and short films have become some of the most popular forms of entertainment over the past few years.
From “Chocolate Rain” and the “Dramatic Chipmunk” to “Leave Britney Alone” and “Don’t Tase Me, Bro!” the use of the Internet to spread entertainment, laughs, and information has never been so prominent. In the case of Tay Zonday, his “Chocolate Rain” video made him an instant celebrity and he has booked appearances on several late night talk shows as well as landing an endorsement deal with Dr. Pepper.
Corporate video production has become quite popular as well as tech savvy companies such as Blendtec — who promoted their blenders with their “Will it Blend?” campaign — and the Coca-Cola company — who used viral video marketing to take advantage of the “Diet Coke and Mentos” craze — have gained a huge audience in a very cost-effective manner.
These types of cheap online video distribution are entertaining and effective, while creating a huge buzz for their product without reaching too far into their advertising budget. These types of viral videos don’t always work, however, so it is important to utilize quality video production methods when creating a viral video ad campaign.
For larger companies who can service cities across the nation, such as Chicago and Denver, video production should appeal to a wider variety of consumers in all areas of the nation and the world. For smaller, local companies who can only service local areas, such as Provo, or Pueblo, video production is more likely to be lower budget and regional targeting can allow for regional humor and references that only appeal to the company’s target audience.
Regardless of the nature of your company, organization, or purpose, the Internet’s capacity for video marketing can be a great asset. From Holly Springs, to Colorado Springs, video production and distribution can be greatly enhanced using online tools and services meaning that your company can get greater visibility for a lower cost.
Art Gib writes for Alexander Film (http://www.alexanderfilm.com) a Denver video production company that offers corporate and individual video production at affordable prices.
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Reality Tv, Youtube, and Video Marketing ? it All Comes Down to Real People
Reality Tv, Youtube, and Video Marketing ? it All Comes Down to Real People
Reality TV is booming. What began as a concept that most people believed would be a passing fad has grown into a national viewing pastime. From singing and dancing to finding love and racing across the world to relationships among strangers thrust together in one house, reality TV has hit the big time. Why? Because reality TV feeds our hunger for a reflection of ourselves; its core purpose is to show real people in real situations. Watching and building relationships with real people like themselves. By the millions, Americans have replaced actors with real people.
Enter YouTube: new technology that gives the general public the ability to not only watch, but to participate. This became the fastest growing online community in history. 20 Million users in 16 months! In 2007 it was estimated that on any given day, 13 hours of videos are uploaded onto YouTube every minute. There is clearly an intense and global interest in regular people and their unique personalities. People are interested in other real people like themselves.
So what do reality TV and YouTube have to do with successful sales? Perhaps the most significant factor influencing sales is the human factor. Bob Burg said it best, “All things being equal, people will do business with — and refer business to— those people they know, like and trust.” Reality TV and YouTube’s success is based on people being able to relate. Relating is the first step in getting to know, like and trust. See where this is going?
Enter BlendTec. Can you believe a small blender company is a video marketing pioneer?
You can go to YouTube and check out their amazing “Will It Blend” series. And so it begins: YouTube becomes the center of the Video Marketing universe (and it still is).
From loan officers and REALTORS to blender companies and hair salons, every small business you can think of has jumped on the video marketing opportunity.
Not only did YouTube provide a free video hosting platform that was also easy to use, it opened up local small businesses to 100 million potential customers! Ok, so what is the bad news? Well, there is some, as it turns out. While you are out there being introduced to new potential customers, so is your competition. When a salesperson uploads a video to YouTube and then sends the link to their database they have also introduced their database to their potential competitors. How? YouTube includes a valuable, albeit problematic, feature for salespeople called “Related Videos” under which videos with similar content are displayed for people to peruse. Try it yourself. Type in your title like “California Loan Officer” and see how many loan officers are using Video Marketing.
Enter Think Big Work Small (http://www.ThinkBigWorkSmall.com). The light bulb was burning brightly when co-founders Tim Kearns and Frank Garay of Think Big Work Small figured out how to maximize the power of Video Marketing while eliminating all of the problems of working with free public systems like YouTube.
Both Tim and Frank were seasoned mortgage loan professionals and decided to create the first version of their Video Marketing Engine (VME) for the mortgage industry professional. Now released as VME 2.0 Mortgage Edition, the platform is a complete sales system including a database driven sales CRM (customer relationship manager) integrated with a loan officer specific dashboard. Tim Kearns wanted to create a system where “loan officers can live their sales life” by having all the tools they need to generate consistent new referral partners, prospects and clients at their fingertips.
The proof is in the pudding. Just out of BETA, the company is already boasting testimonials from users experiencing immediate success using video marketing, including one loan officer who explains he generated almost ,000 in commissions in one month thanks to Think Big Work Small’s video marketing system.
You can do more than learn about video marketing, you can get involved! Check out how to try it for yourself at www.ThinkBigWorkSmall.com
Stefan Lubinski, who coined the phrase “Marketing is not telling people what you do; Marketing is telling people what you do DIFFERENTLY”, is the Founder of Brainstorm Group LLC and brings a diverse and successful professional background from Restaurants to Real Estate to the stage and the boardroom for his clients ranging from independent sales professionals to CEOs.
His “Selling It Like It Is” direct and humor-filled style has been described as George Carlin meets Brian Tracy. Stefan is a strategist, speaker and entrepreneur but above all he is a salesman through and through, dedicated to the science of sales and the mechanics of marketing.
As Executive Producer for Think Big Work Small, Stefan’s focus today is teaching small business people, independent sales professionals and corporations how to harness the power of video to revolutionize the way they connect, communicate and create commissions.
Stefan received his degree from Rutgers University and currently lives in Austin Texas with his wife Shelley, his 3 horses and 6 dogs.
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5 Professional Copywriting Services to Take Your Marketing and Advertising Further, Part 2 of 3
5 Professional Copywriting Services to Take Your Marketing and Advertising Further, Part 2 of 3
Looking for professional copywriting and marketing services?
Are you looking for outside-the-box ways to market your business?
My aim for this 3-part article series has been to list and explain 5 little-known online copywriting and marketing services. This is a 3-part series because I want to explain each of these in enough detail, and in a way that opens up the abundance of opportunities and marketing channels for you to spread your message.
In the previous article, I talked about a strategic way to use the salespage. The key idea here is that this use of the salespage occurs after the visitor has already bought, not before.
In this article, we’ll explore 2 more copywriting services.
Copywriting Service #2: Video Copywriting and Marketing
Is a slide-to-video presentation best for your visitors?
How about an infomercial-style video?
How does the fact that most people are visual learners influence how you’ll produce a visual message?
I’m sure you know that online video is a huge trend, confirmed by the growing number of video sites like YouTube, Metacafe, and Revver.
Though the traditional definition of copywriting services didn’t include video marketing, when you consider the fact that 52% of all Internet traffic is video, or video-related, it becomes apparent that you should consider the services of a professional video marketer. My prediction is that done-for-you video marketing services will be on the rise. (In fact, I know they are.) Your prospective copywriter may provide video marketing advice. If you’re lucky, they may even provide the service themself. Currently, there are very few who do, but since video is increasingly used as a viable marketing medium, the need for video marketing services will increase, and copywriters are in a very good position to offer this.
When done well, video marketing can be a profitable marketing channel for you. One need look no further than Blendtec’s popular “Will It Blend” series of videos on Youtube.
Copywriting Service #3: Adwords Pay-Per-Click Campaign Management
In October 2008, one of my copywriting coaches told me something that I had heard numerous times before: that a small change in an ad can result in a significant increase in response.
In addition to writing pay-per-click ads for your marketing campaigns, a professional copywriter can also manage them. If your copywriter understands pay-per-click, they can monitor each pay-per-click ad. Some will be profitable for you, whereas others will break even or fail to yeild a positive ROI. By observing click-through and conversion rates, a web-savvy copywriter can pause your low-converting, money-wasting ads, and direct more effort toward creating ads that resemble the positive ROI ads.
D.K. Fynn is a business strategist and direct-response copywriter who offers high-value professional copywriting services to serious clients. He has worked with some of the most successful marketers online, such as Dan Lok and Alex Jeffreys. To find out how D.K. can be your key to success, and to schedule a free, one-on-one consultation, go to DirectResponseCopywriter.DKFynn.com (Note: There’s no L in D.K.’s last name.)
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Categories: Heavy Duty Blenders Tags: Advertising, Copywriting, Further, Marketing, Part, Professional, Services, Take
Nafem 2009 Top 10 Coolest Restaurant Supplies
Nafem 2009 Top 10 Coolest Restaurant Supplies
For those of you who weren’t able to attend this year’s NAFEM show, held on February 5-7, Cook’s Direct was there to review and evaluate the newest products and innovations from Restaurant Equipment and Supply manufacturers across the country. We’re providing you with our list of this year’s coolest and most innovative restaurant supply items from the show. “There were new products for use in all areas of the commercial kitchen, but we believe that Chefs, Restaurant Operators and Foodservice Directors alike, will be most excited by the new restaurant equipment items we’ve got listed in this year’s Top 10 Coolest NAFEM introductions round-up ” said Jeff Breeden, Chief Merchant at Cook’s Direct.
1. Cooktek’s Six Burner Induction Range
Heavy duty design is combined with great looks for a cooktop that can work in the busiest kitchen or is perfect for presentation cooking. Cooktek’s newest Induction Range is the first ever, six-burner induction cooktop available. It has high power strength with energy efficiency built into the design to help save money on utility bills. This induction range can be installed on a refrigeration unit or worktable, and with its tempered glass top, it’s easily cleaned.
2. Vollrath’s Super Pan® Super Shapes Steam Table Pans
Innovative designs for your buffet are here with Vollrath’s new Super Pan ® Super Shapes steam table pans. The stylized pans allow you to affordably enhance the look of your buffet line. And with several unique shapes to choose from, you can quickly and easily create an entirely new presentation for different events. It’s also great way to freshen up each day part with a unique appearance for your buffet or salad bar.
3. Steelkor’s X-Green Produce Washing System
Steelkor’s X-Green washing system is perfect for the larger commercial kitchen, like those found in a university, arena, or hospital setting. This complete washing system removes dirt, grime, waxy buildup, and harmful microbes from large batches of produce. The cold water, FiT injected system kills 99.9% of harmful microbes like E. coli and Salmonella sp. This system is easy to use, provides consistent and effective results to your produce sanitation process, and takes up little space in the kitchen. The big payoff is that you are secure in the knowledge that the produce you serve your customers is safe and sanitized.
4. Cres Cor’s Logo Heated Cabinet
With a great new look, you’ll want these storage cabinets in front of customers rather than in the back of the house! Imagine seeing your logo or a full size image of your best selling products moving in front of thousands of people at a Big 10 basketball game. By applying a graphic wrap to their heated cabinets, Cres Cor has created a product that’s great for branding businesses through visibility at high traffic events like trade shows, sporting events or music festivals, anywhere that heated food is served.
5. Continental’s Recycling Cart, The Quad-Collection Dolly
Are you looking to launch a recycling program? Getting started is easy with the help of Continental’s new Quad Collection Dolly which is designed to carry four Wall Hugger™ Recycling Receptacles. The Wall Hugger™ containers are available in blue or black and with or without handles and you can get specially designed color coded lids for the Wall Hugger™ containers to encourage users to sort their recyclables. These lids have molded openings to receive certain products like news paper, bottles, aluminum cans, etc. When you get the containers, lids and the new Quad-Collection Dolly, your recycling program will be ready to go.
6. Chill Rite’s Shock A Vodka Dome System
Add a special WOW factor to your next event serving ice cold liquor to guests with the Shock A Vodka Dome System from Chill Rite 32. The presentation that you get with this system makes it a hit with customers. The bottles are inverted and placed in frosted domes to chill the liquor to a cool 5 degrees Fahrenheit. It then pours directly from taps on the frosted domes. If you’re serving beer along with liquor we suggest the yeti dispenser option, which serves up beer at a thirst quenching 32 degrees Fahrenheit. The dome system is mounted on a 48” long by 8” wide rail that’s also frosted to keep up the presentation. Also included is a full LED illumination display to merchandise top brand liquor bottles. Customers will love the cold tap liquor delivery system and you’ll love the increase in sales.
7. Blendtec’s Kitchentec™ variable speed blender with memory
For chefs who run a busy kitchen, this memory enhanced blender is a must, letting you program combinations of time and speed to create a blending sequence. Once the Master Chef has perfected the blending cycle for key recipes, these can be programmed into the new Kitchentec™ Blender. Kitchen staff can then simply run the program to recreate the recipe. The programming capabilities can also be used to replicate various prep activities for consistency and efficiency. Easy-to-use and intuitive this blender will increase your kitchens productivity and improve consistency in your final products.
8. Jade’s High Mass Oven
The innovative High Mass Oven from Jade introduces a fresh approach in range ovens. They took a standard range oven and added a 75 pound, ½ inch griddle plate to the inside bottom and back of the oven cavity. The oven bottom plate comes with welded steel side splashes to contain spills from leaking into the stainless steel burner box.
9. New Age’s Beverage Container Transport Cart
For caterers or event producers that are looking for a rough and rugged, high volume beverage cart this new product from New Age just what you need. Built with high capacity in mind, the New Age beverage cart is capable of carrying up to six 10-gallon beverage containers at one time. It’s extremely durable and capable of handling the heaviest loads. This cart is so strong, it’s even recommended for jail or prison kitchens. The transport cart is backed with a lifetime guarantee against rust and corrosion and a five-year guarantee against workmanship and material defects.
Dexter’s Cool Blue™ Heat Resistant Turner
Dexter’s new Cool Blue™ heat resistant, melt resistant kitchen turners left a lasting impressionson all who saw them. Dexter representatives demonstrated how these Cool Blue™ handles will withstand temperatures up to 500 degrees Fahrenheit, outperforming Mercer’s Hell’s Handles™ Utensils, which have been getting a lot of press lately. Even after hours of use, the handles remain cool, and you never have to worry that they will melt to your grill. As well as being heat and melt resistant, the handles are easy to clean and slip resistant and the turners feature a precision ground blade. They are also NSF certified to meet health codes standards.
About Jeff Breeden and Cook’s Direct:
Jeff Breeden is active in the Foodservice Industry through his work at Cook’s and as a member of NAFED (National Association of Food Equipment Dealers). During the past 12 years, he has held a variety of roles including new product development, national account sales, and brand development. In his current responsibility as Chief Merchant, he utilizes his experience and expertise to find innovative equipment and supply solutions to meet the evolving needs of restaurant and institutional foodservice operations. Cook’s Direct provides a full range of commercial kitchen solutions including all types of kitchen supplies and heavy duty restaurant equipment to correctional facilities, institutions and other large foodservice operations across North America. The company was founded over 10 years ago and is known for its innovative products, strong customer service and expert knowledge of institutional kitchen operations.
Cooks Direct
Inquiries can be sent to:
Jeff Breeden, Chief Merchant
Cook’s Direct
800-956-5571
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Categories: Heavy Duty Blenders Tags: 2009, Coolest, Nafem, Restaurant, Supplies
Reputation Management ? Cast Studies in Failures
Reputation Management ? Cast Studies in Failures
It’s one thing to hear people say that you need quality reputation management, it’s another thing to see how reputation management can serious affect one’s business or even personal life. Here are some examples:
Blendtec, the marketing arm of a blender company, is famous for its countless “will it blend” videos that they post on Youtube. Those Youtube videos are shared by millions of people across the Internet, which of course helps to sell blenders.
Adobe, the company that makes graphic design programs such as Illustrator and Photoshop, maintains a list of interesting company related Websites and conversations on the social bookmaring site “Delicious.”
Best Western, the global hotel chain, sponsors a blog “On the Go with Amy” where the author travels the country writing about her experiences. This gives the reader a one-on-one interaction with a person, rather than with a large corporation.
Cadence, a high technology company which describes itself as the world’s leading electronic design automation corporation, launched its Website that now prominently promotes the company’s community.
Cisco, one of the world’s leading hardware and software makers, hosts 12 blogs addressing a variety of audiences for their global business.
In fact, there are countless examples of companies such as Dell, Ford, HSBC bank, GM, H&R Block and other Fortune 500 companies using blogs and other social networking tools (Twitter, Youtube, Stumbleupon, Digg) to enhance their reputation on the Internet. Reputation management is always better when you’re offense than when you’re on the defensive. For example, Microsoft is constantly running into headaches because if its software (namely Windows) and has to respond to numerous negative reviews. Reputation management in that instance is difficult because it’s easier to create positive messaging than it is to try and erase negative comments.
Tools
If you’re trying to repair or simply enhance your online reputation, here are some reputation management tools you can use.
Findmeon.com – This links all your networks together and verifies your identity so people know it’s your profile.
WordPress.com – Sign up for a free account and use as OpenID, this is a great blog tool numerous people are using.
Naymz.com – If you sign-up, you can invite your customers to write reviews about you, your work and your company.
Monitor This – This tool allows you to monitor and track keywords over multiple search engines so you can see what people are tracking and searching.
Monitor Yourself
There are also various monitoring tools for you to see what’s in the news about you, including: Google News Alerts, Yahoo News RSS Feed, BackTweets, Google Blog Search and more that are all free. With so many reputation management tools at your fingers, there’s no reason you shouldn’t know exactly what’s being said about you on the Web. They’re free, easy to use and provide excellent reputation management with minimal investment.
Search out reputation management tools which work for you, or hire a company that can provide excellent reputation management services. Improving your image is key, especially in a day and age where we know the ring size of celebrities.
Rozer provides articles about reputation management online reputation management, corporate reputation management.
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Categories: Heavy Duty Blenders Tags: Cast, Failures, Management, Reputation, Studies
Good Viral Marketing Examples – Techniques That Work
Good Viral Marketing Examples – Techniques That Work
Viral marketing is a very effective way to drive traffic to your website and gain exposure for your brand. What exactly is viral marketing? When one of your promotional pieces gets linked to, passed around, and spreads with a life of its own, it has gone viral. In order for something to do this, it has to be of interest to a lot of people. It can offer great value, be shocking, funny or controversial. The idea is to grab the interest of a few people who will want to share your material with a few more and so on.
Here are some viral marketing examples to better help explain.
1) Funny videos are a great method to use for viral marketing because video sharing is so popular today. Funny or weird videos get shared among friends and posted on blogs and get seen by a lot of eyes. Insert your brand or a link to your website into the video and you have one good example of viral marketing. Remember that your video needs to be unique in some way. There is a lot of competition out there and an average video won’t get very much attention.
2) Hotmail is often used as the classic example of viral marketing. When they started giving away free email addresses, everyone who used their service also advertised it because a link to Hotmail was automatically included at the bottom of every email sent. More and more people saw the link, clicked it and signed up for a free email address. All these new users then sent out the Hotmail link with every email they sent and so on.
3) Giving away free ebooks or short reports is another viral marketing example that is pretty popular today. The free report contains advertisements for your website with links back to it. You give the report away and let everyone know they can also give the report away to their friends and subscribers. Pretty soon your free report has a wide circulation and your website gets a lot of free publicity.
4) Posting gossip or rumors on your blog can sometimes go viral as can posting controversial statements. This is also called link baiting. The purpose is to create a buzz that gets people talking about your post and linking to it. All those web hits and backlinks will be good for your business as long as you do it right. You have to be careful about stirring controversy or making statements that are untrue because it might blow up in your face and even hurt your business.
5) Viral marketing failures are not uncommon even among big businesses with huge advertising budgets. It is difficult to predict what will take off and what will be a flop. There are many good viral marketing examples you can learn from such as Burger King’s Subservient Chicken video and Blendtec’s “Will it Blend?” videos. These were successful in part because they were interactive and unique.
Remember also to make your video or report easy to be shared. Allow your videos to be embedded on other websites and let your reports be freely shared. For the average webmaster the point to keep in mind is to over deliver on value whether it is in the form of a hilarious video or an informative report. Create something that people can’t wait to share with their friends and you will have a viral marketing success on your hands.
Discover more strategies to increase website traffic for free at: http://www.giveaway-list.com/blog!
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Categories: Heavy Duty Blenders Tags: Examples, Good, Marketing, Techniques, Viral, Work
Apple IPhone Review: Help You To Purchase The Best IPhone
Apple IPhone Review: Help You To Purchase The Best IPhone
Edsel. New Coke. Apple Ipod? Reviews of Apple’s much-hyped new gizmo have suggested that this just might be one of the most hated products in American history, just like the car Edsel (named after a draft-dodging member of the Ford family) and New Coke (which tasted just like Pepsi). However hated, the iPhone has still made an incredible amount of money for Apple. Apparently, people are curious about just how bad a cell phone can be.
Does It Blend Well With Others?
One of the most popular viral videos since the iPhone’s much-hyped 2007 release is that of a blender seller sticking in an iPhone and turning on the machine. This was to show off the strength of the blender, but also seemed to be a more than cutting Apple iPhone review by the blender seller. The fact that the video went viral and became so popular (more so than the blender it sells, the Blendtec) means that many others seemed to agree with this particular Apple iPhone review.
Sorry, Steve Jobs
Although you could go to a high tech website such as CNet.com to read geek’s Apple iPhone reviews, they sometimes are a bit difficult to understand with all of the jargon and techno-babble. If you want to know what an iPhone is like, you need to read Apple iPhone reviews written by the average person. You can find them practically anywhere online by just typing “Apple iPhone review” into your favorite search engine.
This review can be found on Helium.com written by Cara Volle. It begins, “Sorry, Steve Jobs, but I hate your effing iPhone…” That’s about all I can reprint here. Although not exactly Pulitzer Prize winning material, that does give you an indication about how good a gizmo an iPhone is.
Complaints about the iPhone from others have ranged from its choice of AT&T as network provider to the cost. The picture quality of its camera is said to be pretty disappointing and streamlining video still has a lot of bugs to work out. There’s also a disturbing trend for the iPhone to get physically very hot when in use. Computer security specialists have also found ways to hack into an iPhone – and if they can do it, so can cyber criminals.
Whenever a new techie toy appears, there are bound to be bugs that only customers can find. You need to wait for at least a year after their release for these bugs to be resolved somehow.
If you love this article, you will also love another article written by this article’s author on high power laser pointer and laser pointers for sale.
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The Best Vral Marketing Campaigns: Will It Blend?
The Best Vral Marketing Campaigns: Will It Blend?
“Will it blend?” was an ingenuous viral marketing campaign on YouTube and other video hosting sites. The campaign was the brainchild of “Blendtec”, a company that sells blenders. The first viral message was uploaded on YouTube consisting of a presenter who tries to blend different objects using the company’s blender.
It immediately became a hit, getting a huge number of views by the end of the first day of the upload. The company then asked the audience to email their requests of objects to be blended in the next episode. After the success of the campaign the company’s sales tripled. The videos are still popular today.
Analysis:
If you take the time to analyze this viral marketing campaign you will notice that all the elements we mentioned in the previous article are present:
-Novelty:
The idea of blending hard every day objects to prove the sturdiness of a blender is interesting; almost anyone would sit and watch an iPod blended to smithereens. This unexpected idea resulted in a huge buzz surrounding the videos and the company.
-Subtlety
Although the videos were all about how strong the blender is, it was done in an indirect and entraining way. You can simply watch the videos to see stuff blended without ever feeling pressured into buying it.
-The feel good factor
Not only were the videos funny, but it was practically impossible for anyone not to share them with friends. They immediately granted the poster cool status among friends. Everyone will surely praise the poster for such a fascinating find. This led to the quick spread of the videos all over the internet.
-Continuity
Not only did the company make a series of videos, they also asked for the audience’s input on the content of the next episode. This made the people who sent suggestions have to wait for the next episode, guaranteeing a large number of viewers and a lot of buzz before the episode was even posted.
After analysis of this campaign you can clearly see that all of the elements of the best viral marketing campaign are present. To read about other great viral marketing campaigns please visit www.doubleurincome.com
At Double Your Income, you can find free online advice on Internet Marketing, along with more specialized consulting services to your small and medium sized online business in Egypt and the Middle East that are customized to perfectly suit your business’ needs and goals.
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Creating Persuasive Video
Creating Persuasive Video
Everyone is experimenting with online videos these days, which means that if your company’s clips don’t convince viewers to take action, fast-fingered cybersurfers will simply finish watching, hit “close” and cruise on over to another video.
“If you’re spending time and money on online video, you’d better make sure you’re using persuasive strategies to get people to continue watching and responding,” says Colin Martin, marketing manager at business and marketing consultancy Antion and Associates in Virginia Beach.
Where most marketers go wrong in their quest to persuade via online video, says Martin, is by treating the clips like commercials. “It’s okay to use outrageous statements or graphics to lead into the video and grab attention (a search engine optimization firm, for example, might use a statement like “We can get your company on Google’s front page),” says Martin, “but you also need to follow that up with real results and proof.” Marketers also tend to drag out the videos too long, and wind up losing the viewer’s attention. “The idea is to keep the person engaged for three or four minutes at the most,” Martin says. “If you go longer, people will get bogged down and weary of it.”
Baiting viewers and leaving them wanting more also works well when creating persuasive clips, says Martin. “Show the viewer what you do and/or what you’re offering, but do it in a way that only provides a few key points,” he explains, “so that the viewer will want to learn more.” And don’t forget to tap into the persuasive nature of the videos themselves, and the fact that moving pictures allow you to create very relevant content for a targeted audience.
“Being able to show the product or service in action goes a long way in keeping the audience engaged,” says Martin, who points to Blendtec’s online videos for the Total Blender as a good example of this strategy in action. “The shows where the host puts iPods and other objects into the blender are meant to be humorous,” Martin says, “but they also plant in the consumer’s head the idea that this blender is as fantastic as the company claims.”
Service-oriented companies can use a similar approach. The firm that specializes in life coaching or business consulting, for example, can pull together a number of real-life testimonials to feature in the online video, thus cementing the fact that people use – and are pleased with – the firm’s services. When developing the testimonials be sure to zero in on customers who are similar to the market that’s going to be watching the video. Then, let the moving pictures tell the tale. “Written testimonials can be faked, but video testimonials are more legit,” says Martin. “They build trust and close the anonymity gap between companies and customers.”
Christy Wise, vice president of marketing at Los Angeles-based online marketing firm Fanscape, Inc., says companies that want to develop persuasive videos must combine a solid call to action (a statement or offer that makes the consumer get up and do something) with content that is compelling and relevant. Getting there requires careful planning at the outset, says Wise, who advises companies to clearly define their goals before pulling out their camcorders and shooting randomly.
“Look at what your target audience is doing on Facebook and blogs before you create the content,” Wise says. “This will help you come up with videos that are truly relevant to your audience.” To get the most mileage from those videos, make sure they are sharable, and that they’re posted on public portals like YouTube, for maximum exposure. “You can’t just put a video online and sit back and wait for people to click on it and respond to it,” says Wise. “It’s up to you to make sure people see it.”
As for just how many people will see and react to your persuasive video efforts, Wise says: “Be realistic.” Only a small percentage of videos ever make it to YouTube’s 100,000-views milestone, she says, unless they become one of the lucky clips to go viral and get spread across the Web like wildfire. Rather than setting the bar at an unreachable height, develop realistic goals (such as attracting X number of new customers during the 30-day period that the video is posted online) and measure your results.
Martin says the company that comes up with an integrated plan (which includes traditional advertising, a Web site, online video and other elements) that keeps viewers engaged stands the best chance of succeeding in the online video space.
“You want people to view your videos, see the testimonials, meet the staff and then investigate your product or service even further,” says Martin, who advises firms to use a service like Google Analytics to measure the effectiveness of their online videos, and to hone their strategies.
“The key to getting your audience to react like you want it to is by closely identifying exactly who that audience is and what they want,” says Martin. “Build a rapport with them and create calls to action that get them to sit up and take notice.”
Author of over 200 published articles, Tim Hawthorne is Founder, Chairman and Executive Creative Director of Hawthorne Direct, a full service DRTV and New Media ad agency founded in 1986. Since then, Hawthorne has produced or managed over 800 Direct Response TV campaigns for clients such as Apple, Braun, Discover Card, Time-Life, Nissan, Lawn Boy, Nikon, Oreck, Bose, and Heifer International. Tim is a co-founder of the Electronic Retailing Association, has delivered over 100 speeches worldwide and is the author of the definitive DRTV book The Complete Guide to Infomercial Marketing. A cum laude graduate of Harvard, Tim was honored with the prestigious ”Lifetime Achievement Award” by the Electronic Retailing Association (ERA) in 2006.
Article from articlesbase.com
Categories: Heavy Duty Blenders Tags: Creating, Persuasive, Video
Social Media Marketing Best Practices Brent Mclean Is An Account Director At Alterseekers, Inc
Social Media Marketing Best Practices Brent Mclean Is An Account Director At Alterseekers, Inc
Social media has become the new battleground where brands have opportunities to fight for the hearts and mindshare of consumers. While social media is a relatively new phenomenon, it has been hailed as the most important shift in communications technology and media since the advent of the Internet itself. Participation in social media has skyrocketed into the hundreds of millions of active users and is increasing and spreading into broader demographics. People are spending an increasing amount of time (hours on average) on sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and also on blogs. Social media sites are increasing and everyday people are reconnecting with old friends, finding new ones, building business relationships, sharing their photos, videos, and thoughts on their lives, the world, and even the brands that they use.
Whether or not you’re tracking and following the conversations, your customers are talking about you online via their social media networks. They are writing about what they like as well as what they don’t like.
The brands that are successful in this new world of social media are those with a solid social media strategy for how to actively participate in the conversation around their brand. Consumer brands like Starbucks, Webkinz, Cold Stone Creamery, and Burger King have built awareness, preference and general goodwill among consumers through active social media marketing efforts.
But is social media marketing all just warm and fuzzy? Hardly! Blendtec achieved a five-fold increase in blender sales with a viral video series “Will it Blend.” Starbucks uses its “My Starbucks Idea” site (powered by the Salesforce.com Cloud) to generate and vet valuable product and promotion concepts. Dell estimates that their social media efforts create about million in revenue. Comcast set up the “@comcastcares” Twitter account to actively monitor and respond to customer complaints and requests – for a vastly better customer experience – which leads to increased retention and better word of mouth. Social media efforts can generate real business value and results, and those results and be tracked and measured.
But for every social media marketing success story, there are hundreds of failures. So many companies have gone to the effort of launching social media sites, but created boring, lifeless pages on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, MySpace, and blogs that no-one is paying the slightest attention to. Why? Simply put: poor planning. These companies jumped on the bandwagon of social media marketing without developing an adequate plan with business goals and metrics and a relevant creative strategy, and their efforts simply died on the vine.
So who wins in social media? The brands that make a big splash seem to follow a pattern:
Start with a clear objective
If you don’t know what you want your customers to do, then how can you expect them to do it? If you don’t know what your business goals are for your social media marketing efforts, then how can you drive toward them and how will you know when your efforts have worked? You need a social media strategy. You need to set goals, create tactics, measure, and adjust. Slapping some social media pages together is not a plan.
Offer something of real value
Your customers engage in social media to enrich their lives. They are happy to interact with your brand, if you’re giving them valid reasons. Starbucks has 3.7 million Facebook fans on this principle alone! They regularly offer their customer fans coupons and other cool stuff, and it absolutely works.
Show your human side
Jonathan Schwartz, CEO of Sun Microsystems, achieved 400,000 visits per month on his blog merely by being honest and human. He was open with his thoughts and opinions and allowed his readers to post comments with the same openness. People respond to human connections over social media. The more real and transparent and the more personable your brand can be, the more you will win in this space.
Entertain
Let’s face it: social media is fun. We share our wacky stories with our friends and family. Likewise, we invite companies and brands into our personal conversation if they’re fun! Burger King gets recognized for their outrageous promotions like the Whopper Sacrifice application in Facebook where users could “sacrifice” ten friends from their list in exchange for a free Whopper. Successful brands have found that they can show a more fun and edgy side in social media than in other channels, and be rewarded accordingly.
Engage in the conversation
Your customers are talking about your brand, and they’re doing it via social media. Shouldn’t you be a part of that conversation? Starbucks embraced this principle with MyStarbucksIdea.com, where users can submit their thoughts and ideas and see progress on what’s being done with those ideas. Many brands monitor mentions of their name online and respond to customers who need help or have a complaint. When done correctly, customers appreciate this level of support and interaction, and retention and referrals will improve accordingly!
Track & Measure Sales Impact
The point of social media marketing is to make money. You can’t manage what you don’t measure, so track everything and make sure you’re responding to the information you’re receiving. We’re living in real time and social media has never been so demanding of instant gratification and response.
Earn while you learn
If you’re not making money, then you shouldn’t be in marketing. I’m not talking the hard car salesman here, but everything you do should track back to how it impacts your sales. If something’s not driving sales, then figure out what needs to change. You’re never going to bat 1,000, but the more profitable your marketing efforts are, the more “at bats” you’ll get from your company.
For more information on Social Marketing, please download our Free Webinar on Monetizing Social Media: How Do You Make Money with Facebook and Twitter.
AlterSeekers is a brand promotions agency in New York focusing on promotions consulting and planning, web strategy, social media New York and social media marketing New York (including Twitter consulting), go to market strategy, and overall strategic planning.
Article from articlesbase.com
The Health Master
The Health Master
Categories: Heavy Duty Blenders Tags: , 2010, Health, Juicing, Trend
Social Media ROI or Payoff
Social Media ROI or Payoff
We will list some specific companies and numbers below, but first let’s discuss a very important consideration that will affect ROI outcome. There are many ways to implement social media marketing and some may have little or no return on investment. Participating in social media in ways that are effective involve two major components: engagement in the form of conversation (not selling), and active involvement (not a once and forget method of marketing). Companies that utilize social media in the same way that the people they want to target WANT TO BE SOCIAL, will enjoy the most success in terms of ultimately growing brand awareness and ROI online.
While there is still a place for search engine optimization (SEO), where a website is optimized to rank high in the search engines, we now have social media marketing, including social sites that are ranking high in the search engines. No longer do we have to pay thousands of dollars to buy backlinks to a business website. Today, we must spend the TIME that is required to participate in social media for the greatest payoff.
The fact that social media marketing does not have a fixed cost is true because each social media project is unique and will require varying amounts of time, tools, services, etc. A social media plan should include comprehensive use of available social media sites and opportunities for engagement, and should be targeted to the industry, product, or service. A generic plan without a focus on the business will not work.
What most people who work in the social media field understand is that trying to put a cost on conversation is hard to do. Also, social media marketing usually does not produce instant results. If this is true, how do we measure success?
One way is to measure the feedback you are getting. Are there positive responses being posted, and is there growth in terms of numbers of people engaging with the company online? If the business is getting active supporters, they will – in time – spread the word.
It is important to understand that social media marketing takes hard work, consistent effort, and engaging in ways that are helpful, entertaining, educational, or enlightening. This is the way you build a group of followers who want to take action by telling their online friends when you announce something of value.
There are tools to use that can help measure ROI in terms of: your reach, traffic to the website, influence in the market, conversions, and
retention. Google analytics is a free service that can track information for any website. There are other free services and many paid services as well. Links to the website can be tracked with backlink tools. The numbers of fans, followers, members, etc. in social sites is readily accessible in each of the individual sites.
Worthy of repeating is the idea that social media marketing is ongoing and requires active participation. People will not stay engaged if there is not regular, new content posted. There are many other websites that will pull for their attention. If you give them a reason to come back, they will not only come back but tell others to do the same.
Some numbers that testify to the ROI businesses can achieve:
BlendTec increased its sales 5x by running the often humorous “Will it Blend” Videos on YouTube blending everything from an iPhone to a sneaker.
Dell sold ,000,000 worth of computers on Twitter.
Vaynerchuk (WineLibrary.tv) found first hand that ,000 in Direct Mail = 200 new customers, ,500 in Billboard Advertising = 300 new customers, AND with Twitter = 1,800 new customers.
Naked Pizza, all natural Pizzeria in New Orleans, that specializes in healthy pies, set a one day sales record using social media. In fact 68% of their sales came from people “calling in from Twitter.” And 85% of their new customers were from Twitter.
Safeway has 62,615 fans of Facebook.
Intuit introduced “Live Community” into their TurboTax® products 2 years ago. Due in part to the resulting word-of-mouth, they have seen unit sales increase +30% each year and have now integrated “Live Community” into their other products like QuickBooks, Quicken, etc.
Tweets for a Cause sent out a tweet from Atlanta to encourage support of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. As a result of retweets, the Atlanta Chapter site received 11,000 visitors in 24 hours as a result of this initiative by ResponseMine Interactive.
Software company Genius.com reports 24% of its social media leads convert to sales opportunities.
Burger King’s Whopper Sacrifice Facebook program incented users to give up ten of their Facebook friends in return for a free Whopper. The estimated investment for this program was less than ,000 yet they received 32 million media impressions which roughly estimated equals greater than 0,000 in press/media value. Which to put in context is somewhat like reaching the entire populations of 19 states (understanding this doesn’t account for unique vs. repeat visitors, etc.)
One survey found that 71% of companies plan to increase investments in social media by an average of 40% because: a) Low Cost Marketing b) Getting Traction c) We Have To Do It.
The takeaway is that if you work your social media plan with integrity and the commitment to contribute value, on an every-day consistent basis, the same as you would do offline in relationships with prospects – it becomes easy and natural. That is what people are looking for in advertising and marketing – and that is what they will reward by doing business with you and referring you to others as well.
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Vicki Zerbee, Social Media Consultant and owner of YourWebSiteMarketingService.com & Wellness Coach and Owner of AntiAgingByDesign.com, is an internet Entrepreneur who looks forward to meeting you. Contact her today to set up a meeting in her web conference room.
Article from articlesbase.com
Categories: Heavy Duty Blenders Tags: Media, Payoff, Social
Social Media ROI
Social Media ROI
Social Media Payoff (ROI) is tough to measure, and some will say you can’t calculate it yet. It is too soon because Social Media Marketing is so new. That being said, there are definite payoffs being enjoyed by businesses of all sizes and in all markets.
We will list some specific companies and numbers below, but first let’s discuss a very important consideration that will affect ROI outcome. There are many ways to implement social media marketing and some may have little or no return on investment. Participating in social media in ways that are effective involve two major components: engagement in the form of conversation (not selling), and active involvement (not a once and forget method of marketing). Companies that utilize social media in the same way that the people they want to target WANT TO BE SOCIAL, will enjoy the most success in terms of ultimately growing brand awareness and ROI online.
While there is still a place for search engine optimization (SEO), where a website is optimized to rank high in the search engines, we now have social media marketing, including social sites that are ranking high in the search engines. No longer do we have to pay thousands of dollars to buy backlinks to a business website. Today, we must spend the TIME that is required to participate in social media for the greatest payoff.
The fact that social media marketing does not have a fixed cost is true because each social media project is unique and will require varying amounts of time, tools, services, etc. A social media plan should include comprehensive use of available social media sites and opportunities for engagement, and should be targeted to the industry, product, or service. A generic plan without a focus on the business will not work.
What most people who work in the social media field understand is that trying to put a cost on conversation is hard to do. Also, social media marketing usually does not produce instant results. If this is true, how do we measure success?
One way is to measure the feedback you are getting. Are there positive responses being posted, and is there growth in terms of numbers of people engaging with the company online? If the business is getting active supporters, they will – in time – spread the word.
It is important to understand that social media marketing takes hard work, consistent effort, and engaging in ways that are helpful, entertaining, educational, or enlightening. This is the way you build a group of followers who want to take action by telling their online friends when you announce something of value.
There are tools to use that can help measure ROI in terms of: your reach, traffic to the website, influence in the market, conversions, and
retention. Google analytics is a free service that can track information for any website. There are other free services and many paid services as well. Links to the website can be tracked with backlink tools. The numbers of fans, followers, members, etc. in social sites is readily accessible in each of the individual sites.
Worthy of repeating is the idea that social media marketing is ongoing and requires active participation. People will not stay engaged if there is not regular, new content posted. There are many other websites that will pull for their attention. If you give them a reason to come back, they will not only come back but tell others to do the same.
Some numbers that testify to the ROI businesses can achieve:
BlendTec increased its sales 5x by running the often humorous “Will it Blend” Videos on YouTube blending everything from an iPhone to a sneaker.
Dell sold ,000,000 worth of computers on Twitter.
Vaynerchuk (WineLibrary.tv) found first hand that ,000 in Direct Mail = 200 new customers, ,500 in Billboard Advertising = 300 new customers, AND with Twitter = 1,800 new customers.
Naked Pizza, all natural Pizzeria in New Orleans, that specializes in healthy pies, set a one day sales record using social media. In fact 68% of their sales came from people “calling in from Twitter.” And 85% of their new customers were from Twitter.
Safeway has 62,615 fans of Facebook.
Intuit introduced “Live Community” into their TurboTax® products 2 years ago. Due in part to the resulting word-of-mouth, they have seen unit sales increase +30% each year and have now integrated “Live Community” into their other products like QuickBooks, Quicken, etc.
Tweets for a Cause sent out a tweet from Atlanta to encourage support of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. As a result of retweets, the Atlanta Chapter site received 11,000 visitors in 24 hours as a result of this initiative by ResponseMine Interactive.
Software company Genius.com reports 24% of its social media leads convert to sales opportunities.
Burger King’s Whopper Sacrifice Facebook program incented users to give up ten of their Facebook friends in return for a free Whopper. The estimated investment for this program was less than ,000 yet they received 32 million media impressions which roughly estimated equals greater than 0,000 in press/media value. Which to put in context is somewhat like reaching the entire populations of 19 states (understanding this doesn’t account for unique vs. repeat visitors, etc.)
One survey found that 71% of companies plan to increase investments in social media by an average of 40% because: a) Low Cost Marketing b) Getting Traction c) We Have To Do It.
The takeaway is that if you work your social media plan with integrity and the commitment to contribute value, on an every-day consistent basis, the same as you would do offline in relationships with prospects – it becomes easy and natural. That is what people are looking for in advertising and marketing – and that is what they will reward by doing business with you and referring you to others as well.
At YourWebSiteMarketingService.com our team of Website Marketing and Social Media Marketing Specialists help small business owners effectively market their website on the internet.
From targeting profitable keywords to SEO strategies and social media marketing best practices, we provide reputable, valuable online marketing services.
Visit http://YourWebSiteMarketingService.com to learn more.
http://yourwebsitemarketingservice.com/WebMarketing.html
Article from articlesbase.com
More Blendtec Articles
Categories: Heavy Duty Blenders Tags: Media, Social
The Blood Of A Small Business Is Innovation
The Blood Of A Small Business Is Innovation
The blood of a small business is innovation. But this isn’t the ersatz innovation that corporate executives sling around monthly meetings, but a unique, powerful innovation. Each business is equipped with its own entrepreneurial talent, and development depends on creative solutions. But how to identify this coursing stream of creativity and cleverness? How to be innovative?
Isadore Sharp, founder, chairman and CEO of the legendary Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, bases his business on a novel philosophy: in order to achieve a quality, home-away-from-home atmosphere, every single employee has to be actively engaged with and care about the goal. In marketing parlance, this is called “internal/employee strategic integration.”
Getting employees on board is not for cutesy office parties or pep rally marketing meetings, it is the heart of successful corporation. Without it, creativity slows, progress is hindered, and growth secedes. And yet, many businesses treat their employees like so many robots, which not only hampers business development, but rubs against the grain of basic human respect.
What about posting fliers, or buying banner ads? In other words, are you still stuck in a rut? The massive changes in marketing, spurred on by new social networking, the decline of newspapers, online advertising, and other events, demand new and novel marketing approaches. Blendtec, a small business that sells powerful blenders, rocketed itself onto the headlines and into households by launching a popular YouTube video commercial sequence labeled, “Will It Blend?”
Culminating with the nonconformist blend of a newly-released iPhone, the series boosted sales by 700% and gained extensive PR coverage. Successful small businesses and small business consultants should use Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, YouTube, Wikipedia, and other social media sites to spread news and engage customers.
Bland marketing vernacular reduces this essential selling point to the term, “Unique Selling Proposition,” or USP. In real-life terms, it means, “The product or service which knocks the socks off a customer.” Every small business should be based on a single unique, potent idea. In business, startup depends on the quality of the USP. Despite this, many corporations dismissively pass over it, and merely focus on the competition.
Let’s be frank. Beating everyone else is not a legitimate business philosophy. Take a stand, and make a difference, just like Apple. The wonder child of Silicon Valley, Apple has revolutionized the electronics, desktop publishing and personal media industries. Its 1997-2002 slogan exemplifies its push-the-boundaries style: “Think different.”
Not all hats fit all heads, and not all marketing ploys and development schemes fit all businesses. Inspiration is an individual thing. So how can a business encourage its innovation? By listening to dreams. Not all strategies must follow paradigms, not all success is easily quantifiable. Businesses should strive to develop individual innovation and creativity. For a little inspiration, study and learn from successful corporations. After all, imitation is learning.
Nick Messe is president of Lead Frog LLC. Joe Abraham is a small business consultant with expertise in all the key areas of small business development including business startup, business growth, traffic generation, sales development, marketing and succession planning and more.
Article from articlesbase.com
Categories: Heavy Duty Blenders Tags: Blood, Business, Innovation, Small