A Valuable Lesson In Creating Videos For Your Business’s Facebook Account

April 11, 2015May 1, 2015 by Amy Duce ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Nowadays most companies will either have a Facebook page, or be thinking about making one. However, whether you are a small start-up company or a well-established brand, you want to be posting stuff that not only advertises your products and services.. but is actually interesting to the people who have liked your page. Getting people to like your page is only the first step – now you have to try and keep them!

What is one of the most effective ways to engage your audience to promote your message? A video! (Evans. 2012)

And who knows, if it is interesting enough maybe… it could even go viral?!

The market for sharing videos is showing no signs of slowing down either – it is the fastest growing form of advertising, and is expected to grow by a quarter for the next five years in the U.K. alone. (Williams. 2014)

Almost 60% of video shares World wide occur on Facebook, so if you are going to create a video, this would be the best platform to post it on. (Gesenhues. 2014)

A lot of businesses have been incorporating videos into their online marketing strategies with the aim of ‘going viral’, and some have experienced unimaginable success rates. (Trimble. 2014)

Some Examples Of Successful Marketing Campaigns

Evian

Dove

Lay’s

So these are just a handful of examples… click here to see more I can see the idea behind the Dove video and the message it is promoting, but did not find it that interesting and thought it lasted a bit long to be honest. However the Evian one.. I think is hilarious, and definitely one of my favourite viral campaigns.

But what do these videos have in common?

The Evian video is humorous, the Dove video is not funny but more thought-provoking and the Lay’s video is trying to evoke some involvement with a crowdsourcing approach.

So there is no common theme here….

I was interested to see what makes people share videos on social media sites, if I can understand why people view and share videos, then I should be able to underpin what is required to make a successful video. After some primary and secondary research these are…

‘MY FIVE BE’S’

Be Positive ! Positive content is more likely to be shared than negative (Berger and Milkman. 2012)
Be Relevant ! If people are more likely to view and share things they can relate to and see relevant to themselves. (Luo et al. 2013)
Be Emotional ! When content triggers an emotion in someone, they are more likely to engage with it. (Berger and Milkman. 2012)
Be Aware ! People feel if they are raising awareness for a cause by sharing or liking something, they feel as though they are physically helping. (Grummas. 2014)
Be Quick ! The first few days of shares tend to be when the video is most popular, be sure to promote your video as much as possible from early on the beginning (eMarketer. 2013)

So all ready to go and create a viral hit? … Not so fast

However no one ever said it was going to be easy to create a viral hit over night. Over an hour of video content is uploaded to YouTube every second (Seattle. 2013) and not every video ‘goes viral’… in fact only a tiny fraction of them do. (Evans. 2012)

I conducted a short survey of 100 people aged between 18 – 35, the results showed that videos advertising products or advertising services were actually the videos they were least likely to share.. bad news for our aims as a business.

The Winners

1 ) Funny Videos

2) Videos with friends or family in

3) News Stories or Political issues

Before creating a video there are also many practical considerations such as;

Timing

It is going to take you a considerable amount of time to create and edit a video before posting. With no guarantee the video will be a success, what is your opportunity cost? Is it a risk you can afford to take?

It is important to consider what your video involves when posting… check the news and see what is going on in the wider environment. Madonna posting this video, seen as glamorising guns, in the wake of the Sandy Hook School Massacre in 2013 did not go down too well and was condemned as being insensitive.

Cost

Creating a video can vary from either end of the scale depending on how you create it. You might want to pay actors, editors, editing software or Facebook to promote your post so more people see it. Again there is no promise your video will get seen by thousands or shared… A risk worth taking ? Or a waste of budget which could be spent on other elements of marketing for your business?

I like this Hi-Tec video… although the editing is quite sophisticated, the actual video itself features a lot of their products, but cost little to actually film and make.

Content Ownership

Copyright is always an issue with any type of marketing. Who owns the content you are sharing or creating? Copyright Laws differ between countries and must be abided by. (Baines et al. 2011)

Singer Rihanna sued Topshop for using her photo without permission, this video discusses some of the implications for businesses of this type of behaviour with regards to this landmark case.

If you think these are obstacles you can overcome, and you have a good idea for a video for your business, stick to the ‘5 Be’s” and hope for the best!!

References

Baines, P. Fill,C and Page, K. . (2011). Digital Marketing. In:Marketing. 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p 625 – 629.

Berger,J & Milkman,K. (2012) What Makes Online Content Viral?. Journal of Marketing Research: April 2012, Vol. 49, No. 2, p192-205.

EMarketer. (2013). Video Ad’s success Hinges on Social Sharing in the Early Days . Available: http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Video-Ads-Success-Hinges-on-Social-Sharing-Early-Days/1009852. Last accessed 11th April 2015.

Evans, D. (2012). Week 3, Social Content – Text, Photos, Audio, and Video. In: Murphy, A. and Gaughan, P. Social Media Marketing. 2nd ed. Canada : John Wiley & Sons Inc. . p225-227. p70.

Gesenhues, A. (2014). Nearly 60% Of Video Shares Worldwide Occur On Facebook. Available: http://marketingland.com/report-60-video-shares-worldwide-happen-on-facebook-107931. Last accessed 11th April 2015.

Grummas, E. (2014). Likes don’t save lives – lessons from a social media campaign. Available: http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/likes-dont-save-lives-unicef-social-media. Last accessed 11th April 2015.

Luo, L et al . (2013). Marketing via social Media : a case study. Library Hi Tech. 31 (3), p455-466.

Seattle, M. (2013). Internet Epidemiology . Available: http://www.economist.com/node/21573237. Last accessed 11th April 2015.

Trimble, C. (2014). Why online video is the future of content marketing. Available: http://www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/2014/jan/14/video-content-marketing-media-online. Last accessed 11th April 2015.

Williams, C. (2014). Online video ads to lead UK media market growth. Available: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/digital-media/10873372/Online-video-ads-to-lead-UK-media-market-growth.html. Last accessed 11th April 2015.

Instagram Business…. Is It Any Of Your Business?

April 10, 2015May 1, 2015 by Amy Duce ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Bought by Facebook for one billion dollars in 2012, (BBC. 2012) the photo editing and sharing app Instagram is fast growing and now bigger than Twitter… and is expecting it’s user base to top 100 million by 2018. (eMarketer. 2015)

Although Instagram may initially have been seen as a social networking tool for sharing ‘selfies’ , it is quickly becoming much more than that…. a valuable platform for a vast variety of businesses.

Instagram claim that having a business account with them will provide ..

Screen Shot 2015-04-08 at 20.49.21

So these seem like pretty big claims for an app…..

but the results seem to back this up!

(Click on the name’s to read the full report)

Ben&Jerry’s

The ice cream ads reached 9.8 million people in the U.S and saw a 17% more people aware of new flavours as they were released.

Levis

With frequent fashion posts, Levis ads were seen by 7.4 million U.S users and observed a 24pt lift in their ad recall.

Mercedes Benz

Using a combination of Instagram and Facebook ads, Mercedes Benz noticed a 54% increase in website visits and 14pt lift in ad recall.

Unsure about what to do or how to get started?

Instagram offer a business blog… which gives tips on setting up, shows how other businesses are most effectively using their platform and provides plenty of information or news with regards to a business Instagram account.

Personally, on my own Instagram account, I tend to follow fashion retailers. Often there is a promotional deal which will post a unique code if you are following them for 10% off and likewise!

Once a business begins sharing content and creating hashtags, it will soon be followed by User Generated Content (UCG).. perfect for marketing on a budget! Once you have posted your own photos etc, you have a host of users who will want to also share their own photos of your products etc …. Potentially this can work in your favour… but there is always a risk that this content will not always be positive! If customers do complain or have issues with their products, this is a prime opportunity to demonstrate excellent customer service and publicly deal with the problem. Ultimately building credibility and a brand that potential consumers can trust. Therefore, agreeably a risk worth taking! (eMarketer. 2012)

But no app is perfect . . .

Firstly, Instagram is yet to offer a publishing-application-program. This means posts cannot be scheduled in advance and post themselves at certain times… someone has to manually do it…from a phone. (Unlike Facebook & Twitter who offer this facility) Logistically, this is not ideal! (Delo. 2014)

Secondly, the digital marketing considerations which apply include;

Ownership – Who owns the content that is being created and shared? All content must comply with copyright laws.
Permissions – Content needs to abide by The European Union Data Protective Directive, the right permissions are required to share content.
Security – Accounts need to be secure, an account hack could be devastating to the brand reputation. Fraud and identity theft do not apply so much to Instagram as no personal details are used.
Accessibility – Can everyone who wants access, have access? The account and it’s content must comply with Disability and Discrimination laws.

(Baines. 2011)

Thirdly, how relative is Instagram to your target audience? The app is available to all smartphone platforms (Dredge. 2013) but is this platform being used by your particular audience? Instagram is mostly used by the 18-29 age demographic…(eMarketer. 2015) so if your intended audience is a bit older it may be worth looking at this article to see if there would be a more suitable social media platform instead. In addition, Instagram only allows for sharing photos and short video clips, no text documents. This may be worth considering depending on the type of business operated in.

Once you’ve managed to start racking up some followers.. you need to make sure you keep them! All content needs to be of a similar theme to keep the users interested and ensure they stay following the account, if this is done correctly the customer engagement with the brand should increase. (Evans. 2012)

On the note of racking up followers…

Instagram is fantastic in that you can post something and people from all over the World, of all ages, of all backgrounds, of all genders, (ETC you get the point) can view it! HOWEVER..it is inevitable that not everyone is going to like every post on your Instagram account, that can’t be helped. BUT it is important to make sure that content does not upset anyone. Unlike standard advertising campaigns rolled out world-wide, where the marketing strategy will involve adapting the campaign to particular cultures, for example McDonalds …this is not possible from one singular Instagram account. So it is important to consider the wider community when posting pictures or videos.

It is also important to read the small print about the ownership and privacy rights you have to the content you upload. Click here to see what Instagram say about this.

References

Baines, P. Fill,C and Page, K. . (2011). Digital Marketing. In:Marketing. 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p 625 – 629.

BBC. (2012). Facebook Buys Instagram Photo Sharing Network for $1bn. Available: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17658264. Last accessed 8th April 2015.

Delo, C. (2014). Why Its hard to be a brand on Instagram. Advertising Age. 85 (8), p 10.

Dredge, S. (2013). Instagram arrives on Windows Phone (and yes, you CAN take photos). Available: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/nov/20/instagram-windows-phone-photos-videos. Last accessed 10th April 2015.

EMarketer. (2012). For Brands, Social Media Shows Returns but Measurement Hurdles Remain. Available: http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Brands-Social-Media-Shows-Returns-Measurement-Hurdles-Remain/1009011. Last accessed 27th January 2015.

EMarketer. (2015). Instagram Will Top 100 Million US Users by 2018.Available: http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Instagram-Will-Top-100-Million-US-Users-by-2018/1012148. Last accessed 8th April 2015

EMarketer. (2015). Young Users Zoom In On Instagram. Available: http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Young-Users-Zoom-on-Instagram/1011795. Last accessed 10th April 2015.

Evans, D. (2012). The Social Feedback Cycle. In: Social Media Marketing. Indiana : John Wiley & Sons Inc. . P75-85.

For a retail business… To Blog or To Vlog?… Or not bother at all?

April 8, 2015April 28, 2015 by Amy Duce ♥ 2 Comments

A blog can be described as an online page consisting of journal entries which is regularly updated with popular topics or stories, and then shared with readers. There is a variety of online platforms such as Tumblr, WordPress and YouTube channels which can be used to create blogs for free and share with subscribers. Blogs also allow for users to leave comments at the end, with the opportunity to comment on what they liked/disliked or leave further questions for the blogger. (BBC. 2003)

If executed correctly a blog can initiate conversations or generate a buzz around a topic. (Baxter and Connolly. 2013) It is thought that a blog can give your organisation a personality as well as another method of communication and interaction with your target audience. In addition to this, a blog is more likely to be shared than a ‘dull press release’ (Maxwell. 2013)

Some examples of retail business blogs and what they do :

Asos Blog

Postings from the different boutiques and suppliers showcasing their latest range available on ASOS.

Nike Blog

Insights into new upcoming products soon to be released, with images & descriptions.

Tesco Blog

Recipes and culinary ideas using Tesco products & ingredients.

So blogs work well – But what engages an audience to promote an idea or message in a more effective way visually than any words can…. A video! (Evans. 2012)

One step up from a ~~standard blog~~ is a VLOG…

This is where a video is used for each entry of the blog as oppose to text and pictures. The global video blogging world is fast growing, with some Vloggers experiencing huge success such as :

ZOELLA

Vlogs about : Beauty Products, Fashion,

YouTube Figures :

7,816,260 subscribers
409,752,109 views

TANYA BURR

Vlogs About : Beauty, Fashion & Lifestyle

YouTube Figures :

2,903,356 subscribers
203,357,609 views

MARCUS BUTLER

Vlogs About : Anything and everything including sports, pranks and activities with friends.

YouTube Figures :

3,604,132 subscribers
211,349,170 views

These are just a selection of three of the top vloggers online at the moment (De Grunwald. 2014)

So what can an individual business vlog about?

* Company updates – latest products and changes in the business

* Industry and world news – hot topics which will make interesting reads

* Instruction or experience – tell people how to use products or talk about experiences with products

(Siegchrist. 2015)

The benefits that any business can reap from using this form of social media are :

* Staying informed – finding out what your customers really think about your product or service

* Raising your profile – the more wide spread you are, the more people will know about you

* Building your brand nature awareness – the way in which you interact with consumers and deal with issues will build an image of your company in a person’s mind

* Influence consumers – tell them the benefits and why they should buy your products

* Viral effect – if people share your blog/vlog this will have a Word Of Mouth effect for your product

(Damian and Calvin. 2012)

It has been claimed that Vlogging is changing the face of advertising and marketing, and setting the shape for the future. (Chawla. 2014) Sharing videos on social media sites is expected to grow in the U.K by nearly a quarter every year for the next five years…. making this predicted to be the FASTEST growing form of advertising. (Williams. 2014)

So surely it would make business sense to start vlogging…?

Maybe Not…….

This survey aimed to illustrate how consumers become aware of new products

Please click the link below to see the full article and result –

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/11393587/Why-vloggers-are-a-waste-of-time-and-money-for-brands.html

The findings of this survey would suggest that for a brand, vlogs are perhaps not as effective as other channels and therefore should not be a key focus or take priority in a digital marketing strategy… perhaps even a waste of time.

There are also many considerations with regards to creating a Blog or Vlog in that ;

* They are time consuming to create

* They need to be relevant and interesting to the target audience

* The comments allow for negative feedback

* Who is the writer – the business ? consumers with experience? industry experts?

References

Baxter, G and Connolly T. (2013). The ‘state of the art’ of organisational blogging. The Learning Organization. 20 (2), p 104 – 117.

BBC. (2013). About social networks and blogs. Available: http://www.bbc.co.uk/webwise/0/22717886. Last accessed 8th April 2015.

Burr, T. (2015). About Tanya. Available: http://www.tanyaburr.co.uk/?p=about.tanya. Last accessed 4th April.

Butler, M. (2015). About me. Available: http://www.marcusbutler.co.uk/how-it-all-began-marcusbutlertv. Last accessed 4th April 2015..

Chawla, D. (2014). The Young Vloggers and their Fans who are changing the face of youth culture . Available: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/sep/28/vloggers-changing-future-advertising. Last accessed 4th April 2015

Damian, R and Calvin, J. (2012). Social media and online consumer engagement. In: Understanding Digital Marketing: Marketing Strategies for Engaging the Digital Generation. Online: Kogan Page Ltd. p 156.

De Grunwald, T. (2014). Meet the youtube big hitters : The bright young vloggers who have more fans than 1D . Available: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/you/article-2656209/The-teen-phenomenon-thats-taking-Youtube.html. Last accessed 4th April 2015.

Evans, D. (2012). Week 3, Social Content – Text, Photos, Audio, and Video. In: Murphy, A. and Gaughan, P. Social Media Marketing. 2nd ed. Canada : John Wiley & Sons Inc. . p225-227. p70.

Maxwell, C. (2013). Blogging for Business. Director. 66 (7), p 67 – 73.

Siegchrist, G. (2015). Video Blogging for businesses . Available: http://desktopvideo.about.com/od/videoblogging/p/businessvlog.htm. Last accessed 4th April 2015.

YouTube. (2015). About : Zoella . Available: https://www.youtube.com/user/zoella280390/about. Last accessed 4th April 2015.

YouTube. (2015). About : Tanya Burr. Available: https://www.youtube.com/user/pixi2woo/about. Last accessed 4th April 2015.

YouTube. (2015). About : Marcus Butler. Available: https://www.youtube.com/user/MarcusButlerTV/about. Last accessed 4th April 2015.

Amy's blog, xo

Just another University of Brighton Blog Network site

Month: April 2015

A Valuable Lesson In Creating Videos For Your Business’s Facebook Account

Instagram Business…. Is It Any Of Your Business?

For a retail business… To Blog or To Vlog?… Or not bother at all?