how to | Digital Marketing

In my previous blogs, I outlined the strengths, weaknesses of vlogging in a short how-to guide for labels, bands or any other music business (can be found here). Vlogging has become a huge part of the creative content for many industries, including the likes of fashion and beauty market. Eytan (2016) describes how followers can be turned into buyers through the personal connection felt by the viewers. Fashion like music is a creative industry that strives for the new and exciting. The purpose of this short guide is not to show you how to make a vlog (like my previous post) but outline what platforms can be used and how to use them effectively. Promotion is key to the success of a vlog if the content is there and people enjoy it, it is simply tackling the problem of getting people to watch your vlog.

Before we get into the nitty-gritty, if you are unsure that vlogging is the best plan for your business I’d urge you to look at this infographic about the power of video content in social media. An extract is shown below:

What online platform do I use?

However basic it sounds choosing the right platforms to post and promote your vlogs will maximize its reach and engagement. It must be a platform that you are comfortable with. Youtube the largest and most influential current music service and would be the natural place to start. Its general ease of use and familiar controls make it popular for all vloggers, as well as the interconnected youtube community in the vlogging sphere.

Youtube is hugely compatible with the likes of Facebook and Twitter, which is massively important in for promoting a vlog. It also holds a live feature, which is hugely popular attracting almost 100% more engagement than pre-recorded video (Telescope). Vlogging is not done in the music industry and thus it is not a normal search for youtube users. By creating a social media campaign to work in tandem with a vlog acts a major promoting tool.

Social Media Campaign

A social media campaign will differ depending on the goals of the company trying to implement it. However, broadly speaking, to get more people to view a vlog requires these distinct steps suggested by Quicksprout:

Beginning with identifying your target audience and then using the platform that’d they’d be likely to use. i.e. if your desire is to promote to those with an informal visual experience, the likes of Facebook and Instagram offer this service and would likely increase engagement. However, for a more formal target audience may be using the likes of LinkedIn and Google+ may work better.

Plan sharing content, vlogs are generally more successful if they are at memorable intervals. Tools can be used to make this easier, such as the ever popular Hootsuit. This will also help with time management and give the impression that you are making more of an effort to be serious.

Have a catchy title and thumbnail. Now we know that ‘clickbait’ can be infuriating as a consumer. However, it exists because of a reason. Now, we strongly advise you don’t overuse this tactic making your hard work seem quick and cheap. Having a balance between your integrity and enticing an audience will greatly improve its reach.

No matter how obvious it may seem, linking sharing buttons in your video will certainly help create a community around your content. Furthermore, using hashtags (#) will put your vlog on a global stage and allow new views to follow you on their favourite platform. Also joining groups that share common interests will be a great place to promote.

Also get your friends and family to promote things for you. In this day and age, much of the older generations are on social media, over 50% in the 45-55 bracket have a social media account (RHC). This means they can act as a free promotion tool in the early stage of getting your vlog off the ground.

Finally and most importantly, creating a ‘buzz’ will get more and more people viewing your blog. The easiest way to achieve this is to create suspense and mystery about your product. This can take the form of snippets from the vlog or something more lighthearted and fun. Jay Baer created this user guide about how to make a buzz for social media (link).

I hope you found this blog informative, doing the research to create this piece was eye-opening into how little this tool is being used in the music industry and its great potential. The hyperlinks provided are where I found all of my resources that went into creating this blog.

One Does Not Simply Vlog

So… you’ve decided that a creating a vlog campaign will be an interesting alternative to more conventional forms of digital marketing. Word Stream suggest that marketers that use video content grow revenue 49% faster than those who don’t. However, the internet can be an unforgiving place when it comes to marketing goods or services.

This short ‘how to’ guide will give you a quick breakdown on effective vlogging, important information around the topic, the support needed for your blog (P.S. its social media marketing strategy) and the risks that go hand in hand with using this digital marketing initiative.

WikiHow has created a 10-step guide that breaks down the essential tools and techniques for implementing a successful vlog. It is a useful starting point to refer to in the early stages of creation, the following two points are important to note:

Make sure you have the right equipment. For producing a successful vlog you’ll need to have a good camera and adequate editing skills to create a polished and professional video. 67% of people think that video quality if os paramount importance for any online video (Live Stream, 2018)
Have a plan. A script (it can be rough notes), interesting topic, appropriate setting, attractive editing style (including jump cuts and video branding) and subtable lighting must be pre-planned. It will not only help create that polished look and feel mentioned previously, but it will really give your vlog direction and utility in the crowded online landscape.

However, this framework it is overly simplistic and only briefly mentions the power marketing in engaging vlogging.

So, Let’s do this Well…

By this stage, the basics of vlog construction have been outlined, a lot of which can be improved by common sense and testing out your ideas. Marketing is at the core of a successful vlog and the implementation of a marketing strategy and campaign will undoubtedly increase your reach and popularity.

Engagement is fundamental to digital marketing, through the process of segmentation a target audience can be deduced. Understanding the audience profile i.e. Age, gender, lifestyle, values and attitudes will help tailor your efforts to getting the right people viewing your vlog (DeMayers, 2013). This intern will increase the reach and engagement of the video, as your audience will be more inclined to comment and share with like-minded people.

Once you have put the time into understanding your target audience, standing out from the crowd is imperative. Three ways you to help this area have been described by Fabrik:

Show your brand personality. By just being yourself and promoting your brand will undoubtedly, people will be able to see the passion and attitude for your product or service.
Hook people towards the start. Start strong and hint at whats going to come in later, to get people excited and wanting to watch more.
Add special effects. Incorporating some special effects can often have a large impact on the video, for example, sports fan will enjoy slow-motion effects on pivotal moments.

How to Support Your Vlog

Vlogging Pro a website dedicated to improving vlogging techniques recommended incorporating an affiliate marketing plan. By contacting and supporting partnerships with other companies that share similar interests with the content you produce. The two sides of the coin with affiliate marketing benefit both companies, by promoting your own product or service to their audience, as well as, the introduction of a monetary incentive can be introduced, thus creating revenue. The Balance has created a programme to help you on the way!

In tandem with creating a vlog, a social media campaign must be created. By setting larger objectives, smaller SMART goals and developing key performance indicators you’ll be able to track your progress and develop a plan. HootSuite has developed a planning template to help focus your social media campaign, the most noteworthy points include getting inspiration from others in your field. This hasn’t been touched on yet, having an individualistic spin on content is essential, but there is a plethora of other vloggers and businesses using social media. Their ideas can be adapted and changed to reflect what you want, but many others would have tried and tested a range of vlogging techniques. Watch this video if you think it’ll help:

The Risks

Like any business venture or strategy, some risks do apply. First and foremost, vlogging will be expensive and time-consuming, do not let this deter you in the early stages it is likely to take time to gather an audience.

On a final note, David Evans (2010) has critically analyzed the use of social media marketing and some of the risks associated with implementing a marketing plan. By encouraging engagement not all of it can be positive. Evans describes an incident of bloggers ruthlessly commenting on India’s Cafe Coffee Day after they were asked to pay a large sum to simply sit down. This can have a negative effect on the brand image as 3/4 of us use social media to view a brand before buying (Marc Schaillaci, 2015). It is just a last thought before potentially trying to increase your online presence, as it is such a powerful tool in the day and age.

References

Evans S, (2010). Social media marketing: the next generation of business engagement. Indianapolis, Ind, Wiley Pub.

Forbes.com. (2017). Forbes Welcome. [online] Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2013/08/27/6-steps-to-decoding-your-target-audience/#738e7cd015cf [Accessed 25 Feb. 2018].

Livestream.com. (2018). 62 Must-Know Live Video Streaming Statistics. [online] Available at: https://livestream.com/blog/62-must-know-stats-live-video-streaming [Accessed 25 Feb. 2018].

Schillaci, M. (2015). 3 out of 4 Consumers Consult Social Media before Buying. [online] Digitalmarketingmagazine.co.uk. Available at: http://digitalmarketingmagazine.co.uk/social-media-marketing/3-out-of-4-consumers-consult-social-media-before-buying/1659 [Accessed 25 Feb. 2018].

The Balance. (2018). 5 Ways to Create a Successful Affiliate Marketing Program. [online] Available at: https://www.thebalance.com/how-to-create-a-successful-affiliate-marketing-program-2294866 [Accessed 25 Feb. 2018].

VloggingPro. (2018). How to Start a Vlog and Start Vlogging on YouTube – VloggingPro. [online] Available at: http://vloggingpro.com/how-to-start-a-vlog-and-start-vlogging-on-youtube/ [Accessed 25 Feb. 2018].

wikiHow. (2018). How to Make a Great First Vlog. [online] Available at: https://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Great-First-Vlog [Accessed 25 Feb. 2018].

WordStream, 3. and Lister, M. (2018). 37 Staggering Video Marketing Statistics for 2018 WordStream. [online] Wordstream.com. Available at: https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2017/03/08/video-marketing-statistics [Accessed 25 Feb. 2018].