The heart of most marketing campaigns these days has been the website. The biggest problem with most websites … they are instantly forgettable! They seldom improve online engagement.
They say the same thing as your competitors. You see two possible results from this problem. The first is that most customers will quickly lose interest and click away from the site. The second is that, if they stay, they’ll find no reason to select you, because there’s no discriminating message.
Adding clever, interesting videos is one of the best ways for you to compel your viewers to stay, absorb, and pass your message to friends. Simply stated, your video should be entertaining while adding value and meaning.
Have you ever seen the videos of Steve Jobs presenting the new product launch of the Mac, iPod, or iPad? He understood that something could be entertaining yet meaningful at the same time. Videos such as these work as well on the web as they do on television. The simple objective … turn marketing into content, not content into marketing.
So what is the magic of creating a potentially viral video? Consider the following six elements we use to build award-winning videos:
Engage the Audience
Grab attention … on some problem your audience shares, and then address the solution. This is the most important part of the video … the part of the video that compels viewers to want to see and hear the entire story/show!
Enlighten and Inform
Provide your key discriminating message woven into the central theme of the video. This is the second most important element of your video … convincing customers your story is the best and the reason to select you. Make sure you are addressing your most important target customers. Avoid selling at all costs!
Stylize the Experience
Design an experience that will be memorable … create the visual of your value, the core message. Take some risks here to stand out and be different … no risks, no rewards.
Resonate
Strike a nerve to grab attention and connect with your audience. What makes your website such a powerful marketing and branding tool is its ability to communicate on verbal, visual, and metaphoric levels. If you are not using all 3 levels of communications, you are missing opportunities to resonate and connect.
Entertain
Be memorable and bold … be worth the audience’s time and attention. Use subtle marketing techniques. The challenge is to turn marketing into memorable content that informs, enlightens, and entertains at the same time.
Compel Action
We all understand the need for a call to action. However, you can only deliver on the action called by a convincing story. A story catching attention and providing relevant messages for your target customers.
Does your business use videos to engage your online customers? Do you have a story to share on their effectiveness?
More reading from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
Digital Spark Marketing can help maintain your competitive edge and provide the capabilities for business growth. Helping businesses, large and small, in the discipline of value transformation … that is … reinventing themselves to play and win the ‘new game’.For more reading on creative marketing tips, clickhere.
Stop interrupting what people are interested in, and be what people are interested in. We have written several articles about adaptation and change. There has been tremendous change online since the advent of the internet, yes? And the amount of change in this arena and in consumer response, while still in its infancy, continues to accelerate. So it is essential to adapt the online presence of your business to these changes with components of the best websites.
Have you ever wondered what makes a website truly great? So great that traffic is high, people are engaging with demand are off the charts, and many new customer relationships being built.
How often do you find a new website that makes you stop and stare? It screams to you that it is a modern-day masterpiece. The aesthetic and user experience is off the charts.
It’s new, innovative, and, frankly makes you wish you could design a web site for your business with all the great features of the one you are looking at.
Here is a neat example:
In 1865, Gregor Mendel published the paper that established him as the father of genetics. However, it went largely unnoticed until it was rediscovered decades later and became widely recognized as one of the great discoveries in the history of science. Sometimes design is like that.
Think about what makes it stand out to you? Is it a beautiful, award-winning graphic design? A killer SEO strategy? Its interactive, cutting-edge user experience? Or is it simply tied to the amount of monetary investment? The bigger the budget, the better the website, right?
The heart of most marketing campaigns has been the website. The biggest problem with most websites, however, is that they are instantly forgettable. They say the same thing as your competitors.
You see two possible results from this problem. The first is that most customers will quickly lose interest and click away from the site.
The second is that, if they stay, they’ll find no reason to select you, because there’s no discriminating message. They click away with no reason to return.
Related post: Some Great Story and Storytelling Examples to Study
So what is the magic of creating a potentially eye-catching web site? Consider the following xx elements we use to build award-winning web site designs and redesigns:
Best websites … know their target community
When starting a web project, many think about who we are, what’s special about us, and how we should communicate our unique selling points.
But our readers aren’t interested in us, our business, and our products
They just want to know what’s in it for them.
Take the time to grab insights of all types from your customers. What keeps them up at night, both professionally and personally? What will they be worrying about at the time of your talk? Maybe they’re more concerned about what to have for lunch?
I once was given the opportunity to redesign the website of a beer company, but I knew very little about beer (I’m more of a wine guy). So, I hosted a beer tasting with friends so I could try different kinds of beer and learn from my colleagues on the subject.
Your community is more likely to be engaged and believe you if you’ve made efforts like this to understand them. Otherwise, you’re just a traveling salesman, who is never much appreciated, right?
Establish clear objectives
We’ll keep our objectives as simple as we can. The simple objective … turn marketing into content, not content into marketing. Provide all types of content that people are interested in, talk about and share with their friends.
Components of the best websites design … have clear description
Many websites fail to clearly and easily answer “Who I am,” “What I do,” and/or “What can you (the visitor) do here.”
If you’re a well-known brand or company (i.e. Apple for example) you can probably get away with not having to describe who you are and what you do; but the reality is, many enterprise businesses still need to answer these questions so that each visitor knows they are in the “right place.”
If visitors can’t identify what it is you do or where to go to find what they need within seconds, they won’t stick around long.
Essence of Design
Eye-catching visual design
The popularity of infographics and other visual social media platforms like Instagram and Pinterest show how important visual media is to marketing and capturing the attention of your community. The cliché “a picture is worth a thousand words” also holds true on LinkedIn.
Images make your LinkedIn company page visually appealing to visitors, so they’re more likely to consume and share your content—and direct their connections to your company page.
Best looking websites … show & tell with videos
You don’t need to be told that the use of online video is growing rapidly. Just take a look at these key points:
In 2013, over 52 billion videos were viewed online (MarketingCharts)
52% of consumers say that watching product videos makes them more confident in online purchase decisions (Invodo)
An estimated 63 percent of social media comprises imagery. As such, visual platforms are playing an increasing role in social media for businesses
Video content like Vine and Instagram featuring micro-videos are another effective promotion tool for businesses absorbing stories to tell.
Spend the time to find the visual angle to your business’ story
There are many different video formats you can use to take your company page updates to the next level. Here are a few examples that we believe are most effective:
Short-form video
Short videos—less than 15 seconds—can be used to focus your message. You can use them to create a product look-book, demonstrate a product’s use or show an everyday life hack. Vine and Instagram both offer short-form videos that fit well with this style.
Event video
Event videos are trusted worthier than any scripted video because they contain the best parts of your company, your products, your customers and your culture. They aren’t an outright advertisement for your company or brand and usually include external or third-party content.
Think of event videos as testimonials, as opposed to ads.
Interview video
Whether you interview experts from outside your company or key employees inside your organization, Q&A videos let you highlight your relationship with industry experts.
Make it easy to find information
According to the Science of Website Redesign, 76% of consumers say the most important factor in a website’s design is “the website makes it easy for me to find what I want.”
The most important part of a perfectly designed website is connecting the user with the information they came to find. If your design is easy to navigate and captures the interest of the user, you have likely made good design decisions.
There are simple ways to organize your website that makes it easy for the visitor to navigate. Microsoft is one example of a website with multiple products, most of them as a sub-domain under the primary microsoft.com domain.
Avoid clutter
Edward Tufte once said, “Clutter and confusion are failures of design, not attributes of information.”
Often, marketers tend to over-complicate their websites with too many elements or far too much information. And that is what causes clutter. In fact, some of the most effective websites are also the simplest.
Here are a few ways this website achieves a clutter-free aesthetic:
Design an experience that will be memorable … create the visual of your value, the core message. Take some risks here to stand out and be different … no risks, no rewards.
Resonate
Strike a nerve to grab attention and connect with your audience. What makes your website such a powerful marketing and branding tool is its ability to communicate on verbal, visual, and metaphoric levels.
If you are not using all 3 levels of communications, you are missing opportunities to resonate and connect.
Show your brand culture and personality
Showing the human side of your company is an important way to create trust with your followers and turn them into fans.
Warby Parker posted an update to share its annual report. People who clicked through found several components that show the company’s human side. ( See our article on Warby Parker’s humanized graphic design.)
Include fun, behind-the-scenes information in your content to help readers make a deeper connection with you.
Simple and useful content
What types of content should you include in this section? White papers, case studies, blog posts, a list of products and services, how-tos and more. Stretch your imagination to try new types of topics.
Solves Problem for Your Community
Publish content that shows your expertise in the marketplace so readers come to you for a solution when they have a problem.
Enlighten and Inform
Provide your key discriminating message woven into the central theme of the site. This is the second most important element of your site … convincing customers your story is the best and the reason to select you. Avoid selling at all costs!
Engage the Audience
Grab attention … on some problem your audience shares, and then address the solution.
This is the most important part … the part that compels viewers to want to see and hear the entire story/show!
Many people follow your company page as a way to engage and interact with you.
To encourage that engagement, ask people questions and reply to their comments. You can also host contests.
For example, HootSuite posted an update that asked its followers to share the social media story that was most memorable to them in 2013. Some of the responses were included in an article that highlighted the stories.
Entertain
Be memorable and bold … be worth the audience’s time and attention. Use subtle marketing techniques. The challenge is to turn marketing into memorable content that informs, enlightens, and entertains at the same time.
Highlight products and services with showcase pages
Think of showcase pages as a way to highlight your specialized content. They let you customize your messages and engage different audience segments based on their product interest.
Create and curate showcase pages to make sure your customers can easily learn about the product or service that most interests them.
Compel Action
We all understand the need for a call to action. However, you can only deliver on the action call by a convincing story. A story catching attention and providing relevant messages for your target customers. Bring them back for more.
Optimize the site’s ability to be found
I am a big proponent of writing for human beings instead of search engines. With that said, if you want people to find you when looking for great content in your niche on Google or Bing, some optimization will be needed.
This optimization, also called SEO (Search Engine Optimization), includes a certain number of elements that, implemented well, will truly make a difference in the success of your blog.
Mobile Optimize
By the end of 2014, more people will access the web via mobile devices more than the PC or iPad. Still, 46% of mobile users have difficulty interacting with websites — so it makes sense that 62% of companies that designed a website specifically for mobile increase sales.
So if you haven’t gone mobile yet like these guys, now’s the time.
The bottom line
Make your thinking vivid by including what comes naturally to you. For example, you may not be able to imagine sequences of images very well, but you may excel in imagining other modalities such as smell, touch, and sound.
You may be excellent in infusing your visualization with emotional charge and great feelings. DO not feel compelled to stay within any single modality but make your visualizations and imagination vivid and rich by including numerous modalities.
Your senses are wonderful tools for you to engage while unleashing the power of the imaginative mind. Make it colorful and exciting.
Make your imagination your ally and your best friend.
What do you think? Have you used any of these tactics on your Company Page? Do you have other tips you’d like to add?
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new ideas.
When things are not what you want them to be, what’s most important is your next step.
Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy to innovating your social media strategy?
Do you have a lesson about making your social media better you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add in the section below?
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way.
More reading from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
Mike Schoultz is a digital marketing and customer service expert. With 48 years of business experience, he consults on and writes about topics to help improve the performance of small business. Find him on Facebook, Twitter, Digital Spark Marketing, and LinkedIn.
Magic? Yes, we do mean magic. Like in the magic of creative videos.
The best camera is the one with you. Images aren’t about dynamic
ranges and megapixels. They’re about stories and moments.
Chase Jarvis
The magic made by stories and moments that keeps you glued to your display. The magic that makes you remember what you just viewed. The magic that entices you to tell your friends about what you watched … and share it.
Here is a story worth telling your friends about. In 1960 two men made a bet. There was only $50 on the line, but millions of people would feel the impact of this little wager.The first man, Bennett Cerf, was the founder of the publishing firm, Random House. The second man was named Theo Geisel, but you probably know him as Dr. Seuss. Cerf proposed the bet and challenged that Dr. Seuss would not be able to write an entertaining children’s book using only 50 different words. Dr. Seuss took the bet and won.
The result was a little book called Green Eggs and Ham. Since publication, Green Eggs and Ham has sold more than 200 million copies, making it the most popular of Seuss’s works and one of the best-selling children’s books in history. At first glance, you might think this was a lucky fluke.
A talented author plays a fun game with 50 words and ends up producing a hit. But there is actually more to this story and the lessons in it can help us become more creative and stick to better habits over the long-run.
Have you ever seen the videos of Steve Jobs
presenting the new product launch of the Mac, iPod, or iPad? He understood that
something could be entertaining yet meaningful at the same time. Videos such as
these work as well on the web as they do on television.
The simple objective … turn marketing into magical,
entertaining content, not content into marketing.
So what is the magic of creating a potentially viral video? Consider the following six elements we use to build award-winning videos:
Engage the Audience
Grab attention … on some problem your audience shares, and then address the solution. This is the most important part of the video … the part of the video that compels viewers to want to see and hear the entire story/show!
We live in a world where over 4 million blog posts are published every day. How do you stand out in a sea of bloggers who have probably covered all the key topics from a thousand different angles? Do you follow the trend or create a technique of your own?
Everyone loves a good story. It’s the part of your copy even skimmers take time to read. I try to start every article on my blog with a story attacking the reader’s pain point. I want them to know this is not just another article from a blogger trying to make a quick buck but someone who genuinely understands their problems.
Enlighten and Inform
Provide your key discriminating message woven
into the central theme of the video. This is the second most important element
of your video … convincing customers your story is the best and the reason to
select you. Make sure you are addressing your most important target customers. And
avoid selling at all costs!
Stylize the Experience
Design an experience that will be memorable …
create the visual of your value, the core message. Take some risks here to
stand out and be different … no risks, no rewards.
Resonate
Strike a nerve to grab attention and connect
with your audience. What makes your video such a powerful marketing and
branding tool is its ability to communicate on verbal, visual, and metaphoric
levels. If you are not using all 3 levels of communications, you are missing
opportunities to resonate and connect with your audience.
Entertain
Be memorable and bold … be worth the audience’s
time and attention. Use subtle marketing techniques. The challenge is to turn marketing into
memorable content that informs, enlightens, and entertains at the same time.
Compel Action
We all understand the need for a call to action. However, you can only deliver on the action called by a convincing story. A story catching attention and providing relevant messages for your target customers.
The bottom line
Our job as marketers is to do the hard work of finding and nurturing charismatic ideas we can be proud of. One place to start is to look at the ideas you’re trying to spread.
Consider whether they’re charismatic enough to earn the effort you’re putting into them–and if not, how to replace them with ideas that are.
What are some of your experiences with creative
videos as a component of an integrated marketing campaign?
Does your business use videos to engage your online customers? Do you have a story to share on their effectiveness?
Read more:
The Samsung Galaxy S3 … Effective
Marketing Strategy?
10 Key Enablers of Your Integrated
Marketing Strategy
10 Tips for Creative Winning Business
Differentiation