YouTube Marketing Tips for Better Engagement and advertisement.

Jason Weaver is the CEO of Shoutlet, an enterprise social management software company he founded. He has been involved in social media strategy development since its inception for brands that include Disney, SC Johnson, and eBay.

In addition to its incredible success as the de facto portal for video uploads and viewing, YouTube is itself a community. For brands, it provides an additional viable opportunities to spark discussion with followers. It’s a place to build relationships and create a space for users to converse with each other about branded content.

Just as Facebook has become an incredibly popular place for brands to maintain a dialogue with their customers, YouTube offers a similar opportunity, although the conversation is driven primarily by video content. Treating YouTube not only as a platform for video distribution, but as a forum for engagement deepens the customer experience.

So how do companies make the most of the conversations happening on YouTube?

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1. Start With Great Content

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Whether you’re a popular consumer brand or an emerging B2B company, engaging content that prompts discussion and social pass-along requires outside-the-box thinking to make an impression (pun intended). Like any other content provided to social audiences, videos on YouTube must be engaging and compelling enough to spark those discussions and encourage sharing.

A classic example of this is “Will it Blend?” Blendtec’s famous video campaign that purées popular gadgets is an ingenious way to captivate viewers while demonstrating the power of the product. The ROI equaled its creativity, with sales jumping 700% since the campaign started four years ago. Great content brings users to your channel and your videos; engaging them once they arrive is another challenge.

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2. Don’t Post Your Videos and Run

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Pairing good content with a commitment to engaging viewers and commenters will help strengthen those relationships on YouTube. Old Spice is a fantastic example of how great content worked in conjunction with a smart response strategy. After an intensely popular run for its initial commercials, Old Spice took the relationship building potential of the YouTube community to a new level by creating 180 individual video responses to those who commented on the originals. It’s now highlighted as one of the most successful interactive campaigns in history, with 40 million impressions in the first week and a 107% jump in sales after the first month.

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3. Know Thyself

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Understanding what your brand voice is and what your goals are will shape how your brand interacts in this space. Are you aiming to be a resource for your customers with how-to videos? Be ready to respond to questions and be as helpful in the comments as you are on film. Going strictly for the fun factor? Take a cue from Old Spice and approach your responses with the same attitude in your content that got the discussion going in the first place.

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4. Use Data to Inform Your Actions

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Pull lessons from platform-specific data points, such as what people “like” and “dislike” on YouTube. Initiate discussion about what’s popular and what’s not. Your viewers are voting with a thumbs-up or thumbs-down — try to get a dialog going about why.

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5. Cross-promote

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There are discussions happening on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, often about the same content. If you post the same video to Facebook and YouTube, draw on conversations happening in other spaces.

For example, when you post a video to Facebook that’s seen traction on YouTube, point it out in a post:

“10,000 people in Acme’s YouTube community ‘liked’ this video. What do you think? Tell us here and join the discussion on YouTube.”

You’ll expose different parts of your community to other opinions and potentially encourage others to join the conversation regularly on more of your company’s social pages.

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Like Facebook and Twitter, YouTube can be a fertile ground for interacting with your customers. Its features and content may differ, but the basic principles for interaction remain the same. Keeping this in mind and taking a savvy approach to YouTube responses can help your company make the most of this incredibly popular social space.

 

 

HOW TO: Start Marketing on Facebook

It’s no secret: U.S. consumers continue to spend increasing amounts of time on Facebook. Consequently, marketers — lured by Facebook’s suite of highly targeted marketing products and the site’s smooth ability to spread information across networks of friends — are investing increasing amounts of capital in the platform.

Facebook‘s proposition is especially attractive to small business owners, and not just because it enables them to hone in on potential customers through highly targeted, paid advertisements. Facebook also allows them to grow their business in a way that is familiar to many of them — through word-of-mouth marketing.

“Ask [small business owners] how they get customers, and they’ll tell you that someone walks in, has a great experience, walks out and tells a couple of their friends,” says Emily White, senior director of local at Facebook. “Now, that word-of-mouth marketing model is happening online, and Facebook is enabling to happen that at scale. Now [small business owners] aren’t just reaching a few customers’ friends, but all of their friends, mimicking these long-term behaviors in a way that small businesses can actually control,” she explains.

With these ideas in mind, we’ve compiled this six-step guide for getting started on Facebook.

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1. Set Up Your Facebook Page

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Setting up a public Page for your small business is as simple as visiting facebook.com/pages/create.php, selecting a category that describes your business and filling out a few basic details, such as the name of your business and, if applicable, its address.

Facebook will then send you to a template of your Page, which you can spruce up with a profile photo, further details such as hours (see Info tab on left-hand sidebar). You can also identify additional Page administrations (see Info > Manage Admins), add more multimedia and events (Info > Apps) and adjust the settings to control how users can contribute to your Page (Info > Manage Permissions).

It’s also a good time to post your first status update welcoming fans to your Page. You can share your updates with everyone, or target by location or language — a great option if you run a business in multiple locations.

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2. Invite Your Friends

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After your Page is set up, you’ll want to invite your friends to “like” your Page. Once you’ve amassed 25 fans, you’ll be able to set up a vanity URL, e.g. facebook.com/mashable.

Go to the Username page, select the Page name from the dropdown menu and then write in the name you’d like to use. Keep in mind that you can’t change the URL for a Page once you confirm.

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3. Customize Your Page

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There a number of apps to help you customize your page beyond the standard layout, which can be found in the Applications Directory.

There, you’ll find apps that will let you create polls, add more content to your Info tab, offer coupons, showcase your YouTube videos and more.

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4. Convert Your Existing Customers Into Likes

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Once you’re feeling confident about the look of your Page, your next step, Buddy Media CEO Michael Lazerow suggests, is to leverage all of your owned media assets — your mailing list, e-mail newsletter and signature, store window, website, business cards, etc. — to grow your fan base. Let them know you’re there, and provide an immediate incentive for them to connect, such as a discount or giveaway.

“This will increase your conversions significantly,” Lazerow says. “Since your Page is a ghost town at this point, you need to give people an incentive to connect at the onset. The best way to do that is to give them a ‘thank you.’”

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5. Engage

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As you build up your fan base, you’ll want to provide a stream of interesting content that will entertain and engage your fans.

Anna Strahs, the owner of a gluten-free bakery in Richmond, VA, attributes half of her business to Facebook. She says she keeps fans coming back for more by posting pictures of the items she’s baked that day.

“When we post pictures of specific items, we immediately get orders for those items,” she says — and it’s no wonder, because they look delicious. Strahs says she will also post little quizzes in exchange for free baked goods, which winners can pick up at one of two farmers market locations two days each week.

Her advice? Post often and make the posts count. She emphasizes that beautiful images with contextual captions go a long way. “The whole point is to get people to comment and interact with your Page so it shows up in others’ newsfeeds,” she explains.

It’s also important to keep content fresh, update in an authentic voice and to evolve your Facebook strategy over time.

Remember to keep track of analytics on your Insights page to see what kinds of posts performance best in terms of engagement. And seek feedback directly from your fans. Are you posting too little or too often? What kinds of things would they like to see?

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6. Advertise

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Once you’ve converted most of your existing customer base into Facebook fans, you’ll want to start reaching others through targeted Facebook ads, which is still the most effective method for increasing your number of “likes,” says Maureen Mullen, chief researcher at luxury think tank L2.

You can target users in your immediate area by gender, age, alma mater, employer, and even those who “like” your competition. You could also target users on their birthdays, offering them a free ice cream cone, for instance, if they stop by your store that day. You can also target existing fans with coupons and other incentives to encourage them to stop by your retail location or place an order.

Facebook also has a Sponsored Stories product that enables you to reach the friends of your current fans. In your advertisement, a user will see that one of their friends has endorsed your company, essentially enabling a fan to market on your behalf.

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Additional Resources

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As you grow your fanbase and look for new customer acquisition strategies, you may want to look intoFacebook Deals, which lets you reward fans for checking in to your retail location using Facebook Places, and thereby notifying all of their friends that they stopped by.

You might also want to consider working with one of Facebook’s preferred app developers to further build out your Facebook Page with customized modules, such as appointment bookings or integrated e-commerce opportunities. You could even look into advertising opportunities with major game developers such as Zynga, which has partnered with large and small businesses alike to advertise products to its large userbase.

What other tips do you have for business owners who are just getting started on Facebook? Let us know in the comments.

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Series Supported by Global Strategic Management Institute

4 Tools for Building a Business Mobile App

In a world where there’s always “an app for that,” more small businesses see the value in creating their own mobile apps. The technical know-how necessary to develop an impressive app and the cost of hiring a professional developer, however, have discouraged the production of many would-be branded applications.

Affordable do-it-yourself alternatives give all companies — even those with minimal tech expertise — a way to create their own apps.

Even the code-illiterate can build passable apps using these four new platforms.

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1. Bizness Apps

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Bizness Apps focuses on industry-specific features. If you’re building an app for a restaurant, for instance, its builder might suggest that you add a menu and a specials feature. If you’re building an app for a gym, it might recommend a weekly workout planner.

It’s a difficult platform on which to customize beyond color choices, but it’s a tool that’s incredibly easy to use.

Platforms: iPhone, iPad, Android, HTML5

Price: $39 per month for the iPhone app plus $10 per month for an iPad, Android or HTML5 app.

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2. Mobiflex

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MobiFlex, while not the prettiest of the app creators, will integrate with back-end data sources and incorporates functions like the phone’s camera, speech recognition and GPS into its native apps.

There’s a better chance of creating and releasing a useful app with these features, but users also have a steeper learning curve than some of its competitors.

Platforms: Android and iOS

Price: A one-time setup fee of $99 plus a monthly fee of $25 for up to 50 users and two pages.

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3. AppMakr

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If your main objective for creating an app is to distribute content, AppMakr might be a good choice. Publishers such as The Atlantic and Harvard Business Review have made apps using the platform.

Other than adding content through multiple RSS feeds, uploading a photo gallery and sending push notifications, its code-free apps can’t do much. One appealing aspect for content creators, however, is the option to serve ads through several networks.

iSites, Swebapps and App Co offer similar approaches for content distribution apps.

Platforms: iOS

Price: Free

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4. Red Foundry

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Red Foundry offers options for the intermediate coder and newbie app builder alike. More advanced users can choose to design their apps with an xml-based coding system instead of using the startup’s template.

RSS feeds are the focus of the free version of the product’s point-and-click app builder, though it’s easy to add other extras like photo galleries, maps, social feed and commerce options like a Paypal donate button.

What’s most obviously distinct about the platform is its test-as-you go app,Viz. After you load the program onto your phone, you can use it to test your app as you build it.

The platform also makes widgets that show analytics, social activity and push notifications from your app that you can add to your desktop.

Platforms: iOS products

Price: Basic apps are free; more advanced options start at $39 per month.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, izusek

How to get the best audio for your video production

Chances are, if you or your business is using social media to reach out and interact with consumers, you’ve either already got content on YouTube, Vimeo, etc., or are seriously contemplating it. Whether it’s a 1,2,3, one stop production house like animoto.com, or something a bit more in depth, video is where it’s at, and if you’re not there already – what are you waiting for?

Don’t just take my word for it. Market research firm eMarketerrecently published an outlook that will see spending on online video advertising grow more than 48% this year alone, reaching a cool $1.5 billion. By 2014, eMarketer is projecting numbers in the $5.5 billion ballpark.

And while I’ve seen a number of outstanding tutorials on how to write a killer script, when and where to deliver your message, I’m hard pressed to find a decent outline regarding the production of crystal clear audio behind your video. Let’s face it…your production could be all the eye candy you could ever imagine, but if the audio isn’t up to par, who’s going to watch it?

The science of microphones

First, it’s important to recognize that there are a wide variety of microphones suitable for audio for video. We’ll focus on two: Condenser microphones and Dynamic microphones.

Condenser microphones are those large mics you see in every radio broadcasting and sound recording booth. One of the primary differences between condenser mics and dynamics mics is that condensers require an external power source (phantom power) in order to properly function. I won’t get into the physics behind it, but just know this: Condenser mics are more suited for a studio environment. They require external power, don’t like to be moved very much, and are generally quite temperamental. With that said, in a studio environment, their sound capturing qualities can’t be beat. If you’re doing a screencast, slideshow, or any other vocal work where the speaker will not be seen, a condenser mic is the way to go.

Dynamic microphones on the other hand are the ones that you’re most probably familiar with. If you’ve ever made an announcement over a PA, or been to a live music event, I guarantee you’ve been watching a dynamic mic at work. Because of the way dynamic mics function (electromagnetic induction), they do not require an external power source, are highly resistant to moisture (heavy breathing?), and can be acquired for a relatively low cost when compared to condenser mics. If you’re going to be featuring an on camera speaker, a dynamic mic should be your weapon of choice.

Connections

It’s worth noting that many mics connect to their corresponding audio cable via an XLR connection. Basically you’re looking at a +/- connection with a ground. If the camera you’re shooting on includes XLR inputs, by all means, plug in and go forth. However, as these types of inputs are generally reserved for high-end cameras, chances are you’re looking at a mini-jack input for your microphone. If your camera doesn’t have a mic input, you’ll have to use the handy recorder method mentioned below. If your camera does have a mic input, chances are it’s a mini-jack input, so you’ll need an XLR to Mini conversion cable (~$5). Likewise, any microphone can be presented as a wireless mic, but for the sake of simplicity and low cost, let’s focus only on wired mics.

Types of microphones

But what about my on camera audio, you say? Fair enough. If you’re planning on producing a video where the speaker is no more than 3-4 feet maximum away from the camera, you’ll get decent audio. But what if your subject is more than 4 feet away? Perhaps demonstrating a product, or better yet, what if you’re doing an interview? What if there’s noise happening to the sides of, and behind the lens? Here are four unique audio capture methods that can be used to vastly improve your audio for video.

Handy Recorder

It may have it’s roots in the cliché, “Note to self,” but today’s pocket recorders are nothing like that pocket tape deck pops was using. Driven by audio enthusiasts, DSLR filmmakers, and perhaps a bootlegger or two, a handy recorder can be an excellent solution what it comes to getting great audio for your video. They come in all sizes and flavors, and I personally use a Zoom H2 which I picked up on eBay for $85. It offers a wide range of audio recording formats, as well as microphone pickup patterns, and can be used just about anywhere. As audio options for DSLR shooters are a bit limited, I’ve seen more than a few of these lined up on a panel table at a conference. Likewise, when clamped on to the end of a microphone stand, you can get great audio when holding one of these just above or below a speaker’s head off camera.

Bonus tip: If you’re recording audio/video at an event that’s being broadcast via a PA, seek out the audio engineer, and see if you can’t tap into the main mixing board feed for optimal audio.

Handheld mic

If you’re shooting video featuring a speaker (or two), a handheld, dynamic mic is a great way to instantly improve your audio. Not only does it bring your audio infinitely closer, but it can also give a nervous presenter something to hold on to; an anchor, if you will. The Shure SM58 is older than the sun, moderately priced, and I’m pretty convinced they’re made from some super rare asteroid metal, as these mics are virtually indestructible. SM58 or not, in a handheld mic, you’ll be looking for one featuring a cardioid pattern.

Avoiding the rocket science here, a cardioid pattern looks much like it sounds; heart shaped. It will pick up the signal being placed directly in front of it, and avoid sounds behind it. This is one of the key components of better audio for your videos, as we’re focusing only on you, and eliminating as much of the background noise as possible.

Shotgun mic

No, this has nothing to do with a wedding, or duck season. A shotgun mic is one of the most common mics used in professional television and film production. Remember seeing the blooper reel, or the shot of the shot, whereby some guy or gal is standing off-screen with a pair of massive headphones and holding something on a stick above everyone’s heads? Technically, that’s a boom operator that you’ve seen, and they’re in charge of operating a shotgun mic above the actors’ head. This type of microphone is very popular in this setting due to it’s highly directional pickup pattern. Just as the name states, a shotgun mic can literally be aimed at a sound source, and zeroed in. This microphone focuses primarily what is directly in front of it (at a distance), canceling out side and rear sound. On my Canon Vixia HF10, I use the DM-100 shotgun mic, while Rode’s VideoMic makes an excellent shotgun mic specifically designed for DSLR shooters.

For your production, I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that you probably don’t have your own boom operator handy, so if you’d like to go the shotgun route, make sure that your camera has a mount for it. Alternatively, I’ve been known to go ultra-low budget, break out the duct tape and a broom handle, and the final viewer was none the wiser. Antics like this are pure gold when it comes to the b-reel.

Lavalier mic

A lavalier mic is a special mic designed for hands free use. Lav mics are my personal favorite, as they allow you to get your microphone the closest to the sound source, all the while, barely being seen. If you’ve been to a conference within that past 20 years, I guarantee you’ve seen/heard a lavalier mic. Also known as the tie-clip mic, this little gem allows you to put a tiny microphone just below your presenter’s mouth, resulting in the most dynamic sound from a distance.

Given their “hands free” nature, a large number of lavalier mics are available in wireless combinations. It’s also worth noting that lavalier mics are condenser mics, which mean they require an external power source to function. Therefor, not only do the wireless transmitters sound a sound signal to the receiver, they also provide battery power for the microphone itself. Now, if you just jumped over to Amazon and your jaw hit the floor when you saw what a wireless lavalier mic costs, fret not…there are more affordable solutions.

If you’re doing a product demonstration, a talk, an interview, etc. where you know you’re not going to be doing a lot of moving about, a wired lavalier mic solution can arrive at your door for under $40. I personally use and love Audio Technica’s ATR 3350’s. I have a pair of them and consistently use them for video interviews.

kHz and Bits

Now that you’ve reviewed and selected the idea mic for your production, it’s time to get some sound in the ears. But hold up there chief…what’s your format? If the camera you’re shooting with has an external microphone input, carry on, as your sound will most certainly line up with the video. But what if you’re not so lucky, and still want great audio? This is where the handy recorder comes in.

Since we’re trying to accomplish as high quality audio as possible, first and foremost, make sure that you’re recording audio in an uncompressed format (.wav). This audio will be compressed later on, so why not start with as high quality a source as possible? But isn’t mp3 quality good enough? Yes and no. For a final output to YouTube, mp3 quality is perfectly acceptable. Remember, mp3 is merely an encoding format for a lossy audio compression algorithm. If you’re recording video and audio for a 1+ hr. long presentation, ok, I’ll cut you some slack here, but get a bigger memory card next time.

Regardless of which format you choose to use, there is one key setting that you absolutely must not overlook: Sample Rate. The audio sample rate refers to the number of times a sample of a constant sound source is taken over a unit of time. This audio sample rate must match the sample rate settings of your video project. The most common mistake is recording audio in 44.1kHz, a standard audio CD sample rate, and trying to match it to a 48kHz recorded video. When you do this, your audio track and video track will begin to slip out of sync, gradually becoming further and further apart over time.

If you’re shooting in HD, chances are you’re working with AVCHD, or .mt2s files, which by default record audio in AC3 format, which in turn defaults to a 48kHz sampling rate. Try saying that 3 times fast. To simplify – 9 times out of 10, you can’t go wrong with 48kHz/16 bit on for your audio settings. And if you happen to be that 1 out of 10 chance where your camera records audio in 44.1kHz, remember, you can always down sample audio, but never up sample.

Slate it

When it comes time to synchronize your superior externally recorded audio, you’ll need a cue to line it all up. Other than scene information, time code, and color references, one of the most important factors in any professional video production is the digital slate. Amongst the variety of reference points this provides to film makers, the audio engineer depends on that classic, “Clap ….and…action”. In your very own “post production” you can use this clap sound and video footage to perfectly synchronize the two.

By applying any one of these simple audio procedures, the difference between on camera audio, and using an external sound source, or microphone, should be as clear as day and night. And whether they know it or not, your viewers will appreciate that you went the extra mile to ensure that they could not only see what you have to say, but hear it as well.

"Ask Mr. Marketing" describes how WeTubeU's Video marketing service can help your small business.

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