Five Reasons Why Video Content Is the Future of Digital Marketing

info on October 4, 2021

By: Sydney Rikk

Have you ever been scrolling through your Instagram feed when a post that was cluttered with words popped up? More than likely, you just scrolled past it because you were uninterested in reading lots of text. You’re not alone in doing that. Wouldn’t it have been better if the ideas in the post had been presented in a video? Welcome to the future of digital marketing.

In an effort to stay ahead of the trends, here are five reasons why you should be creating and utilizing video content:

1.Video is versatile.

As your business grows and develops, your marketing strategies must keep pace. Video is the answer. With video comes the opportunity to shape, change, and repurpose content according to your brand’s needs. For example, if you have a popular Instagram feed post of an image, change it into video formatting and watch it take off. Videos also offer the ability to make your brand more personable. By featuring greetings from your team or speaking directly to the consumer, you are creating a conversation.

2. Videos can tell a story.

The saying is, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” So how many words is a video worth? A still picture can only present and convey a limited amount of information. Change that picture into a video and you have granted yourself more time to get your message across. And, you can do it in a more dynamic and engaging manner. Lean into your video content to capture a story: the story of your brand, product, team, and more. 

3. Video content is preferred most often by users.

According to view.ceros.com, “While 73% of respondents to the survey said they have less time to devote to reading and research, many noted that they are willing to spend 10-plus minutes with interactive, visual, and audio content.” Today, people are so busy — and information is coming at them so fast — they often have little time to slow down, read, and take in written content. The solution to this problem is videos. If you only have a few minutes of someone’s time, capitalize on it by using engaging video content to efficiently get your message across. 

4. Videos can drive conversion.

People buy when they see a need for the product. If they don’t understand what it is you are selling or why they need it in their life, they are unlikely to buy. Using videos to introduce and demonstrate your brand’s products can help consumers see the need for them. According to animoto.com, “96% of consumers find videos helpful when making purchase decisions online.” Looking for more evidence of videos helping to create conversion? Check out this infographic.

5. Video content has the power to improve SEO.

The more people watch, interact, and engage with your videos, the more likely your video will attract larger audiences. By creating and offering high-quality video content, you can entice people to learn more about your company and your products, driving traffic to your website.

Video content unlocks the door to numerous opportunities. It can tell stories, help you connect with your audiences, drive conversion, and so much more. Video is the future of digital marketing. So grab your video clips! It’s time to get to work.

Should My Brand Be Present on All Social Media Platforms?

info on September 2, 2021

By: Sydney Rikk

With so many trending social media platforms, it can feel overwhelming to try and manage multiple accounts. Between the time and the effort it takes to create content and engage with followers, are the results worth it? Does it make sense for your company to have Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and LinkedIn? What about adding a TikTok account to your plate?

It is one thing to grow a following; it is a whole other game to grow an engaged following. At the end of the day, the most important thing to remember, in order to have the most engagement and support for your brand, is that quality is better than quantity. To help determine what platforms you should use, follow these three steps.

  1. Know your audience

In order to attract the right audience, research which social media platforms your desired target is most likely to engage with. For example, older demographics tend to use Facebook, while younger audiences are more attracted to Instagram and TikTok.

Here is a helpful chart by MarketingCharts.com that displays which demographics use which platforms most frequently.

      2. Outline your goals

Deciding on the goals you want to achieve can help you determine which social media platforms to use. Think about whether you’re looking for another way to engage with your target audience on a more personal level, looking to attract new customers or demographics that you weren’t previously speaking to, or simply wanting to learn more about the market you are trying to attract. Narrowing down your desired outcomes can help you gauge which platforms will best fit your brand’s wants and needs.

      3. Create effect content

Twitter is known for memes and brief, clever messages. TikTok is known for short video clips. Pinterest is a visual masterpiece of all kinds of topics. Instagram is known for sharing images partnered with a caption. Knowing what content you are interested in creating and sharing can also narrow down your choice of what platforms to focus on. Creating effective content that your target audience will enjoy viewing will result in a higher engagement rate. 

Once you work through these three steps, you will have a better understanding of which platforms will be most effective and beneficial for your brand. There is no need to spend time and effort on platforms that don’t target your audience or provide positive results. Quality over quantity will lead your accounts to success.

How to Get Started With Instagram Reels for Your Business

info on September 2, 2021

By: Charlotte Dwyer

Reels are quickly becoming a staple in the Instagram world. These short, entertaining videos are a great way to connect with your audience while showcasing what you and your business have to offer. Getting started with Instagram Reels can be daunting, but we are here to offer some of our favorite tips for mastering the form. 

  • Use current popular songs and sounds 

This is one of the most important tips to remember when starting your Reels journey. When you use a popular sound or song, your reel gets tagged to that particular sound on Instagram. This ensures that your reel will be exposed to more people, since it is likely that users will be looking for reels that use those trendy sounds. Each day, look at some reels and make a note of the most popular songs and sounds that they feature. Then, use those sounds to brainstorm ideas for your brand.

  • Repurpose old stories, videos, or TikToks for Reels 

Getting started with Reels can be challenging at first. The field is crowded, and having to constantly come up with fresh, new ideas for content can be overwhelming. But there is no need to reinvent the wheel … um, reel, that is. This form is perfect for using old or unused content. For example, you can use photos to create a slideshow, or take an interview that was done with you about your business and use relevant clips from it in a reel.

  • Use closed captioning 

Many people scroll through Instagram Reels without having the sound on, so they will be more drawn to videos that have closed captions on them. This quick fix will allow people to engage with your content, even if they are unable to listen to it.

  • Make your product or service the highlight of your reels

Reels are fabulous for showcasing what you have to offer. You can explain in-depth what your business does or take the time to show your audience details about your product.

  • Put titles on the cover photos for your reels 

If someone is interested in your business on Instagram, they may navigate to the Reels tab on your profile. By including a title explaining what each reel is about on the cover photo, people are more likely to watch and engage.

  1. Don’t get too serious 

Reels are ideal for showing the personality of your brand. Have fun with them! Play into popular trends and show that your brand wants to truly connect with potential customers. 

If you are still unsure of exactly how to use Instagram Reels or how this form can benefit your business, 270M is always here to help. We have experience in the creation of Reels for a variety of clients and businesses and would be more than happy to assist you!

How to Use LinkedIn Stories

info on August 3, 2021

By Nicole Holdgrafer

Back in September 2020, LinkedIn finally added the story feature to their app. The “story” gets its name from its functionality. This feature allows users to post short-term content that reflects storytelling. If you’ve ever created a story on Instagram, Facebook, or Snapchat, you shouldn’t have any problems navigating LinkedIn Stories.

Just like any other story feature, it remains on your profile for 24 hours after posting. Once that time has passed, your post will disappear. While your story is still up, you have the option to save it to your camera roll. Or, if you’re unsatisfied with your post, you have the option to discard the story. LinkedIn allows you to post photos and videos from your camera roll, or create them within the app. There is no minimum or maximum on the number of stories you can post on your account. 

Although the story is not the newest social media feature on the block, it still presents vast opportunities for authentic storytelling and increasing brand awareness. The key difference between LinkedIn and the other popular social networks is that LinkedIn is a professional platform. Because of this, it’s best to create LinkedIn Stories that reflect this standard. However, professional content doesn’t have to be boring or extremely formal.  

The story feature on LinkedIn is the best place to show behind-the-scenes content of your brand or to let your own unique personality shine through. Since video content generally performs better than still images, consider creating a “vlog,” which stands for “video blog.” This is usually a short video of someone talking about a specific topic. As a business, this could entail an employee talking about their position, a current project, showing a day in the office, etc. As an individual, this could involve topics that are a little more personal, such as discussing professional experiences, trending news, or a recently attended event. 

Whether you’re posting a video or a photo, you can add stickers to the post to increase engagement. Stickers are icons you place on top of your post. The first option you’ll see is the “@ mention” sticker, which allows you to tag employees, clients, and partners. The next sticker you’ll see is a “clock” that sets the time of day. Beneath that, you’ll see “Today’s Question,” where you can ask your followers a question and wait for feedback. In addition, there are two different sections of stickers for “Community and Events,” as well as one for “Current Status.” Another great tool to utilize on LinkedIn Stories is swipe-up links. Swipe-up links are links you can access directly from a story by swiping up. Unlike Instagram, you don’t need to be verified to add a swipe-up link to any of your stories. 

Although LinkedIn is known for being a professional platform, posting a story here every now and then will create a nice change of scene for your followers — and it can help you and your business to stand out. When done correctly, using LinkedIn Stories to post content will add credibility (and visibility) to your brand or personal name.

Instagram’s New Plans for Video

info on July 28, 2021

Adam Mosseri, Head of Instagram, consistently posts informative videos on both his Instagram and Twitter accounts, covering frequently asked questions and giving users a behind-the-scenes look at how the Instagram app is run. In late June, he posted a video stating that changes will be coming to video on Instagram, in an effort to keep up with stiff competition. In his video, he stated “We’re no longer a photo-sharing app,” adding “The number-one reason people say they use Instagram, in research, is to be entertained. So people are looking to us for that.” He continued saying “Let’s be honest, there’s some really serious competition right now. TikTok is huge, YouTube is even bigger, and there’s lots of other upstarts as well. And so if people are looking to Instagram to be entertained, there’s stiff competition, and there’s more to do, then we have to embrace that. And that means change.” 

Mosseri and his team are trying to keep up with competitors like TikTok and YouTube by following in their footsteps. For example, similar to the “For You” page on TikTok, Mosseri mentioned creating “recommendations” for users, where video content from people they don’t follow would appear in their main Instagram Feed. Leaning into video as the dominant form of content on Instagram should increase overall engagement. This in turn should make Instagram more appealing to video creators.

The problem with low engagement across the Instagram app, as far as video creators are concerned, is that they have had limited opportunities. There are also other deteriorating factors when it comes to fighting for higher engagement. As seen on AdAge, our founder Sarah Remesch mentioned how influencer agencies have to “charge higher fees for Instagram influencers because they’ve had to put more paid support behind organic posts.” In comparison, it seems as if competitors like TikTok have created algorithms that work with their creators, while Instagram’s algorithms have recently been working against them. 

As it once was, Instagram is becoming more creator-friendly and creators must be ready and willing to adapt if they wish to stay relevant in the social media space.

How to Market Your Brand Based on the Season

info on July 13, 2021

By Nicole Holdgrafer

Despite obvious differences, the four seasons of the year all have something very important in common — at least as far as your business is concerned. Each season presents unique marketing opportunities that can help your brand thrive. Here are five tips on how you can tailor your brand or product to meet the changing seasons.

Incorporate New Designs 

Creating new designs for your brand’s packaging or promotions as the seasons change can increase brand awareness and relevancy. For example, if the peak season for your brand is summer but winter is coming up, you could incorporate designs that suggest the mood and imagery of the winter holidays into your online presence and into the product/service itself.  

Produce a Social Media Campaign 

Social media campaigns on platforms such as Facebook or Instagram generally involve a variety of content (pictures, videos, text, etc.) with an overarching theme and message. In addition, brands usually include hashtags — the hash symbol “#” followed by a distinctive word or phrase that helps users searching the platform to find posts — and will sometimes offer giveaways or contests to get customers talking about and interacting with their brand. If you’re producing a campaign for the spring, consider how this might influence your overarching message, your use of specific words and phrases, and your choice of content for this season.

Promote Your Best-Seller

With each new season, it’s likely that your brand will experience fluctuating demand for specific products and services. When you’ve identified a seasonal best-seller, consider going above and beyond in your promotional efforts. Promoting an item online that already sells well during a specific time frame can attract more traffic to your social media platforms and company website, which could eventually lead to further sales. 

Set Clear Expiration Dates Based on the Season

When hosting a giveaway, contest, or sales promotion, you can set a designated time limit based on the season. Providing a clear expiration date for your promotions creates a sense of urgency, which can encourage customers to buy before the season or a seasonal holiday ends. If you’re planning to host a summer blowout sale, for example, consider stating a clear deadline for the offer, so customers will be more likely to buy before it expires: “This Summer Blowout Sale ends at 11:59 p.m. on Aug. 31, 2021. Don’t miss out!”

Plan Ahead 

Never forget: If you snooze, you lose. Always begin brainstorming your marketing plan for the upcoming season well ahead of time. By doing this, you will have a chance to better develop your ideas, and, as a result, they will come across as more organized and original. For example, while you’re pushing out a summer campaign, you might also begin to organize your plans for fall. This way, you will have ample time to stay on top of your marketing goals, fine-tune your ideas, and, with some hard work and a bit of luck, become a trendsetter.

What is Social Commerce? What are Shoppable Posts on Social Media? How Can my Brand Implement These Strategies?

info on June 8, 2021

By John Quinn Hardy and Sydney Rikk

Social Commerce is a convenient tool that allows businesses to sell their products directly from their social media posts. 

With the accessibility and convenience of completing the entire transaction process on the social media platform, from discovering the product to purchasing it, the consumer no longer needs to hunt down the product from the retailer’s website. Social media apps that grant companies access to this tool include Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook. The elimination of the hassle to travel from app to website to cart to profile information set up can be fixed with an easy solution, social commerce. It’s as easy as “See it, click it, buy it.”*

How do these shoppable posts work?

As you are scrolling through your Instagram feed, you come across a post where a family is sitting under a beach umbrella you’ve been needing to buy for vacation. When you tap on the post, a tag on the picture directs you to a shoppable page in the app. You click “add to cart”, go to your shopping cart, and check out. The entire process took place in the app without having to be directed to numerous web pages or having to manually search for the item on their website. The process is very similar on Facebook and Pinterest where a “buy” button is clearly displayed on the post.

The social media one stop shop creates a seamless experience for the consumer and allows businesses to directly target their audience all in one platform. 

Implementation Strategies

Understanding new avenues of exposure of your brand to the consumer is essential to growing business. Taking advantage of this new form of publication allows insight into what consumers are searching for in your products, and what areas are in need of some adjustments. The social media marketplace is a booming industry, and taking advantage of this gateway is essential to exposure.

This tool can be used to sell products directly to the consumer, regardless of if they are specifically searching for this item or not. It can also be used to “test the waters” of your brand’s consumer-response. Understanding how your product appeals/what it’s missing is better understood with realistic examples. If one product has a high click-rate response a brand might expect to tailor other products to that style. 

What Does This All Mean For You?

This relatively new technology is an open-market for brands to expand their income areas and gain attraction on platforms they might be struggling with. Whether you’re looking for increased viewing of your product or increased sales, social commerce and shoppable posts are an essential step in boosting the brands notoriety. No brands have a specific foothold on this new market, and getting ahead of the curve might just be the essential step your brand is looking for.

Want to learn more about 270M’s content management and creation? Check out our social media services!

Incorporating Pinterest into my Brand’s Social Portfolio

info on May 24, 2021

By Annie O’Rourke

Pinterest is a social media platform with unique and differing functions that ultimately optimize user engagement. It is important for your brand to understand how to utilize Pinterest in order to enhance your business’s social media portfolio.

What is Pinterest, and how does my brand set up an account?

It is important for your brand to effectively utilize all forms of social media to create a consistent image on digital platforms. Though Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter are the obvious platforms in the social and digital world, Pinterest is a channel that your brand should incorporate into your portfolio.

Pinterest is a social media platform that is accessible via the internet or device application that allows users to create their personal account and username. Pinterest’s initial account set-up is similar to other platforms your brand most-likely already uses. First, it is important for your brand to create a username and password. Then, Pinterest will direct you to your home page, similar to other social media sites. Pinterest’s home page involves mood and theme boards where users can scroll through the platform’s content, and then “pin” ideas/photos/videos accordingly to their boards. The “pinning” action is ultimately considered posting in other forms of social media platforms. To finish setting up your account settings, your agency should utilize the profile picture and title page settings involving all the information about your brand name and logo. Once your account is all set up, start engaging with the millions of pins that will direct your brand to other blogs, websites, accounts, and news outlets.

Why is Pinterest different from other social media platforms?

Pinterest is an online social media channel that houses the greatest variety of rich and diverse content, which is what makes it stand out in the social media world. Pinterest is unique in the sense that it focuses on highlighting non-original user content. This means that while your personal account is unique to you, the content that you engage with the most through “pinning” is not created by you. This can optimize your brand’s awareness because their content has the ability to link other online content, like your agency’s published blogs and more.

How to engage with your audience on Pinterest?

Engaging with your audience on Pinterest is important because it allows your brand to develop a relationship with future customers. Pinterest is also a critical social channel that offers a different approach when it comes to marketing. Community management is one specific way for your business to increase user engagement and interact with your audience. Make sure to utilize the commenting feature. Comments not only showcase your own brand for users to see and click on, but comments also allow the other brand or account to develop a positive relationship. Another approach is to utilize the “pinning” feature. By “pinning” or “saving” a brand’s content on Pinterest, businesses will ultimately develop a higher awareness of this specific content, like a product photo.

Pinterest is a unique platform that will grow your business’s online presence. Utilizing Pinterest can give your brand the opportunity to engage with potential clients and other users.

What is LinkedIn Live and How Can my Brand Effectively Use It?

info on April 15, 2021

By Annie O’Rourke 

LinkedIn Live is a great tool to incorporate into your social media strategy. This technology allows your brand to connect with LinkedIn users on a more personal level. 

The Basics of LinkedIn Live 

The new LinkedIn feature allows users and company pages to broadcast themselves in current time. LinkedIn Live is accessible directly through the platform and available for all users. This technology ultimately allows users and companies to “go live” and stream a variety of concepts such as a new product launch, Q&A about relevant topics, interviews, and more. For example, a digital marketing agency may utilize LinkedIn Live to host one of their clients for an interview regarding the positive aspects that the agency is implementing into their business. To incorporate this feature into your brand’s social strategy, you need to set up the following steps.

This tool requires preliminary start up steps to correctly implement this feature into your account. It is important to ensure that your brand and agency understand the steps and take the correct measures to correctly move forward with this technology. LinkedIn requires each account user to pick a streaming tool from their recommended option list. Once an account user has chosen their streaming tool, it needs to be administered onto your device. After these steps are carefully done, your account and page can go “live” and broadcast in current time. 

Utilizing Live for a Specific Set of Clients 

As one of the world’s leading professional platforms, it’s important to understand how to benefit from LinkedIn. Agencies can increase their brand awareness and gain new followers through the LinkedIn Live platform. Real estate agencies are a great example of a specific client set that can enhance their brand in a strong and competitive way. Real estate companies can ultimately learn, engage, and develop new relationships using this “live” feature on a professional channel. It is important for real estate companies to form and maintain relationships in order for their brand to be successful. This client set could potentially utilize “live” by hosting a Q&A session with former clients, or showcasing some of their recent work. Additionally, real estate companies could also showcase new listings, recent closings, tours of specific homes or condos, and real estate news all through LinkedIn Live. This is a great tool for not only real estate professionals, but other companies and agencies as well. Your business and agency should become familiar with this feature because it optimizes your social media portfolio, and it allows you to develop real relationships in an online setting.  

The Best Tips to Adhere to When Utilizing LinkedIn Live 

As a helpful tool for users, LinkedIn has recommendations for best tips and practices for utilizing the LinkedIn Live technology. It is important to look and familiarize your brand with these recommendations in order to maintain a coherent and professional image on the LinkedIn social channel. LinkedIn best practices suggests ideas about how long live videos should be, using hashtags, and thinking about your audience. For example, LinkedIn recommends you keep your live broadcast to under 15 minutes in order to keep your audience engaged. These tips and tricks will help you successfully master the LinkedIn Live feature.

Start utilizing LinkedIn for your agency to maximize your presence on social media and enhance brand awareness. LinkedIn has all the best items to think about when utilizing this experience.

Advice from An Agency: 3 Social Media Terms You Need to Know in 2021

info on April 1, 2021

By Jaci Schreckengost

In 2021, we’ve found three key terms anyone who uses social media should know and why you should know them. 

Crisis management

This is your brand’s plan of how to react when a crisis happens. Crisis is, of course, a broad term and can mean different things for different brands. It’s a good idea to have crisis management in place for varied levels of concern. Examples include an employee posting something inappropriate online or a large-scale event, like the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Why should you know it?

You need to know this term so you can do something about it. Having a preventative plan in place is a great way to stop the shock that initially comes across your team when one of these events happen. 

Does your brand need assistance with public relations? Check out 270M’s services here! 

 

Doomscrolling 

This is the act of continuously scrolling through social media to try to take your mind off more pressing matters, only to find yourself consuming more content that leads you to feel doomed. 

Why should you know it? 

You want to know about doomscrolling so you can avoid it. Even when addressing topics that are difficult, it’s important to leave your audience feeling inspired and ready to take a call-to-action. 

Read also: How Virtual Reality is Changing E-Commerce and Digital Marketing 

 

Ephemeral content

More commonly known as disappearing content, this is something that’s only available to viewers for a certain period of time. Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn stories are all great examples of this. 

Why should you know it? 

So you can use it! This type of content drives people to check it out, because it’s not there forever. Using this content encourages your audience to follow your social media accounts, come to your pages more often, and maybe even subscribe to your newsletter so they make sure they’re not missing out on anything. 

Did we miss one you think should be included? Connect with us over on Instagram and let us know what word you think should make this list!