Why should YouTube be part of your content distribution plan?

April 22nd, 2011

When working with prospective clients, we sometimes get asked about using YouTube as opposed to keeping videos on your website.  If you don’t use YouTube, you are likely to miss out on two opportunities to reach searchers.  First, you will not be getting traffic from people who start watching one video, then move to yours.  On the channels, that we have created, the average user watches two videos per visit.  While your video or channel may not be the first, effectively positioned, it can be the second.

Here is an example of a piece on 100% Bonus Depreciation.

Associated Equipment Distributors put up this video

They drove traffic to the site by creating an aggressive campaign with using a website http://www.depreciationbonus.org/

The good news is that this whole campaign is driving traffic to the video that we produced.

A good channel should get between a quarter and a third of all traffic from “Related Videos”.

Also, don’t forget YouTube Search.  For some searchers, YouTube is the first place they go for content. If you are not there, you will not be found.  A good channel should get between and 10% and 20% of traffic from YouTube Search.

There is a school of thought among webmasters that once you get someone to your website; you should not let them off.    First, if you construct a channel effectively, you should be able to keep the searcher on your channel, and ultimately lead them to your site.  Also, if you set up your video embed so that it opens to another page, as opposed to view in the same page, your website will still be available.

Lastly, if you are really concerned about traffic in your website, put the video in both YouTube and your website.

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Is your business ready to use QR Codes?

April 17th, 2011

I did a series of workshops for MB Financial Bank over the last few weeks.  In the workshop, QR codes are discussed.  It was interesting that over a two week period, more attendees asked questions about QR codes.

Our suggestion is to learn about what they are, and think about how you can link your e-Content to your print content.  Download the readers, and check out codes that are available to you.  If you are not sure where to find QR codes to scan, go to the auto section of the Sunday newspaper.

Check out this link. http://blogs.wsj.com/tech-europe/2011/04/11/dubai-to-give-every-building-a-qr-code/ Every building in Dubai will have a QR Code.

Lastly, a short Motorola story.  Back in the mid 1990′s, I approached one of the marketing communications people .  I wanted to add URL’s to the brochures that we were printing. The marcom person said “what a great idea! however, we really don’t have room for a URL on the brochure.  It is hard enough finding space for a phone number”  Then she continued, “none of our customers are really going to dial up on the internet and use it to find out about our products, they really just prefer to call us.”

Most businesses are looking to lower their cost of selling, or expand their reach.  How are you different from your competition? Yes, everyone does not have a smartphone, but how about your target customer?

More information on QR codes is available from other postings in this blog.

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QR code suggestions after trying some postings over the last few weeks

April 12th, 2011

When I see a QR code I test it out.  Here are some observations

Test out your link.  A number of problems that I have seen:  First, make sure that you create a link that goes to a URL, not just record a URL.  It is not much value to you to a URL with a YouTube link, as opposed to going to the video.  I also got a business card with a URL that went to the text of an email address.  However the email address was “bob@” and did not have the rest of the email address on it.

Another QR code had a link to the video, but when I hit the button to play the video, I got an error “Cannot load QR Code Error: Plug-in handled load” Not sure what that means, but did not work.

Understand what it links to: An interesting link was posted up by Abt Electronics.  They grabbed a QR code from a company called Thermador.  When I hit the link, it asked me if I wanted to use my location to go to a dealer locator.  When I said yes, it directed me to the closest dealer who was not Abt.

QR codes can work well, but only if you integrate it into you total customer acquisition plan.

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e-Conversation Solutions workshops provide value and insights

April 9th, 2011

We’ve been doing a number of workshops in March and April.  A couple of comments.

From a workshop attendee

Thank you for your jolting presentation.  Jolting meant in a good sense.  I was aware of trends you presented, however, I had no idea of magnitude.  Percentages quoted equated to jolt.  Admittedly I’m probably a better engineer/project manager than a sales person.  Point on having a nailed down elevator pitch not lost.  You probably can be a little bit fuzzy on business plan but not on your elevator pitch.  Thanks for the good goad there too.

And, thank you for your kindness in spending a little bit of time with me after your presentation (understood, above and beyond the call of your duty).  I appreciated that you understood what I would like to accomplish.

Follow up from the workshop sponsor

This is awesome!  I hope we reach many more people like this!

I thought your presentation was terrific, and I am a frequent presenter, so I am a tough audience.  Love the anecdotes you are able to add because of your experiences.

A few comments from a program on April 8th.

Very succinct useful information.  We really appreciate the bank offering this presentation

Entertaining, flow was perfect. Cutting edge info!  Hard to keep on top of all the new tools!

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Capture Your Trade Show Experience – Reuse it in your marketing

April 4th, 2011

I relooked at the video we did a few months ago at Greenbuild 2010.  It does a really nice job of capturing the essence of the Sage Glass solution.

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Mobile Video Users Rise 40% YOY in Q4 – Nielsen Company Study

April 1st, 2011

About 24.7 million US mobile subscribers age 13 and up watched video on a mobile phone in Q4 2010, according to new data from The Nielsen Company. That represents roughly 40% year-over-year growth from about 17.6 million in Q4 2009 and about 8% growth from 22.9 million in Q3 2010.

In addition to substantial year-over-year growth in mobile video users during Q4 2010, Nielsen also recorded significant growth in average time spent per user per month. The average of four hours and 20 minutes of mobile video viewing per month per mobile subscriber is up about 20% from three hours and 37 minutes a year earlier and flat compared to the previous quarter.

Teen mobile subscribers age 13-17 spent the most average monthly time viewing mobile video, seven hours and 13 minutes, in Q4 2010. This was followed by an average of six hours and 30 minutes among 18-to-24-year-olds. The average monthly time consistently dropped as mobile subscribers got older, reaching a low of two hours and 10 minutes among those 65 and older.

Teen mobile subscribers may have spent the most time watching mobile video in Q4 2010, but they were only the fourth-largest audience segment (11%). The 25-to-34-year-old demographic represented the largest Q4 mobile video audience share (32%), followed by 35-to-49-year-olds (27%) and 18-to-24-year-olds (17%).

Mobile subscribers 65 and older only represented 2% of the total mobile video audience. Males (55%) comprised a larger share than females.

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