Top rated video social marketing guides by Edan Gelt: Since the Coronavirus outbreak, this leaning toward the building of consumer trust is amplified. Leading brands and companies are now placing less emphasis on selling by the quality of their product and more on building a trusting relationship with their consumers. For example: Southwest: Announced leaving the middle seat open at the start of the pandemic and has stayed true to this commitment through November 30. Tesla: The electric car manufacturer switched some of its production lines to build ventilators, which they subsequently donated. Anheuser-Busch: Converted some manufacturing lines to produce sanitizer during the shortage. See more details on Eden Gelt.
It’s easier to keep your customers happy than it is to get new ones. Outside of your current customers talking about your product and business, it is essential for you to continue to increase new customers. Once you have won your customer over with your free offer, they are more likely to upgrade and spend more if they like what you offer. Retained customers buy more often and spend more than first time customers. Once customers learn the value of your product they come back again and again. Brands that attract new users with a free offer forge new relationships. Long-term these relationships translate into valuable brand awareness, increased sales, loyalty and an unprecedented ROI.
In my last blog “Marketing and the Power of Free” and subsequent vlog, I wrote about the impact of giving away products and/or free services. By sampling or giving your product away at no cost builds brand awareness, increases sales and enhances your budget. But how does it work and why? Have you ever been to Costco and enjoyed the free samples? How often did you buy what you tried because you really enjoyed it? And if you didn’t buy the product, did you feel guilty? Maybe you even put the product in your cart and unloaded it a few aisles down. That’s just a sample of the Law of Reciprocity. The law of reciprocity says that when you offer something first for free and it is valued, people feel a sense of indebtedness toward you, thus in turn you then wanting to return the favor.
When starting out you will need to choose a social media platform to broadcast your content and this means knowing your audience and where to find them. For example, if your audience is interested in the beauty industry and loves to watch hair and make-up tutorials then maybe podcasting isn’t for you and it would be best to stick with Instagram or YouTube. Business guru and YouTuber Vanessa Lau advises not to get caught up in “shiny object syndrome”, trying to launch your brand across a multitude of platforms and waste time pitching to irrelevant audiences. Two or three platforms suitable to your brand is adequate to diversify your content but also guard against stretching yourself too thin by managing too many social media accounts at once. Read extra details at Eden Gelt.
This is where you decide what type of video content you are going to create. This depends on the type of business you are branding. Are you a lawyer? Feature yourself or maybe a client and speak to the value and/or services you provide such as closings, litigation, bankruptcies, etc. Since we are in a pandemic, possibly address the current landlord/tenant laws and how to mitigate them. Follow-up videos could explore samples of cases you’ve handled or complex transactions.
Turn on the message app in GMB – it may be painful to answer sometimes, but this is a great way to capture leads. By engaging in messaging this gives you the power to talk to your audience in real time. These conversations are what can help your business stand out because it shows you are a real person rather than a bot or a corporate conglomerate company, that personal touch goes a long way. Don’t let the fact of being ‘live’ scare you away from messaging through your GMB. There are settings that allow an automated response so if you don’t want to be monitoring your messaging 24/7 this initial response will give your customers the response they want while you can get back to them with their exact answer the next day or during business hours.
Partner: Double your reach and budget by partnering with another complementary brand that targets a similar audience. If you engage with a brand that already has established trust with your clients, they are more likely to trust your brand. Make the most of your partnerships by finding businesses with similar but non-competing target markets and co-market. Be a Guest: Appearing on someone else’s platform, such as a podcast or blog, exhibits your initiative and your intelligence. Podcasts and blogs are all the rage and being featured on one gives you the opportunity to get in front of new clients. It also positions you as an industry expert. You don’t have to spend a lot of money to increase your brand awareness. Just try some of the tactics here to discover works best for increasing your brand awareness on a budget.
Similar to traditional SEO for websites, Google uses bots to serve search results. It is important to include keywords like “Chicago Real Estate Attorney,” “Orland Park Real Estate attorney,” “5013C Attorney,” etc. to your business listing is key – especially since your direct business website will be listed within your GMB page. Use these in the business description and each time you post a Local Post to your audience. Posting photos to your GMB is extremely important – in fact, businesses that have photos receive 35% more click-throughs to their website than those without photos and 42% more requests for directions from Google Maps. Find even more details on Edan Gelt.
3…2…1…ACTION It’s game time and there is no fancy equipment required. Are you ready to film? Just take out your handy phone, iPad or computer and let’s start rolling! Depending on the type of content you are looking to share, you can record 1-minute clips straight through or you can film individual segments and patch them together with film editing software such as iMovie, Open Shot, Movie Maker 10 and more. If you’re not handy with editing, you can hire someone (or recruit your children). You can also just publish raw and real footage. Depending on your business type and brand, sometimes having unedited content may even help you connect better to your client base.
Are your clients business professionals or are they casual customers? What social sites are you most comfortable on, what social sites do they frequent? Do you have a website and social channels set up yet? Regardless of platform, a multi-channel distribution strategy is key – you need to place your media where your customers and prospects are and often they are not all in the same place at the same time. If you have a website, start posting your videos there. One “About Us” video isn’t enough – regularly adding video to your website increases SEO and keeps your clients up to date on your offerings. You can create a page specifically for your videos, or place them on existing pages.