6 Ways to Optimize Your Site for Social Media Sharing

6 Ways to Optimize Your Site for Social Media Sharing

Are readers sharing your content? Assuming you have content that’s worth sharing, you could be lacking the right social optimization and sharing tools necessary to make it simple and easy for readers to spread the word about your content.

And while SEO and paid advertising will always be around, there’s nothing more powerful than word-of-mouth via the reader’s’ social channels.

Give your website the boost your content deserves and use these tactics to optimize your site for better social sharing.

1. Content Worth Reading & Sharing

It’s not a technical tip but it’s still worthy of the top of this list. If you don’t invest in content that’s worth reading, then no one will read it, let alone actually share it with others.

All the SEO, share tools, and design tricks in the world can’t save bad content, so put your time, effort, and money where it counts – post and write great content.

2. Display Your Social Shares

Great content is the most important, but a high number of social shares can also convince a reader he or she is looking at a world-class article. Showing off your social shares gives an article clout, and readers are more likely to share a piece they know has already been passed around hundreds or thousands of times.

And as an added bonus, this’ll give your evergreen content exponential sharing power the more times you repost or reshare on your own social channels.

3. Use a “Social-Friendly” Website Builder

If you manage your own WordPress, then you can download and install your own social tools from scratch. But for those with less website experience, most website building platforms have their own social tools you can install with the click of the button.

There are resources comparing the different social features between website builders so you can pick a service that fits your website’s needs.

4. Integrate Facebook Comments

If you’re even considering allowing comments below your content, this is a no-brainer. There are arguments to be made concerning the negatives of Facebook comments (the content belongs to them and is subject to Facebook’s Terms of Service), but it’s all shadowed by the pros.

Creating an account and logging in just to comment is a huge deterrent for most casual readers, and Facebook’s comment plugin makes it easy for anyone (most everyone has a Facebook account) to interact and share your content.

5. Create Good Metadata

Have you ever tried to share a great article on your Facebook Page and ended up with nothing more than an unrecognizable link that no one will click? A good share should feature a picture, title, and description – it’s called metadata and no piece of content on your website should be without it.

Readers won’t hesitate to mash the backspace button if your content doesn’t look good on their Facebook Page.

6. Optimize Your Social Images

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Pinterest all have different dimensions, naming conventions, and even rules for how much content is on the image for optimized sharing.

There’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all image for all your social channels (and the social channels of your readers who want to share your content), so you need to optimize your image suite for each channel.

To provide the best possible result oriented solutions available we have created the following websites and divisions to work in unision and under the umbrella of RCS Technology Soltutions, LLC : RCS Online Solutions , RCS Digital Marketing, RCS SEO Solutions , RCS Website Solutions , The Best Website Company  , The Best Internet Marketing Company , RCS Managed IT Services, RCS Computer Solutions  Besides that we have dedicated services for Boston, Massachusetts as well including The Best Website Company Boston  & The Best SEO Company Boston . RCS Technology Solutions, LLC is powered by Digital Marketing and Website Expert Ronald Couming who has been  providing expert solutions for more than a decade. Please contact us with any questions or help regarding our services fees  at 001-978-606-5432 or email at info@rcstechnologysolutions.com

Author Link: http://www.socialmediatoday.com/social-networks/6-ways-optimize-your-site-social-media-sharing

4 Key Ways to Optimize Your YouTube Channel and Content

4 Key Ways to Optimize Your YouTube Channel and Content

Keywords and relevance decide the ranking of your web pages in Google, and unsurprisingly, the same applies to Google-owned YouTube. To help boost the performance of your YouTube content and get the most out of the web’s largest video network, we’ve developed some useful guidelines that’ll help you to optimize your video for maximum success.

Here are four key tips:

1. Get your branding consistent

Aligning your video branding with that of your company creates a consistent experience for your audience. When existing and potential customers visit your YouTube channel, they should feel that it’s part of a greater whole.

YouTube offers free branding features – you can customize your channel background, upload custom thumbnails and link to other social networks.

Customize your channel art

A custom background is an easy way to communicate that this is the official YouTube channel for your brand. It needs to be simple, high quality and highlight what you do best. The recommended image size is currently 2560 x 1440 px. (source: YouTube Help)

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Apple’s themed YouTube channel art for WWDC 2016. Source: Apple’s YouTube channel

Showcase your social channels

It’s important to list your active social media profiles and update them frequently for social proof. This increases your credibility and exposure, as segments of your audience will have differing preferred networks.

Check the bottom right corner of your channel art, right above the Subscribe button. Here, you can add links to the leading social networks including Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and also your website. In the ‘About’ section you can describe your business and highlight how you provide a better solution than competitors. Keep it short and descriptive.

Customize the layout of your channel

Once you’ve verified your YouTube channel, you’ll be able to create a custom layout for your channel.

You can set it up so that new visitors see the channel trailer while returning subscribers see ‘suggested content’ instead. It’s also possible to customize sections on your channel to highlight specific themes and playlists. Not only is this handy if you have a lot of videos, it also encourages viewers to watch more content.

Update your YouTube channel trailer (or create one)

A trailer is your chance to introduce yourself and your business and explain the benefits of subscription. And just like at the movies, a good trailer can make the viewers want to see more.

YouTube trailers appear at the top of the channel for new visitors and can help drive subscriptions. If you don’t have one, or it hasn’t been updated in the last 5 years, it’s time to get a new one. There are some simple tips from YouTube on how to create a good channel trailer:

  • Assume the viewer has never heard of you
  • Keep it short
  • Hook your viewers in the first few seconds
  • Show, don’t tell
  • Ask viewers to subscribe in your video and with annotation

Custom thumbnails

Thumbnails convey the subject of the video and attract potential viewers to click-through. Using the cinema analogy – they’re like the movie’s poster. YouTube has a thumbnail algorithm, which means that there’s one for every video you upload. But with millions of videos to choose from, you’ll need a way to differentiate your brand.

To put things in perspective, over 400 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube every minute and their average length is 4 minutes and 20 seconds. So, in the time it took you read this far, another 12,000 videos have been uploaded.

There are a number ways to create custom thumbnails that stand out. Use action shots, branded images with text, specific color themes for each video type – but the main takeaway is to keep them consistent.

Custom thumbnails with action shots, source: Reelseo.com

On the technical side, always remember to use optimized images. It’s likely that your videos will be viewed on different devices, so always bear in mind the smartphone and tablets users. Optimized thumbnails have a resolution of 1280 x 1080 pixels, are under 2 MB and have a recognizable file format, e.g. .JPG or .PNG (source: YouTube Help).

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2. Technical stuff that improves your YouTube Channel

Why is your video’s metadata an important part of YouTube strategy?

Titles, descriptions and tags help YouTube and Google’s search algorithms identify the subject of your videos to rank them in their search results. Optimizing your metadata helps your audience find videos more often, meaning more video views.

The more views your video gets in a short time period, the higher it’ll rank across the relevant key phrases.

Video Title

Write a descriptive title using key phrases that people would search to find your video. Remember to be concise, as any longer than 66 characters may be truncated in search. Be as natural as possible, but do keep keyword search volumes in mind. Use a keyword finder tool to check for general trends (we use Google’s Keyword Planner).

Video Description

Each video should have a 200-500 word description, summarizing the video (you have 5000 characters to play with). Remember that only about 157 characters will display, so you need to make them compelling enough for users to click the ‘Show More’ button. YouTube video descriptions can be hard to master, but once you’ve developed a template, it gets much easier.

Always include strong call-to-actions and URLs for relevant pages on your website. Your viewers will appreciate it if they can easily connect to the supporting information on your website and you will benefit from the extra traffic. Everybody wins.

Consider transcribing your video

Another nice addition to your content could be a transcript. Especially if your videos long or have lots of takeaways. In this way, your video content can be repurposed to create a blog post or even downloadable content. Doing it manually can be time-consuming, so if you don’t have any scripts already written, consider using a paid video transcription service.

Tag your YouTube videos

No doubt you’ll have keywords that didn’t fit naturally into your title or description. Well, you can still make use of them by adding around five to seven as tags for your video. Tags can just be a single word, but ideally you should try to use more phrases. Remember that they have to be relevant to the content of the video and help users to find it.

3. Increase visibility and engagement with video annotations

Use annotations wisely

Make the most of YouTube annotations, as, essentially, they’re call-to-action buttons in disguise. Well crafted pop-ups encourage viewers to subscribe to your channel, watch more videos, follow you on social media or find out more from your website. Each of the five annotation types can be used to achieve a different goal.

  1. Speech bubble: for creating pop-up speech bubbles with text.
  2. Spotlight: for highlighting areas in a video; when the user moves the mouse over these areas the text you enter will appear.
  3. Note: for creating pop-up boxes containing text.
  4. Title: for creating a text overlay to title your video.
  5. Label: for creating a label to call out and name a specific part of your video.

“Pause” annotations are no longer available. If your videos already have them, they’ll still work. Just bear in mind that they can no longer be added to new videos.

Annotations panel. Here you can add any of the 5 types to your video, source: Sendible’s video manager panel.

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Go beyond YouTube

Similar to blog posts, videos can be linked to other videos with the use of annotations. You can even link to external sites once your YouTube channel has been verified and is in good standing. Refrain from doing it with your first videos though, as linking externally is only considered good practice once you have an established channel.

You can also invest in YouTube advertising if you feel your business needs a push that goes beyond organic reach. If you don’t have much experience creating short, promotional videos, don’t worry. Just recently, YouTube launched the YouTube Director app, making it much easier to create videos. It’s currently available to all businesses in the US and Canada, on iPhone (they promise to launch an Android app soon).

4. Organize your videos by topic or theme into playlists

Playlists

Just as you would organize your favorite songs, playlists help to group videos based on a common theme. It increases the likelihood that viewers will watch more than one video – not just because they are easier to find, but also because the videos will play automatically in the sequence you created.

You might want to use custom thumbnails to visually distinguish your playlists. Below is a wonderful example from Microsoft.

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Themed playlists done exceptionally well by Microsoft. Source: Microsoft’s YouTube channel.

Playlists also help to define the subject of your videos for YouTube’s search algorithm, and they also rank in Google and YouTube searches, giving you yet another way to display your content. Keep your playlist titles short and descriptive, then add a keyword focused description (up to 5,000 characters).

Each playlist can have up to 200 videos and there are currently no limitations on the number of playlists users can create. If you only want to share content with specific users (contest winners, influencers etc.) then you can make your playlist private, so only those with the link can access it.

Otherwise, always ensure that your privacy setting is to public – you want your playlists to be found.

Hopefully this post will help you get your video strategy in motion. Visit my Channel for for new blogs and and videos. https://www.youtube.com/user/RonCouming

To provide the best possible result oriented solutions available we have created the following websites and divisions to work in unision and under the umbrella of RCS Technology Soltutions, LLC : RCS Online Solutions , RCS Digital Marketing, RCS SEO Solutions , RCS Website Solutions , The Best Website Company  , The Best Internet Marketing Company , RCS Managed IT Services, RCS Computer Solutions  Besides that we have dedicated services for Boston, Massachusetts as well including The Best Website Company Boston  & The Best SEO Company Boston . RCS Technology Solutions, LLC is powered by Digital Marketing and Website Expert Ronald Couming who has been  providing expert solutions for more than a decade. Please contact us with any questions or help regarding our services fees  at 001-978-606-5432 or email at info@rcstechnologysolutions.com

Author Link: http://www.socialmediatoday.com/social-networks/4-key-ways-optimize-your-youtube-channel-and-content?platform=hootsuite

How to Set Yourself Up for Success on Pinterest

How to Set Yourself Up for Success on Pinterest

While it doesn’t get as much attention as some of the other social networks, Pinterest is definitely a platform all B2C brands need to consider. Why? Take a look at this graph from the recent Mary Meeker Internet Trends Report for 2016.

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In comparison to other social networks, Pinterest users have very high purchase intent, they come to the platform to find new ideas for things to buy. And Pinterest is on a mission to capitalize on this – the platform has set itself an ambitious target to be generating $2.8 billion in annual revenue by 2018 – a big jump from the reported $169 million in revenue the platform generated in 2015. In order to reach that figure, Pinterest needs to make a series of moves, and this year, we’ve already seen them introduce new discovery options and ad capabilities to advance in that direction.

If you’ve never given Pinterest much thought, now might be the right time to get on board – here’s an overview of how Pinterest works, what and how people are using it and the details you need to know to maximize your brand success on the platform.

Understanding Pinterest

One of the most important distinctions you need to make when looking at Pinterest, as opposed to other social platforms, is that Pinterest is not really a social network. Well at least, the social elements of Pinterest are less emphasized – it’s more a visual catalogue, a place where people visualize what they want and what they want to be – and, importantly, the things they want to buy.

People use Pinterest to find products, to get inspired, and the platform’s management have worked to build upon this – in a recent report, Pinterest defined it’s ambition as:

“…striving to build a platform with the scale and engagement of Facebook and the purchasing intent of Google.”

That purchase intent element is crucial – research has found that 93% of Pinners use the platform to plan or make purchases. And that pretty much says it all – Pinterest is less about connecting with friends and more about finding great products. Indeed, 75% of saved Pins come from businesses.

The focus of Pinterest is eCommerce – everything they do, every update, every addition, is all aligned with this goal. People are on Pinterest to find cool things to buy.

Which is why your brand needs to be there too.

Audience Demographics

Pinterest has 100 million monthly active users, with nearly half of them located outside the US. This means brands can reach not only local users, but international audiences as well, expanding your sales potential. This is particularly relevant for smaller businesses – while aiming for an international audience may seem ambitious, the opportunities of the platform allow for such reach, when utilized correctly. As with all networks, it takes time, but once you understand the basics of how it works, and how you can reach an audience via Pins, the sales potential is significant.

Pinterest users are predominantly female (at a ratio of around 3:1 – though male usage is growing) and around 73% of their user base is aged 50 or under. Pinterest users also tend to be at the higher end of the income scale, which aligns with the purchase intent element.

And while the popularity of products fluctuates based on the time of year, as an example of what does well with Pinterest’s audience, the 10 most pinned products of 2015 were (click through to see examples):

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  1. A new wave water bottle
  2. A solar charger for your smartphone
  3. Lace-up boots to hit the pavement
  4. Glow in the dark leggings take athleisure to a new level
  5. Asymmetrical coats
  6. Artful gemstones
  7. A smarter way to pack your bag
  8. Stylish swaddle blankets
  9. Graphic tees and tops
  10. Tapestries to transform your bedroom

As you can see, the products that do well on Pinterest tend to be more niche, more creatively aligned, which makes it a perfect fit for many B2C businesses.

Setting up Your Profile

To set up your Pinterest Business profile, you need to go to this link and enter in your business details. Like other social platforms, it’s important that you fill out all the profile information, as these are the elements that’ll help you get found on the network. Pinterest’s business set up is a little more streamlined than other platforms, in that you only need to enter the following details:

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You’ll also have the option to create a custom Pinterest URL – so instead of this:

https://au.pinterest.com/1234567890/

You’ll have:

https://au.pinterest.com/JanesDesign/

Which can also make it easier for people to find you – you can set this up in your profile options, but you may have to try a few variations to get the business name you want (as a lot are already taken). Use one that’s as close to your actual business name as possible.

An important part of the business set up process on Pinterest is also confirming your website – Pinterest does this to confirm that you’re an actual business. If you have a website for your brand, follow these instructions to confirm your Pinterest page. Once you’ve connected your website, your logo will appear on any Pins that people save from your site.

In the ‘About you’ section of your profile, ensure your  description includes any relevant keywords which can help provide context as to what you do – but don’t use too many. It needs to read like an actual description, as opposed to a collection of search terms. You only have 160 characters for the ‘About you’ section and they’ll show up in Google search results related to your brand Pinterest page.

Once you’ve covered off on all that, you need to get onto creating boards where you can add your pins to.

Setting Up Boards

Boards are the categories or sections of your Pinterest presence. Using the site’s overarching metaphor – you’re pinning images to your Pinterest boards, so it’s important you categorize your boards accordingly to ensure everything is neat and easy to find.

For businesses, the best way to use boards is to create a range of different subjects that showcase your brands products, personality and taste.

Pinterest offers these tips on setting up your boards:

  • Give your boards clear names so people can tell what’s on them, but don’t be afraid to get creative – just keep it to 20 characters or less so it doesn’t get cut off. And don’t forget the description, which can inspire people to follow your boards and help you show up in searches.
  • For each board, choose a compelling cover Pin that quickly gives people a sense for what’s on that board (often the one with the most repins works well).
  • Try putting your most relevant boards at the top. For example, these might be seasonal boards or boards with the most repins.
  • Try Pinning a handful of Pins at once that together tell a story and capture the imagination. For example, a Pin of a patterned dress next to the place that inspired it is more compelling than just a product photo.

When you create a board, make sure you include a category and a description that includes relevant keywords (worth noting too, you can edit your board details at any time). It’s good practice to create a separate board for each of your products – if you make earrings and bracelets, for example, you could separate them onto different boards. At the same time, you also want your boards to be full – the idea being that once you have people come to your Pinterest presence you can keep them around by having related items on the same board. If you don’t have a huge range, creating boards on specific themes can also work – just don’t forget the relevant keywords for each (more on this below).

Pinterest SEO

One of the key elements to keep in mind with Pinterest is that the platform has its own means of helping people find relevant products. Pinterest users will generally use the search bar, but Pins also appear in Google search, so there’s a few ways in which your Pins can be found.a4

In terms of Pinterest’s on-platform search, the best way to determine what search terms people are using to find products similar to yours is to conduct a search for yourself.

As you can see here, once you enter a search term, Pinterest’s ‘Guided Search’ feature will recommend other topics most commonly searched in relation to your query. So for ‘fish’ people on Pinterest are most commonly looking up fish recipes – so if I were a recipe blog looking to reach a Pinterest audience, I’d click on ‘Recipes’ and see what related terms people are looking for on the platform.

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Now I have a much better idea of what, specifically, Pinterest users are looking for, which would enable me to better target my Pinterest boards relative to their interests.

From there I could click on another topic more related to what I do and refine my search further, giving me a more specific idea of the keywords and terms that Pinners are using in relation to my area of expertise or offering – it’s important to drill down into the topics of relevance to your business to get a clearer idea of the key terms you should be including in your Pins and Boards to ensure your content is getting in front of those looking for your products.

For example, I might sell jade necklaces – I’d start with a search on those terms.

And straight away I have an idea of what other terms are commonly being used to find similar products.a6

The key to Pinterest SEO is understanding what terms people are going to use to find your products. You can use your general SEO keyword outlines as a starting point, then test them in Pinterest’s search bar to get a more platform-specific idea of what you should be using.

What to Pin

Pinterest advises that:

“Most of the Pins you add should be of your own content or products, but try mixing in Pins that aren’t yours. For example, if you sell scarves, you could add a how-to article about different ways to tie a scarf.”

This ties back to the idea that once you have people come to your Pinterest page, you want to give them a reason to stick around – contextualizing your offerings with some additional tips and advice from other Pinners can help in this regard.

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When you start Pinning and writing pin descriptions, again, the key point to remember is the user experience – “thoughtful descriptions,” Pinterest says, “will make your Pins more inspiring and searchable”.

And by “thoughtful”, Pinterest means things like:

More specifically, Pinterest offers the following tips to improve your Pin descriptions:

  • Products: Suggest ideas for what Pinners can do with your products, and add examples of special occasions for when they might use it
  • Recipes: Describe the main ingredients of the dish, how to cook it and what events it should be served at
  • Fashion: Include the type of clothing, designer and the season to wear it
  • Travel: Tell people what the location is, and give ideas for what they can do there
  • DIY: Describe what it is, how to make it and what materials they’ll need
  • Photography: Add the year, subject, publication and photographer’s name

You obviously need to include the relevant keywords, but don’t go overboard, try to put some life into it, some practicality, so it doesn’t read like a robot just pumped out some SEO-based text.

In terms of how much you should Pin – really, it’s up to you. The more active you are on Pinterest, the more likely you’ll get more attention, but at the same time, Pins ‘live’ for much longer than content on other platforms.

For example, the average life-span of a tweet is around 18 minutes – after that, the engagement levels on tweets drop very fast. On Facebook, your posts have a life-span of around 5 hours.

Pins, on the other hand, because of the way in which people use the platform, have a life span that can stretch into years. You see, Pinners don’t go to Pinterest to get the latest news update, they go there to search for content, so Pins that are years old can still be totally relevant if it’s the product they’re looking to find.

Because of this, well-crafted pins can last, so there’s no definitive measurement as to how active you need to be on the platform. Pins with more engagement will rank higher in Pinterest search, and you can boost your engagement levels by being more active on the platform – if you’re re-pinning and engaging with other people’s boards, they’re likely to come check yours out also, which leads to more interest.

And also, one last point: Hashtags don’t really work on Pinterest. In fact, Pinterest recommends not using them at all, and they won’t improve your prospects of discovery, either way.

Pinterest Analytics

Pinterest has a range of analytics tools for businesses – you can get more information on how they work here. Via these on-platform tools, you can get a range of data insights into which of your Pins are generating the best response, the demographics of your audience (including where they’re located), other topics and boards your audience is most commonly interested in and the types of engagement you’re getting on each of your pins.

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Quick Tips

  1. Pin quality pins – look for great images and make sure those pins have a description, otherwise you won’t come up in a search.
  2. Don’t neglect board descriptions – Pinterest gives you up to 500 characters for each board description and this is another opportunity to connect with your potential customers. In addition, take advantage of keywords to increase the SEO value of your Pinterest boards, which, again, will increase your chances of being found in searches.
  3. Make sure you pick a category when you create a new Pinterest board. If you leave it blank, Pinterest users won’t find your board through search.
  4. Don’t leave empty boards or boards with very few pins on them. Keep them looking full and inviting. It’s possible to keep boards secret until you get them full up before releasing them to the world to get you started. When you add a pin to a secret board, it won’t show up anywhere else on Pinterest – not in the category sections, anyone’s search results, your followers’ home feed, your own home feed, or even pins or activity pages on your profile. Once the board is public, however, the process can’t be reversed.

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Also, one last thing – Pinners are big planners. According to Pinterest’s data, 45% of their users begin planning for holidays at least 60 days in advance, which is 21% higher than the general population. Because of this, it’s good to try and plan your Pins around seasonal events – Pinterest has even created a (US-focused) calendar to help brands better prepare and strategize around events and celebrations.

While the true key to success is the same for all social platforms – get involved and start learning, these tips will help you on your way as you look to build your branded Pinterest profile. And given the latest innovations and changes being pushed by the site, a great many more brands are no doubt going to be looking to build a presence on the platform sooner rather than later. If you’re considering it, now is the time – it’s always better to get in early and establish your presence ahead of the rush. And if Pinterest is going to achieve their aggressive revenue targets, that rush will be coming some time soon.

 

To provide the best possible result oriented solutions available we have created the following websites and divisions to work in unision and under the umbrella of RCS Technology Soltutions, LLC : RCS Online Solutions , RCS Digital Marketing, RCS SEO Solutions , RCS Website Solutions , The Best Website Company  , The Best Internet Marketing Company , RCS Managed IT Services, RCS Computer Solutions  Besides that we have dedicated services for Boston, Massachusetts as well including The Best Website Company Boston  & The Best SEO Company Boston . RCS Technology Solutions, LLC is powered by Digital Marketing and Website Expert Ronald Couming who has been  providing expert solutions for more than a decade. Please contact us with any questions or help regarding our services fees  at 001-978-606-5432 or email at info@rcstechnologysolutions.com

Author Link: http://www.socialmediatoday.com/social-business/how-set-yourself-success-pinterest-guide

3 Must-Have Tools to Attract More Clients on LinkedIn

Here are 3 Must-Have Tools to Attract More Clients on LinkedIn

d3Having spent 48 straight months discovering the best ways to sell products and services using LinkedIn, it’s been incredible to watch the platform evolve into the best business-to-business themed marketplace on the planet.

And make no mistake – with 433 million members in more than 200 countries – and with 2 new members joining every second – LinkedIn has quickly become the hub for all things professional when it comes to social networks.

I want to spend the rest of this post showing you 3 great shortcuts that will help you attract more clients and generate more business for yourself on LinkedIn.

Tool 1: Rapportive

Rapportive is a great (and free) add-on for Gmail users. It takes just a few seconds to install via Google’s Chrome browser and works with Mozilla’s Firefox as well.

Rapportive taps into your Gmail inbox and immediately pulls up any related LinkedIn profiles, Twitter handles, Skype accounts, websites or other online entities tied to a person’s email address.

In addition, Rapportive enables you to send someone a personalized LinkedIn invite without leaving your Gmail inbox. If you’re using LinkedIn as a lead generation and content marketing platform (and you should be), Rapportive is a great way to effectively and efficiently build your network from right inside your Gmail.

(FYI, you can also integrate a similar setup with LinkedIn and Yahoo! Mail.)

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Tool 2: LinkedIn Connection Revealer

With LinkedIn, size matters.

The larger the overall network of people you are connected to, the more visibility and influence you have on the world’s largest professional social network.

Ideally, you want to invite and connect with people who are (A) in your target market/audience  or (B) are connected to members of your ideal or target audience.

In a perfect world, you’d also want to connect with people who have huge networks of their own – people with hundreds (if not thousands) of connections.

Right now, it’s hard to tell, because anyone with more than 500 connections just shows up as “500+ connections” when you look at his or her LinkedIn profile. But with this nifty (and free) plugin for the Google Chrome browser, you’re now able to see how many total connections everyone in your network has.

The plugin is called LinkedIn Connection Revealer. Note that this plugin only works with people you are already connected to as a 1st level connection. (It won’t work with 2nd or 3rd level connections.)

Along with knowing how many 1st level connections people in your network REALLY have (not just “500+”), you can also use this to strategically network with people that have huge LinkedIn networks in hopes you can leverage their platform or network to promote your services.

Tool 3: Headlinr

You can write prose prettier than Hemingway, but if you headline stinks, nobody will read it.

More bad news: Creating magnetic headlines can take years of study and practice to perfect… unless you take a shortcut, and one of my favorites is called Headlinr.

Headlinr is a (paid) Google Chrome browser add-on, and it works like a “fill-in-the-blank” headline writing tool.

With Headlinr, you put in the topic of your post and the plugin immediately pulls up hundreds of creative, proven headlines with your topic inserted directly into them.

I love Headlinr, because I just type in my topic (“LinkedIn Tips”) and it immediately gives me hundreds of popular, proven headlines with that phrase (“LinkedIn Tips”) that I can choose from and even split test on my blog or elsewhere.

Shortcuts = Success

If, like me, you’re convinced (or even just curious) that LinkedIn is the best place online to generate business for yourself, these shortcuts will fit nicely into your overall marketing plan on the network.

Give them a shot and get busy over on LinkedIn.

To provide the best possible result oriented solutions available we have created the following websites and divisions to work in unision and under the umbrella of RCS Technology Soltutions, LLC : RCS Online Solutions , RCS Digital Marketing, RCS SEO Solutions , RCS Website Solutions , The Best Website Company  , The Best Internet Marketing Company , RCS Managed IT Services, RCS Computer Solutions  Besides that we have dedicated services for Boston, Massachusetts as well including The Best Website Company Boston  & The Best SEO Company Boston . RCS Technology Solutions, LLC is powered by Digital Marketing and Website Expert Ronald Couming who has been  providing expert solutions for more than a decade. Please contact us with any questions or help regarding our services fees  at 001-978-606-5432 or email at info@rcstechnologysolutions.com

Author Link: http://linkedinriches.com/3-must-tools-attract-clients-linkedin/

How to Incorporate Facebook Live in Your Social Media Marketing

How to Incorporate Facebook Live in Your Social Media Marketing

Over the past year, video has taken the content marketing world by storm.

The visual nature of videos allows users to process information with greater speed and clarity than they can via written content. Thus the growing prevalence of video is showing no signs of slowing down, especially when you consider these video marketing statistics.

As a marketer, it’s becoming increasingly important that you learn how to take advantage of video to help your business increase sales by turning fair-weather visitors into loyal customers. Thankfully, you can create engaging live-streaming videos on the most used social networking platform on the planet with Facebook Live.

In this post, you’ll learn:

  • What exactly Facebook Live is and why you should use it to promote your business
  • How to effectively establish yourself as an influencer via live video marketing
  • How to recycle content in conjunction with the use of Facebook Live to maximize ROI
  • How you can use video to unveil new products or record ongoing classes conducted by your business
  • How you can make stronger connections with your audience by humanizing your brand through live streaming videos

Facebook Live Explained

In a nutshell, Facebook Live lets users stream (you guessed it) live video content straight from their profiles, similar to other live-streaming apps Periscope and Meerkat.

The advantage Facebook Live has over the competition however, lies in its inherent ability to share your videos with your own personal connections.

Unlike other apps where you have to invite viewers to sign up to the live-streaming platform, Facebook Live videos go straight into the feeds of your family and friends, making it far easier to deliver your visual content.

However, the biggest draw of Facebook Live as it pertains to business, is the chance to humanize your brand on a large scale. By regularly updating your fans and followers through video, you can create a more intimate relationship with them, and that helps increase engagement and fuel discussion.

If you want to enjoy the benefits that Facebook Live affords for your business but don’t know where to start, consider this post as your crash course on what kinds of videos you need produce for your social media marketing.

1. Promote Your Thought Leadership

People gravitate towards influencers whose fingers are on the pulse of their respective industry. They produce content that resonates with the needs and wants of their target market, which helps establish their influence. If you’re a subject matter expert and you want to share information for the benefit of your audience, Facebook Live can be a great way to disseminate said information.

An example of promoting thought leadership through Facebook Live is tech evangelist Robert Scoble. Considered one of the leading voices in the industry, Scoble regularly uses Facebook’s live-streaming feature to share exciting news and developments.

 

 

In the above video, Scoble takes his audience into a futuristic retail store by interviewing the founder and touring the place at the same time. The topic fits within the theme he covers on his Facebook Page, so the video content helps in building his reputation as a thought leader in his field.

 

Another good example of this is Doreen Virtue, a self-proclaimed ‘fairyologist’. While Virtue’s target market is very niche, she uses live-stream videos to share prayers and meditations with her highly targeted audience. And the results are stunning – her videos average at least 100,000 views, 1,000 comments, and 1,000 likes.

Key Takeaways:

  • Don’t be afraid to to be yourself. You’ll need to be genuine to help your audience associate you as a thought leader.
  • Refine your niche to get the audience you want. Specialize in a topic that has more demand than supply and is within your expertise. Also, don’t forget to consider the size of the audience you can attract with your live streams.
  • Newsjack and stay on top of trends. Publish your thoughts about trending topics and breaking news related to your niche and ask viewers to comment on your live stream to increase engagement.

2. Repurpose your content

Content repurposing is a technique that will enables you to recycle old content by sprucing it up and making it salient by changing the presentation format. In this case, you can repurpose your old blog posts into Facebook Live videos.

 

If you have existing content that didn’t receive the traction you were expecting, you may want to record a video discussing it in depth to your followers live. You can break down the content into subtopics that can hopefully spur on some discussions on Facebook Live. You can then create the videos for the other subtopics on the succeeding days, with the intention of bringing attention to your blog post. Just be sure to mention the link to your actual post at the end of the stream so viewers can visit it for more information.

Or, if you’re feeling contrary, you could flip this scenario…

Create a new video on Facebook Live and promote it by writing a blog post.

You can even transcribe the video to give your audience more incentive to visit your blog post, in case they missed certain parts of the video at the time of publication.

Another neat repurposing tactic is to stream your webinars and podcasts on Facebook Live. You can stream yourself while conducting a webinar on a different platform. From Facebook Live, you can encourage viewers to join your ongoing webinar or get a closer look at your podcast session.

 

Once the Facebook Live stream is finished, you can then direct viewers to download a copy of your podcast or webinar.

 

 

Best-selling author Carol Tuttle leverages Facebook Live alongside her podcast on Blog Talk Radio. She broadcasts on both platforms and uploads the podcast for download on iTunes. In order to make both pieces of content unique, Carol shows the link to her iTunes subscription and the number that viewers can call during the show in her Facebook Live video.

Key Takeaways:

  • Be creative with your content to make it more shareable.
  • Find ways to use different content types within Facebook Live to maximize results.
  • Don’t forget to link between different content mediums so your audience can easily access additional information.

3. Feature your services

If your business is about selling lessons or sessions, you can set up the Facebook Live stream to give viewers an inside glimpse at what your classes are really like.

 

 

Fitness expert Christine Dwyer put her Turbo Kick live workout session on Facebook Live. She made sure to set the camera in such a way that it would capture the reflection of all of the participants performing the moves. For a fitness coach like Christine, this is an exceptionally effective way to show viewers the kind of programs she organizes.

For brands selling products, you can use Facebook Live to show audiences exactly how your products work. Make an unboxing video, detail the product and show it off.

This is a great way to give your audience how your services work, which, in turn, could convince them to become your students or customers in the future.

Key Takeaways:

  • Show everything about your product or service. Don’t hide or withdraw information, instead give a full account of what your product can or cannot do.
  • Don’t be afraid to take criticism on the fly. There are always going to be haters and you may get some critical remarks during live streams. Remember to keep your head on your shoulders, and respond respectfully to avoid escalating the issue.

4. Get your audience to know your brand

The best way to get into your customer’s head on social media may not be what you think.

“Don’t focus on the brand, instead, shed light on the people that run the business.”

It’s much more efficient to give viewers a behind the scenes look at how your company operates by showing who’s involved in the process.

You can walk through a normal day at work on Facebook Live, introducing viewers to the different members of your team. You could even go further by live-streaming events like product launches, parties, and team building exercises.

 

 

An example of an effective Facebook Live video that allows viewers to peek behind the curtain is the first episode of the “Chasing Daylight” video by Refinery29. Host Lucie Fink not only describes the global initiative of the concept, but is also candid enough to give viewers a glimpse of the people working on the project.

The video also observed some of the best practices used in the live video regarding engaging and acquainting its viewers.

The purpose of showing viewers the kind of brand you are through the people working with you is to bridge the gap between you and your audience. When consumers are able see the people who put the work into building and developing the products and services you provide, they’re able to better connect with the human element, the people behind the business, which can help build stronger ties to your community.

Key Takeaways:

  • Ask people to perform actions for you. Tell them to like something that was mentioned in the video (“Thumbs up if you like Hamilton!”) and ask them to share their comments.
  • Make your engagement personable. Mention the names of users who commented on the video to make them feel a part of the live stream
  • Be spontaneous. Sometimes, having a script to follow makes the video feel forced. To truly make a connection, you need to embrace the spontaneous nature of live streaming and just be your genuine self.

 

To provide the best possible result oriented solutions available we have created the following websites and divisions to work in unision and under the umbrella of RCS Technology Soltutions, LLC : RCS Online Solutions , RCS Digital Marketing, RCS SEO Solutions , RCS Website Solutions , The Best Website Company  , The Best Internet Marketing Company , RCS Managed IT Services, RCS Computer Solutions  Besides that we have dedicated services for Boston, Massachusetts as well including The Best Website Company Boston  & The Best SEO Company Boston . RCS Technology Solutions, LLC is powered by Digital Marketing and Website Expert Ronald Couming who has been  providing expert solutions for more than a decade. Please contact us with any questions or help regarding our services fees  at 001-978-606-5432 or email at info@rcstechnologysolutions.com

4 Simple Steps for Creating a Social Editorial Calendar

4 Simple Steps for Creating a Social Editorial Calendar

There’s no possible way that you can spend every waking moment managing your brand’s social media presence – at least not without suffering from some serious social media burnout. And even if, by some miracle, you could stay at the computer all day every day, why would you want to?

One of the best ways to maximize your time and effort on social is to create a social media editorial calendar for efficient scheduling and posting of your social content.

This graphic (below) helps summarize the basics of the process, but we get into deeper details in the rest of the post.

(If you’d like a more hands-on lesson, sign up for this upcoming webinar about “How to Build a Social Content Calendar”.)

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Why do you need a social media editorial calendar?

We all know that content is king, and that effectively creating and curating content will put you ahead of your competitors. But why else should you spend your time putting a process like this in place? Here are a few key reasons to take advantage of a social editorial calendar.

To save time

Your time on social media is limited, and really, only around 20% of that time should be spent creating and curating content.

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That doesn’t give you too much time to source and schedule all of the content you need to maintain connection with your followers, but if you take the time to sit down and focus on filling your calendar all at once, it can be much more efficient than if you were to create posts on the fly.

In the immortal words of Ron Swanson, “Never half-ass two things, whole-ass one thing.”

To test best posting times

Usually, when you’re creating social media posts on the fly, there isn’t a ton of thought that goes into choosing when the best time to post it is. Social media content is typically posted as soon as it’s created. However, by planning in advance, you can test posting your content at various times of the day and night to see which time windows yield the highest levels of engagement.

For increased accountability

Social media blunders can lead to a lot of trouble for you and your brand and can cause long-lasting damage. Planning your content weeks, or even months, in advance gives you an increased window for detecting potentially damaging social media mistakes ahead of time.

Those are three solid reasons to justify spending just a little bit of time setting up your own social editorial calendar. If you think it might be worth your time, follow these four steps to get started.

1. Figure out which networks to post to

This is one of the first questions brands need to ask themselves when it comes to social media marketing – “which social networks should you be spending the time and resources to establish a presence on?”

With so many social media sites out there these days, it almost makes you jealous of the early adopters whose choices were limited to Facebook, Twitter or both.

There’s no universal answer when it comes to deciding which social networks brands should be on, however, there are a couple of basic research tasks you can undertake to find which networks are most relevant to your brand.

  • Look to past success – One way to find out which social networks you should spend time on is to look at which networks you’ve already been finding success on. It’s likely that you have a general idea of which sites are effective for your brand, but it can be much more effective to use an analytics tool. Try using a tool like Google Analytics to see which networks are currently driving traffic to your site.

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  • Check your demographics – If you’ve got an idea of who your perfect social media customer is – including age, gender and location – you can look to this infographic on social media demographics to find out exactly which social media websites they’re most likely to frequent.

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2. Choose a posting frequency

Once you’ve determined which networks you want to be on, you nest need to establish how often you need to post to them. The challenge here is that there are no hard-and-fast rules when it comes to choosing how often to post to each of your social networks.

Here are some basic guidelines around optimum posting frequencies on each network.

  • Twitter – Three to six times per day. With 500 million tweets sent on Twitter every day, there’s a chance that your tweets could get lost in the shuffle, which is why you should send messages to the network multiple times every single day. There’s much more acceptance when it comes to posting frequently to Twitter, so why not take full advantage of it?
  • Facebook – Two to three times per day. Facebook has an average of 1.09 billion daily active users, which makes it an incredibly enticing network for marketers to post their content to frequently. However, you also need to consider engagement – Facebook’s News Feed algorithm rewards constant engagement, so if you post all day and annoy your fans, your engagement levels will drop, which will also, subsequently, impact your reach.
  • Instagram – One to two times per day. The burgeoning image sharing network has an average of 80 million photos posted every day, and you should make sure that at least one of those is coming from your brand. As the network continues to grow, users are looking for top brands to follow, so getting your content out there early is key.
  • Google+ – One to two times per day. Google+ is a wild card when it comes to posting frequency, but it’s safer to err on the side of posting more often than less. As you can see in the picture taken below, when people search for your brand terms on Google, they often see your most recent Google+ posts. So it’s better to always have a fresh post appear to show that you’re always creating great new content.

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  • LinkedIn – One to two times per day. LinkedIn poses a very unique opportunity for companies in the business-to-business space. The nature of LinkedIn draws in an audience that’s much more business oriented while visiting, so they may be more inclined to buy a B2B product. Companies in that space should take advantage of this and post more frequently.

3. Find and create fantastic content

Don’t be surprised if step two made you feel a little overwhelmed. We all know that content is king, but when did it become necessary to post over 10 social media updates per day – and how can you possibly find enough content to keep your fans and followers interested?

The answer is that you have source great content as well as create your own.

Here are a few quick ways to make sure you always have enough content to entertain your social followers.

  • Use Feedly – Feedly’s a content-aggregation site that helps you find some of the best content for sharing with your audience. Simply subscribe to your favorite blogs and publications and Feedly will pull all of the newest articles from those sources into your own content stream. You can then go on to manually share those articles with your followers, or you can set Feedly up to directly share these articles to your social profiles using a platform like Sprout Social.
  • Write a blog – No matter your situation, you have a unique perspective on your industry. Spend some time writing for your company blog – not only will a blog post give you something to share on social, but it’ll also expand your personal portfolio. If your company doesn’t have a dedicated blog, you can always turn to a content hosting site like Medium.
  • Create a video – Video is quickly becoming one of the most popular content mediums in the marketing industry. Take advantage of current video trend by creating your own to share with your fans. You don’t need to be Steven Spielberg; even a lower-budget video can resonate well with your audience – “Chewbacca Mom” is the most viewed Facebook Live video of all time, and that was filmed on a smart phone in a car park.
  • Create an image – If you don’t think a video would make for a good social post, then consider an image. This can be something that you take yourself, something that you design completely from scratch or a hybrid of the two. If you’re having trouble, check out this article with 36 free tools to help create unique social media images.

4. Schedule content to fill your calendar

Once you know which networks to post to, how often to post to those networks and exactly what you want to post, all you have to do is start to schedule those messages.

Some social networks have tools that enable you to schedule your posts, but it’s much easier to use a tool like Sprout Social to schedule social posts.

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With a system like this in place, you’ll know exactly how many posts you have scheduled for each approaching day, making it easy to gauge when exactly you’ll need to take some more time to fill up your social editorial calendar.

To provide the best possible result oriented solutions available we have created the following websites and divisions to work in unision and under the umbrella of RCS Technology Soltutions, LLC : RCS Online Solutions , RCS Digital Marketing, RCS SEO Solutions , RCS Website Solutions , The Best Website Company , The Best Internet Marketing Company , RCS Managed IT Services, RCS Computer Solutions Besides that we have dedicated services for Boston, Massachusetts as well including The Best Website Company Boston & The Best SEO Company Boston . RCS Technology Solutions, LLC is powered by Digital Marketing and Website Expert Ronald Couming who has been providing expert solutions for more than a decade. Please contact us with any questions or help regarding our services fees at 001-978-606-5432 or email at info@rcstechnologysolutions.com

Author Link: http://www.socialmediatoday.com/social-business/4-simple-steps-creating-social-editorial-calendar

The Most Common Mistake People Make on LinkedIn (and How to Fix it)

The Most Common Mistake People Make on LinkedIn (and How to Fix it)

To this day, it kills me.

I can’t believe I’d been making what now, in retrospect, seems like such a massive mistake with my LinkedIn profile.

But here’s the important part: Once I fixed this error, it helped me generate six figures in sales in just 90 days for my brand-new business.

I’ve seen others utilize the same remedy to earn five figures on a monthly basis, along with generating thousands of new sales leads, all from LinkedIn.

But before I share what this big gaffe was and how to fix it, I need to explain why the mistake was happening to begin with.

LinkedIn – Then and Now

When LinkedIn was first launched in 2003, it was hyper-focused on helping connect job seekers and hiring managers with one another.

As a result, everyone joining LinkedIn was trained, in a sense, to set up his or her individual profile page to read like a virtual résumé.

As a result, most of us set up a profile page that was all about us – where we worked, our job titles and duties, where we went to college, etc.

We even talked about ourselves in the third-person, something you normally associate with egomaniacal pro athletes and celebrities.

Fast forward to today.

With 400 million members in 200 countries, LinkedIn has mushroomed into the world’s number one online platform for professionals to engage, interact, create and consume industry-specific content and much more.

Most important, it’s become, in my opinion, the single fastest, easiest and most effective place online to sell your product or service to your ideal clients and customers.

The Big Mistake

With all that said, far too many of you reading this right now are making the same sales-crushing mistake I once did – having your LinkedIn profile read like your résumé.

And a moment of honesty here: Aside from your mom, nobody cares all that much about your workplace history, accolades and awards you’ve earned or even what your job title is.

Rather, your ideal clients and customers on LinkedIn care about themselves. They care about getting their problems solved. They care about finding a product, service or person that helps them achieve their goals.

If you truly want to create a killer LinkedIn profile that attracts clients and generates warm, inbound sales leads, it’s critical to stop making this mistake.

The Solution

Instead of having your profile read like an online résumé, you need to make it all about how you can help a specific, targeted audience of customers and clients achieve their goals by utilizing your service or product.

Go back through your LinkedIn profile (especially your Summary section) and try to answer this question: How is what I’m sharing here going to help my ideal client or customer solve his or her biggest problem? How is what I’m writing right now going to help my ideal client make more money, save time and solve core challenges I know he or she faces every day?

More good news: I have an entire copy-and-paste template you can steal to make this transition easy.

For instance, you can start with a fill-in-the-blank sentence like this for your LinkedIn profile’s “Summary” section:

WHAT I DO: I help [MY AUDIENCE] achieve [THEIR GOAL] by providing [MY PRODUCT or SERVICE].

See how client-facing that is?

It’s all about flipping the old, outdated view of LinkedIn as a job seeker/hiring manager network upside down, and instead building a personal brand that makes it clear who you are, what you do, and the unique value or benefit you can bring a specific audience in the workplace.

Once you have your profile in order, going out on LinkedIn to find, engage and sell to your ideal clients and customers becomes far easier.

Making This Mistake on LinkedIn? Fix it ASAP

So what are you waiting for? Go use the provided template, fill in the blanks, and within a few minutes you can have an all-new, client facing LinkedIn Profile that will set you up for the same type of success these professionals are enjoying on the network.

 

To provide the best possible result oriented solutions available we have created the following websites and divisions to work in unision and under the umbrella of RCS Technology Soltutions, LLC : RCS Online Solutions , RCS Digital Marketing, RCS SEO Solutions , RCS Website Solutions , The Best Website Company , The Best Internet Marketing Company , RCS Managed IT Services, RCS Computer Solutions Besides that we have dedicated services for Boston, Massachusetts as well including The Best Website Company Boston & The Best SEO Company Boston . RCS Technology Solutions, LLC is powered by Digital Marketing and Website Expert Ronald Couming who has been providing expert solutions for more than a decade. Please contact us with any questions or help regarding our services fees at 001-978-606-5432 or email at info@rcstechnologysolutions.com

Author Link: http://www.socialmediatoday.com/social-networks/most-common-mistake-people-make-linkedin-and-how-fix-it

 

5 Ways to Use Video to Effectively Market Your Business

5 Ways to Use Video to Effectively Market Your Business

Let’s face the facts: Videos are hot right now.

From funny cats to the little boy claiming that Charlie bit his finger, it can start to feel like a new video goes viral every single day – and actually, that may not be far from the truth. YouTube has over a billion users, which equates to almost one-third of all people on the internet, and every single day people watch hundreds of millions of hours on YouTube and other video platforms, generating billions upon billions of views.

The impact that online videos are having on the internet right now is unparalleled. If you want to connect with a larger audience, and drive signups to your site and increase conversions, you just may want to look into creating videos.

But the most important part, at least in my opinion, is to first learn how to use videos to effectively market your business.

That’s where we come in.

In this article, we’ll provide you with 5 ideas on ways you can use video to drive signups and increase your website conversions.

Tip #1: Provide product walkthroughs to increase new customer acquisition

 

To gain full respect and trust from potential clients, you need to first put yourself in their shoes. Assuming that you were a person looking to buy a particular product, what would you want to know about it?

Well, for starters, chances are that you’d want to become acquainted with how it works – something a video walkthrough can answer.

Start from the very beginning, and ensure you cover off on all the key functionality of your product. You want your walkthrough to go over everything and leave no questions left unanswered.

That’s exactly what the makers of HoneyBook did with their nearly 22 minute full product walkthrough Youtube video (above).

Making something like this is easy, too. If you’re a Mac user, you can easily do something like this with Quicktime. PC users can download something like ScreenRecorder for an easy, painless experience as well.

Insider Secret #2: Provide how-to videos to increase traffic

 

I know what you’re probably thinking: “How does this differ at all from the walkthrough video?” Well, I’ll explain.

In a walkthrough video, you’re teaching the audience how to use your product.

In a how-to video, you’re teaching the audience how to do something that uses your product.

Let’s take Home Depot’s how-to videos and use them as an example, shall we?

Suppose for a moment that I sell expensive drills. Instead of teaching users all about the different functions of the drill, my how-to video would teach users how to replace a toilet… While using the drill.

You don’t necessarily need to plug or sell your product in a how-to video, you rely on your audience’s intelligence to know that. If they’re interested, they’ll seek the drill out for themselves.

Pro Tip: Post your video on your site, and include the step-by-step instructions as a way to extend the reach of your content. You can document anything like these bloggers who create income reports that share their earnings.

Insider Secret #3: Provide product description videos to increase conversions

 

Whenever I’m on the market for a new cell phone or laptop (and unfortunately this happens more often than I care to admit), I end up turning to Youtube videos to find out more about the products I’m considering. There’s something about seeing a product in action that can sway a person to either purchase or discard any given product.

Short promotional videos that tell the audience all about the important key features of a product should serve one purpose: to drive home why they need to buy it for themselves.

These videos, usually only a few minutes in length, give the consumer a chance to see the product outside of pictures. They get to see how it looks and works and can more easily imagine themselves using it.

Heck, there are entire companies dedicated to this kind of work. Just ask Video Explainers, the fast growing explainer video company that has over 500 videos in their portfolio.

The concept behind the company is simple: promote products like Inaloop, campaigns, apps and software like Squad Technologies, events, and more through animation and thorough explanation.

This concept doesn’t just work for these kinds of companies, either. Informational videos can be especially useful for apparel, as people want to see how an article of clothing clings or moves to the body in motion.

Insider Secret #4: Provide product testimonials to promote proof of concept

 

At this point, I think everyone on the planet has seen at least one Proactiv commercial starring a beautiful celebrity with ‘hard to manage’ skin. What makes these commercials so successful is the conversational tone to them. Celebrities ranging from Jessica Simpson to Adam Levine to supermodel Lily Aldridge all sit down in front of a camera and talk their acne struggles.

You don’t need a handful of celebrities in your corner to promote your product, although I’m sure it would be nice.

Simply having a few happy customers who attest to the usefulness of your product is all you need. Reach out to a few people and ask them to describe their experiences, as well as what problem(s) your product managed to solve for them.

Insider Secret #5: Provide video ads to increase sales

If you ask some, the best part of the Super Bowl is the funny commercials that come between plays.

If you want to reach a wider audience, you should consider paid video ads.

Of course Youtube and Facebook are great avenues to promote your product, but short ad videos on social media sites like Instagram and Vine are starting to pick up as well.

Just check out this Lowe’s Instagram ad, which generated nearly 49,000 likes for the home improvement chain.

The biggest piece of advice I can offer here is to remember that advertisements can be tricky. Be sure to target your audience as precisely as you possibly can, as ads are expensive and a bad targeting job can result in a dramatic loss.
To provide the best possible result oriented solutions available we have created the following websites and divisions to work in unision and under the umbrella of RCS Technology Soltutions, LLC : RCS Online Solutions , RCS Digital Marketing, RCS SEO Solutions , RCS Website Solutions , The Best Website Company , The Best Internet Marketing Company , RCS Managed IT Services, RCS Computer Solutions Besides that we have dedicated services for Boston, Massachusetts as well including The Best Website Company Boston & The Best SEO Company Boston . RCS Technology Solutions, LLC is powered by Digital Marketing and Website Expert Ronald Couming who has been providing expert solutions for more than a decade. Please contact us with any questions or help regarding our services fees at 001-978-606-5432 or email at info@rcstechnologysolutions.com

Author Link: http://www.socialmediatoday.com/social-business/5-ways-use-video-effectively-market-your-business

360 Photos by Facebook – A New Revolution in Social Media Photo Sharing

360 Photos by Facebook – A New Revolution in Social Media Photo Sharing

Videos, in blogs, email and even through texts are going to be a major part of any effective marketing campaign.  We would like to bring you the following information about Facebook new 360 photo and video offerings.

Get ready for a whole new way to share experiences on Facebook – rolling out from today, all users will soon be able to upload 360 photos to the platform.

As you can see from the video, uploading a 360 photo is pretty simple – as explained by Facebook:

Simply take a panorama with your phone or capture a 360-degree photo using a 360 photo app or 360 camera, and then post it on Facebook as you would a normal photo. From there, we’ll convert it to an immersive 360 photo that people can explore, similar to how people experience 360 videos on Facebook.”

a1Similar to the Instant Articles lightning bolt icon, 360 photos will have a compass symbol on the right hand side of the photo, signifying that users are able to tilt their phone or drag with their mouse to see more of the image.

a2Facebook’s also posted a range of examples of 360 content in action, including the above image from a recent Paul McCartney concert, a behind-the-scenes view of the Supreme Court via The New York Times, and a look inside the International Space Station with NASA.

The option opens up a whole new consideration for content creators on the platform. 360 content has been available for a while, of course, but not many people have the capacity to actually create a 360 video – the introduction of an easy way for regular users to create their own 360 content is a big step in opening the option up more widely. And while it’s still not as smooth as it could be for all users (those with older phones or in low connectivity areas may have trouble getting the most out of the 360 experience), it represents another move towards the next phase of Facebook’s visual journey – and as noted by Mark Zuckerberg himself, Facebook will be ‘mostly video’ by 2019.

a3And that next evolution will change everything.

At the moment, there’s a lot of talk in social media circles about immersive content and virtual reality. And yet, despite new devices and features being rolled out to enable this coming shift, it still feels a way off. Part of that, no doubt, is because of the various barriers for entry – purchasing a VR capable home system is projected to cost around $1,500 at basic level, and then you also have to factor in regional network capacity and other connective issues that could potentially hinder the experience.

But despite these concerns, VR is coming, and it will be significant. Current audience trends and data point to such.

For example, this slide from the 2014 Mary Meeker Internet Trends Report provides some scope of the rise in photo-sharing on social media, with 1.8 billion photos being shared every day – and keep in mind, this was two years ago.

a4The reason more images have been shared is, basically, because we can – while text updates can convey information, an actual image provides real proof, a shared sense of experience. And that being the case, video takes it to the next level, and as technology has advanced, we’ve evolved from photo sharing to video – again, because we can.

a5As capability increases, we gravitate towards the medium which best enables us to communicate the feeling of the moment, the best way to share our experiences with others. And going on these two trends, it’s clear to see that once we have the capacity to do that in a new way, we do so – and no medium will enable us to give others a perspective on our world than virtual reality. Soon, you’ll be able to provide your friends and followers with a fully immersive shared experience, with spatial audio that can simulate where each noise is coming from and a responsive interface that allows viewers to see what they want to look at.

Imagine being able to experience the NBA Finals from the front row. Imagine, as with the above 360 examples provided by Facebook, standing on stage at a concert, looking out at the crowd. Imagine floating in the International Space Station. Sure, you can look at pictures, you can even watch video – even view a 360 image, but nothing will compare to that next level VR experience. Once those barriers to entry are reduced, virtual reality will be massive – and the opportunities, on both an individual and brand level, are equally huge.

As an example of that marketing capacity, take a look at this new development from Google called Tango, which has been in development for the past three years.

Now imagine that capacity in connection with, say, Pinterest, where people could explore an item within the spatial context of their home.

Now imagine that same capacity in a fully immersive, virtual environment, not just on your phone.

As noted, the possibilities are huge.

Facebook’s introduction of 360 photos is the next small step towards the next evolution of the platform, and the medium more widely.

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