video lights in a white room

Top 10 Video Marketing Best Practices For Small Businesses

Video marketing is an effective way to promote a product or service, it is not something that needs to be done occasionally to raise brands, and instead, it should be something that is done regularly at every stage of your journey through making and retaining your customers and clients. According to HubSpot research, consumers prefer lower-quality realistic videos to quality video adverts that looks all made and deceptive. Consumers and potential clients prefer raw authenticity to over slick production quality. This means that you don't need to break the bank in order to start your video marketing.

Best Practices In Video Marketing

  1. Upload native videos

Videos that are uploaded directly from your smartphone to Facebook or Instagram gain 10 times more views than when you drop a YouTube link on your timeline. Generally, people prefer watching the video on Facebook instead of being redirected to YouTube and coming back again to Facebook after seeing the video.

  1. Focus on Branding

The good thing about social media video marketing is that they don't force viewers to see the video, unlike TV commercials, do, social media videos are viewed at "Me" times when the attention of the viewer can be caught. Facebook and YouTube videos are ideal for connecting and building brand awareness first before generating direct response.

  1. Make sure the information is communicated even without sound.

Most times, users on social media scroll through their timelines while their device sound is mute, so it is important to make sure that your video fully sends the information without sound, including text in the video can also help communicate the message in the absence of sound so that people can be engaged while viewing the video.

  1. Grab attention in 3 seconds

You know your target audience, it is ideal that you use graphics that will captivate their interest in less than 4 seconds, use stunning imagery and footage to hold them down, avoid starting your video with a composition of words that needs to be read for 5 seconds before the video starts. That can come at the end of the video.

  1. Keep it Square

Recently, 1:1 video started to be more relevant than videos in the landscape in terms of average engagement, views, and reach, especially on mobile. These days screen orientation has an impact on viewers, square videos have a way of making viewers think it is going to be short and detailed so they are likely to watch to the end.

  1. Emotional. Informative.

Ensure that your video is entertaining and informative such that viewers will instantly hit the share button if any exists. Find ways to relate your videos to trending topics. The most captivating are entertainment and heartwarming stories.

  1. Include a CTA (Call-To-Action)

Including a call-to-action button will ensure that you convert viewers to buyers instantly. There is a need for you to include a strong and compelling call to action button as a still image in the background or as a pop up to tell the people what you expect them to do.

  1. 30 – 60 seconds

The norm these days are videos having a maximum of 1-minute playtime, this is ideal for Instagram and Facebook. It consumes less time of the viewer and if done well, sends across the message in the shortest possible time when compared with 10 seconds videos that have less info or 2 minutes videos that can be boring.

  1. Unfold yourself

Going live on your handles can spark up a connection and relationship between you and your clients, it is important in marketing because it serves as a medium through which your customers can interact with you in real time.

  1. YouTube

YouTube is synonymous with Video, yes Facebook videos have a higher engagement potential, YouTube videos, on the other hand, can be shared on any platform, that makes it able to reach more people in different places.

 

If you have any questions or need assistance in your social marketing strategy, give us a call! We would love to audit your current strategy and provide you recommendations, no obligation!

by Optic Marketing

keyboard and phone on a desk with glasses

Best Practices For Call-To-Actions For User Experience

Proper attention should be given to call to action buttons, they are the driving factors that help you convert your visitors into actual clicks. Call to action buttons as it is related to user experience are those elements in your landing page that solicit or demands action from the user, so whenever you come across a button that asks you to learn more, downloads now or sign up now, that is simply known as a call to action button.

This is to say that a rich knowledge and understanding of how to color, how to scale, what language to make use of, and so many other factors should be possessed by the web designers in order to fully harness the potentials that the conversion rate can yield. The process of doing this is not complicated but requires some level of creativity and forethought in order to create a potent call to action buttons.

Best Practices for Effective Call to Action Buttons

As I said earlier, call to actions button as related to user interface requires some level of creativity, forethought as well as planning and as such should be embedded in the prototype stage of the information structure of the web design so that every relevant information needed to create a catchy call to action button can be meticulously addressed.

Call to Action Practices That Work

  1. Text should be impulsive: you must try as much as possible to avoid boring and old English words in your call to action button, words like ENTER, SUBMIT, SHOW should be avoided in this 21st century once it concerns call to action buttons. Instead use GRAB, GET, CLAIM TRY, etc, these are words that demand impulsive action. Attention should be given to the kind of product or brand you are trying to promote because this is not a one works for all type of stuff.

Guidelines in Using Text

  • Use plain but direct language that is easy to comprehend
  • Use bold and large fonts for the main text
  • The language should demand fast action
  1. Color and Shape: to make buttons more inviting and attracting, attention should be given to colors and the shapes of the button. Human dispositions and moods readily respond to the visual elements surrounding them. While choosing your color scheme and shapes bear in mind that once the eyes behold them, information will be rapidly sent to the brain which in turn triggers the secretion of hormones by the endocrine system which is solely responsible for a shift in emotions and moods.

This is a short color and shape guide

  • The call to action buttons are supposed to be the largest buttons in the webpage
  • Make the smaller call to actions buttons stand out by using contrasting colors for them
  • Use colors that are less distinct, this will make the big call to action buttons to fit in better
  • The color and shape used should be able to attract attention no matter how sophisticated the web design is.
  1. Find A Prominent Position: I don’t think that anybody wants to keep the call to action button in a position where it will be hard to find, but this area is also very vital, call to action buttons should be placed in very prominent positions where they will stand out, placing it at the tail of the landing page will kill your site and will not bring forth any conversion, on the other hand, top of the landing page does wonders, center of the webpage is another good location.

Guidelines

  • Do not let the call to action button to be choked by other content on the web page.
  • Inculcate the principles of rule of thirds and golden ratio while determining how much space to add
  • Negative spacing avails your call to action button space to be unique from other contents in the webpage
  1. Create a Sense Of Urgency: There is something you should know about creating a sense of urgency, the more time you avail for your visitors to think about the offer, the more likely you will get a NO as an answer, this does not mean that you should deceive your visitors but the call to action button should be able to create the impression that time is not on your visitors side and that they need to act fast. That means that you need them to act on the spur of the moment. As we said these tips don’t work for brands, brands with high prized items may not get the best out of this when compared to free or low prized stuff.

Urgency Guidelines

  • The call to action button should motivate the visitor to act instantly
  • The call to action button should create no room for inquiries
  • Be genuine and authentic, do not deceive your visitors.
  1. Tell the visitors what to expect: As the case may be, use the call to action button to throw more light on information that they need as it concerns the call to action button. Example if it is a free trial call to action button, then you can tell them how long the free trial will last, if it is a download button, then the size of the file, as well as the version of the file if necessary, should be given, so you see that if this is done, there will be no room for visitors to hesitate before clicking.

Information Guidelines

  • Only add information that is relevant to user experience
  • This information is not relevant to all call to action buttons but works better for download and free trial buttons.
  • The information should not overshadow the main call to action text.

Conclusion

After all, said and done, testing should be done to ascertain whether the call to action button in the user experience is yielding as much conversion as expected of it. conduct A/B tests on them regularly so as to improve on your CTA button, while doing this, it is recommended that you divide the visitors into groups before showing them the progressive test results, with this you can determine which CTA is more efficient and which should be improved on.

After reading this blog, you should know that color, size and other factors mentioned above have a high impact on the call to action buttons and therefore each should be tested individually to ascertain which works best.

by Optic Marketing

color wheel

Call-To-Action That Work: 10 Examples To Test

As an internet user, you must have come across pop up boxes that tend to gently persuade you to click on them or tries to advertise the juicy part of what you are looking for and ask you to either buy now or learn more, these are call to action ideas, they are there to make the visitor or the reader to have a sought of commitment to your brand in different ways either by buying your product, investing in your idea or service, following you on social media or joining your email list. The sole aim of these call to action is to establish leads and create a high conversion rate for your website so that in the end, you can make sales.

The Importance of Good Call-to-Action

Call to action generally automate and seamlessly transforms your marketing efforts into leads and sales while you are not working from street to street trying to do the gentle persuasion on your own, they can come in the form of bars, exit intent popup windows or small automated dialogue boxes that starts up a chart and then transfers you to a real person.

Having said this, I will go ahead and give you some call to action ideas that have been tested and trusted to work for home services, real estate, and medical rehab brands.

  1. Download now: This is like a hot cake that never gets cold, it works so well especially when you have a service or product that you want to sell and you want to take the visitor to the checkout page or sales page. It is very effective and in those two words, it tells the visitor straight on what to expect when he or she clicks the call to action button.
  2. Try it for free: Everyone loves the word free, some people have grown to give less trust in the word free, but then for a brand to offer their product or service for free shows how credible and trustworthy the product is, once it is marketed well with a compelling phrase added to it, the try it out for free yields a lot of conversions, Netflix has used this particular call to action to turn millions of visitors into customers and sales for real cash.
  3. Talk to an expert now: Ok this goes miles for medical brands and real estate brands and almost any brand that deals with professionals, getting to book an appointment with a professional these days can be so tedious and in most cases, everyone wants to get some professional advice as to what to do next. This is why this call to action button does wonders. It turns visitors into instant callers but I must warn you, be sure that you have 1,001 answers to 1,000 questions because if this does not go well, you will lose that visitor and other prospective visitors forever.
  4. Learn More: This cannot be overlooked especially by people in the medical field. I chose to say the medical field and rehab because many people wish they can gain knowledge on certain things that are affecting their lives and well-being. Therefore offering patients and consumers an accurate opportunity to gain relevant knowledge about medical conditions and alternative treatments can turn visitors into dedicated customers and will even grow your email list and give you lots of cash.
  5. Limited Offer: Here you create a rush in the mind of your visitors, you let them know that there’s something they will like to have, but that it is not going to remain there for long, so this is the time to click, this one really works as fast as the word fast, so you’ll get people hurrying up to click so as not to miss the chance.
  6. Order now and receive a free gift: Gifts are always worth more than their actual price, so many people have bought one commodity or subscribed for one service because of the gift that was fixed to it, free gifts and consolation prices are good sales incentives. This must not be a physical gift, it can come in the form of a discount on next purchase or an immediate purchase, it can be a free premium membership for 1 month, and you just have to be creative with it.
  7. Request your FREE quote today: Some people live by seeing and believing, so they prefer getting a free quote in order to make a more informed decision, free quotes cost little time and no financial commitment but gives information that is enough to generate leads and sales. So whether you are a broker, real estate or home services brand, giving your visitors a free quote will turn more than 50% traffic into sales and return customers and can also grow your email list.
  8. Buy now and get free shipping: Shipping costs is one of the major challenges of purchasing goods online. Consumers will always prefer to transport themselves through the city to acquire their goods in person than to not only pay for shipping but also to stand guard waiting for it to arrive safely in one piece. The good news is that most customers won’t mind waiting for their goods to arrive so far they don’t have to bother about shipping costs. This is the reason why firms like Amazon deliver goods without adding shipping costs over a specified dollar amount.
  9. Money-Back Guarantee/ Free returns: This combo is well loved by customers and shows how reliable and how firm a company stands by its products and services, this assures the buyer that the product is good and if by error there are some discrepancies, many customers may not really want to initiate the return process and even if they do and because of the free returns and money back guarantee. They feel more satisfied when the company fulfills its promises.
  10. Call toll free: This is another sure call to action. It helps you reach more visitors and allows you to market your product from where ever you are. People will feel free and more comfortable to call you up knowing that they are not paying for the call so that they can explain to you what they want and also get all the necessary details they need. This is a magical call to action because you can lock down sure deals as fast as the call drop through this call to action.

Guide on best call to action tips

  • Always include a possessive adjective like “Mine or your” in your call to action statement
  • Use timelines to create urgency in other to encourage clicks
  • If you lack creativity, use a call to action software
  • Use words can induce curiosity and enthusiasm
  • Give useful insights I the call to action

Last Mention

Call to actions is a trial and error type of activity, you can only get better by trying different approaches until you earn what works for you, the aim is to convert visitors to loyal customers, if that's the case, it needs seriousness and practice, failure is part of learning when it comes to call to action campaigns. So spend the time to research ideas and also be sensitive to what gets you more clicks.

by Optic Marketing

a desk with magazines and pens and pencils

How To Start Using Sensory Marketing Strategy & Branding Guidelines

Sensory Marketing, What is that?

Sensory marketing and sensory branding is a form of a marketing strategy focused around appealing to each of the five senses we have to influence an emotional response. By focusing on all of our senses; smell, touch, sight, taste, and sound, not only make your brand stand out, but also guide you in creating a long-lasting impression on your audience. The goal is to seduce the audience to feel such an emotion that engages them to turn their newly found emotion or feeling into a desire to take a form of action. This approach is a multi-sensory experience utilizing what we know about neurobiology and social psychology.

According to Martin Lindstrom, author of Brand Sense – Build Powerful Brands through Touch, Taste, Smell, Sight, and Sound, here are the top industry leaders back in 2005:

Top Leaders of Sensory Branding

  • Singapore Airlines
  • Apple
  • Disney
  • Mercedes Benz
  • Marlboro

These are pretty established brands that are very strict and consistent in their marketing.  As a consumer, you know you are getting an experience, not just a product.

What about me?

Most small business owners not only lack the knowledge and experience, but they also require the budget and time needed to invest in mastering such a complicated and resource heavy strategy. Traditional marketing is an easier solution and has been favored because it’s easier and more comfortable to execute. Ask yourself, that last radio spot you created about a “factory blow-out deal,” did it appeal to the taste and smell senses? Sure, if I was searching for a car or a new air conditioner, and I hear there is a sale going on, I might pay attention. What makes me as a consumer remember you versus the other “factory blow-out deal” I just heard on the radio? I mean by now, as a consumer, every holiday there will be “the best deal ever” so I wait and make my purchases around a holiday. Knowing that business owners have to advertise heavy during peak times to compete against all their competitors doing the exact same strategy and media companies raise the rates knowing YOU are doing to do this again and again. Who is winning here? Now as a business owner you are struggling to get those sales in-between these cycles and be pulling out all your creative tricks to be heard out of all the other noise of the exact same offers your competitors are presenting. Are you really saving money at the end of the day?

 

Okay, now I am listening.

Let’s go back to my “factory blow-out deal” scenario above and talk about the smell and taste senses that are hard to accomplish for car dealerships or stand-alone products. How do I make someone “smell” that new car? How do I make them taste that smell of the new car in the back of their throat? Well, really amazing videos and graphics can do this. Think about Mercedes Benz for a moment. When you think about their cars, you can smell the leather, feel the leather, almost taste the luxury feeling. The images used may seem simple, but the lighting, backdrops, the angle all play a huge role in your psyche. The simple fact that we as consumers expect every dollar spent on this vehicle is just fine, because of the way it will make us feel about owning one. This was not done overnight, this was done by design with actual scientific data, creativity, and planning.

Where do I begin to change my marketing process?

First, you need to have a concept that you can carry out that is timeless that can be repurposed in multiple ways through multiple channels.

Second, you have to have a strategy around the timing of your messaging. You don’t want to be sitting through your sales season and find yourself looking for new concepts, this needs to be well throughout and planned in advance.

Last, you need to have all your designs, videos, content, and voice completed in advance to avoid wasting your time and resources scrambling for assets that don’t fall within your overall marketing strategy.

Where should I include this in my marketing and branding efforts?

Simple, everywhere. Yes, be aware of the sensory marketing next time you start planning. Think to yourself, what sense are we capturing here? How can we make it better? Most of society use their mobile devices these days more than their laptop or desktop. When you are on your cell phone, what are YOU doing and what social channels are YOU using? If you are using those, most likely your customers are too! What messages can you appeal through that social platform to entice a user? Think about what people search for on social media like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, Google My Business, etc. What are people doing while they are on apps? What are people searching for on Google or Bing? Know what your audience is doing on each platform and customize your message for each accordingly, mastering as many senses as you can on each.

What is the easiest way to get started?

First, audit what you are currently doing and poke holes in it for improvement. See what you can reuse and make adjustments to drive better performance. Are you getting in front of your audience at the right time of day or day of the week? Get more research and compare that to the new GAP analysis you created during your audit. Test, measure, optimize, and test again. Need further help getting started? Contact us today and ask about our video services. We offer a variety of videos we can create to get your sensory message across to use on your website and social media platforms.

 

by Optic Marketing