Create a Video Marketing Plan in 5 Easy Steps

Video marketing is one of the most effective kinds of web marketing available today. Most companies have a YouTube Channel at the very least, and many feature video right on their home page. Getting video marketing right can mean increased conversions and higher profits in the long run - so why not start with creating a video marketing plan? Here are 5 steps to making your plan a great one:

1. Set your goals and budget – Set a budget and determine what services you will need to pay for in order to make your video marketing the best. Will you create the content yourself, or hire someone to do it? Will you need to license music, use what's available for free, or create your own? Will you pay to have your videos promoted on platforms like YouTube?
2. Define the target audience – Who will be watching your videos? Do you need to categorize your videos into different types for different audiences? For example, you wouldn't show the same videos to doctors as you would to patients.
3. Create content – Create scripts and storyboards for your videos, then create them! Don't be afraid to get funny and creative - for example, check out these "Retail Fail" videos by WhizBang! Training.
4. Choose a video platform – Vimeo, Youtube, Brightcove, Metacafe -  there are endless free and paid options to display your videos to the customer. Develop a strategy for which video platforms you will use.
5. Develop a distribution plan – It's easy to embed video from many platforms, so be sure to spread your content on social media and the web. Make sure that your video content gets onto your Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, blog, and website.

Need more ideas? Check out our article 10 Steps to Video Marketing Success.

This week with @socialjamie: Video Marketing Power: Strategize & Optimize for Success

For some time now, video marketing has been an influential part of how businesses manage their online campaigns. As trends tend to come and go in the Internet sphere, marketers must constantly change to adapt to their surroundings. However, video marketing doesn't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon, and this week's webinar should give you a better understanding of how to tie it into your own social plans. Ten Golden Rules' own Jamie Maloney is on board this week's Wednesday Webinar to talk about strategizing and optimizing videos for marketing success.

In this webinar, we'll teach you how to:
· Create strategies for marketing your videos online
· Optimize your videos for search engines (SEO)
· Generate new ideas for video content

Click here to register for FREE (3-20-13 at 12:30pm EST)
http://bit.ly/WQjj09

About Jamie Maloney
Jamie Maloney is an account manager at Ten Golden Rules. She has an MBA and over 12 years of experience in marketing and branding. Her love of agency work derives from her interest in learning the intricacies of different industries. Internet marketing is her passion with a strong focus on social media strategy and search engine optimization. Offline, you can find her playing with her tennis ball-obsessed Boston Terrier, Bruce Lee, and going to live music shows with her rockstar husband.

Click here to register for FREE (3-20-13 at 12:30pm EST)
http://bit.ly/WQjj09

The Top 5 Trends for Optimization to Increase ROI

Adobe recently released results of the 2012 Digital Marketing Optimization Survey in which they compiled global responses from over 1,700 digital marketers. The survey reports that digital marketers need to excel in four key areas to achieve success: social, mobile, personalization and the customer experience. The survey also uncovered areas of opportunity for improving conversion through optimization and, in turn, improving your ROI.

The five biggest trends for achieving optimum conversion are:

1.       Make optimization a strategic process – with just a few small adjustments, double-digits lifts in conversion can be achieved, resulting in deeper customer loyalties and a greater competitive advantage. 

2.       Utilize a data-driven approach to optimization – balance acquisition and optimization efforts to drive higher returns and include tactics like optimized site search, personalization, automated recommendations and testing.

3.       Implement a video marketing plan – video can educate, entertain and engage customers; 61% of survey respondents named video as one of the top rich media features to focus conversion efforts on this year.

4.       Optimize mobile channels – customer experiences that are device-appropriate will generate a higher ROI, especially for tablet users. Adobe’s survey found that consumers who access retail websites via tablets spend more than customers on other devices or computers and are 3 times more likely than smartphone visitors to make a purchase.

5.       Capitalize on social engagement - encourage social sharing within your social media networks and implement tools for moderating and measuring your social media channels.

You can download the survey results here. Strategic optimization can boost conversion rates through the entire sales funnel. Is there any room for improvement in your customers’ experience?