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Posts Tagged ‘Blogging’

Video Killed the Blogging Star: Getting Started with Video Marketing

Posted on by Tamara Brooks

Internet Marketing Health CheckVideo Killed the Blogging Star: Getting Started with Video Marketing

It’s no secret that videos are an essential part of any online marketing campaign. Online videos are relatively inexpensive to produce and even easier to propagate through sites like YouTube, Vimeo and Veoh. Videos can also promote heavy traffic as well as organic search results – Google loves videos and more often than not, videos are some of the first results that pop up on top. Besides, multimedia presentations are much more engaging than plain text and pictures. In fact, in a study by research group BIA Kelsey, it was concluded that 55% of participants visited a website after viewing a video, and more importantly, 24% of them actually bought something from the website.

So anyone with a camera and an Internet connection can make a video – but that doesn’t mean you should just shoot a video without rhyme or reason. A bad video can backfire – many badly written and produced videos achieve Internet infamy and end up as laughing stocks. If you’re thinking of creating your own online video to promote your business, the following are some tips to get you started:
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No Time to Blog? Let Us Do It For You!

Posted on by Tamara Brooks

Getting your blog feed going
It seems everyone from your teenaged niece to your grandma in Calgary is blogging these days!

Setting up your own web log and telling the world about what’s happening with you is easy enough and definitely much simpler than writing emails to your family and friends.

It was only a matter of time before businesses began to get into the act as well, and many have found that blogging really can change your business, how people view your company and how they interact with you. BusinessWeek, in their May 2005 cover story “Blogs Will Change Your Business,” agrees:
They’re [blogs] going to shake up just about every business — including yours…Given the changes barreling down upon us, blogs are not a business elective. They’re a prerequisite.

However, if you’re busy with other things (let’s say, uh, running your company), then you might not have the time to update your blog with fresh content on a regular basis. If this is the case, then you may consider getting some outside help, which is where October 17 Media comes in. We offer many social media and internet marketing solutions, including creating relevant content for business blogs.

First off, why should you hire an outside company to write your blog? Think of the opportunity cost. While it would be nice to have the CEO or Vice President of your company personally writing your blog posts, it means taking time away from more important tasks. With many companies under the gun to produce these days, that extra hour or so to create a blog post could be spent making money for the company. Having someone do it for you can help delegate one more thing off your busy plate and leave you with time to spend on other tasks.

One of the great things about blogs is that they can be about anything and everything – there’s no strict rule about what you can discuss. However, it should definitely be focused on promoting your company, for example informing people about a new product or how a certain service benefits your customers. You might also consider sharing a case study or a testimonial from a current client! (Check out one of ours here).

Industry news and media highlights are also good blog subjects and provide useful and timely information for readers. We ensure that any topics employ user-friendly keywords that make your post easy to distribute via other social media outlets such as Twitter and Facebook (Read “A beginners guide to Twitter here“). That means more eyeballs viewing your blog (which is hopefully located on your business website) and more potential customers to learn about your products and services.

But why hire us to blog about YOUR company?
Put simply, we take time to get to know you and your industry. We learn about your business, about your customers and, more importantly, about YOU. That way, we know what’s important to you and your audience and are able to write (and respond) in a voice that appeals to them. We can get your blog going with just one or two posts per week (more if needed) and we ensure you’re comfortable with the content by including 3 rounds of revisions before your post is published.

So why not give it whirl? Just contact us via email or call us at 604.688.7616 and if you have any questions or comments, we can answer them and get your company blog set-up today!

DIY: Your Tiny URL with Your Own Domain

Posted on by Tamara Brooks

Back in the day, when you wanted to share the web address of your fab Paris vacation with someone, you’d have to type up the entire URL or copy and paste it into an email before barraging your friends and family (and the world) with pictures of you wearing a beret in front of the [insert famous Parisian landmark here].

If you’re not careful, of course, when you ask your BFF Debbie if she had a chance to see your pics of the tres magnifique croissant you had for breakfast every morning, she might look at you blankly and say the link didn’t work.
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Viral Marketing Videos That’ll Give You Goosebumps

Posted on by Tamara Brooks

Today, with the rapid adoption of social media, a successful viral marketing campaign is a coveted triumph for marketers. What makes viral marketing so valuable is its very nature, the fact that it spreads unchecked, uncontrolled and without constraint like a virus. There is no other form of advertising that has the unbounded potential of viral marketing.

Why? Because it is driven by the consumer and not the seller. Of course, the aim of a viral marketing campaign is to get a company in the spotlight and receive massive exposure online but in order for it to be successful, it has to have viral appeal. People need to be moved by it, feel excited by what they see to the extent that they want to share it.

We’re going to share with you some recent viral marketing videos that have done exactly that, companies communicated something unique and their target market ensured that the intended audience saw and shared. Viral marketing at its best makes you want to join in.

  1. T-Mobile: Life’s For Sharing
    On 19 January 2009, at 11:00am at Liverpool Street Station, T-Mobile launched its Life’s For Sharing campaign, live. From the depths of a teeming train station, casually dressed dancers, seemingly also a part of the stations’ daily grind, suddenly began to dance. As the music continued and the dancers performed their routine to different music clips, the station started to come alive until at the very end almost everyone on the platform was doing ‘the twist’. Then, as suddenly as it began, the music stopped and the crowd dispersed. What a brilliant captive audience, no doubt, every single passenger in that station called more than one friend with the line; ‘You’ll never believe what happened to me today!’ On YouTube, the clip has been viewed over 13,6 million times and counting.
  2. Extreme Sheep LED Art

    Samsung created this fantastically smart campaign which combines nature and technology to promote the LED technology and of course, the company’s LED TVs. Samsung are using a very appealing video to promote a rather sophisticated product. This video is just short of 9 million views on YouTube.

  3. The Portobello Mushroom Burger

    The beauty of viral videos is that they do not have to be nearly as sophisticated as the two mentioned above. This simple video which incorporates the eloquent talents of a young gentleman serves very effectively to spread the Carl’s message – How to Eat a Six Dollar Portobello Mushroom Burger.

  4. If you are thinking of social media or developing your own viral strategy? October 17 Media would be more than happy to help you develop and spread the message!

Three Cups of Tea and Oprah Love!

Posted on by Tamara Brooks

Internet Marketing Health CheckHey There October 17 Media Fans!

We’re using our blog for a little goodwill today! And if you could use the “share this” widget at the bottom of the post to keep the goodwill going it would be appreciated. The October 17 Media team will be Twittering, Facebooking and LinkedIn’ing this blog post to get the word out!

An October 17 Media client received an email challenge yesterday which has gotten them (and consequently us!) very excited, but they need your help.

The Challenge
They were challenged to take $100 and, between now and midnight on Sunday, September 6, see what can be done with the $100 to make the biggest difference in the lives of others.
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October 17 Media specializes in website development, paid search advertising, social media and viral marketing, search engine optimization (SEO) and email marketing.