Proliferation of Live Video Content and What it Means for Marketing

We're long past the time when information takes so much time to spread or be delivered around the globe. Now, anyone who have access to the internet could literally view what's going on from the opposite side of the planet, real-time.

The ease of information dissemination has evolved from writing those written blog posts and journals to sharing images and just lately, live videos.

Decades ago, creating videos take time and money, which is exactly why they don't often fall on the first options of startup and small businesses. But social media drastically changed it.

Now, anyone can go live on Facebook or Twitter free of charge! You don't even need to spend too much time doing edits just to become a hit in social media. We've seen its effect on the viral videos that are spreading like wildfire across the web.

Timeliness and relevance has now become a priority in video production. The more timely is your content, the higher the chances of attracting the attention of your target market.

Increase usage of Facebook Live and Periscope

Before, producing video ads need a long time of planning and a greater degree of editing before one decides to upload the final product on Youtube. Now, anyone can simply use Facebook Live of Periscope on Twitter to go live and show the current event they are holding.

With these platform's wide viewership, companies and private individuals now have better chances of getting noticed. For marketers, this does not only mean pre-scheduling post at regular intervals but being live when relevant activities happen.

Shift to video type of blog posts

Written content will continue to thrive. It's basically the foundation of all other content types. However, experts see a drastic increase of vlogs that replace the normally long posts to make it more concise in spoken format.

Videos are now seen as more relevant because people are shifting their choice of content to something they can see. It's no longer enough to write a very compelling article without matching images or videos in between.

Plus, with more people browsing online content while on-the-go, watching and listening to videos becomes more convenient than reading plain text.

Concise and spot on messaging fit for a typical 30-second video

One common assumption by new digital marketers is that, since videos have shorter lengths, they are also easier and faster to create. Experience has taught a lot of online marketers that this isn't the case.

With the short duration of its presentation comes the bigger challenge in making sure that the information presented every second solidifies the branding or message you wish to convey to your viewers.

From the animation, transition and even text insertions in between, everything needs to be planned out carefully. Otherwise, you won't be able to maximize the advantage of fast, accurate and engaging messaging that videos are meant for.

Better storytelling

Same as with the tight messaging, creating videos demands crafty storytelling. People relate better to posts that tell a story rather than those hardcore selling ads intended to put a product or service in the spotlight.

However, stories put on videos will only have more impact when they are presented well. This is where messaging and planning comes into play. The better the story, the bigger the chances of tugging into the emotions of the viewers.

Putting out a live feed of your company events or product launching is an efficient way to grab the attention of your target market. But make sure you put out a captivating message to accompany the animation and videos. Should you need to ask the help of professionals, those working for digital marketing services in the Philippines have you covered.

Be timely, stay connected and engage with your viewers more effectively!

Four Actionable SEO Techniques You Can Utilize Today!

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Without a doubt, search engine optimization (SEO for brevity) has been one of the pinnacles of that enables many and various businesses to flourish in this technological and information age. Naysayers may say that traditional SEO would inevitably die out, but statistics says otherwise and since its inception, it has been shown that SEO is a major factor in contributing to the overall success of an individual company’s marketing strategy.   Digital marketing agencies specializing in link building services are still major juggernauts when it comes to shaping a business marketing strategy. After all, every single day 3.5 billion searches are being made (which is consistently growing over time); it would only show and prove just how significant and more competitive search optimization still is and will still be for many businesses in the years to come.

Over the years, SEO as a channel for online traffic acquisition has not seen much change over a decade of its existence—save for continuous optimal updates and polish for a variety of search engines. A pivotal objective in the practice of SEO is pretty much unchanged, and that is to provide an easier avenue for people and searchers to get the essential information or solution they sought for and needed. People successful in SEO do two things quite well which is identifying those techniques that would get them desired results and then putting one hundred percent of their resources into executing and scaling those techniques. And if you possess sufficient SEO acumen, you would exploit these techniques. However, some of you may be wondering how you can find strategies that would guarantee you results—well, look no further as this article made it easy for you.

All you need to do is select one and see if that works for you.  

UTILIZE THE BROKEN LINKS IN WIKIPEDIA 

Wikipedia is teeming with SEO opportunities that you could largely take advantage of. And it has a multitude of benefits as it is white hat, scalable and powerful. However, some of you might not want to put that much of an effort in finding broken links considering how tedious it is, but if you are aware of Wikipedia’s kink in the editing system, you may soon find many broken link opportunities in your hands. Apparently, the kink lies in the fact that when a Wikipedia editor finds a dead link, they do not delete it right away but add a footnote next to the link that says “dead link” instead.

To expedite the search for dead links process, use a simple search string: “site:Wikipedia.org{keyword}+dead link”. Then visit a page in the search results that is relevant to your site, hit ctrl+f and search for “dead link”. Your browser will then scour the page for any dead links in the references section. If you are looking for an easier way, you can use a tool called WikiGrabber which would allow you to search for dead links on the Wikipedia pages.

SCOUR REDDIT FOR UNCOMMON KEYWORDS

Undoubtedly, Reddit is a hub for untapped keywords as the people who regularly hang out in the website talk about every possible topic there is under the sun. Because of this, you would find a lot of untapped keywords in various conversation threads that you would possibly never find in the Google Keyword Planner. So how is this possible? Say you ran a website that sold phone casings, search for that in Reddit’s search bar and if there is any subreddit, head to that as well. After which, look for the threads where people tend to ask a lot of questions (such as a Q&A thread), and then you can start scouring the thread for potential untapped keywords (bonus points for terms that frequently pop up).

Dedicate a portion of your time in finding potential keywords in Reddit, and you might just find yourself with enough keywords that would last you for a long time.

WRITE A DESCRIPTIVE BLOG POST FOR YOUTUBE DESCRIPTIONS 

Undoubtedly, YouTube videos have been dominating Google’s first page considering how in demand they are. And apparently, since Google owns the popular video site, you may likely find that it is not a trend that is going to change anytime soon. However, people uploading these videos seem to neglect the fact that Google cannot read videos and mindlessly throw a few words into the description box that would barely give any definitive content of what the video is about. Remember, Google relies on your video’s text based title and description to determine what the video is about.

Remember, adding a mini blurb, even something as little as a two hundred mini blog for your YouTube video makes it look more professional and would do wonders for your Youtube SEO.

PUBLISH CONTENT WITH AT LEAST A THOUSAND WORDS 

Undeniably, longer contents would win over short hundred word blog posts. Longer blog posts work as they are evidently providing more substance and in-depth information to searchers. Additionally, compelling and in-depth content would encourage your readers to share your content online potentially making it into a viral content.

Work on your blog posts, research longer, add any relevant information to it and make it comprehensive enough that would leave your audiences in awe. Then you will see that long and in-depth blog posts would work like a charm.

When to Know You're Meant to be a Marketer

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Marketing isn't for everyone. And whether you agree with me or not, there are some marketers who don't have the right qualities to become one, while there are also some people who just didn't realize it yet that they can become a good marketer. And some of you here might still wonder whether being a marketer is meant for them or not.

Technically, there are a lot of factors you should consider if you want to be a marketer. It doesn't appear in front of you instantly, you have to take some steps in order for you to become a good marketer. However, there are just times that we feel like we have this innate capability that flows within us. Well, if you think so, then here are some signs you might want to know if you really are meant to be a marketer.

You are a self-starter

Doing something from scratch is a difficult thing to do. And not all people have the initiative to start something, especially when he/she doesn't know what to do. However, if you are a kind of person who loves to take the first step, then you might be fitted to become a marketer.

Basically, most marketers, if not all, are self-employed. They do business on their own. Taking the first step can help you better cope with failure. Failing is just a normal thing for you to experience since you know how to get up and what to do when you know things won't turn out the way you expect them to be. Moreover, self-starters know how to be persistent when it comes to achieving things.

You have a parent who is a marketer

When you are growing up with a family who runs a business, you basically know the necessary and fundamental things to do and what not to do. Of course, it is inevitable that you can observe the way they run their business. And especially when curiosity strikes, you definitely want to know more about the things that usually do.

Moreover, when you are surrounded with marketers, you act and have a mindset of being a marketer. And as you grow up, you will have the idea that starting a business and/or being a marketer is a feasible career path that you want to take.

You are actively developing your marketing skill

Again, marketing is a skill. If you want to become one, then you have to take some extra step for you to be a good marketer. Of course, that includes being active participating in activities regarding marketing stuff. When you know that there will be some seminars about marketing, then it is your opportunity to learn more about it.

And as a marketer, you also have to be open-minded on the new things and/or ideas that will come to you. That means, the more participate in the marketing world, the more you can develop your marketing skills.

You are improving existing concepts

As a marketer, you have to think out of the box. Yes, cliché as it may seem, however, it is definitely true to people who want to become better in the marketing industry. One way or another, a marketer should not be contented of the things they have. If you think that a particular project can still be improved, you have to think of a better solution on what else you can still do to make it better than the previous one.

Moreover, the more you think out of the box, the creative you can become. Of course, marketers should also be creative in finding the right solution for a particular business or project.

You are charismatic

Having a charisma is one of the factors to winning the negotiation between your clients. And while other people are innate when it comes to having some charisma, others learned how to have one. Yes, charisma can be learned. And if you habitually practice it, you will definitely improve the charisma that you have.

Writing for Boring Industries? Take a look at this!

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Topics are incredibly diverse and unique. 

There are glamorous and stellar topics which are a cake walk to write. This is where travel, food, fashion, life, etc. are lumped together to form one bundle of interesting and exciting topic hub.

And then there is the other side of the coin: Topics that you could not be bothered to write about. 

Topics you are not even sure someone would want to read.

Writing compelling content for these topics is already hard enough by itself.

Writing compelling, engaging and entertaining content for an industry that is rather boring on the hand is not only arduous but tedious. But as it is, someone has to undertake this grueling task.

And no matter how frustratingly laborious it might sound and how bookish your blog post might end up, crafting interesting and compelling written content for a boring digital marketing agency is not impossible.

And if you are at a loss as to how, give this article a look and see if any of these tips might assist you in your future writing endeavor.

Keep in mind that anything helpful is rarely boring

Consider the fact that though you might find your write-up like a soporific academic piece, someone out there is going to find your piece helpful and would be very grateful that they came upon your piece online. Be genuinely helpful in your writing approach. Do not write for the sake of meeting your weekly quota. Instead, make a conscious attempt to widen your sources and add helpful information.

Incorporate your sense of humor into your write-up

Anything funny will immediately score some entertainment points (point system depends on the reader’s sense of humor). Tickle your audience’s funny bone; utilize colloquial language and reference pop culture or trending topics where appropriate. Not only will this keep your audiences reading down to the very last word of your post, but it spurs you to finish what you have begun as well.

Avoid using technical terms. Write like you speak

Jargon is something we should all avoid in writing blog posts at all costs (unless it is a post specifically written to explain these terms). But this becomes imperative when you are writing for a boring topic. You do not want to bore your audience after all and the easy way to do that is to avoid technical terms. Apart from that, utilize informal language and write like you speak. This gives your otherwise sleep-inducing article a personal feel which your audiences would be more receptive to.

Utilize analogies that your audiences might relate to

 An easy error to make is simply to justify your topic as boring whereas it might otherwise be just confusing. To paint a more understandable picture, try to fathom the fact that a lot of people would be more than willing to allocate an hour or so watching Morgan Freeman explain Dark Matter in Through the Wormhole but would barely pick up an article written by a Ph.D. on the same subject. Similarly, use the same context in your articles. Incorporate analogies and metaphors into your article that will be more or less relatable to your audiences.

Tell Stories

Storytelling is a simple yet effective pro-tip. Audiences are more receptive to blog posts that integrate anecdotes into the write-up. The fact is, telling a story has been one of the most utilized techniques circulating all over the net with headlines such as, “This woman washed her hair with two cans of coca cola. What happens next would amaze you”. Why? People are naturally curious and are more than willing to find out the rest of the story. Exploit this when you are writing a rather monotonous article.

Boring articles are not essentially boring if you, the writer would pour your heart out into it and exert as much effort into it as you are in your more interesting articles. One thing to remember is, there are absolutely no boring articles, just boring writers.

Restaurants go Social: 9 Winning Strategies for a Successful Food Business

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Starting up a restaurant doesn't just end up in a dream; you have sit down and draw up a plan on how you're going to make it work. And whether you realize it or not, there will always be a competition between restaurants to restaurants – and it's an intense competition! Some of you here might have tried running a restaurant without any problems so far, while others are struggling to save their business.

Yes, it is a tight competition. In fact, 60% of restaurants fail in their first year. However, if you want to succeed in the business industry, then you have to have the right approach towards it. In every business, there will always be winning strategies for you to apply. And when you are running a restaurant, going social is one of the best ways you can do to make it a success.

Yes, the quality of food matters, but it will also depend on how strategic you are when it comes to promoting your business. And promoting your business through social media gives a big impact on your business. If you are still new to it, here are some tips for you on how you can be successful in the business industry.

1. Have a Social Media Account

Without a social media account such as Instagram, Facebook, Yelp, Google+ Accounts, Pinterest, Twitter etc. it is impossible for you to promote your business. One way or another, having a social media account can make the promotion even faster with a wide range of audience. Of course, with billions of social media users, there will also be hundreds to thousands of people who will notice your post. And mind you, these people are your potential customers.

2. Develop your restaurant's brand identity

Yes, you already set up a social media account, then what's next? Create a brand identity. Your brand identity will give a great impact to your potential customers. When they know who you are, and what kind of restaurant you are promoting, there are higher possibilities that you can grab their interest when it comes to choosing the right restaurant to try. Of course, when you have a good background, people will know you by the quality of business that you have through good reviews from your satisfied customers.

3. Foodie Photos

Of course, photos! There MUST be a delicious looking photo posted on your accounts. Visual content is in high demand. That is why; you have to make sure that every photo that you have must be tempting to grab your potential customer's attention.

4. Show off your staff

Aside from posting food photos, why not try publicizing your staff? Don't you know it is one way to boost your business? Of course, when you have a good customer service, with a good personality, people would definitely want to engage and try your business. Who wouldn't, when they got to see happy and smiling employees? Well, attractive staff is also a plus.

5. Partner up with delivery services

When you do business, you have to expect that there will be a lot of people who prefer deliveries than going to restaurants personally. Perhaps, they don't have enough time to go out. Well, if you want to boost your business growth, then you might want to consider partnering with delivery services such as Seamless, Eat24, Deliver.com, or GrubHub.

6. Offer coupons and discounts

It is definitely an eye-catching when people see a coupons and discounts. Of course, who would say no to the tempting offers that you have? Especially when it comes to by group, people will definitely love to avail those promos.

7. Monitor your social media presence

When you go social, it doesn't end up in posting and/or promoting your restaurant and the good foods that you have. In order for you to stay longer in the social media world, you have to make sure that you are active in every social media account that you have. The more you are active in social media, the more people will come to notice your post, and they might be one of your potential customers.

8. Send out an email newsletter for potential customers

Doing email marketing is not a bad thing after all. In fact, it can also be useful for your business. Well, sending an email to your potential customers regarding the business that you have doesn't have to be daily or weekly. In fact, customers don't want to have flooded emails on their inbox. Just make sure that the content that you have is short yet with the necessary information about the business that you have.

9. Be mobile friendly

For some starters, you don't have to rush things out. However, if your business is already established, being mobile friendly can definitely contribute to its growth. People who want to eat can make some reservations and/or deliveries through their smartphones. It is also a convenient way to do business.