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The countdown is on. As we approach the end of Q2, how is your pipeline shaping up? Is it growing and your team is hitting those important quarterly milestones – or are you going off the rails and simply trying to hold things together?

Give this great ’80s hard rock tune (featuring one of my favourite guitar players) a listen as we read on and see what the experts are saying this week:

What’s Working in Digital

With B2C digital experiences continuing to raise the bar and Zoom fatigue setting in, many B2B organizations are looking for new ways to offset the drop in digital engagement while reducing their reliance on video calls.

As a result, many organizations are experimenting with more intimate online experiences to engage their buyers, finding ways to personalize digital experiences with specific schedules, interests, and pain points. Marketers are also using “live” events, such as online executive seminars, cooking classes, wine tastings, etc. to create memorable buyer experiences that can also be repurposed into on-demand content.

Our friends at Vidyard outline their predictions for the top 5 video trends of 2021:

1. Video in Sales Explodes
2. User-Generated On-Demand Videos Become the Norm
3. Marketers Embrace ‘Show and Tell’ Content
4. Virtual Events and Live Video Experiences Go Mainstream
5. Video Tech Goes from Tactical to Strategic

Some organizations are focusing on ways to create newer, more engaging buying experiences quickly and efficiently. Maybe it’s not too late to learn some new strategies! What are you seeing in your industry?

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

By now you’ve probably seen this year’s inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They include hip-hop icon Jay-Z, rock/R&B legend Tina Turner, singer-songwriter Carole King, The Go-Go’s, Foo Fighters, and Todd Rundgren.

Beyond the coveted performer awards, the Rock Hall is doling out some serious hardware this year, with LL Cool J, Billy Preston, and Randy Rhoads earning Musical Excellence awards for artists whose “originality and influence… had a dramatic impact on music.”

With the Foos entering the Hall in the band’s first year of eligibility, founder Dave Grohl has become a two-time inductee (Nirvana was enshrined in 2014). I’m a big fan of the Foos and have seen them live many times. And Dave Grohl seems to be EVERYWHERE. Musical collaborations, television appearances, social media dominance – at some point, he’s become the poster child for Rock and Roll!

In B2B we spend a lot of time trying to get our message across and build our brand. But at what point does the constant exposure hurt your brand? Many would say this is a good ‘problem’ to have…

What do you think? Has he over-saturated the market? Some critics say that the public is tired of Dave Grohl. It’s been said that “Grohl is clearly the voice of our generation – if only because he never lets anyone else speak!”

Is this a case of the media selling it, and Dave Grohl is merely living the role?

As always, don’t hesitate to call me to brainstorm or just say hello.

Looking forward,
Rick

Rick Endrulat, President | ricke@v-causeway.com | www.linkedin.com/in/rickendrulat

The post Digital Media Trends appeared first on Virtual Causeway.

For those of you who might already have it, here’s a guide from LinkedIn on how to access the feature.

What does this mean for B2B marketers?

In a previous post, we talked about how video will dominate the marketing landscape in 2017, and it seems to be holding true. Besides contributing to higher retention rates, higher engagement, better SEO, and increased conversions, video content currently makes up about 74% of all internet traffic and Cisco, the worldwide leader in IT and Networking, projects that video will make up about 80% of internet traffic by 2019. As we know, LinkedIn is the largest network of professionals in a single location. This makes it easy to connect with others and build relationships in order to provide valuable information and support.

The introduction of video will help make this a much easier and entertaining experience. Users will be able to snap video on their phone while on the go, at trade shows, in meetings, etc. and post in an instant.

These videos can last up to 10 minutes, though LinkedIn recommends a shorter length ranging between 30 seconds and five minutes. As with LinkedIn’s pre-existing in-feed videos, user-uploaded clips will play automatically with sound off. Like Facebook and Twitter, LinkedIn counts a video view after three seconds of play time. This will help to weed out those who aren’t as interested and give you a better idea of your demographic and whether you’re reaching the audience you are targeting. This will also help to understand if your videos are resonating with those who are watching. If the majority of your viewers stop watching within the first 3 seconds, you may have to reevaluate your strategy, whether it be the quality of your video or content, or if you are targeting the wrong audience.

Users will have access to the typical analytic information provided by social platforms plus the addition of some extra perks that B2B marketers could have only dreamed of before. For a selection of top viewers, you will be provided with where they work, their job title and the top markets where the video was viewed. Not bad, eh? No other social media platform currently provides this degree of information. This makes it easier to align your goals and gather information.

Having these unique analytics available will be a huge benefit to networking opportunities and generating sales leads. You could post a video highlighting a new product or a demo video and information will be collected without much effort on the viewers part. No popups, landing pages, or gated content interrupting them to fill out information. This data can then be used to build up a list of prospects.

When paired with video, LinkedIn will be a B2B marketers delight.

To see how you can prepare and get the most out of this great new feature by LinkedIn, check out:

Why you should invest in video and 5 tips on producing quality videos

6 steps to creating contagious content.

Conclusion

With video on the rise, LinkedIn’s better-late-than-never strategy is poised to be a hit within the B2B community. This new feature will provide businesses with the opportunity to take advantage of the rising demand for video content, on the ideal platform for B2B companies, to assist in telling their story and building credibility among followers.

The post LinkedIn Has Started Offering Video and You Should Be Very Excited! appeared first on Virtual Causeway.

Last year we saw the importance of visual content, such as video, emphasized by the changes that took place across almost every major social network such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter. Most notable were the launch of Facebook and Instagram’s live feature, Facebook’s pre-roll video ads, and Instagram stories. We have all experienced it by now. It’s obvious that videos have become powerful tools for brands looking to communicate efficiently with their target audience. With more than 60% of marketers and small business owners saying that they plan to increase investment in video marketing in 2017, you’re going to have to keep up. If you’re not including video marketing as part of your overall marketing strategy, you’re likely missing out on some serious leads.

Here are some key reasons to include video in your marketing strategies:

Higher Retention Rates

By creating quality videos you can increase overall viewer retention. According to Animoto, 1 in 4 consumers actually loses interest in a company if it doesn’t have video content. That means a quarter of all possible leads will be lost, simply because you don’t have a video. Furthermore,  BrainShark suggests that the information retained in one minute of online video is equal to about 1.8 million written words. That’s a lot of information relayed in a small amount of time considering the average human can only read about 300 words per minute, It’s important to take advantage of that opportunity.

Higher Engagement

Animoto says that four times as many consumers would rather watch a video about a product than read about it. And according to Syndacast 74% of all internet traffic in 2017 will be video. We must give them what they want. We must give them video.

Google Loves Video

SEO is an important factor when trying to stand out among your competitors. Adding a video to your website can increase the chance of a front page Google result by 53 times. Of course, that’s when you do it right. Check out these tips from Moz CEO Rand Fishkin to learn more about how to properly optimize your videos for search. You’ll notice that he has a video at the top of the page.

Increased conversions

Video converts more customers than traditional methods. Four times as many consumers would rather watch a video about a product than read about it, and 85% of customers are more likely to make a purchase after watching a product video.

Hopefully, you have been convinced to use more video to increase the effectiveness of your marketing efforts.

Here are some tips on how to get the best possible quality with what you’ve got:

1. Use a good quality camera

With displays becoming higher and higher in resolution It’s important to shoot at the highest possible quality so your video looks crisp and clear on any screen. A video camera works best but high-quality smartphone cameras will do the trick it used properly.

2. Shoot in landscape

In order to get the best shot and help maintain your viewer’s attention, make sure you shoot your videos in landscape orientation. By shooting in portrait orientation (or upright) you are not only missing out on the background of the subject which can help provide context but you are losing out on valuable real estate which can be used to display supporting content such as text, pictures, and other information. Shooting in portrait orientation will also make video appear small on wide screens such as computers and TV’s, and leave the viewer looking at large, distracting black bars on the sides of the video and contribute to a very amateur feel.

3. Good lighting

There are a lot of cameras that do well in low light, and there’s some that don’t do so well. Try to locate a light source to light up your subject and make sure your subject isn’t backlit or lit so much that they are forced to squint. Wistia has an excellent guide on how to create a great, low-cost lighting kit.

4. Keep them short

According to Hyperfine Media, 5% of viewers will stop watching after 1 minute and 60% will stop watching after 2 minutes. Keep you videos short and to the point to ensure you are getting any important information across before your viewer loses interest.

5. Include text or subtitles

When 85% of videos on Facebook are watched without sound (Digiday), you’re going to want to ensure viewers are taking in information while watching your video. By including the option for subtitles or adding engaging text, you not only are lending a hand to those who are hard of hearing but you are getting your information to those who either, choose not to listen to your video, or are in the middle of class scrolling through their Facebook feed with the sound off. It’s not your responsibility to know if someone is on Facebook in class, however, it is your responsibility to make sure they are receiving that information.

Conclusion

You can’t escape the year of the video, so embrace it. There’s still plenty of time left in the year to get in on the video marketing game. But remember, poor production quality may have the reverse effect on a consumer and actually drive away prospective business. However, with these tips, you should be you on your way to creating great videos, whether it’s an interview, or a how-to video to share with your readers. You just have to get started.

The post Video Will Dominate The Marketing Landscape This Year appeared first on Virtual Causeway.