Resolve your target audience's problems with content to win them over to your brand

2m to read / 

Today's digitally savvy consumer (read as mobile powered) is looking for solutions 24/7, 365. Brands can transform their digital marketing by being 'Right There, Right Then' with their message to win them over.

When a consumer wants to know something, wants to go somewhere (on a holiday, to a restaurant, to a business location), wants to do something and wants to buy something, they need to connect with the brands that have solutions right away. Simply put, these are the four basic need states that digital marketing needs to answer. And answer quickly and effectively. By being 'Right There, Right Then'.

Today's marketing needs to be in the here and now. It is about intent, and the answer to that intent needs to be there right away. Today's audience is starved of time, and have very little attention. Brands need to adopt the following five 'experiential' forces to transform their digital marketing.

1.  Synchronize

Today brands need to have a well synchronized multi channel strategy. In our world of Always On, it's important to be across all consumer touch points (including all offline) to lead the consumer towards becoming a customer. The process of learn, discover, research, socialize and buy is best optimized to be seamless and uniform. You can't transform your digital marketing unless it is founded on a one brand many channel strategy.

2.  Localize

Brands today need to have content to meet the demands of the consumer – in many forms. But what's critical is context. Consumer behavior is changing because of what mobile uniquely allows them to do – to find most answers when they need it, around where they are. Mobile's geo location technology empowers consumers more than ever. Brands need to focus on local first, specially those in retail.

READ THIS: 6 Ways to Be There in Today's Search Driven World

3.  Personalize

Mass marketing is fading fast to micro marketing where products and experiences that are created to treat customers individually—along with personalized marketing treatments—are what's winning the marketing battle. You really need to know your audience, and their intentions. Audience insight is your first key step. Insight is what transforms your digital marketing.

READ THIS: Customer Insights is your First Step in Digital Marketing

4.  Socialize

Today, it's absolutely essential for a brand to be there on social media. Consumers and customers want to be empowered by brands to be connected and be in the know. And social media is where they turn to for that connection and brand engagement. Social is where today's consumer gets informed and inspired.

READ THIS: How to Make your Social Media Rock Solid by Listening and Acting Quickly

A website is no longer enough, and on your website you must include social sharing buttons and ensure that web content is always shared on social platforms that you are on. Social media interaction is key – you really cannot engage and interact on your website with your audience as you can on social. Make this your key channel and be relevant. With today's social "buy buttons" social has become a marketplace. But it's not about just selling.

Move from Selling to building Relationships – this is what will end up giving you a far more robust presence online. One that meets and engages today's audience.

5.  Maximize

Your brand's content marketing needs to be both relevant and engaging. That content, that information needs to be in the here and now. It needs to be current, always-on and outstanding to rise above the rest.

READ THIS: 8 Must Have Steps to Unleash the Power of Content Marketing for your Brand

Brands need to realize that one size does not fit all. The campaign is traditional. The TV spot is losing its impact. Localization is really becoming important. And personalization of brand message is what is cutting through. All these factors are critical to help transform your digital marketing.

And that's the basics of digital marketing strategy. That's 101. Please share this post with your friends and colleagues today... And do comment if you feel you want to add to this.

Now read this:

Intent is the new black in digital marketing. In-the-moment marketing is what's hot.

Use the Power of Here and Now: Convenience Marketing with Wearables

Read more

What's Trending in Digital Marketing in May 2017

2m to read / 

Here are some useful links to posts and articles which will help you stay on trend in the world of Digital Marketing for May 20017. Just click on the links below...

News and Trends

Digital media gets a chance to clean up their acts 

The Rise of Online Video on the TV Screen  

Facebook Is Working on Technology That Lets You Type and Control VR Devices With Your Mind 

Why beauty brands are betting on augmented reality 

UAE tops advertising spending in Gulf region

Which channels do marketers really use?

What do Facebook’s new VR and AR platforms mean for marketers? 

Google launches Optimize : Free A/B testing tool for all 

Reports, How To's & White Papers

5 Things Brands Need to Know About Marketing to Moms [Infographic] 

4 Tips to Keep Your Brand Coherent Across Platforms 

How to effectively bring science to marketing 

The five key steps towards understanding the customer journey  

Want to do content marketing in FMCG? Here’s four things you need to know 

Five keys to managing your online reputation in Google search 

Should marketers be able to prove the ROI of influencers? 

Can pharma companies effectively use influencer marketing? 

4 Key Teachable Moments for Marketers Who Create Mobile Content 

Social Media and Content

Marketers Talk Too Much, or Always Circle Before You Social 

Social commerce: Why basic bots and buy buttons are not enough 

4 Tools for Garnering More Social Media Engagement 

How to Create Effective Social Media Reports [Infographic] 

Is a second Facebook News Feed in the works? What you need to know 

Here Are the Changes Facebook Introduced for Video Metrics in Page Insights 

What do Facebook’s new VR and AR platforms mean for marketers? 

Search, SEO, PPC, Programmatic

3 predictions about the future of SEO (

With Brand Safety in Focus, Digital Advertisers Are Quickly Shifting Toward Direct Programmatic 

AdWords Expanded Text Ads could get even longer with second description line test

SEM Mistakes to Avoid 

Google’s location tracking is better now than ever before 

Mobile Marketing

Five essential mobile moments and how brands can take part in them 

10 mobile marketing trends to watch in 2017 

How Do People Use Virtual Assistants on Their Smartphones? 

Marketers Still Struggling With App-User Retention 

If Anyone Is Going to Buy Directly from a Chatbot, It’s Millennials 

Web Design & Development

Website design briefs: Be very careful what you ask for

What web designers can learn from web developers 

9 Best Responsive Web Design Frameworks 

Infographics

Exploring the effectiveness of native ads

What makes a good headline 

The Great Divide in Content Marketing 

5 Factors of Ad Viewability 

SEM Mistakes to Avoid 

Please share this with your friends and colleagues, and feel free to comment below...

Now read these related posts from this blog:

• Top Technology Trends in Marketing for 2017

• How Data will really drive Marketing in 2017

• How VR and 360 degree video is changing advertising and content marketing

• Here's how to Power up your Facebook engagement with Video

• 7 ways your brand can increase Facebook organic reach

• How to use Facebook Live video like a pro. The essentials of getting it right.

Read more

Simple ways to improve your Brand's Facebook Reach

3m to read / 

With organic reach at an all time low on Facebook, brands need to look at more innovative and creative ways of improving overall reach. And, yes, while engagement is still key as a metric, you can't engage unless you reach.

1. Start with Organic, then go Paid

Clever brands today do use paid, but they start with organic – meaning, they'll wait a day, or a few hours at least, before they boost their posts via paid. Some brands believe only in promoted posts and have ditched the organic reach goal. But it's best to have a strategy for when you should promote via paid and why. On some posts your goal may be to drive traffic to a website – via links. On others it may be to increase awareness and engagement.

Use Facebook's algorithms wisely. If you have $100 to spend, don't just do it in one go. Select the Objectives (Traffic, Video Views etc) according to your goal. Create the ad and spend around $40 the first time around. Run the ad and pause it after a day or two. Then spend another $30, for example in a second burst, and then the rest. Spreading this out will boost both organic and paid content. And the reach can keep increasing over time if the content is engaging and shareable.

2. Create content that is shareable – that gets immediate attention

Attention is the commodity every brand is after these days. You need to get people to pause as your post scrolls by. Thumb-stopping content that people stop at, read, and then share right away is your magic key. The Facebook news feed algorithms is geared to support advertisers with engaging content. The more reactions, comments, and shares your posts get, the better their reach. This applies to both organic and paid. Content has to be relevant to your audience, and engaging – they add value, they educate, they entertain.

3. Video content gets better traction

We know today that video content gets 1200% more shares than image and text posts combined. Go with native video on Facebook – it gets 10 times more reach than YouTube videos shared via links on Facebook. The newsfeed algorithm will factor in time spent on a video post as well as the shaes – and it will boost your visibility and reach. 

Go Longer on Video

One quick tip, Facebook actually supports longer form videos better. We see that video content between 5-15 minutes does better.

But don't limit to video only. 

That gets boring quickly. Facebook posts should vary between video, images, slides and text – catering to a variety of audiences and their mindsets as they scroll through the newsfeed. As well, depending on the insights you see, don't forget to repost a post that did well. Most of your target audience may not have seen it the first time around.

4. Engagement is key

What keeps your audience coming back is engagement. Remember, it is after all, a dialog, a conversation. When you expect people to comment, like, share, shouldn't you be doing the same? Always respond to any comments and queries right away, and do that on each and every one when possible. Acknowledge shares and any feedback that you get on your posts. Facebook algorithm better supports engaged posts and recency is a key factor, so as long as you can keep the engagement rolling, you'll get better results overall.

5. Support your Facebook reach by cross-platform mentions

Use all other social platforms, including any blogs, and your website to boost your Facebook page's reach. Each post has a unique URL (the timestamp of your post is the URL) and you should use this in mentions on Twitter, for example. 

Those are simple ways to increase and optimize your Facebook reach. And that's the basics of Digital Marketing. Do share this with friends and colleagues...

Now read these related posts:

• Here's how to Power up your Facebook engagement with Video

• 7 ways your brand can increase Facebook organic reach

• How to use Facebook Live video like a pro. The essentials of getting it right.

Read more

How AI and VR will disrupt and shift your brand's digital marketing

4m to read / 

Digital marketing today is being disrupted and we see a shift in how brand's are using both AI and VR in planning a seamless, immersive experience that is truly relevant in context.

Brands today need to understand the shift. They are no longer in the B2C business – they are in the C2B business, where the customer drives what brands should be doing. Particularly in the social realm. So, a seamless, omnichannel experience that is rewarding to the user – and one that resonates in context is key. With this paradigm shift in mind, we're beginning to see both AI and VR gain ground in digital marketing.

Predictive analytics and Immersive Experience

Brands are fast moving into this territory of contextually relevant (and non interruptive) experience that uses VR’s immersive technology along with how AI’s and it's live predictive analytics makes context and content work seamlessly. 

No real guidelines just yet

What most brands are learning quickly is that there are no guidelines just yet. It's early days. The future is now, but we don't know how to negotiate it. So, the key for brands is to learn fast, be agile, experiment and both adopt and adapt.

Data and Insight

The power of predictive analytics that AI brings can enhance the customer experience by aligning customer  or target audience needs to the medium and the message being delivered. This, of course is hugely dependent on how we employ AI to turn data into insight. How we gather data and what we do with it is key – the accuracy of the data and how we leverage it is where AI can really help.

Earlier brand marketers guess worked their markets – somehow figuring out how consumers behave. Today, technology enables thin-slice targeting and delivering ads and experiences, and content, based on the target's online behavior. IBM’s Watson  runs analytics on thousands of pages per second, collecting and analysing a huge volume of data relating to every ad generated. It also does sentiment analysis down to great detail – including emotions generated during consumption of content. All this in real time. Which enables brands to adapt, make changes on the fly, and make their communications far more meaningful. 

AI can truly shift native advertising

This is particularly relevant to native advertising or native content – because the success of this kind of advertising is context. AI greatly enhances the possibility of native because it can help place the right content in the right context – including the measurement of sentiment and keep adapting and changing as needed. Even with vanilla advertising, ad blocking is reduced because AI helps with better placement that is more acceptable in end-user context.

VR and Immersive content

While AI can help brands configure context, the end experience is still the important thing. No amount of code or algorithm can draw in the consumer if the content fails. At the end of the day, the content needs to engage, tell a story. The inherent power of VR in producing engaging, immersive experiences online is being explored, but the possibilities are seemingly endless.

VR is no longer a technology advancement. Google is ensuring that VR is here and VR is now. With a VR viewer in hand (and Google has shipped millions of its simple Google Cardboard viwers across the world),  there is no shortage of content. What matters then, is for brands to be able to create purpose-built VR content that will resonate in the right contexts. 

Google driving VR

Google tells us "The promise of VR is what the industry calls "presence"—the feeling that you're really somewhere else. VR cameras like Jump can capture the entire experience of a place—every corner, every angle. 

In the not-so-distant future, cameras like these will be capturing experiences all over the world. What does this mean for audiences? How about access to the best seats in the house at any event—floor seats at the NBA playoffs, a box at La Scala, front row at the Beyoncé show? Or the chance to visit the most beautiful places on earth, from the comfort of home? It's the closest thing we have to teleportation, enabling deeper engagement than has ever been possible."

The trick then is for brands to use VR with AI and combine the two to deliver meaningful experiences. Beyoncé for the pop fan. La Scala for the opera fan. McDonald's for the hungry when they are hungry. And a virtual resort tour from Marriott for someone planning a holiday. All in grand immersive virtual reality.

Google reminds us that "VR lets viewers be active participants; they can look wherever they want. When a viewer feels like they are there, they have a greater sense of the situation. Messages become more impactful.


And, again, Google suggests that brands need to ask themselves some important questions...

"Will VR give viewers an experience that they otherwise couldn't have? The subject matter should truly take advantage of the medium—transport people to a place, immerse them in a world, and compel them to explore.

Could you give shoppers a better feel for your product? According to a study from Ericsson ConsumerLab, shopping was the top reason worldwide smartphone users were interested in VR, with "seeing items in real size and form when shopping online" cited by 64% of respondents. This doesn't just apply to retail brands. Cadillac is already using VR to create virtual dealerships.

Will your recording environment be rich with things to see? If you're shooting in a simple white room with nothing on the walls, probably not. If you're at a sports event or a music festival, there's likely plenty to see.

Will viewers want to continue watching beyond the initial "That's cool" moment? It can be a challenge to get viewers to stick around after a minute or so. Make sure you have a compelling hook that will keep them engaged."

So, in conclusion, once we can harness both AI and VR – for the right reasons and it genuinely makes sense for our brand – we can say we have arrived in the middle of this disruption, and we're just OK with it.

Please share this post with friends and colleagues.

Now read these related posts:

• Top Technology Trends in Marketing for 2017

• How Data will really drive Marketing in 2017

• How VR and 360 degree video is changing advertising and content marketing

Read more

6 Must Know tips to Succeed with Content Marketing in 2017

4m to read /

2017 will see content marketing to grow – nothing out of the ordinary, but grow in ways that will deliver more results, better ROI, and get better consumer attention. Here are a few tips for content marketers for 2017...

1. More Content Marketing from More Brands. Fight the clutter.

There's going to be an abundance of content. Content from more brands, ore influencers, more media companies and publishers, and more just plain folks. Users will generate more content. Which all adds up to a whole lot of content clutter. Point being, that the brand content you generate will really need to fight the clutter. The content you generate will need to be above and beyond the ordinary, and one that will in several unique ways stand out from the rest.

Brands will actually pump in more budgets into content, you'll see better teams, bigger teams producing content. In all aspects of marketing, where, over the last couple of years, content kind of had it's own ground, now content, going mainstream almost, there'll be territory issues. So, again, content will have to be stand out, not just to win the overall marketing game, but eyeballs and attention.

2. Deliver excellent Visual Content

Web 3.0, Web whatever.0, visual content will really rule the roost. Look at Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, Facebook... content that works immediately and with gusto seems to be visual content. So get set with your teams and be ready to have your content go ape on visual.

Visual content isn't easy. You need beautiful, smart, well crafted, well photographed, and well titled images to make them work. You'll need a library of images for your brand or product. Live, on-going, casual images are fine on iPhone or other smartphone shot ways, but it's best to hire a professional to develop a nice little library of your products, people, company, products in use etc. You'll also need some design work on a online platform like Canva or Stencil, or for basic design help, like a Design Pickle.

3. Move it with Video

Video content is images. Images that move. And speak. And sing. And dance to the tune of your audience. So make 2017 the year of video content as much as possible. Explore Live Video (see post: How to use Facebook Live video like a pro. The essentials of getting it right.). YouTube, Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook are all going to amplify video in 2017 like never before. And, we do know, that most consumer internet traffic is video, anyways.

Create rich content. Make quality count.

Make sure you create great engaging video content for your audience. Make sure that the video content actually resonates. As in any social media, Customer or Consumer Insights is your First Step in Digital Marketing with any content you create for your audience on Facebook. You can have the best video content, but is it relevant to your audience?

Focus on quality from the first frame – Since videos auto-play silently in Feed, you should lead with imagery that will catch a person’s eye from the very beginning.

Premiere exclusive video content – Post exclusive video content to your Page to reward them with something that they can’t get anywhere else,

Provide context – Set context by pulling out a key quote or moment from the video as the text component of your post. This will help set expectations for the experience ahead.

4. Mobile will drive content. Are you there?

2017 isn't the year of mobile. 2016 was. 2015 was. as was 2014. 2017 will be mobile, period. So get your content mobile ready, not just mobile friendly. Get ready for vertical videos. Get ready for Live video shot on mobile, consumed on mobile. Only.

Audit your current content. Does it work on mobile? Or does your customer need high powered reading glasses to view your content. Speaking of which, is your website (your main content, actually), at least responsive?

And be prepared for the explosion in app delivered content. Increasingly, brands are taking to apps to contextually deliver meaningful, in the moment content. Get working on apps.

5. User generated content. Use it.

Because content marketing is essentially based on trust and meaningfulness, and usefulness, UGC or User Generated Content will be another key element in 2017. We know that 85% of people trust content made by others more than they trust brand content. So, you really have to grab this opportunity this year. You user is your every day influencer. UGC comes in all shapes and sizes – reviews, unboxings, comments, shares, YouTube videos. Develop a unique platform for your users to contribute to your content efforts.

Read this: 5 ways to get fans to create social media content for brands

6. Personalized and custom content

2017 will be the year of custom content. The time has come for not all-for-one content, but for one-to-one content.

Read this tip:  • Customer Insights is your First Step in Digital Marketing

We know a lot more about our customers and our target audiences than before. How come were not using it to  create micro-buckets of content that resonates with them on a personal level? You will need to look at perosnalized content – where the user can view and consumer based on their specific need, their specific thrill.

Data, Customer insight and content

Last year, we talked a lot about influencers – this year, I didn't mention it as a key tip, because we all know that influencers do wield a lot of power.

Just in case, you were hiding under a rock...
10 Essential Steps to Influencer Marketing Success for your Brand

Overall, be prepared for how technologies, new platforms, advancements in VR and AI, consumer habit shifts are going to influence content marketing. Remember, content is king. And context is God.

Now read these posts on content to help you...

Content Marketing Strategy: What kind of content should you create?

8 Must Have Steps to Unleash the Power of Content Marketing for your Brand

Plan your Distribution Strategy to succeed with Content Marketing

11 Amazingly Easy Ways to Skyrocket your Content Marketing Results

Win with Content for your Brand: Give away value and usefulness

Please share this post with your friends and your community...

Read more

7 Useful Social Media Post Ideas for winning Content Marketing

3m to read / 

Here are seven useful social media post ideas that will help keep your  audiences engaged and interested. Content marketing and social media posts to that end need to be interesting, entertaining and valuable for your audience. Use these seven different post ideas to help win the game.

The following post ideas help you with adding a bit of variety and getting and holding attention.

1. Ask questions, seek responses

Social media is an opinion platform. Ask your audience questions and seek responses. This kind of a post empowers your audience to share their opinion. It gives them a sense of social pride. Experts tell us that posts with questions usually get 100% more comments than standard posts. Posts with questions will reward you with more comments but tend to get fewer likes and shares. You might ask a question not just about your brand or product, but one that helps your social effort "How many posts a day would you like to see from a brand on Facebook?"

One other way is to seek fill-in-the-blank responses to your posts. Again this is opinion seeking, and gets a fair amount of participation. You can always use information you gather for your future content or on how to improve customer service or even product attributes. 

"I buy my weekly grocery products on _______________ (day of week)". 

"I watch my favorite programs on _____________ (cable tv, streaming, etc)"

2. Comment on trends in your category or industry

Jump on what's trending in your category or industry and comment on it. This is side step from your social calendar, and it sparks interest and attention right away. Make sure you do a quick daily research to keep up with what's happening around. Include related hashtags so others easily can discover your content. Proper use of hashtags improve engagement and get attention. Issues and trends around your business usually has the most impact. You can of course jump on a huge trend that's outside your realm, as long as you can tie it in with your brand topic somehow.

3. Offer tips, tricks, How-To's and Advice

Advice, tips and How To posts get a lot of shares, because people like to be seen as 'useful' to their circles. Advice posts are an opportunity to often re use older content. You also can curate content from other sources, which can position you and your brand as the go-to source for information on the subject.

4. Have promotions

Promotions and offers are a great way to keep your audience interested in your posts. Statistics show that 35% of fans follow brands to stay updated on promotions. And 42% follow a brand on social for discounts and special offers. This is how you make your content 'valuable' – literally. Remember not to be spammy with now-or-never deals and cheap offers. Promotions should seem exclusive to your audience and provide a genuine sense of value.

5. Ask for User Generated Content (UGC)

Global research giants Nielsen tells that today's consumers trust user generated content about a brand 92% to 36% when it is directly from a brand. If your fans post content that features your products, share it! Ask your audience for content. Social media is really a great user driven platform, so seek that participation and contribution. Look out for user reviews, unboxings, How To's, product tips etc posted by people and use them in your content.

6. Harness the power of video and photos

Platforms like Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook’s native and live-video options mean sharing video never has been easier. Don’t forget that consumers who view video are twice as likely to make a purchase. A study from Invodo also showed that 92 percent of mobile video users share with others the video content they see.

Did you know photos get 53 percent more likes, 104 percent more comments, and 84 more click-throughs on links than text-based posts? Photos enable you to tell a story visually, and your audience will not only be attracted to see the posts with photos but also share them if they are 'useful'.

7. Use the magic of power words

Research tells us that there are certain words that win over audiences in content. Google "power words for content marketing" and you'll find dozens of great articles on which power words to use. Use them appropriately in your posts and build these winning words and phrases into your post content. Words paint pictures, and certain words paint better pictures.

These are seven easy tips to follow. Empower your posts to ride on the power of a winning content strategy for your social media marketing.

And that's the basics of digital marketing strategy. That's 101. Please share this post with your friends and colleagues today... And do comment if you feel you want to add to this.

Now read these related posts on Social Media & Content Marketing:

• Content Marketing Strategy: What kind of content should you create?

• Winning Content Strategy: Always share something valuable and useful

• 8 Must Have Steps to Unleash the Power of Content Marketing for your Brand

• Dump your social media content calendar and go with inspired content

• 11 Amazingly Easy Ways to Skyrocket your Content Marketing Results

Read more

Take advantage of Facebook's new Vertical Video format

2m to read / 

Wake up. Digital marketing's two biggest buzzwords now are 'mobile' and 'vertical'.

Facebook's News Feed for mobile will soon feature a vertical video format according to Marketing Land. While the format won't be as vertical perfect as Snapchat is, but it will apparently stop cropping and showing them as tiny squares.

Vertical on Facebook mobile News Feed

The publication says when the update rolls out for Android and iOS, you'll start seeing vertical videos with a 2:3 aspect ratio (as opposed to 1:1) on your News Feed without having to expand them. "We know that people enjoy more immersive experiences on Facebook, so we're starting to display a larger portion of each vertical video in News Feed on mobile," a spokesperson told Marketing Land.

By showing a larger, near full screen version of vertical videos, people too lazy to view them in full screen are more likely to watch them till the end. Facebook has not officially announced when the feature will go live, but Mashable said the update's going out in the coming weeks.

image courtesy Adweek

Why vertical format for video?

Snapchat's entire business model is built on vertical. Smartphones are held upright rather than sideways most often, so full-screen video in a vertical format is becoming a darling of brands. Remember the vertical ad Jeep did at Superbowl this year? It seemed silly to air that on a tv spot, but it was a clever way of ensuring that it looked perfect when shared later on mobile.

On Facebook, marketers and users have already been able to upload vertical videos, but such clips have appeared as squares until the user taps the post—then the videos go vertical. Ruby Tuesday, Mountain Dew, Mashable, GE, Axe and Budweiser are among the brands testing the feature in its early stages, according to AdWeek.

According to analyst Mary Meeker, users use vertically oriented devices nearly 30 percent of the time, up from just 5 percent in 2010. And more than 7 billion videos are viewed each day on Snapchat, which is specifically designed for vertical consumption.

Abandon traditional video for mobile?

Periscope, Meerkat, and even YouTube have latched onto the concept, and now with Facebook's planned format in vertical, traditional creators and designers are going to re-think video format. Perhaps it's time to abandon the horizontal when aiming for mobile engagement. From concept to execution, the agencies that produce videos for brands have to find new content concepts and techniques to film scenes and subjects. Close-ups of people work well vertically. Without a vertically conceived concept, video has to be shot twice, doubling production time and money. The whole genre needs a bit of moving away from traditional content planning.

Our phones are vertically rectangular.  Where are phone-filmed vertical videos the most often viewed? On a vertically-held phone! Instagram and Snapchat—the biggest offenders of horizontal formats. These are phone videos meant for phones. After all, why should both the shooter and viewer be forced to twist their phones sideways all the time when viewing? So, if you want better engagement on your videos, think vertical. It's all about shifting your brand mindset to mobile first (see related post link below).

Get your brand ready

Considering the success platforms like Snapchat have had with vertical video, particularly among millennial and Gen Z users, the new feature should be a hit. You don't need to have huge investments to take advantage of the format. Even today's latest smartphones can be used to create compelling video in vertical format. What you do need to is invest some time and effort in planning the content that best creates a well executed, immersive, engaging video. Remember, the format is 9:16.

While shooting vertically can present simple logistical problems (what’s the best way to secure a camera sideways on a tripod?), the unorthodox orientation forces producers to alter their shot compositions and techniques regardless of how the video is shot.

Be prepared for this buzzing new trend in digital marketing that's hot on vertical video. That's the basics. And that's Digital Marketing Strategies 101.

Also read these related posts:

• Shifting the brand mindset to Mobile First

• Here's how to Power up your Facebook engagement with Video

• Why you should directly upload videos to Facebook.

• How to use Facebook Live video like a pro. The essentials of getting it right.

• How VR and 360 degree video is changing advertising and content marketing

Read more

8 Cool Lessons Brands can Learn from Pokemon Go

3m to read / 

Pokemon Go is a worldwide phenomenon. The success of the Pokemon Go app is a multi-point lesson for brands in our new mobile empowered age. Here are some things every brand can learn from Pokemon Go.

Average users of Pokemon Go are spending twice as much of time engaged than with other mobile apps like Snapchat. The AR (augmented reality) mobile-only game has pushed the boundaries of the traditional app user experience. Brands today can apply the same principles to create engaging apps that instantly resonate with their target audience.

What is Pokemon Go

It is the biggest mobile game ever. The object of the game is to walk around the real world to find and ‘catch’ Pokemon on your phone. Through the use of GPS technology, the player can see digital Pokemons in their surrounding area, walk up to the creature, and use the camera on their smartphone (which overlays the Pokemon on the real world) to capture it.

Here are some points to learn for brands from Pokemon Go:

1. Mobile only, mobile first of course

Pokemon Go is mobile only. It is made for an authentic mobile experience and not re-purposed from a console or computer game. The creators thought mobile first, and made it mobile centric for today's mobile focused consumer.

2. Use native functionality of the device

Apps today need to utilize and maximize the native functionality of the device to enrich and enhance the user experience.  Pokemon GO uses GPS technology and the smartphone’s camera to create a contextual user experience that’s only possible through a mobile app. Using a mobile's built in capabilities simplify but enhance the experience. You can use code scanners, camera, GPS, beacon-triggers, voice and more.

3. Focus on the consumer

Pokemon Go is totally consumer focused. It is simple and revolves around a need for the consumer to be entertained and engaged at the same time. This is based on insight. It resolves a need and delivers a hugely entertaining solution.

READ HOW: Customer Insights is your First Step in Digital Marketing

4. Make it interactive

Pokemon Go augmented reality (AR) to reinvent an old popular game for a modern user experience. Pokemon GO is able to create interactive experiences that keep users engaged via the device's capabilities. Users are spending more minutes per day in Pokemon GO than in other popular mobile apps like Facebook – it is the interactivity, user involvement and entertainment that makes it huge.

Unlike VR, augmented reality doesn’t require expensive hardware – so brands can make use of the device already in the hands of all their customers. And make it totally interactive and immersive. That's what makes it a stand out app.

5. Make it emotional

There's both a historic and in-the-now emotional connection with the Pokemon Go app. An emotional connection is critical to the success of any campaign for brands, and Pokemon Go has been around for 20 years and has huge connections with its fans. Plus the lovable little creatures on the app, the power of gamification, the motional reward of the capture all add to the connections.

6. Make it Social

Pokemon Go is social both inherently and as well it has a huge social bearing physically. It is bringing people together in the physical world where they bond over a common interest. It is an open world and often collabortaive as people instantly share their exploits and wins. It is bringing people together in the real world – something that most 'digital' experiences lack. It is perfect as sharing material for social networks.

7. Make it Visible

The key to success for any app is high visibility and talkability. Groups of people hunting Pokemon, eyes glued to their phones. They are highly visible and obvious because they are disrupting the normal course of life – in an interesting way. This is arousing both curiosity and interest, prompting non Pokemon folks to to find out more, read about it, ask about it – all exponentially increasing awareness.

And the biggest contributor to extreme 'virality' is that it is grabbing the headlines on social networks and the daily news.

8. Make it Shareable

Pokemon Go is a social media phenomenon because users are sharing their experiences. There have been more than 6 million Twitter mentions in less than a week since launch. Users are sharing on their social networks their experiences on the app as the little creatures pop up in unexpected places. They are being both competitive as well as generous with hints and how-tos. That 's Pokemon's huge social win.

Pokemon Go is compelling, engaging and immersive as an experience. The app uses real world video (via the camera) and combines it with a fascinating and interactive AR layer. This is storytelling in a whole new way. And that's a great lesson for every brand out there.

And that's the basics of digital marketing strategy. That's 101. Please share this post with your friends and colleagues today... And do comment if you feel you want to add to this.

Now read this:

How to create a winning mobile App for your Brand

10 Critical Elements you must get right for Mobile Marketing Success

5 Ways to Develop a Consumer Focused Mobile Marketing Strategy

Read more

Use the Power of Native Video on Twitter for your Brand

2m to read / 

Top brands are shifting quickly to native video on Twitter from YouTube. Engagement is higher for native video, and we have seen how successful Facebook's native video format has been. The same native video trend is also doing well on Twitter, particularly since Autoplay was introduced. You too can benefit from the power of native video on twitter in the following ways:

1. Educate and Promote using Native Video

Educational content is the mainstay of video for brands – with over 90% of marketers believing that educational content is the real purpose of video. McDonald's does a real good job with this. They create fun and engaging videos on Twitter which includes their products as the center of every story they tell. It’s smart, innovative and playful and definitely drives engagement.

If you want to tell a story that’s fun, educational or even a promotional, video is an important tool to use because people respond well to visuals in audio+video format.

2. Share videos in Real Time

Twitter givens your brand the power of being in the here and now – sharing real time events as they unfold. Top brands use Twitter's native video format to cover events as they’re happening. Twitter video allows for more engagement and interactivity by involving followers in the big event if they can’t be there. Plus, Twitter video stands out in the fast-moving Twitter feed so your brand message gets more attention. Video content can also be created around a trending event on Twitter – when it has some connection to your brand or product.

READ THIS: 5 Cool Ways to use Twitter for Real Time Marketing

3. Push for User Generated Videos

Get your followers to create video content around your brand. Ask users to contribute video content that involves your product. Run a content creation contest for video which you can build around a hashtag. GoPro does this really well. It regularly asks followers to send in videos and shares a video of the day with followers.

4. Conversate and Respond in native video

Liven up your brand conversations in video format. It goes a lot further with engagement than a simple tweet. Video is a great way to use twitter for customer service. Imagine, quick solutions and answers in video format, rather than just a 14o character tweet. Your followers will really benefit from the actual demo or the how to video. You can create a series of video tweets built around a hashtag to develop a twitter chat.

Measure and Learn

With Twitter Engagement metrics, you'll know what type of video content resonates with your audience. The option is available in your profile and lets you view the metrics of every tweet you send. Now you can see how many views your video got, how many people engaged with it and whether it had any retweets. Include successful elements and styles in future videos that you put out on Twitter.

And that's the basics of digital marketing strategy. That's 101. Please share this post with your friends and colleagues today... And do comment if you feel you want to add to this.

ALSO READ ON: How VR and 360 degree video is changing advertising and content marketing

More reading on Twitter for Brands:

Power up your Twitter content in these easy ways

Build a Winning Twitter Strategy for your Brand in 2016

3 quick ways to improve your Twitter performance

Read more

How VR and 360 degree video is changing advertising and content marketing

4m to read / 

Virtual Reality (VR) and 360 degree video has the power of changing how brands can better engage their audiences with advertising and content marketing. While VR and 360 degree video is in early stages of adoption by brands, the potential is immense.

Brands and content creators need to know that today's content hungry and tech savvy consumer is hugely interested in VR. Global search interest on Google grew by nearly 4X in the last year. And Google are doing a great job in empowering this new technology. Google has shipped millions of Google Cardboard viewers to help bring the VR experience to everyone. As have many other brands like Etihad Airlines and Volvo recently.

Google says that the "technology has the potential to change our daily lives—from how we communicate to how we spend our leisure time. It's early days, but it's already happening, and now is the time for brands and creators to understand what it all means." While Google Cardboard was an initial step, Google's new VR platform "Daydream will enable even more powerful, mobile, high-quality experiences with a headset that's comfortable at an accessible price."

What VR does

Google says that the "promise of VR is what the industry calls "presence"—the feeling that you're really somewhere else. VR cameras like Jump can capture the entire experience of a place—every corner, every angle. In the not-so-distant future, cameras like these will be capturing experiences all over the world. What does this mean for audiences? How about access to the best seats in the house at any event—floor seats at the NBA playoffs, a box at La Scala, front row at the Beyoncé show?" Imagine how this empowers brands for their content marketing initiatives.

VR and 360 degree Video

Google already has made impact with 360 degree video. "Viewers can see video from every angle just by swiping or moving the phone or tablet around—with no headset required. Uploads of 360-degree videos continue to grow and have doubled over the past three months. Brands are forging the way, using 360-degree video to film big events or get creative with ads. BMW used this technology for an ad featuring a 360-degree car race. The "School of Rock" musicalcreated a 360-degree music video. AT&T simulated a car crash to drive home its phone safety message."

Virtual reality takes the 360-degree video experience a step further by adding a sense of depth. When viewed with a VR headset images become three-dimensional, which adds to the feeling of immersiveness. On top of that, spatial audio lets people listen to audio from all directions, just as in the real world. That's what drives interaction and therefore engagement.

For content creators, the potential of 360-degree video and VR is immense, but it'll require a shift in thinking. VR lets viewers be active participants; they can look wherever they want.  This makes VR and 360-degree video an incredibly powerful tool to create empathy. When a viewer feels like they are there, they have a greater sense of the situation. Messages become more impactful."

Google reminds us that on YouTube, creators are using the medium to create truly transportive experiences across sports, news, education, and fashion. The New York Times puts viewers in the shoes of displaced children around the world. Virtual field trips let teachers take students places a school bus can't. Fashionistas can get a front row seat at the latest runway shows from Jason Wu, Hugo Boss, and Dior.

Virtual reality is no longer a novelty. It has real applications for brands today. But is it worth pursuing? And will it make sense and add value to your target audience?

As in any aspect of digital marketing, Customer or Consumer Insights is your First Step in Digital Marketing with any video content you create. Google suggests brands examine the potential first in their post:

Four questions for brands interested in VR:

Here are some questions brands should consider before investing in VR technology according to Google:

Will VR give viewers an experience that they otherwise couldn't have? The subject matter should truly take advantage of the medium—transport people to a place, immerse them in a world, and compel them to explore. 

Could you give shoppers a better feel for your product? According to a study from Ericsson ConsumerLab, shopping was the top reason worldwide smartphone users were interested in VR, with "seeing items in real size and form when shopping online" cited by 64% of respondents. This doesn't just apply to retail brands. Cadillac is already using VR to create virtual dealerships. 

Will your recording environment be rich with things to see? If you're shooting in a simple white room with nothing on the walls, probably not. If you're at a sports event or a music festival, there's likely plenty to see. 

Will viewers want to continue watching beyond the initial "That's cool" moment? It can be a challenge to get viewers to stick around after a minute or so. Make sure you have a compelling hook that will keep them engaged.

Winning Content Strategy: Always share something valuable and useful. No matter how cool your content is formatted – using 360 video or VR, if it does not provide value, it's just not going to work.

And that's the basics of digital marketing strategies. That's 101. Please share this post with your friends and colleagues today... And do comment if you feel you want to add to this.

More reading on 360 video and content

YouTube unleashes 360 degree Live streaming – takes on Facebook

Facebook launches 360 and Panoramic Photos in News Feed

How to use Facebook Live video like a pro. The essentials of getting it right.

Read more