StoryTeller Blog

Attending HubSpot's INBOUND 2019? Here's How to Get the Most Out of It

britt@storytellermn.com (Britt Laeger) — Fri, 19 Jul 2019 18:57:00 GMT

HubSpot’s INBOUND 2018 Conference has come and gone, but if you are looking for highlights, check out our Inbound 2018 Recap blog for all our favorite moments, videos of the keynotes and links to other relevant resources!

Once again, HubSpot will host thousands of business professionals from almost every industry imaginable and from all corners of the globe in their home city of Boston. While this conference was once home to just a few hundred marketers, it has grown to epic proportions.

Last year, INBOUND attracted more than 21,000 attendees — in large part because the tool now reaches beyond marketing automation, into sales and even customer service support.

INBOUND's three-day conference will be jam-packed with inspiring keynotes, breakouts, new product releases, and tons of networking that will leave you with a laundry list of ideas to take back to your job. Check out our coverage of some of the major topics and sessions from last year.

But after attending the conference four times, I can tell you this one is well worth the price of admission and beyond. From the production value to the breakouts, you'll leave Boston on a high note. And I've developed a few tricks for getting the most out of the conference over the years. Here's what I recommend:

1. Register for Sessions Ahead of Time

In the past two years, HubSpot offered pre-conference registration and this is an absolute must. Most of the best sessions fill up FAST.

Start by looking over the conference agenda and decide ahead of time which breakout sessions to prioritize. The sessions are broken down into six tracks. Take a look at all of the possible sessions so you don’t miss out on something really valuable for your business.

Make note of other sessions that sound interesting to you in case your first choice fills up.

But keep an eye on the conference schedule every day, because HubSpot has historically added encore sessions for some of the most well-attended sessions.

PRO TIP: After registering to attend, make use of the conference app from HubSpot. It’s the easiest way to plan your day and pick your favorite sessions. The app comes complete with a bunch of tools that will make your conference-going experience more pleasant!

2. Team Up with Your Co-Workers or Local HUG Members

There are way more sessions than you will ever be able to conquer on your own. Team up with other attendees from your area so you can divide and conquer.

Take notes at each session you attend and make them available to your team. Then, plan a recap day where you can share the best ideas and takeaways from the conference. It’s a great way to keep the ideas flowing after you get home!

3. Get to Know Your HubSpot Account Team

INBOUND is more than just keynotes and breakouts. Set up a time to meet with your HubSpot account reps. Not only are they essential to learning the inside scoop with the tool, but they can also recommend the best things to see while you are in Boston!

4. If You See Dharmesh or Brian, Try to Say Hey!

The HubSpot co-founders, Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shaw, try to spend a ton of their time talking to real customers during INBOUND week. It might be hard to grab a few minutes of their time, but just give them a quick wave or say hi!

And don't be shy about grabbing a quick selfie.

Just bumped into this fine gentleman 👋 @dharmesh @clickverta #INBOUND16 #HumansofINBOUND pic.twitter.com/XRAtwN1llk
— James Downton (@jamesdownton) November 11, 2016

5. Keep Tabs on Your Badge

For the few days of the conference, your INBOUND badge is as important as your ID. They scan your badge for entrance to the conference, to check that you've registered for the session you attend and to pay for your meals at lunch time. Make sure you don't leave it at your hotel or the bar because an extra one is going to cost you around $100.

6. Meet Vendors and Partners

If you're in need of help with HubSpot, this is the place to look. There are tons of vendors and HubSpot partners that can help you with website development, content creation, inbound marketing strategy, workshops and more!

#INBOUND16 Partner revelations were awesome, thank you @HubSpot for rolling out such cool stuff for your partners and for the swag! pic.twitter.com/hPr5oi9244
— Verity Dearsley (@Verity_b2bml) November 9, 2016

Some partners have booths and tables around the conference, but many (like us) can be spotted attending breakouts, giving presentations and networking with our fellow marketers. If you want to meet with us during the conference, send me a note!

Quick Note: Our CEO, Ed, is speaking again this year, so be sure to check out the information on his session: "Storytelling for Your Business: How to Engage Your Audience."

7. Take Lots and Lots (and Lots) of Notes

I know this seems like a no-brainer, but it’s important for several reasons. For a lot of people, writing notes helps commit ideas to memory, but it’s really important to take notes beyond just what the presenter is saying.

A lot of the best presentations will be made available after the fact, so don’t worry so much about writing down every word verbatim. Instead, focus on writing down how to use the ideas, the brainstorms that the sessions spark for you. The brilliant ideas yet to be fleshed out.

Compiling stats, notes & reflections from #INBOUND16 @INBOUND #AlwaysLearning pic.twitter.com/H56ZLcmgSk
— Jamie Caroccio 🐑 (@jamiecaroccio) November 14, 2016

Writing down your key takeaways and ideas will help you connect the dots and recall those ideas once you are back in the office and the daily to-dos creep back into your mind. More importantly, it will allow you to revisit those ideas for months and years without having to hold every single one in your memory. Taking pictures of presenters’ slides can be another easy way to capture lots of information without the need to write everything down.

PRO TIP: Don’t forget to take notes of conversations you had with other people at the conference, too. Sometimes, a simple business card isn’t enough when you get back to the office!

8. Don’t Forget Your Chargers and Notebooks

With 20,000 marketers fighting to power their devices, outlets can often be hard to come by. If you haven’t gotten a portable charger, you might want to invest in one before you leave. (I love my Anker Powercore.) Make sure your laptop, phone, and tablet are all charged up and ready for the day before you leave your hotel. It’s also not a bad idea to bring along an extra notebook, just in case you aren’t able to refuel during the day.

9. Ask Tons of Questions

This is your big chance to learn from experts and tacticians from all over the country (and the world). Don’t spend all your time talking. Make sure to ask tons of questions and learn what is successful for others. Have a question in a session? Just ask!

PRO TIP: If you are in a relevant industry, spend some of your time asking questions and getting interviews with people around the conference. Here's one that Reputation Ink did at the 2016 conference with Ed.

10. Take Short, Intentional Breaks

With several days of brain-filling breakout sessions, it’s important to take a few intentional breaks to reset. Plan some time to check your work email, make a phone call home, or just take a short walk outside.

11. Make the Most of Social Media

There is a lot of chatter that happens on Twitter and Instagram using the conference hashtag (#INBOUND19). It’s a cool way to capture the best quotes, ask questions, or start conversations. You can even tag your favorite speaker or find groups of people doing meetups all over the Boston area!

The hashtag is already in use, so start checking it for valuable information before you even leave!

PRO TIP: If you meet someone new, don’t hesitate to add them on LinkedIn or Twitter right away. If you wait until you get back, you might forget how you met. Send them an invite to connect, and include a personalized note to remind them what you talked about, in case they don’t see it until they get back to the office the following week.

12. Don’t Miss the Networking Events

From seaport parties to Boylston Street bars, inbound marketers know how to throw a good party. Check out the conference hashtag #INBOUND19 to get an idea of all the networking events happening throughout the week. They are a perfect way to meet other like-minded marketers, look for exciting jobs, or just have a good time.

Two things everybody did a lot of at #INBOUND16, learning and laughing.

A post shared by Prodo Digital (@prododigital) on Nov 16, 2016 at 7:30am PST

13. … Or the Entertainment

HubSpot doesn’t skimp on entertainment either. Club INBOUND has a resident DJ and happy hours are known to feature bands or other entertainment. Not to mention previous headliners — Cyndi Lauper in 2012, OneRepublic in 2013, Amy Schumer in 2015, Trevor Noah in 2016, and 2 Dope Queens in 2018. 2019's headliner is yet to be announced...

14. Come Rested and Mentally Prepared for a Packed Week

Between the breakout sessions, networking opportunities, entertainment, and sheer volume of people, this conference is no joke. The five times I’ve visited Boston for INBOUND, it’s not uncommon for me to wake up at 7 a.m. and go to bed around 2 a.m. Not to mention the fact that you sit in 6-8 sessions every day, listening to some of the most brilliant marketing minds in the world.

PRO TIP: Sleep is crucial, so use these tips to reset your internal clock to make sure that you are up and ready to roll when the day gets started!

15. Get Your Work Done in Advance

One of the biggest distractions from getting the most out of a three-day conference is your work back at the office. Do your best to plan in advance and clear your to-do list, so your co-workers can get their own work done while you are out of the office.

If you know you’ll need to communicate with clients or someone back at the office, set specific time blocks for people to follow up with you. Try not to check your email while sessions are in progress to make sure you don’t miss out on any good nuggets.

16. Prioritize Your Takeaways and Tactics

When you get back to the office, or maybe even on your trip home, spend some time going through your notes. Look over all the tactical ideas, make a to-do list, and document the ideas/discussions you want to cover when you get back in the groove. Prioritize that list and keep it handy so you don’t lose track of all the ideas you had. Ultimately, you're not going to be able to implement all of your ideas right away, so it will be good to have a running list you can refer to throughout the year.

3 Inbound Marketing Tips from #INBOUND16 (that I'm still using) https://t.co/jBgtKUYb87 #inboundmarketing
— Tyler Pigott (@tylerpigott) July 19, 2017

17. Make Use of the On-Demand Content

HubSpot records a lot of the sessions and makes them available to attendees, and sometimes, on their YouTube channel. Save your favorite sessions and revisit them throughout the year as reminders of the brilliant ideas. It’s also an easy way to check in on other sessions that you didn’t get a chance to attend.

If you didn't see @GaryVee's keynote at #INBOUND16, check out the recording now! #social #mobile #video #apps 👉https://t.co/D2nGXdXosP pic.twitter.com/IaCOWiNYE5
— HubSpot (@HubSpot) August 15, 2017

Conclusion

I'll be attending the conference for the sixth time. So, while I may be drinking the Koolaid just a little bit, I always come away with a ton of ideas that I can implement in my day-to-day life.

But just in case you want another person's perspective, here's why Evan Dean, channel account manager at HubSpot, thinks the event is so special. "It's a great resource for learning about new marketing trends, techniques, tools, and thought leaders. But it's everything that makes it happen which makes INBOUND special — all the great people participating. There is a real buzz in the air at INBOUND, when you meet new people who are excited about the same things as you, sharing ideas and meeting everyone."

Let me know if you are planning on attending this year! We'd love to see you there.

Want to See Recaps from Our Past Years at INBOUND? Check out the links below:

The Beginner's Guide to Digital Marketing Analytics

britt@storytellermn.com (Britt Laeger) — Tue, 23 Apr 2019 16:21:23 GMT

Throughout the 20th Century, one of the biggest problems with marketing was that it was difficult to calculate its return on investment.

Is that ad we placed in the newspaper last month really the reason we're seeing an uptick in store visits? Or, is the billboard on the side of the interstate 20 miles away from our exit drawing in more visitors? It was hard to say for sure.

Today, traditional marketing media like print, television, radio, and billboards certainly still have their place. However, the 21st Century brought us a new, measurable form of marketing: digital marketing.

With digital marketing comes the opportunity to directly track and analyze results using digital marketing analytics. But, that doesn't mean everyone is tracking their results. Today, only 1 in 4 marketers can prove the impact of their marketing efforts on their business.

Our goal is to show you what you should be tracking, how you should be tracking it, and why tracking is so important. Here is the Beginner's Guide to Digital Marketing Analytics.

What You Should Be Tracking

1. Organic Traffic and Keyword Ranking

Search engine and keyword optimization is your way to communicate with search engine algorithms in a way that shows what your website is really all about. Each page you create is a new opportunity to rank for a new keyword and drive new traffic to your website. If you are not driving organic traffic through website pages and blogs, you might be failing to check some of the necessary boxes (either with content or keyword selection).

Benchmarks: This number is going to vary a little bit by industry and product, but across all of our current clients, the average is 40% of all website visits come from organic search. When you are doing inbound marketing at full strength, all of your traffic sources should be increasing, but organic search is the primary indicator of how well you are doing with the content creation piece of the process.

2. New Leads/Conversion Rates

As marketers, we know that when it comes to traffic, more is better, but if that traffic isn't converting into relevant business leads, then it's not really doing us any good at all. It's important to create relevant offers and conversion points that connect with your visitors and potential customers that will help move them from strangers who don't know anything. A lot of companies miss the mark on this metric by creating content offers that are too company-specific. Be helpful, inform your visitors.

Benchmarks: Sitewide, you should be aiming for 3%–5% conversion rate on all your website visits. However, your individual landing pages should be getting a 15%–20% conversion rate at the very least. Some of our clients' really popular pages get around a 40% conversion rate.

3. Session Duration

The session duration of an average user on your site is a very telling metric. Creating "sticky" content that encourages visitors to stay engaged, visit another page, or watch a video will help you increase the duration. Measuring session duration is especially important as it relates to your organic visitors because Google is monitoring how effective the search results are. If someone visits your site and leaves in under 20 seconds, that sends negative SEO data to Google.

Benchmarks: Every website is going to be different. Take a look at your Google Analytics data (learn more below) and start working on ways to incrementally increase the average session duration. Can you add more links to your blog post and website pages? Maybe you need to add relevant calls-to-action on your best-performing pages? Or try adding some video that keeps users engaged.

4. Email Open/Click-Through Rates

Okay, so we've discussed online traffic metrics. Now, let's move to email marketing (which still works, by the way). The two most important statistics to track for email marketing are open rates (what percentage of recipients opened an email) and click-through rates (what percentage of people clicked on a link within the email).

Open rates tell you how deliverable your email is (i.e. avoiding spam folders, having attractive subject lines), and click-through rates tell you how appealing your email's deliverables are (i.e. content, coupons, contest sign-ups).

Benchmarks: Again, every industry is different. But, it's helpful to aim for at least an 18% email open rate and at least a 3% click-through rate.

5. Video Engagement Rates

Video is one of the most engaging forms of content that you can create. So, you should be creating it. And, if you are going to go through the time and effort to add video to your website, then you should definitely be tracking more than the views.

We hear a common myth all the time that shorter video is better, but just like any piece of content, what matters is the quality of the video, not the length. If you have an awesome, compelling video story that keeps people engaged, they will keep watching.

One of our favorite projects was a "Stories for the Soul" video that was about six minutes long. Conventional wisdom would tell you that people stopped watching after the first minute of the video. But, that wasn't the case, at all. Our video had an 82% engagement rate overall and 78% engagement rate through the 5:24 mark.

Benchmarks: Measuring engagement rate is less about shooting for a specific number and more about understanding how your audience engages with videos. Do they fall off around the one-minute mark? Will they stay for five minutes if they find it engaging? Are there parts of the video that lots of viewers are re-watching? Without measuring your videos, there is no way to analyze and improve them in the future!

6. Cost per Lead/Cost per Customer

Do you know how much it costs for you to acquire the leads you are getting today? Is it $2,000 or $200? By calculating the cost of your marketing efforts and dividing by the total number of leads/customers converted, you can start to get an idea of the cost per lead/customer. Your cost per lead and customer is going to depend on your business and your average lifetime value of a prospect. You should have a lower cost per lead if your lifetime value of a customer is $2,000 vs. $200,000.

Benchmarks: Again, this number is going to vary a lot by industry, company, and product value. Create a spreadsheet, track your averages on a monthly basis, and look for trends. If there are marketing activities that lead to more customers at a lower cost, then make sure you are doing more of those activities.

These inbound marketing analytics will help you get an understanding of the effectiveness of your campaigns. We love to help companies optimize their inbound marketing process, so if you are looking for help identifying where you need the most help, we'd love to do a free marketing assessment.

7. New Business from New Customers

Not surprisingly, closed business is likely the most important measure of success for marketing and sales. In order to track how many leads are turning into customers, it’s wise to integrate your automation platform with a CRM system to implement closed-loop reporting.

You’ll want to pay close attention to the conversion rate for this metric, the lead-to-customer rate.

Lead to Customer Conversion Rate Formula:
# of customers / # of leads = Lead-to-customer conversion rate

Also, don’t forget to consider the customer’s or account's lifetime value when looking into closed business. A new customer may be worth more than just the value of the one-time purchase.

Customer Lifetime Value Formula:
Avg sale per customer x Avg number of times a customer buys per year x Avg years a customer will buy from you = Avg customer lifetime value

If your sales team is uploading deal information into your CRM, this should be easy to track and calculate. With this information, you can accurately calculate the return on your marketing investment.

8. Your Marketing Return on Investment (ROI)

Are your marketing efforts worth it? The timeless question. How can you say a marketing campaign was successful if you don’t know if you recorded a return on your investment?

When measuring ROI, you’ll need to calculate your customer acquisition costs for all online marketing efforts. How much does it cost you to acquire a new customer? This includes manpower, technology, and other expenses related to campaigns.

Return on Investment Formula:
(Sales growth - Marketing investment) / Marketing investment

In order to calculate your customer acquisition costs, like the metric above, it’s recommended to integrate your marketing automation solution with your CRM platform.

Keep in mind, if you want to accurately measure marketing ROI, you’ll need to be very diligent recording data and closely tracking the buying journey of a customer. The depth in which you’re able to drill down is dependent on the collection of information. Ideally, you’ll get the correct systems in place and benefit from the ability to truly understand the impact of specific marketing campaigns on your business.

What Tools You Should Use

Now that we know what to track, we need to know how to track it. And there are many tools that you can take advantage of to track and measure your success online. Here are a few that we use along with their specific use-cases:

HubSpot

Because we're a Platinum Partner with HubSpot, we use it for just about everything. Our website is built on HubSpot, we host our CRM on HubSpot, we send automated emails through HubSpot, and we post on our social media through HubSpot (to name a few).

Therefore, we can track site visits as they turn into leads and from leads to customers, all through one platform, which makes it very easy for us to track specific success from certain campaigns.

You don't have to build your website on HubSpot to have all these amazing options, though, so don't fret! If you're interested in working with HubSpot, they can merge their software with your current website so you can start getting insights and tracking leads without changing your online presence.

But, HubSpot may not be for everyone. Visit their website to learn more about what they can do for you before taking the plunge!

Google Analytics

You've probably heard of Google Analytics. In fact, you may have (hopefully) already set up Google Analytics for your website.

Google Analytics is a free tool that allows you to build campaigns, see customer behavior, and measure traffic on your website.

Much like HubSpot, there is A LOT of information you can gather from Google Analytics. Dig in deep to find correlations and patterns with your most successful pages and your incoming leads.

Ahrefs

Remember when we talked about growing your organic ranking at the beginning of this blog? Again, that comes from writing and publishing quality blogs with helpful content.

And the best way to know what people are searching for is by conducting your own keyword research.

We have found that Ahrefs is a great source for not only keyword research, but competitive research as well. They have fantastic tools for finding the difficulty and searches per month for keywords, helping you understand what your competitors' articles are ranking for, and knowing what news is trending related to your business.

Special Shoutout: Keywords Everywhere, a Google Chrome and Firefox plugin, can really help with inspiration for keywords. It's a free resource, so you can visit their website and install it now.

Wistia

If you're producing videos (and you should be), you'll need a tool to host and share those videos. YouTube may be an obvious choice for video hosting, but other video platforms are worth considering. Like Wistia, for example.

Wistia allows you to gather specific data, like your engagement rate (remember the Stories for the Soul example above?). It also allows for more customization, and most importantly, it can integrate with other marketing automation software (like HubSpot) to automatically trigger actions.

For instance, you can send someone an automated email after they've watched 1:30 of a Wistia video.

Special Shoutout: If you have HubSpot Marketing Professional or higher, local video hosting services are now included (with automation built-in!). That means customization, workflow creation, and lead capture technology are all included with HubSpot Videos.

Hotjar

If you want to get even more specific with your website optimization, you can use Hotjar (or CrazyEgg). Both of these tools create heatmaps of your landing pages, so you can see where people are looking on your page.

For instance, if you want to place a lead capture form on a landing page, in a spot where your visitors will actually see it, make a Hotjar heatmap of your landing page. This will allow you to see where visitors first place their eyes, which will indicate where you should put the lead capture form.

Why Digital Marketing Analytics Are Important

Digital marketing analytics can help you...

Better understand your customer. Think about it: You will now be able to know what your target audience is searching for by doing keyword research on Ahrefs. Then, you can use Google Analytics or HubSpot to track their behavior on your website, which will help you better understand their buyer's journey. Not to mention, you can build in pop-up forms that can give them the opportunity to ask questions while they're thinking about you on the page, or even chatbots that pre-emptively answer their questions!
Better understand your competitor. By researching your industry to gain a deeper understanding of how you can improve your online presence, you'll get to know your competitors' niches, and consequently, your niche!
Prove the value of your efforts. We already said it, but I'll say it again for those in the back: You can directly track the ROI of your efforts with digital marketing! No more guessing games as to whether what you're doing is actually working — you can track customers from the awareness stage all the way to the purchase decision.

Good luck on your journey with digital marketing analytics. If you need any help along the way, give us a call.

6 Surefire Ways to Generate Organic Leads and Increase Traffic

kathy@storytellermn.com (Kathy Heil) — Wed, 27 Feb 2019 17:52:00 GMT

Most marketers struggle to increase traffic to their websites, and there are a lot of ways to get from "point A to point B." Paid ads and traditional marketing can seem like the best quick fix, but they rarely equate to an investment in long-term results. So if you are trying to figure out how to generate organic leads without a monster budget, I've got a few ideas that will help you get the job done.

What are organic leads?

Organic leads are prospects who find your company by searching for a product, service or question in a search engine, rather than directly visiting your URL or clicking on PPC ad. These leads and prospects often don't know about your product or service before they do an online search.

Today, we use Google (and other search engines) as a way to answer all of our questions. Whether it's the name of an actor, how to change a setting on my phone or how to solve complex business problems, I know that Dr. Google will have the answer. And, as marketers, we're hoping that Dr. Google will prescribe information on our website as a treatment for the searcher. That's why companies fight to reach the top of SERPs (search engine results pages) — we want their attention!

So how do you get to the top of these results? And furthermore, how do you get visitors to take action on your site?

Here are a few principles that will help you understand your audience, capture their attention and ultimately convert them to advocates of your company.

1. Do Keyword Research

Organic traffic relies on your ability to understand what search terms your customers and prospects are using to navigate the search engines. In other words, doing keyword research is essential so that your audience can find you online. To grasp organic traffic, you need to understand the relevant keywords for your business, along with the competition for these keywords across the internet. When you incorporate keywords in both your website and content you create, your site will become more easily searched.

A key factor to SEO success and increasing website traffic boils down to doing some homework to identify the highest volume of keyword searches and the lowest degree of difficulty. You can use tools like Google's Keyword Planning Tool, Google Search Console, or SEM Rush to learn what your website is currently ranking for and to discover new opportunities.

Next, you can deploy a strategic content creation strategy to elevate your organic rankings. In other words, start with the low hanging fruit: where your website is ranking the highest matched with the greatest number of monthly searches. Also, seeking out new, relevant, high-volume keywords that you aren't currently ranking for.

Don't forget to spend some time digging through your site analytics to find out where organic visitors are regularly landing on your website (and fix any errors found on pages being indexed). Is it one of your main site pages or is it a blog post? Drilling down to this data is going to give to some really great insights about what Google values on your website.

If you find there is a big disconnect between what’s driving traffic and your business objectives, then your first focus should be adjusting your website content to align with your business and speaks to your personas.

2. Publish Regular, Consistent, Helpful Content

Now that you have a sense of what keywords you want to rank for, it's important to deploy a consistent content marketing strategy. Both search engines and your readers value consistency. One of the more frequently asked questions I hear is, "how often should I be blogging?" My answer is always, "it depends!" Why? It all depends on how aggressive you want to be with the number of organic leads you generate. The more content (good content!) you create, the more leads you will generate.

A manufacturing client we have been working with, W.C. Branham, had poor organic ranking on opportune keywords when we started working with them three years ago. We began publishing one strategic blog post a week consistently, and over time, they began to rank organically for several of the keywords that mattered most to their business. This growth in organic traffic has led to a consistency of organic leads.

3. Understand Your Personas

Before you write one piece of content, or definitely before you re-design your new website, create your buyer personas so that you know whom your content is trying to reach. In essence, define the IDEAL customer. By creating quality content that resonates with your target audience, you will naturally impact your organic rankings. Keep in mind, keywords and search only get you so far. Writing keyword-driven content without helpful information is not an effective way of generating new online leads.

Some examples of questions you will want to be able to answer when creating your customer profile are:

Characteristics (demographics, psychographics, behavior, etc.)
Where do they "hang out" online and what kind of searches do they conduct?
What are their biggest problems they are trying to solve, pain points, what solutions are they trying to capture?
What are their buying behaviors? What are their information sources?

When you know WHO you are trying to reach, you can begin to know how to create content that will resonate with and help your prospects. Download our easy persona template to get you started.

4. Create Compelling Conversion Points

Now that you know how to attract new traffic to your website, it's important that you have places to convert that traffic to leads. And that doesn't just mean a contact form.

Think about an experience where you've gone in to a physical store to browse for something. If a customer service person approaches you, you'll usually respond with "no thanks, I'm just browsing". That's how a lot of your website visitors feel when the only conversion point you have on your website is a contact form or request for a demo.

Now instead, imagine that you are reading a really helpful blog post that's detailing how to create your marketing budget for next year. When you get to the bottom of the post, you see a button that prompts you to download a free budget template. A much better user experience, this offer solves your immediate problems and helps you get what you needed.

Also, spend some time drilling into the User Flow tool in Google Analytics. Look at what pages readers are choosing to go to next and what pages are causing them to leave your site. It might even help to map out a common user flow through your website to make sure you have a clear picture of where the readers are coming from, where they are going, and where they leave. Now, ask yourself: "Does this make sense? Could I make this process easier for visitors? Is there information they are trying to find or questions they are trying to answer? Where are the best opportunities for conversion?"

Remember, every searcher is going have different needs and be at a different place in their research process. It's important that your website offers a variety of opportunities for people "opt in" to what your company has to offer.

5. Add Video to Your Website and Blog

Video has been an important element to SEO since 2007 when Google announced "universal search," yet video is an underrated element of search marketing today. One study boldly states that websites that incorporate video are 53x more likely to rank on the first pages of Google search results. There are many algorithmic reasons why this is so, but here are a few:

Google cares more about QUALITY content over keywords — because Google knows its users care about quality. Most videos are educational and informative content that succeeds in answering queries.
Search results with video have a 41% greater CTR than searches without.
Video makes visitors stay on your site longer, which means that your content is deemed more relevant and "authoritative."
Video builds more links. Having video rather than just text will triple the number of linking domains (one of the essential elements of SEO).

Need some video production inspiration? Here are some tips and tricks from our own seasoned TV producer to get you started.

6. Leverage Social Media

The more engaging content you create, the more places you can share it, the more visits you will drive to your website. Don't underestimate the power of social media. When you take the time to create engaging content, don't stop there... when you share it across social media channels, it increases the chance that those links are engaged and will bring interested readers back to your website. Think of each social media channel as its own search engine. As important as keywords are for blog posts, they are just as important in the social media channels. Don't forget to optimize your social media posts with #hashtags to bring in more views, clicks, and retweets.

Remember that the purpose of search engines today is to deliver relevant, meaningful search results that answer the questions of your prospects and customers. Don't waste time creating content that serves your company. Increasing your website traffic and organic leads will not happen overnight, but if you use these tactics, make data-driven decisions, and stay persistent, you can really impact results.

Continuing Education: Marketing Certifications and Resources for 2019

gregg@storytellermn.com (Gregg Litman) — Wed, 13 Feb 2019 18:54:00 GMT

I saw a great SEO presentation in Boston a couple years ago that really left a lasting impression. The expert explained some truly innovative tactics that I still use to this day, yet my enduring memory is actually about his background. He was a former advertising guy who switched careers in his 40s — and did his studying online.

"I got my bachelor's degree from Google and my Masters from YouTube University," he joked, but he really meant it. He decided not to go back to grad school when he made his career change, and spent four hours a night studying on the internet, instead.

There truly is an unbelievable amount of knowledge available online these days, with tutorials and certifications available for just about everything. And because of its nature, digital marketing leads the way. After all, digital marketers understand that educational information is an effective way to market their products and concepts, and digital marketing is relatively easy to explain with whiteboards and screenshots.

So, whether you're looking to completely change careers, improve your resume, or just learn a few extra tips to be better at your current job, here are some of the best marketing certifications to check out in 2019. And if you're just looking to learn — and don't really care about tests and certificates — I've also included some great Podcasts and YouTube channels for picking up marketing ideas.

Google - Ads Certification [Free]

Since Google is at the heart of most digital marketing, it makes sense to start with the Google Ads certification. Formerly a part of Google's partner program , the basic and advanced courses are now available in Google's Academy for Ads, the online training program that Google launched last year.

To become Google Ads certified, you must pass the fundamentals assessment plus an advanced assessment in at least one of the following areas:

Search
Mobile
Video Advertising
Display
Shopping Advertising

The Google Ads certification is a professional accreditation for individuals. The badge is a valuable addition to any resume or LinkedIn page, but it should not be confused with Google Partner badge. That certification is only available to agencies.

HubSpot - Inbound Certification [Free]

HubSpot's Inbound Marketing methodology ties together just about all aspects of digital marketing, so the free Inbound Certification Course is a great overview, even if you aren't planning to use the HubSpot tools. This "intro to inbound" course is broken into seven video lessons that provide an overview of the full inbound methodology, from marketing to sales to service:

Understanding the Fundamentals of Inbound (33 minutes)
Growing Your Business With a Flywheel Model (10 minutes)
Understanding the Inbound Principles (22 minutes)
Creating a Company Purpose (23 minutes)
Setting Business Goals (20 minutes)
Creating Buyer Personas (17 minutes)
Understanding the Buyer's Journey (19 minutes)

It takes just under two-and-a-half hours to watch all the videos, although you can click a button to speed them or slow them down for note-taking, depending on your learning style. The training is open (and free) to the public, and is a perfect foundation for anyone in the digital marketing space. After you watch the videos, set aside another two hours for the test.

HubSpot now offers free tools for sales, marketing, service and CRM to help put that inbound education into practice, so the HubSpot Academy has added a number of new free courses and certifications, including:

Inbound Marketing Certification (approx. 4 hours)
Email Marketing Certification (approx. 4 hours)
Content Marketing Certification (approx. 4:20)
2018 SEO Training (approx. 1 hour)

You can access all of HubSpot's free certifications in the HubSpot Academy resource center.

Unbounce - The Landing Page Course [Free]

This course is the A to Z guide for how to effectively use landing pages in your organization's online marketing efforts. Its theme can be summarized as "see your landing pages through the eyes of a user, rather than your own eyes." It shows you how to design and write effective landing pages, from the headlines to forms to call-to-action buttons.

Unbounce founder Oli Gardner is all about conversion and the tiny details that can improve results - especially message match. Although the lessons use Unbounce's landing page tools, his tips are so audience-focused that they easily translate to any conversion-oriented landing page. Whether it's A/B testing for the right words to convert, or the right design, any digital marketer could learn a few things.

The Unbounce Landing Page Course features written lessons on landing page fundamentals, page architecture, CTA design, lead capture forms and landing page copywriting, followed by video tutorials on landing pages and landing page design.

Unbounce doesn't have any tests or badges, just a course full of easy-to-understand instruction.

Copyblogger [Free]

Copyblogger's free membership includes a 20-part internet marketing course. The "sessions" are offered via email and are meant to be taken over time. This course covers social media, content marketing and search engine optimization, all within the context of how to generate more leads for your business. There is a heavy focus on writing, from keywords to headlines to copywriting and strategy.

Copyblogger's free course is authored by the founder and CEO of Copyblogger Media, Brian Clark, and includes access to a full library of e-books and other marketing resources.

Copyblogger also offers a Certified Content Marketer designation, which allows writers to be listed as Certified Content Marketers. The paid certification program starts with a four-week online course, requires a review of the writer's work before they can make the final list, and includes ongoing instruction. When the list is full (which happens often), Copyblogger adds names to a waiting list.

WordStream - PPC University [Free]

As the name indicates, WordStream's PPC University focuses on pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. Because PPC is constantly changing, there is certainly plenty of material to cover. In fact, WordStream breaks it into three levels:

PPC 101 - Covers PPC and keyword basics, how to set up a Google AdWords account, and metrics to determine the value of certain keywords.
PPC 102 - Best practices for optimizing Google Ads, including how to conduct keyword research, manage bids, and optimize landing pages.
Advanced PPC - Learn about remarketing, geotargeting, mobile PPC, and Google's expanded text ads.

In addition to the PPC University courses, Wordstream also offers Social Ads 101 and a number of webinars and whitepapers.

Udemy - Seth Godin [Paid]

If there's one website that proves the theory that you can study just about anything online, it's Udemy. The online marketplace for academic courses includes more than 100,000 courses, and it's not surprising that a large percentage of them are devoted to marketing.

One of the most popular is Modern Modern Marketing with Seth Godin, based on the best-selling author's live seminars. The Udemy course condenses the 45 lessons into 6 hours of on-demand videos, including all of the lectures, but skipping the case studies and discussions.

Godin focuses more on his marketing philosophy than specific strategy and tactics, but he's become a mentor for an entire generation of marketers. By Udemy standards, the course is expensive ($199.99) but the review average is 4.6 stars. The course includes lifetime access to the resources and a certificate of completion.

If you're a big Godin fan (and have much deeper pockets), you might even want to consider his altMBA program. The altMBA is an intensive online leadership management workshop designed as an alternative to the traditional MBA.

Since it was founded in 2015 to allow students to attend lectures and work from their home or workplace, more than 2,300 students from around the world have participated in Godin's alternative to a traditional MBA program. His altMBA brings students together using digital tools like Slack, Discourse, and Zoom. Students work individually and in groups on 13 assigned projects in the intense four-week program. The price tag is intense, as well. It's $3850 per person, and admission is by application only.

SkillShare [Paid]

Want to browse a huge library of online courses? Check out Skillshare. As the name implies, it's more focused on skills-related tutorials than Udemy.

The courses are a bit of a hodgepodge, but there are some gems. For example, Moz founder Rand Fishkin offers Introduction to SEO: Tactics and Strategy for Entrepreneurs, a 6-video course with strategy, demos, and five class projects. And best-selling author and TED talks star Simon Sinek shares the secrets to his inspiring presentations in Presentation Essentials: How to Share Ideas That Inspire Action.

You can get started on SkillShare for free, and premium membership is $15 per month (discounted to $8.25/month if you pay for a full year).

LinkedIn Learning [Paid]

LinkedIn Learning (formerly Lynda.com) offers an impressive list of digital marketing tutorials for an affordable price. You look for courses in the LinkedIn Learning platform almost like you would on an online shopping site, filtering your selections by courses, videos and learning paths. You can also click boxes for skill level (beginner, intermediate or advanced) and time to complete (with boxes ranging from less than 10 minutes up to 3+ hours).

A LinkedIn Learning subscription goes for $29.99 per month, but you can get started with a 30-day free trial.

Binge-Worthy Resources

What's the next wave of online education? If you don't need badges and certifications, it's already here. There are dozens of binge-worthy YouTube Channels and podcasts that are filled with the latest tips, tricks, and techniques. And the great thing is, whenever you find one you really like, you can keep the knowledge coming by subscribing!

Here are some of our favorites:

YouTube Channels:

Podcasts:

I'm sure there are a ton of other courses and resources that we've yet to explore, what are some of your favorites?

Producing Video in 2019? Download Our Editable Video Script Template

gregg@storytellermn.com (Gregg Litman) — Thu, 03 Jan 2019 17:38:00 GMT

If you've got video in your marketing plan, there's something else you need to include to have a better chance for success: a video script. It may seem obvious, but so many people try to do it other ways, and that's a big mistake.

Producing a video without a script is like driving without a map or baking without a recipe. You might get there, it might taste just fine, but there are no guarantees. In fact, I consider scripts essential to the production process even though StoryTeller specializes in something that most people call "unscripted" videos. Why? Because a video script isn't just about words. It's the template for your video production, the building blocks for the project, and a crucial piece of communication from the producer to the editor. So, if you don't have one of your own, we're sharing some examples of video scripting and a copy of our video script template that you can download below.

What is a Video Script?

A video script is an overview document that summarizes all of the relevant information needed for a video shoot or production. While the document may vary slightly depending on the specifics of the project, a video script will often include information such as locations, shots, action, dialogue, music, and graphics.

Whether you write the words for an announcer, gather them in sound bites, script them for actors, match graphics with music or natural sound, or combine a few of those techniques, the script is the roadmap for your production and the instructions for your editor.

Because videos are a unique combination of audio, video, and graphics, a video script template needs to include areas to describe each of those elements and how you want them to work together.

Because videos are a unique combination of audio, video and graphics, a video script template needs to include all three elements: audio, video and graphics.

Much like the script for a play, with the dialogue and stage directions laid out side-by-side, video scripts are laid out in three columns, showing the video, audio, and corresponding graphics.

For example, this short script for a StoryTeller video blog shows everything that will happen in the video from the opening animation to the final graphic. Every word and every shot is carefully lined up so the editor can turn the words on the script, whether written or spoken, into the video you see below.

Why Do I Need a Video Script?

If you use a video script template correctly, you will see value during every phase of production. Because it helps you visualize the finished product, it will help you see any issues or concerns long before they are ever edited, and in many cases, even shot.

Planning — Because of its name, the script is obviously the source of words for any reporters, announcers, or actors in your video. But it's also the roadmap that you'll use to lay out those words with the visuals and plan your production, fleshing out the vision so you can make changes to your drafts long before you ever shoot or edit them.
Efficiency — If everybody understands how to read and visualize a script while it's in progress, it becomes a powerfully effective way to share the vision, get critiques, and discuss corrections. Even in our "unscripted" videos, a draft script is an efficient way to share and discuss the messaging and structure, and plans for execution.
Estimating — It even serves as a benchmark to help you estimate the timing of your video. Most script templates I've used work out to around 30 seconds per page, although different templates and different ways of using them will vary.
Execution — Once the scripting is complete, it becomes the roadmap for execution — a common touchpoint for communicating the vision, whether that's to actors, announcers, videographers or editors. It lays out how every word, every shot, and everything else in your video should come together.

Related Blogs:

Pro Tip: Although the script is a valuable tool to bring together all three columns in your production — video, audio, and graphics — it can also be a tool to analyze how well each of those will work on their own. Read down the "audio" column to see whether your messaging works for somebody who's not paying attention to the video, the "video" column for somebody who doesn't hear the audio on social media, and the "graphics" column to make sure you're identifying everything properly.

Conclusion

Using a video script template works for long videos as well as short ones, it works for documentaries and music videos, and we used a similar format for news stories when I was at WCCO-TV. If you're working on a video project and don't have your own video script template, download ours. I guarantee it will help you organize the project and communicate better with the editor.

Want to download our script template? Click here or fill out the pop-up form in the left column of this blog.

About Us Video: The Do's and Don'ts To Make One That Works

gregg@storytellermn.com (Gregg Litman) — Wed, 02 Jan 2019 19:35:35 GMT

Whether you call it an "about us" video, a "culture" video, or even an "intro" video, the goal is the same — tell your story. In fact, an "about us" video is really the Swiss Army knife of the digital world. If you do it well, sales, marketing, and HR can all use the same video (or slight variations of it). After all, each of their audiences should be interested in learning all about your company — as long as you make it interesting.

So, how do you make your "about us" video work? Fortunately, we have a lot of experience in that area — and there are definitely some do's and don'ts to follow.

DO: Tell your own story

I'm not sure why, but there's such a temptation to look at other videos and copy them. If you're inspired by a cool video, that's great, but make sure you're still telling your own story.

There are reasons your employees like to work with you and customers want to buy from you — and I doubt they have anything to do with how many employees you have or the year you were founded.

On the other hand, if there's a unique reason you were founded, or you want to focus on a group of passionate, interesting people who have worked at your company for years, go right ahead. Those are interesting stories because they really are your stories.

DON'T: Show everything you do

The video is "about us," not "everything about us." It isn't supposed to show every product you sell or everything you do. It's an introduction. It's the best stuff to get them interested.

What do you tell your friends about when telling them how great your company is? What stuff do you highlight when selling your top products? Think about it as an elevator pitch that makes you and your products interesting with the added bonus of actually seeing and hearing some of those things.

And if you're tempted to go too deep on individual products, remember there are other places on your website for real product videos.

DO: Use real video

There's a temptation to use an explainer video as an about us video — but don't. Explainer videos are great, but this is supposed to be about you, not what you do. How much can we really see and meet you and your company when all we're actually seeing is fancy graphics?

The great thing about real video footage is that it can take you somewhere, introduce you to somebody, and teach you something. Take advantage of those qualities to tell your real stories and make your video a more immersive experience.

DON'T: Start with your logo

The first five seconds of any video is the most important, so why waste them with a graphic? If you don't have any people, products or stories that are more interesting than your logo, you shouldn't be doing this video in the first place. And don't forget, the video is either being seen on a web page with the logo or at a company event that already has the logo posted.

DO: Use your most interesting team members, etc.

In other words, treat the CEO just like the logo. Focus on the most interesting stories and the most interesting people, instead. When I worked in TV news, we tried religiously to avoid using "guys in ties" — boring sound bites from elected officials. The same holds true for most company executives. They're usually not all that interesting.

Ask yourself, would you rather hear the CEO or President brag about how your team feels like family, or hear about it from a long-time employee? Same question about how much pride the team takes in their craftsmanship. And if you can get a customer testimonial, that's true gold. Who better to believe than an impartial audience?

DON'T: Focus on the foosball table

Here's another common trap. It seems like every company that has one wants to show the foosball table. If it's busy all the time, you might want to show it as a representation of your "fun" culture. But even then, how unique is a fun culture with a foosball table? There are probably other fun things you do — and fun people — that will tell that story better.

Remember, if it seems like something you've seen or heard before, think twice about using it. Like the old saying, you only get one chance to make a first impression, so make sure it's your own story, not somebody else's.

Conclusion

An "about us" video can be a really valuable sales and marketing asset, but it's more about telling the story of your company and what makes you unique. It's NOT about checking the same boxes as other companies or even competitors. Your company has a unique culture and strengths, make sure to lean into everything that makes you the badass company that you are.

11 Types of Video Content to Master in 2019 (and 2 for the Future)

gregg@storytellermn.com (Gregg Litman) — Wed, 02 Jan 2019 12:00:00 GMT

Do you remember what life was like before email, or smartphones, or social networks? It helps to remember all the advances in those areas to understand how much online video has changed over the years. In other words, we've come a long way from the herky-jerky, low-rez videos that barely buffered and frustrated viewers.

Now, video streams are reliable, video production is affordable, and some kinds of video are probably part of your marketing plans. But with the platforms and technology changing so quickly, it's important to understand the types of video content available, but what's right for you this year is probably very different than it would have been just a couple years ago.

Social Videos

Nothing has changed more over the last few years than social videos. Remember when posting an iPhone video on Facebook counted as a smart, spur-of-the-moment social post? There's still a place for those posts — just like there's a place for Snapchat — but most social posts are much more strategic. Ever since Facebook started auto-playing native videos in the newsfeed, marketers have been much more intentional with their social videos.

Facebook: The movement may catch your viewer's eye right away, but the video starts in silence, so you need a good strategy. Start strong and tell your story with and without sound — meaning captions and graphics are a key part of the equation. Facebook users will watch longer videos, but you still need to win over the viewer in the first 10-15 seconds. Consider vertical video since so many Facebook users are on their phones.
Twitter: Although Twitter lagged behind Facebook in the development of native video, you can make the case that videos are now even more effective on the scroll-happy platform. In fact, Twitter says tweets are six times more likely to be retweeted if they include video. Remember to include captions to catch the viewer's attention and that your video will be cropped to fit into a vertical box, which makes sense because 93% of Twitter's video views are on mobile devices. Twitter has increased its maximum video length from 30 seconds to 140, but the shorter videos still seem to perform best on the platform.
Instagram: Although you can have success on Facebook and even Twitter with longer videos, Instagram requires shorter videos. 60 seconds is the maximum (at least for now), and that makes sense. People go to Facebook and Twitter for full updates, Instagram users are looking for pictures. Focus on highly-visual videos, and consider posting short teaser videos to promote videos on other platforms. Remember, all native videos that are captured in the app, as well as your preview thumbnails, will be cropped to fit its square format.

If you're looking to start something new, start with a great work-life balance!⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ #worklifebalence #success #startsomethingnew #newyearnewme #marketing #sales #hubspot

A post shared by HubSpot (@hubspot) on Jan 11, 2018 at 8:05am PST
Facebook Live: Live video is the newest kid on the block of social video. Whether it's Facebook Live, Periscope (Twitter), Instagram or any other platform, live video requires plenty of planning. Since it's live — and usually much longer than a pre-produced video — it's important for the host to be comfortable in front of the camera and have a solid plan of what to show or tell.

Remember, you don't get any do-overs on live videos, but you will continue to gain an audience because the recorded version of your video will continue to be seen and shared like any other social post. In fact, Facebook tends to elevate FB Live posts in the newsfeed, so you could get more of a boost than standard posts. Like other social videos, you can use a smartphone or video camera for your live videos. There are a number of apps that add graphics and other features.

PRO TIP: Remember to include links and calls-to-action on your social videos. After all, no matter how many views you get with native videos, you'll still need some extra effort to move those viewers to your own website.

Traditional Videos

Over the years, a number of tried-and-true types of video have flourished online. You'll be familiar with most of these as they have become the staples of online video, and realistically, they aren't going anywhere. Consider them the building blocks of a video strategy and keep updating them

Culture/About Us Videos: Whether you call it a company video, a culture video, or just the video that appears on the “about us” page of your website, you're probably familiar with this kind of video. Key players in the company explain who you are and what you do. These videos have evolved from stiff interviews with the owner or CEO to more inclusive videos that actively introduce key stories and people, and show off what really makes the company tick. Done right, your video will show off your culture and even serve as a virtual tour for out-of-town HR prospects.
Interviews/Stories: Video is a wonderful way to tell a story. We've been watching interviews on TV for decades and continue to watch them online. You can convey thought leadership with simple sound bites or tell a complex story by mixing words, pictures, music, and graphics. Either way, make sure your story is interesting and your spokespeople credible, because a video is the ultimate truth detector. Since we've been watching it for years, the audience can easily tell the difference between a real story and a commercial. Don't try to fool them.

Tutorials/How-To Videos: When people want to know more about you or your product, there’s nothing better than tutorial or demonstration. Whether it’s a casual “show-and-tell” video, a complicated “how it works” explanation, or a highly produced “demo reel,” depends on the product and the persona. Remember, there's a reason "how to" is one of the most searched terms on YouTube.
Product Videos: In essence, these are short commercials (or show-and-tell videos) that highlight your product’s best features. When should you use them? Any time a prospect might look at a product catalog or truly want to learn more about your product. In fact, "learn more" links are a great way to introduce product videos. Be sure the lighting and production value are high quality — these videos are for viewers who are likely interested in buying the product.
Explainer Videos: When you have a complex topic, like a software startup, using animating graphics is an easy way explain your value proposition. The key is to explain the need, who it helps, and how it works all in the first minute. The weakness of explainers is that they only showcase your abstract idea, not its real-world impact, so it's ideal to follow-up an explainer video with a testimonial video (see next) to prove your product really works.
Testimonial (Video Case Studies): Few things are more credible than real people giving real feedback about a product or service. That’s why customer reviews are so useful online. Better yet, video reviews or testimonials give the viewer an opportunity to see and hear that endorsement, to vet whether their story sounds sincere.
- Vlogs or Video Blogs: Video blogs (vlogs) are short, simple videos that should focus on one person making one main point for about one minute. It's hard to keep them that simple, but remember that everything else can be shown or said with a follow-up video on your website. Video blogs can be used for testimonials and thought leadership, but the best ones use the video to show something useful or unique. No matter what, be sure to optimize the blog for search engines by transcribing the video.

PRO TIP: Remember that you can make shorter versions of most of these videos to use as "teasers" on your social channels. Cut a 20-second sound bite or a montage with graphics to tell the story and finish it with a "watch the whole story" link leading to your own website.

Videos for the Future

With technology changing so quickly, it's always important to have your eyes on the next frontier, but that doesn't mean you have to put every new technology in this year's marketing plans. The technology is available to produce the next two types of video, but the audience may not be quite ready yet. Feel free to experiment, because first movers put themselves in a great position whenever a new technology moves from the frontier to the mainstream (and tipping points in technology come really quickly), but be aware that at this point you're efforts are really an investment in the future.

4K Video: I know, I know...your smartphone shoots 4k video and your TV can show it, but how about the infrastructure in between? That's the issue. When you shoot professional quality video in 4K, it uses 4-times as much data — everywhere. That means 4-times the processing time when you're editing, 4-times the storage space (be ready to buy more hard drives), 4-times the data to upload/download when distributing it, and 4-times the data for your viewer to process. In other words, each step is a lot slower and clunkier including viewing. Don't believe me? Find a 4K video on YouTube and try to watch it in all its 4K glory. We're getting close, but in most cases, it's not quite ready for prime time.
360º Videos: This is another great idea that still takes too much time to execute. Although 360º video is a great way to take a viewer somewhere (a house tour, a new building or venue), it's not quite ready for most applications. For starters, it's time-consuming to make. Although the cameras are affordable, and you can even make a simple 360º images with an iPhone, it takes a lot of editing and a lot of skill to "stitch the video together" and create a truly immersive 360º experience. Right now, the rule of thumb is that unless you have interesting action in both directions (like a concert in front of you and the crowd behind you), it's probably not worth the time and effort.

Conclusion

Right now, social videos are exploding and the old-standbys are gaining even more traction. But tune in next year — or even next month — because this list is guaranteed to change. That's the nature of video.

Developing Manufacturing Process Videos that Drive New Business

todd@storytellermn.com (Todd Vaske) — Thu, 13 Dec 2018 17:33:33 GMT

What do the Philadelphia 76ers and marketing directors for manufacturing companies have in common? Follow me on this one, because the 76ers' story can help you turn something you already have - a process - into something that can help you drive new business.

Understanding "The Process"

The 76ers had some major issues. They were the laughing stock of the NBA. Check out their win/loss record over the last few years.

2013–2014 = 19 Wins/63 Losses
2014–2015 = 18 Wins/64 Losses
2015–2016 = 10 Wins/72 Losses

With records like this, you can imagine it was tough to get fans to buy tickets. So, how did ownership of the 76ers get fans to keep showing up? They sold them on what they called, "The Process." They had a whole marketing campaign called, "Trust the Process."

Basically, ownership assured fans that they had a plan to improve. If fans could wait out the lean years, they would be rewarded. So, what happened? In the 2017–2018 season, the 76ers won 52 games and lost only 30, sending them to the playoffs for the first time since 2012. They are now considered one of the NBA's best, young teams, and they constantly credit "The Process" that got them there.

Why do I bring this up? Because as a marketing director, you should be showcasing and selling your process to your fans (customers) too. Buyers don't like surprises. They want to know exactly how everything is going to work from the sales process to the end delivery.

Selling "The Process"

What is your sales process? That's where your prospects first get to know you. Why not start off the relationship with a bold move and spell out the process in a video? This automatically creates authenticity, trust, and transparency. It tells your prospect, "This company has done this before and knows what it's doing." (As a side benefit, it might force those rogue salespeople to follow the proper process!)

You have a few options here. You could literally spell out the entire sales process in a video. This is a great way to showcase your systems capabilities, regulatory capabilities, supplier agreements, ISO certifications, etc.

Another option is to let your prospects know what to expect if they choose to work with you. Here are a couple of examples.

1. Plant Tour

Oftentimes, logistics and costs prevent a prospect from visiting your facility. This is where a plant tour video can showcase your capabilities. In this particular video for D&S Manufacturing, notice how they point out things like ISO Certification and specific equipment that might be important to their prospects.

2. What Makes You Unique

Usually, your prospect has options. You need to showcase what makes your company unique. Do you make everything in-house? Or do you outsource a lot to your suppliers? It can be anything! Ask yourself the question, why do our customers choose to work with us? Try to be specific and truly one of a kind. Saying things like customer service or our employees are why people choose us is not unique. Every company on the planet says this. Really dig down and discover why you are special.

For example, W.C. Branham produces everything in-house, which is important to both the company and its customers. https://storytellermn-2.wistia.com/medias/7kqjh6liqp This is a short video of W.C. Branham showing and telling us just that. Notice this video isn't flashy. It's simply W.C. Branham telling us something that makes them unique in their industry.

3. Manufacturing Process

As a video producer, I always cover the process of producing videos with my clients. This helps them understand what it takes to create a video, how long it will take, my expectations of them throughout the project, etc. Again, if you explain the process, there are no surprises.

The same goes for manufacturing. Video can help you explain your process so your prospect understands what goes into creating whatever it is they need. Lowell, Inc. created a video to show its customers what to expect if they choose Lowell.

Lowell is a contract manufacturer working in the medical field. Everything they do must be precise. Their customers demand it. So, right off the bat, Lowell quickly talks about the process of how they bring their customers' products to life.

Here's another great example of showing specifically how something is made. This video is from New Era Caps. The first part describes how they make their products and why their products are unique. I really like the use of a New Era Cap person walking you through their process. It comes across as very genuine.

For you medical manufacturing marketing directors, I know you might need to be a little more calculated in your approach. The New Era Caps video is loose and off the cuff.

Here is a video from a medical manufacturer detailing its process. Notice there is no voiceover. Music, images, and text graphics guide you through the process from beginning to end.

Conclusion

If the 76ers hadn't sold their fans on "The Process" there's a good chance they would have lost most of them. Sometimes, all customers need to know is, do you have a process? Can you build/develop/engineer what I need to succeed? So, that's what the Philadelphia 76ers and marketing directors for manufacturing companies have in common.

Behind the Scenes: A Simple Explanation of the Video Production Process

ed@storytellermn.com (Ed Heil) — Fri, 16 Nov 2018 21:47:00 GMT

Videos come in many shapes and sizes, from a simple iPhone video all the way up to major Hollywood films. For most videos, there are too many moving parts to leave your process to chance.

What is the video production process?

Video production is more than simply pressing the record button on your video camera.

The process of creating a video from concept to completion consists of three phases: Pre-Production, Production and Post-Production. Phase one (Pre-Production) is where all the planning and coordination happens, phase two (Production) is when you capture all the elements that will be in your final video and phase three (Post-Production) is where all the elements get edited together and combined to create the final video.

Explaining the Video Production Process

While the video production process will vary based on the style, content, timeline, effort, and budget, there are some basic building blocks that are common among successful video producers.

Phase One: Pre-Production

The first step in the process of creating a video is all about preparation and setting the groundwork. During this phase, it's essential to do the planning, research, problem-solving, and organization necessary to set your video project up to be successful.

The pre-production phase includes:

Video strategy/goals
Budget/scope
Story selection
Project timeline
Script creation
Talent/characters
Production team/equipment needs
Location Scouting

In order to identify all of these elements, it's important to conduct a series of meetings. Again, this process will vary based on the team and the scope of your project, but here are some basics to help you get started.

Fact Finding: Bring your company stakeholders and video production team together to discuss the purpose, strategy, and goals for your video and how it will be used after it is finalized. If you are planning to work with an external video production company, this is the part of the process where you'll want to communicate things like branding, target audience, and the tone and feel for the piece.
Pre-Production Meeting: This meeting is typically held between your video producer and the primary point person for the project. Make sure to set the timeline, identify the characters, and finalize any location details. This meeting can be done over the phone or in person.
Site Visit (Optional): Depending on the complexity of the shoot, it can be helpful to do a site visit to your location, especially if neither the producer or videographer has seen it.
Shoot Preparation: Prior to showing up on-site for your video shoot, your video producer should ensure that scripts have been reviewed and approved, interview questions discussed, characters are vetted, schedule is finalized and locations are confirmed. All these details will help ensure that the production phase goes smoothly.

Phase Two: Production

The meetings are over, the preparation is complete. Now, it's time to have some fun! The production phase is where you capture all the interviews and footage for your video. This is the part where the story begins to come to life.

The production phase is where all the raw materials for your video will be captured. If you have specific visions, ideas, or visuals that you want to be included in the final product, be sure that you have clearly communicated that with your producer before the end of the production phase.

The production phase includes:

Setting up the sound/lighting/video equipment
Conducting interviews
Recording voiceovers (if they are needed for your project)
Capturing b-roll (extra footage that is used to support your story)

Especially if you are using an external video team, we recommend the primary point person is on location to act as the conduit between the video producer and your brand.

Phase Three: Post-Production

After the production phase is finished, the producer and editor go to work. During the post-production phase, your video production team will begin the process to organize, plan, and edit the actual video.

Your producer will carefully review all the footage and transcribe all of the interviews conducted. Then, they will assemble the story and the video editor does their magic to bring all the pieces together.

The production phase includes:

Logging the interviews
Producing the final story
Music selection
Video editing
Reviews/approvals
Final Delivery

Your video production team will handle all the nuts and bolts of making your project come to life. So, just sit tight and wait for the magic to happen. This process takes some time and creativity, so don't expect that it will happen overnight.

Every production company will have different timelines for the post-production phase, but you can plan for it to take approximately 6-8 weeks unless you've discussed another plan with your company.

Note: if you are looking for a project with a shorter turnaround time, be sure to mention that to your video team. Many companies have the ability to work within your timeline if you make that clear from the beginning of the project.

Once your video team has created a draft of the video project, it'll be time for your project point person and key stakeholders to step back into the mix:

Initial approval and revisions: Once the initial version of the video is edited, it's time to review the work. Assuming there are some changes that need to be made, the revision process can begin. If you are a working with a video company, there may be a pre-defined number of revisions or hours set aside for revisions.
Final Delivery: Once the video is finalized and approved, it's time to export the video to its final format. If you are planning to use the video on a specific platform (or platforms) be sure to communicate that with your video team. All platforms (YouTube, Facebook, etc) have slightly different specifications for optimal video playback.

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Why is a video production process important?

Dependability: Whether you're shooting on location, in a studio, at your office, or at a friend's home, there are a lot of moving pieces that have to come together. Does the time and place work for all members of the crew? How about actors or spokespeople? Identifying all of these details is crucial, and and it is essential to do it in a logical, systematic fashion.
Predictable Timeline: Video production takes time. For anything more than an iPhone video, you don't just pick up a camera one day and have a video in your hands the next. So, how much planning time do you need before the shoot and how much editing time afterward? It's only guesswork unless you have a real process. An established and tested video process can help you go from an educated guess to an accurate prediction.
Accurate Pricing: Speaking of pricing, most production rates are based on time. The more hours required to plan, shoot, and edit the project, the more it costs. And when you add extra days or crew members, that obviously adds to the total time (and price).
Fewer Revisions: When you nail down your objectives, discuss the details in pre-production, and then execute to match your vision, you shouldn't end up with many revisions at the end of your project. On the other hand, if you go through that whole project without a real process, you may end up with problems that require extra editing and time to resolve.

Different production companies and videographers may have different processes, but the bottom line is that process allows video teams to have a predictable pace, dependable results, ensures quality and accountability.

A Video Production Process Example:

At StoryTeller, our process was modeled after the television newsroom production process. Take a look at how our process differs slightly from the standard process listed above:

Research: Understand stories and objectives
Pre-Production Meeting: Key messaging, identify audience, set timelines
Strategic Vision: Story identification, storyboarding, planning and shoot prep
Newsgathering: Shoot interviews and b-roll video
Content Creation: Logging, scripting, producing and editing
Content Review: Edits, revisions, approvals

Conclusion

While every production company and video project are different, there are some key elements that will help your video project go as smoothly as possible. Whether you are working with your internal video team or a video production company, make sure that you have an established video production process that helps account for all the different variables of your project.

Editors Note: This blog was originally published in October 2015 and was updated on January 8, 2019.

The Modern Marketing Playbook: New Tactics to Try in 2019

julia@storytellermn.com (Julia Tiedt) — Wed, 14 Nov 2018 22:42:00 GMT

With the start of a new year, comes the exciting opportunity to make a refreshing new start. The gyms are flooded with people trying to reach their fitness goals (or drop those extra holiday cookies), and people are making lists to get organized and healthy. Your digital marketing plan is no different. So, in 2019, why not resolve to get creative and do something different and/or new with your content marketing strategy. The Internet is changing every day, so it’s important to remain flexible to the environment and update your modern marketing playbook accordingly.

In honor of the new year, I wanted to share a few of our new-year marketing resolutions with you. Give one or all of these tactics a try to see what sticks for your business!

Explore Facebook Messenger Bots

Don’t worry, bots aren’t taking over… yet. But they are the future. As marketers, we are easily attracted to shiny new marketing tactics, and bots are definitely the new buzz about town.

You may have noticed the growing number of businesses that are starting to utilize Facebook messenger for one-to-one communication with prospects and customers. For consumers, it’s an easy, convenient platform that's already part of their digital routine. And, Facebook showcases the standard response time for each organization you message, so more active pages have a chance to start more conversations.

With third-party companies like ChatFuel, MobileMonkey and ManyChat, it's easy to create communication bots for Facebook Messenger.

What is a Messenger Bot? Essentially, a bot is a simple computer program automates the process of chatting with a user. While they may not be able to answer every question a consumer has, bots are able to answer common questions and help route users to the best support person for their question.
Get Started with Bots: The most common bot-builder platforms are easy to use and don't require any coding. Think about how you can use them to automate customer service, nurture your leads, or stay top of mind with your prospects and customers!

Start a Facebook Group for Your Business

Chances are that you are probably a member of a group on Facebook. There are all types of groups out there. So, if you are a member of a Facebook group socially, you may be wondering how to best utilize the same concept for your business.

A business-focused Facebook group is all about building relationships. The most successful business groups focus on creating value, answering questions, and solving problems.

The number one thing you'll want to avoid on your business Facebook Group page is being salesy. Just like your blog, you want your content in the group to be educational and unbiased. Answer members' questions quickly and share useful information.

Give Trigger Emails a Try

Emails are still a solid marketing tactic, but there is a lot of competition in this area. And to make it even harder, Gmail's promotional tab can make it harder to break through to your customers.

So, how do you rise to the top of the competition in your ideal customer's inbox? What if you could send an email at the exact moment you knew they would be looking at their inbox?

Trigger emails do exactly that. They watch the behaviors of your leads and learn when the best time to send an email would be. Using machine learning, SaaS companies like Seventh Sense can analyze the behavior of your email list to identify the day and time that's most likely to drive engagement for each individual person on your list.

Test Long-Form Content

From content pillars to long LinkedIn posts, there's been a shift towards longer content (as long as it's interesting and useful).

After several years of prominence for micro-content, it seems like people are starting to engage with longer content online. If you haven't already, try playing around with longer social posts, videos, podcasts, and blogs to see how your audience responds.

Remember that every industry and target audience is different, so just because it works for some businesses, doesn't necessarily mean that it will work for you.

Organize Your Site's Content with Topic Clusters

With a major shift in Google's search algorithm last year, it's important to organize your site in a way that helps silo similar content together.

It's now more essential than ever to spend time combing through the content on your website and putting together topic clusters that allow search engines to better understand the flow between the different pieces of content on your site.

If you aren't familiar with content pillars and topic clusters, I'd suggest you start with this overview post.

Optimize Your Content for Featured Snippets and Voice Search

The way we search is changing drastically. Just ask Alexa, or Siri, or Google Home.

With the prevalence of digital assistants, it's important to optimize well-performing content for voice search. If you have pages that are ranking on the first page of Google, make sure that your content is optimized to answer questions quickly and efficiently.

Featured Snippets: These answer boxes that appear in the top of search results seek to answer the user's questions as quickly as possible. Check out this in-depth post from SEMRush to help you better understand how you can update your content for the featured snippet.
Voice Search: Take a sweep through your highest-performing content and make sure it answers high-level questions like, "What is...," "How can I...," and "Why do...." These types of searches will only grow in popularity as voice search grows more and more common.

Conclusion

While these are just a few of the strategies you can play around within 2018, it's important to stay ahead of the trends and not expect to get the same results by using last year's marketing playbook. Besides, you never know when you will find that special unicorn that proves to be ultra successful.