Public Relations and Marketing Blog

YouTube’s Popularity Can Help Your Business

YouTube is a video sharing and hosting platform owned by Google. Users can upload content to their own YouTube pages and share the videos on other social media platforms. Oftentimes, YouTube is used for tutorial and how-to videos, company overviews and event videos, music and gaming videos, and clips from popular TV shows. Some videos … Continue reading “YouTube’s Popularity Can Help Your Business”

YouTube is a video sharing and hosting platform owned by Google. Users can upload content to their own YouTube pages and share the videos on other social media platforms. Oftentimes, YouTube is used for tutorial and how-to videos, company overviews and event videos, music and gaming videos, and clips from popular TV shows. Some videos go “viral” which means they are viewed by millions of people from all over the world and are shared on other media such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

In 2006, Google acquired YouTube for 1.65 billion dollars. Since then, YouTube’s worth and exposure has grown exponentially. What started out as a site for posting funny home videos, is now a site where Google splits its revenue with content creators to produce high quality content. Due to these advancements, according to the YouTube Global Internal Data in 2016, the number of advertisers on YouTube increased by threefold over the last two years.

How to Utilize YouTube to Grow Your Business

Video advertising is a great way to showcase all your business has to offer. Viewers can get a genuine visual of who your company is and the area in which it specializes. You can use videos to highlight specific products your company sells and how they work. Or if you’re a service-based company, you can create videos discussing your services and how they help your customers.

Did you know that during TV’s prime time, more 18-49-year-olds are watching YouTube in the United States than they are watching prime time shows? This was determined by a Google-commissioned Nielsen study in 2016. Another result from the study declares people 18 and over spend more time watching YouTube than traditional television. That suggests an ad on YouTube has the potential to be more effective than traditional TV and broadcast advertising.

How to Setup a YouTube Ad

Setup a YouTube account

To get started, you are going to need to have a YouTube account for your company. It is necessary that you have a video pre-made and uploaded to YouTube before you advertise it on the site.

Create a High-Quality Commercial Video

If you don’t have a video, it’s recommended you hire a professional to create one for your company. While YouTube provides you with tips on how to make a good quality video on your smartphone, often the most effective way to have people watch your ad is to ensure it is high quality by using high-tech equipment and a professional editor.

Choose Who Should See Your Ad

If your company sells makeup products, you probably want your ads to be presented to users who consistently watch makeup tutorials. You can also select a geographic location to display your ad to people in a specific region.

Set Your Budget

From small businesses to large corporations, YouTube has advertising options for companies of all sizes and budgets. Sometimes, YouTube even has special offers for advertising services.

With YouTube’s continuously growing audience and Google as its backbone, video advertising on YouTube is beneficial to companies in any U.S. region, of any size, and of any purpose or service. YouTube’s wide range of content provides businesses with opportunities most suitable to their products and services.

So, what are you waiting for? To learn more about advertising your business, please email us at johnzaher@theprmg.com or call 1-855-776-4123.

Flash vs YouTube: What to Use When Embedding Videos Into Your Website

Recently, Adobe Systems abandoned its development of making Flash accessible on mobile devices. Since no Apple device uses Flash, Web developers are debating whether or not to use Flash at all when embedding videos into websites, blogs and Web pages. On top of the problems Flash creates in regards to optimizing a Web page, the … Continue reading “Flash vs YouTube: What to Use When Embedding Videos Into Your Website”

flash-vs-youtube

Recently, Adobe Systems abandoned its development of making Flash accessible on mobile devices. Since no Apple device uses Flash, Web developers are debating whether or not to use Flash at all when embedding videos into websites, blogs and Web pages. On top of the problems Flash creates in regards to optimizing a Web page, the concern of not being able to reach Apple users is huge. With millions of iPhones and iPads sold each year in the United States alone, your business could be missing out on a huge number of potential customers and clients by using Flash to build your website.

This article will explain the benefits and disadvantages of using Flash and other alternatives such as embedding YouTube videos or video objects.

YouTube — The advantage of choosing to embed YouTube videos on your website, rather than Flash videos, is that you can reach every user. No matter what Internet browser or mobile device you use to get onto the Web, YouTube videos are accessible. Bringing YouTube videos to your site can connect your website with the most popular online video community. YouTube offers free hosting for a large number of videos, multiple embed options and top-quality video and audio.

Incorporating YouTube videos into your website can also enhance your overall social media marketing strategy. By having a unique YouTube channel for your company, with videos that can be embedded on your website or blog, your business can tap into one of the most popular services available on the Web. This video sharing giant encourages visitor interaction by allowing viewers to “like,” favorite, share or comment on videos, giving businesses another outlet to interact with their audiences. You can also add friends through YouTube and users can subscribe to your channel. Subscribers will receive email updates each time you post a new video. You can embed a YouTube video into your website or blog by following the instructions here.

However, a disadvantage of using YouTube to embed your videos is that your videos will not be hosted on your server. Instead, you are relying on YouTube’s server. If YouTube is down or experiencing high traffic volume, it will delay the playback of video on your website or cause it not to load altogether. Your video will only load as fast as YouTube is able to load. Another disadvantage is that there are many companies that block their employees from using YouTube while at work. According to a report released by the International Business Times, YouTube is the third most blocked website at workplaces. Especially for B2B companies that are looking to reach other professionals, this can be a major downfall.

Video Objects — By embedding a video object on your website, you can have the video file hosted on your own server. This will give you more control and you won’t have to rely on a third-party server such as YouTube. The benefit of using QuickTime, for example, is that the software is compatible with Apple mobile devices such as iPhones and iPads. However, there is still the issue of not being able to reach all users. For example, if you embed a .mov file, the user would have to have the QuickTime plug-in already installed on their browser in order to watch the video. Apart from mobile devices such as iPhones, most users have Flash installed on their browser rather than QuickTime.

Flash — The main issue with Flash, as we mentioned earlier, is its inability to play on mobile devices. Flash also acts as a roadblock to search engines, so it does not help websites with search engine optimization. However, Flash is still the most widespread video solution. Flash will work for most users and it is recommended as the best cross-browser solution for embedding videos. To still reach the majority of viewers, but also give others the opportunity to watch your video, we recommend using website code to detect if a user has Flash installed. If Flash is detected, the Flash version of the video will be shown. If Flash is not installed, your website will display a YouTube or QuickTime movie instead. This provides a simple alternative for iPhone and iPad users.

For more information, please contact The Public Relations and Marketing Group at (631) 207-1057 or johnzaher@theprmg.com.

Getting Started with Social Media

Social media is a crucial marketing tool to help you make connections, rapidly build your business’ online platform and get your message out. Just about every business should be using social media in some capacity. Social media sites allow you to interact with clients, customers, competitors, critics, employees, prospects and referral sources. Through the user-generated … Continue reading “Getting Started with Social Media”

Social media is a crucial marketing tool to help you make connections, rapidly build your business’ online platform and get your message out. Just about every business should be using social media in some capacity. Social media sites allow you to interact with clients, customers, competitors, critics, employees, prospects and referral sources. Through the user-generated content of social networking sites, businesses are able to learn what people are saying about them and to respond to criticism and praise. These sites also make it possible to spread your message to a larger audience than ever before in a quick, cost-effective manner. The keys are choosing the right social media platform(s) for your organization, while developing and committing to a content plan you will use to feed your network with information they will value.

Here are some tips to help your business get its message across:

Choose Which Sites to Use — With so many social media sites out there, it is important to choose the ones that best suit your business. It is much more effective to actively use a few of these sites than to just be present on all of them. Popular social media sites include Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, FourSquare, Flickr and MySpace. Research these sites and others to decide which ones are right for your business. As a general rule, if you’re in B2B (Business-to-Business), use LinkedIn. If you’re trying to reach the general public with your services, then consider using Facebook and Twitter.

Create a Memorable Logo/Username — Pick a username that is available on all or most of the major social media sites. Develop a logo to complement your business name, not overshadow it. Use the logo in your profiles and websites.

Know and Target Your Audience — First, determine who your target audience is. Using social media sites, post relevant content that your clients and prospective customers will find useful and interesting. Use your social media sites as a valuable tool for your audience rather than merely for your business’ self-promotion.

Advertise to Your Target Audience — Advertisements on Facebook, MySpace and YouTube micro-target based on demographics, age, interests and location. Facebook ad campaigns, in particular, are highly targetable and effective. Facebook captures postings to create analytical data of what members have as listed interests. This data can be used to target market certain keywords.

Build Business Contacts — LinkedIn, for example, is a business-oriented service that allows members to network and gather professional contacts. Users can find potential clients, search for jobs, land deals and get professional introductions. Creating a LinkedIn profile for your business is a great way to put your company on the map in your industry. You may also upload your existing contacts from Outlook or a CSV file to LinkedIn and Facebook.

Interact — Follow up quickly to every comment or direct message on your social media sites. Make friends and treat your connections respectfully. Be authentic and actively participate in the conversation. Remember, you are setting the tone for your business through every conversation and post online. Always encourage people to contact you.

Don’t Forget About Content — Content is far more important than technology or design. Write exceptional articles, recommendations and blog posts and load them with keywords so they are easily found. The text and quality of the content on your sites is what compels people to stay and return. It should be organized, well-written and complete with easy ways to link to information. Excellent content is easily and quickly spread on social media sites and search engines. Think about the type of ongoing content you can generate that relates to your organization and builds upon its credibility and expertise.

Track Your Social Media Success — Be aware of how effective your social media profiles and websites are. Compete.com allows users to compare the estimated traffic to their site against that of their competitors. Twitter.Grader.com will run your business’ Twitter profile through and compare it to each competitor. This allows you to not only measure your own business’ online success, but to keep track of your competition.

Don’t Slack Off — Social media is a long road and a way of doing business, not a campaign. Your social media marketing success requires commitment and long-term support. Actively update your pages with news, conversation and multimedia, such as videos and photos, to stay at the top of search engine results.

This is the first in a series of articles to be followed by closer examinations of Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

Visit The Public Relations and Marketing Group’s website here for examples of social media performed on behalf of its clients.

Got a Video? Take It Viral

Anyone who has watched the videos of two geeky-looking scientists tossing Mentos mints into Diet Coke bottles would attest to the viral power of video marketing. In three weeks alone, four million people viewed the video produced by Fritz Globe and Stephen Voltz, showing them combine 200 liters of Diet Coke with over 500 Mentos … Continue reading “Got a Video? Take It Viral”

Anyone who has watched the videos of two geeky-looking scientists tossing Mentos mints into Diet Coke bottles would attest to the viral power of video marketing. In three weeks alone, four million people viewed the video produced by Fritz Globe and Stephen Voltz, showing them combine 200 liters of Diet Coke with over 500 Mentos mints. While the videos were not created by either Mentos or Diet Coke, it certainly led to a lot of free publicity for both brands, which would have otherwise cost the two companies millions of dollars in traditional marketing and advertising.

Yet, not every video can become a viral sensation and replicate the success of the Numa Numa Dance or even the Coke-Mentos videos. With thousands of videos being uploaded on YouTube and other video distribution sites every day, making a video go truly viral is no easy feat. But focusing on great content, sharing your video online and making it easily accessible, can be the first steps to creating a successful video. Injecting humor into a marketing video and presenting your message in an authentic voice (by avoiding “corporate speak”) can also be great ways to make your video popular with viewers.

To give you an example: KitchenArts, a small family-owned kitchen retail store in Boston, uses online videos to showcase its products and demonstrate how to best use them. Using these home-made videos, the store has been able to communicate with its target audience in a personal and engaging way, allowing it to compete with bigger brands like Williams-Sonoma, at very little cost. The main principle that KitchenArts follows is to communicate your story in an interesting and engaging way to your target audience.

Once you create your video, it is important to generate buzz by sharing your video online. Most organizations post video content on YouTube, the most popular video sharing site. To make the video easily searchable on the site, you must include an accurate description of the video along with relevant keywords and tags. If your company or organization creates and shares video content regularly, it may be a good idea to develop your own YouTube channel that can be used to create your own unique profile and drive audiences back to your organization’s Web site. You can also consider embedding the video on your blog or sharing them on social networks like Facebook and MySpace.

If you cannot create great content for your video, a great marketing strategy may be to take advantage of user-generated content to drive some buzz about your products and services. For example, the U.S. Health and Human Services Department announced a video contest in July, inviting the American public to submit videos on flu prevention and safety. The contest not only helped to create awareness about flu prevention but also helped generate press coverage about the Health Department’s efforts.

Similarly, you can launch a ‘Submit a Video’ contest, inviting customers to create and submit their own short video around a particular theme relating to your business. The best ones can be showcased on your company’s Web site or even used as a real advertisement, making your message seem more authentic and engaging.

View About.com’s list of top viral marketing videos of all time:

  1. BlendTec
  2. Mentos and Diet Coke
  3. Dove Evolution
  4. Levis
  5. Smirnoff Tea Party
  6. Sony Bravia
  7. Evian
  8. JK Wedding Dance
  9. Nike & Kobe Bryant

For more information on our video production and digital marketing services, contact us at johnzaher@theprmg.com.

What’s Happening at PRMG

  • Menus were designed for The Village Raw Bar and Piccolo Mondo Ristorante.
  • Advertisements were created for LAXWORX, Bens Deli, Briscoe, Crasche and Star Island Shark Tournament.
  • Mailers were created for Dreamland Amusements.
  • A Brochure was created for Star Island Shark Tournament.

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