"Ever since Hotmail appeared on the scene and showed that one consumer can influence many, many others, brands have been chasing the kind of viral explosion that catapulted the Numa Numa dance to web glory," wrote Dave Balter in his new book The Word of Mouth Manual Vol. II. Dave is the founder of BzzAgent.com, a company providing word-of-mouth services for hundreds of major brands.
A recent guest of HubSpot TV, Dave offered insights into the pure word-of-mouth aspect of marketing. If you have questions about the new face of content promotion, advertising and blogging, read through Dave's thoughts on these subjects:
Offer Free Quality Content
ColdPlay did it. Dave Balter did it. You, too, should consider offering free, high-quality content. This is a way to demonstrate that you really care about your audience and create a positive buzz around your brand.
After Dave published The Word of Mouth Manual Vol. II, he listed it on
Amazon for $45 and also offered it as a free
PDF file online. "To release it we gave it away to 20 influential bloggers --
Seth Godin,
Guy Kawasaki and
Chris Brogan -- and they were allowed to give it out for free," Dave said. As a result, he got 150 000 downloads and reached a wider audience.
Join the New-media Mix
In order for media planners to keep up with the evolving advertising industry, they, as Dave
writes, "need to immerse themselves in new-media mix models." Brands should open up to taking risks in social media marketing programs and new
measurement tools.
"I feel the whole infrastructure of advertising agency-new media vendor-client is just busted," said Dave. In order to work well together, all three actors have to adapt to the changing industry and to one another. Agencies, for instance, might consider restructuring their pricing models on a performance basis.
Blog with Authenticity
"Authenticity -- you got to have it, people," said Dave about
blogging. A firm believer in the power of blogging, he emphasized the importance of being transparent. Yet for many companies the question of how to use blogging for authenticity remains unanswered.
It is essential for blogging to have open writers who reveal what they really think. If your company blog requires a board approval or other types of permissions, then you are not meeting your goal for maximum transparency.
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Yesterday YouTube rolled out Call-to-Action overlay ads to its paying advertisers. Until now, only specific partners and non-profit organizations could harness the benefits of this marketing feature.
Now businesses can explore one more aspect of online video marketing. By plugging in customized, semi-transparent pop-ups in their videos, YouTube advertisers can refer viewers back to their product sites. Although such YouTube overlay ads existed before, they were limited to only select partners, specific content and video genre. Today, as TechCrunch reported, "brands can link their commercials back to the products they're selling" and, as a result, increase their conversion rate.
How Do You Do It?
Promote Video
You need to be already promoting a video in order to use Call-to-Action Overlay ads. In order to do that, go to YouTube Promoted Videos and select (or upload) a desired video.
Then, simply follow the YouTube instructions to write a promotion description and enter keywords. Set the cost per click (CPC) rate for the amount of money you are willing to pay each time viewers click on your clip.
Edit Video
Once the clip gains a status of a promoted video, you should go back to your account and choose My Videos. Then, choose to edit your video and you will see a Call-to-Action Overlay option.
Fill Out the Call-to-Action Form
Filling out the Call-to-Action form is straightforward. First, you need to enter a headline and description. In addition, you can plug in a URL for an optional image (e.g. your brand logo) that will appear on the left-hand side of your ad. Lastly, choose the destination URL to which you will be referring interested viewers.
Refer to Landing Pages
Linking your Call-to-Action overlay ad to your existing landing page gives you the highest chance of lead conversion. Your destination URL should be a specific page on your website that requires leads to submit a form to get more information or try a free trial of your product.
Why Should You Use Call-to-Action Overlays?
Call-to-Action overlay ads have already been successful for non-profit organizations because, as blogger Ramya Raghavan reported, they "drive traffic to an off-YouTube web page, where they can collect signatures, email addresses or even donations." Charity: water best demonstrates the success potential of the new YouTube feature. This non-profit raised $10,000 in a single day by using the Call-to-Action overlay ads.
Why Shouldn't You Use Call-to-Action Overlays?
Some YouTube viewers consider overlay ads annoying outbound marketing. They easily get distracted from the video material they are watching and feel bothered by the pop-up URLs. To eliminate such distractions, viewers often close the ads (there is a close option available on the right-hand corner of the ad)."By habit, I always click the 'x,'" commented Spencer Schoeben on the recent news. That is why, many believe, a more successful marketing approach might be placing Call-to-Action ads at the end of featured videos insted of throughout them.
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Are you insecure about your marketing performance?
Are you afraid your marketing pipeline might be undersized?
You're not alone! Here's the story of how one marketer learned how to get his leads up.
(This video may not be appropriate for viewers under the age of 18.)
Manager: I was looking for a better performance from our marketing. - [You're doing it again!]
Marketer: [Oh come on!] - The size and quality of my lead flow just wasn't satisfying her sales demand.
Manager: You're doing it again!
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Marketer: And let's be honest. The extra sales aren't bad either.
Voice: If you experience unmanageable lead flow, please contact your inbound marketing representative.
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 | Download our inbound marketing kit to learn more about inbound marketing and how to combine blogging, SEO and social media for business results.
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Are there patterns in the marketing mistakes small and midsize companies make? Longtime B2B marketer (and