Introduction – Boost Your Ads and Content Marketing

With 87% of online marketers using video content, 59% of executives stating they’d rather watch video than read text, and 36% of online consumers trusting video ads – it’s pretty obvious that using video content within your marketing is a good idea. Contrary to common beliefs, videos don’t have to be million dollar productions. Social media is very much about “behind the scenes” and authenticity. Leveraging your current images or taking mobile videos are great ways to engage your target audience along the buyer’s journey.

The two big video titans (Facebook and YouTube) offer DIY solutions that are sometimes overlooked. In this post, I’ll cover 6 video hacks that can help boost your marketing.

1. Instead of using static photos – create slideshows

Facebook offer a slideshow format for ads which is very much WYSIWYG. I recommend using this feature for showcasing products or enhancing your brand messages.

Facebook offer an option to add music to your ad. You can upload your own files (obviously one ones which own the rights to), or choose from a suggested library.

Mind this – most people watch Facebook videos with no sound, make sure your message comes across visually.

YouTube offer a super easy way to create slideshows which you can later use to convey your brand messages. Simply click on uploading a video and select the “Photo slideshow” option.

2. Easily add subtitles to videos using YouTube

Your authentic videos will most probably be ones you have uploaded from a smartphone or any other available means. As such, their quality won’t be top notch, and as I’ve mentioned – that’s completely fine. However, the sound might not be easy to understand, and as mentioned above, it’s always better to be able to convey a silent message.  Fear not! You can easily add subtitles to your videos using YouTube.

Simply go to your video manager –> choose the video you’d like to add subtitles to –> scroll down the “edit” menu and click on “Subtitles & CC” –> Transcribe and auto-sync –> type what’s spoken and click on “set timing” to automatically line up your text with the speech in the video.

Pro tip: Via the YouTube video manager you can download your videos as an MP4 file and then upload them to Facebook or any other social platform.

3. Add annotations to YouTube videos

From the YouTube video manager click on “edit” –> End screen & Annotations”

You’ll be able to add the following annotations to your videos:

• Speech bubble
• Note
• Title
• Spotlight
• Label

By checking the “link” box you’ll be able to add a link to each annotation.

Test out different annotations and leverage this option as a way to add a CTA to your video.

You can edit your annotation at any stage so don’t be afraid to test this.

Pro tip: use trackable urls to see which annotations perform better.

4. Share a video’s specific starting time

Sometimes you may want to share a specific part of a video. An example could be sharing a news clip where your company is featured at a certain time, or part of a lecture you are referring to within your blog post or newsletter. Instead of instructing people that the video is starting from “min 1:49” – send them directly to that video’s starting time.

Simply go to any YouTube video –> click on “share” at the bottom of the video –> check the box “start at:” and input the exact time you’d like to share.

5. Live stream

Live streaming is a great way to connect with your audience and engage with them. Whilst Facebook is leading the live streaming trend, YouTube offer a slightly more complex option which requires encoding software. Here’s how to get started with live streaming on both platforms:

Facebook:

From your mobile device, visit your Facebook page using the Pages app (Google Play, iTunes) –> click on the “live” button.

YouTube:

Upload a video –> click on “Get Started” under the “live streaming” option –> If you haven’t already verified your account you will be prompted to do so –>  “Set up encoding software” and follow these instructions.

6. Use transcripts to optimize for Search Engine Result Pages (SERPS)

YouTube automatically create a transcript for all videos that have not opted out of that option. In order to help your video show up in Google searches, paste your videos transcript within your videos description (make sure to clean and edit it first).

In order to find your video’s transcript, go to the video –> click on “more” –> “transcript”.

Next, go to the video manager–>edit–> “Info & Settings” –> Description

Pro tip: Save time by using the transcripts feature to upload videos which you’d to save quotes from. You can also use this feature for audio files. Simply send the requested audio to YouTube using tunestotube and take it from there using the video manager.

Final note

Videos are a great way to boost your ads and content marketing. Using certain features can help you do just that. If you’ve got any more tips, please share them in the comments bellow.

If you found this useful, and you’re curious to learn more and find out how to step up your marketing I invite you to download our How-To guide for creating an Inbound Marketing strategy.

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Introduction  – repurpose your content

Sometimes what we are seeking is right under our nose. If you are running a company blog, chances are, the content you have already created and published provides great overlooked opportunities. This post will teach you how to repurpose your content and make the most out of it.

Step 1: Make a list of all your content

Create a spreadsheet detailing all of your published content. Specify date published, format, category, title, purpose and distribution channels.

Step 2: Evaluate the purpose of each piece of content.

All content should be correlated with the stage of your prospect withinthe buyer’s journey. Some of your content will be aimed at attracting new visitors to your website and turning them into leads, some may be aimed at turning leads into customers, and some may be aimed at delighting your current customers.

I like to use this graph as a benchmark:

Source: Hubspot

Step 3: review your content and identify opportunities

Determine which of your current content can be wrapped up differently.

For example, if you have a great eBook, could it provide the basis for a:

• blog series
• video series
• eBook
• podcast
• online course
• webinar
• infographic
• slideshare

Step 4: Use the ACE method to determine how to repurpose the content

A  Adjust: what can you adjust within the content, rephrase and remove

C Combine: what content can be merged and provide new value

E Expand: are there updates that you can provide? Refresh your content by adding new inputs, clarifications and up-to-date information

Step 5:  Map out each content’s current distribution channels

To the best of your ability, map out where you distributed your content (both online and offline)

This could Social media, blog, newsletter, events etc.

Step 6: Identify new distribution opportunities

Your content can be curated so as to become relevant for more distribution channels.

For example:

• Publish your content as a Linkedin Pulse post or Medium post and invite people to “read more” on your blog
• Snapchat
• YouTube/ Vimeo
• Search for related questions on Quora and publish an answer that links to your content
• Reddit, and StumbleUpon (use generated content aggregating websites, where users vote to promote stories)
• Submit your content as an article on GrowhHackers

Pro tip: Don’t try to manipulate search engines

When curating your content and publishing it in multiple distribution channels, make sure you are not irritating the Google monster. Getting penalized by Google for duplicate content issues is not a road you want to go down. Google want to know that you are syndicating your content carefully. They will always show the version that they think is most appropriate for users in each given search. Penalties happen when Google perceives that duplicate content is shown with intent to manipulate ranking and deceive users. That might even result in the site being entirely removed from google and will no longer appear in search results.

So, so long as you don’t duplicate high volumes of content in short spans of time, and so long as you ensure that each site on which you content is syndicated includes a back link to your original content, you should be good. Another safe way to go is to ask the websites where you are publishing your content, to use the noindex meta tag. That way your duplicate version will not be indexed in search engines at all.

Conclusion – repurpose your content

Your existing content can be leveraged. Once you map out your current assets, and take a fresh new look at them, new opportunities will be revealed. Make sure to understand the goal of your content and to distribute it with context and correlation to the buyer’s journey.

If you found this useful, and you’re curious to learn more and find out how to create a long lasting Inbound Marketing strategy, we invite you to download our How-To guide for creating an Inbound Marketing strategy

Schedule a FREE consultation

Introduction – Content Marketing Hacks

Creating remarkable content constantly can get challenging. I know what it’s like to stare at the screen and feel blank. Finding the right topics to write about in a relevant and compelling way, on a schedule, does not always help to get your creative juices flowing. As with any muscle, it’s important to keep exercising the idea muscle so that it doesn’t atrophy. This post will cover some useful hacks to help you find topics to write about, and then share them wisely.

Step 1 – monitor trends

• Check out what’s trending and seeing if you can newsjack it by either:
  • Contributing with an edge of your own
  • Consolidating info and adding your two cents
  • Bringing old content back to life and repurposing it or providing relevant updates.

• Monitor relevant industry terms and phrases on Twitter and keep track of trends on Google Trends, YouTube trends and Reddit (Needless to say, don’t forget to keep your eyes on the ball and stay in line with your general keywords strategy. Just don’t let your keywords constrain you down to boring/ dull posts. Incorporate then wisely).

• Builtvisible created an incredible free content discovery tool, that I strongly recommend downloading and integrating in your ongoing content creation stratetgy. It’s basically a Google spreadsheet that aggregates content and news sources and can help you stay on top of relevant trends and find new content ideas (you will need to install a script and I can’t vouch that it’s safe but we use it at our agency and did not encounter any problems – we love it!).

(screenshot of the content discovery tool’s trends section)

Step 2 – choose a topic

If you have a general idea in mind, and still need inspiration, there are many topic generating tools out there. Even if you do not end up using the suggested topics, you’d be amazed how helpful these ideas can be in order to generate your own thoughts.

These are my two ultimate favorites, but Google around and see if you find tools that you like, as long as it gets you writing – it’s a win.

1. The HubSpot blog topic generator will prompt you to write up to three keywords that you’d like to use within your blog posts.

Type in relevant keywords and get “out of the box” topic ideas which combine those keywords.

2. In answer the public, ask the (somewhat creepy) seeker for content ideas.

The results are actually also great for presenting and will help you with lots of directions:

Step 3 – check your headline

Make sure to check your headline using this headline analyzing tool. You will be able to see how it ranks in comparison to the industry average, and receive an emotional marketing value score. You will even be able to check which emotion (intellectual, empathetic or spiritual) your headline will potentially impact. I got a 71.43 score for the headline of this post. It “appeals equally to people’s empathetic and spiritual spheres”. Sweet.

Only do this once you have finished writing your content – your title should reflect the final result of your content and not what you set off to write in the first place (sometimes there is a significant difference between the two).

Step 4 – use automation for posting on social media

Don’t be afraid of automation – If you have a wordpress site, add plugins such as this social media auto publisher, in order to automatically publish posts to networks such as Linkedin, Facebok and Twitter.

Alternatively, on IFTTT (if this then that) you can create brilliant “recipes” of conditioned terms without knowing one word of coding. For example: create recipes to automatically post your Facebook posts to your Linkedin, or post your blog posts to Twitter (you can even send yourself reminders to put on sunscreen when the UV index is high. It’s endless).

If you’d like to learn more about how to make the best use out of social media, read this post for best practices. 

Step 5 – see if you can cooperate with influencers

You can find the influencers in your field by searching Google and social networks for relevant terms and hashtags. A great tweak is to also search for the leading influencers on Klout – simply search for relevant terms, and a list of the top experts for that topic will be displayed along with their klout score representing their influence (50 and up is pretty good).

Make a list of influencers who you are following and would like to reach out to.

Try to cooperate with them and exchange content to broaden your reach. Don’t be a spammer and make sure to provide value and not just ask for it. The reality is influencers that are ranked higher than you in the food chain, will be less motivated to write for you or let you write for them. Meanwhile, sharing your content could be feasible even with big shots.

Checkout Favstar in order to learn what type of content they get the most likes and retweets out of. Reach out to them with content that you know works for them and that they would be inclined to share. (p.s. favstar isn’t flawless, if you know of better solutions please drop me a note).

Sometimes you may want to reach out to an influencer via Linkedin. Yet Linkedin sometimes require the email address of the recipient in order to approve the communication. A nice hack (please use it sparingly – don’t be a spammer, think long-term) is this email finding tool. I’ve tried it several times and it worked like a charm. Another great tool that you should try is ContactOut, a simple browser extension which is believed to be one of the best freemium email outreach tools available out there. Also, “knowledge is power” – if you’re emailing influencers directly, you can install Hubspot’s free Sidekick tool in order to track email opens and clicks (it’s great for daily use regardless of influencers).

Finally, a great option for getting your content posted on other blogs is via MyBlogGuest. It’s a blogging community where you can write guest posts for blogger who are seeking such (It can also be a great solution for spicing up your editorial calendar with great content written by others).

Conclusion

There are fantastic tools and hacks that can help you boost your content marketing strategy. Monitoring trends is a great way to get inspired and create relevant and compelling content.

Make sure you choose the right topic, check that your headline has a high emotional score, share your content as much as possible and cooperate with the right people. It’s fun! If you have any more tips, please share them with me in the comments bellow or simply give me a shout out at noa@boldigital.co.il. 

Bonus PR tip: It’s always a good idea to keep building your reputation and striving to become an influencer yourself. That’s a subject for an entire new post but, for a potentially rather “quick win” check out HARO (Help a Reporter Out). It’s a site where journalists post subject requests in order to find sources for their stories. Know what you are signing up for – you will receive emails between 2-3 times a day. If you end up responding to a request and being approached – make sure you know what you are talking about and don’t burn the opportunity – they do not appreciate it when people waste their time.