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Video Marketing – Trump the Competition and Win New Customers In No Time

As a savvy marketer, you’re always looking for an edge. Competition for customers is keen. You need to generate leads, build your brand, and promote your products and services.

Fortunately, online video marketing helps you do that. And when it’s properly integrated you’ll see results in a zip.

Simply put video marketing works and now ranks as the sixth most popular content marketing tactic. Seventy percent of B2B marketers create online video.

Let’s examine five compelling facts about online video marketing:

Fact #1: Online video marketing is exploding

To say that video marketing is growing is an understatement. Its rate of acceptance and adoption is remarkable. Alexa, for example, ranks YouTube, as the third most popular website in the world. In just the U.S., YouTube has over 189 million unique viewers.

But effective marketing must be targeted. For B2B marketers that’s not a problem. Today, 83% of senior executives watch more online video than last year, according to a survey by Forbes Insights.

This means you can achieve greater exposure. More viewers – viewers that matter – lead to more customers. And more customers lead to more sales. You won’t have to explain this to your boss.

Fact #2: Online video marketing is versatile

One reason online video is so popular lies in its versatility. Marketers can use online video to repurpose other marketing materials such as white papers and case studies.

Also, marketers can promote their products and services using a fresh delivery method that informs, educates and even entertains prospects.

Internet videos can be found in e-newsletters, blogs and websites. And prospects and customers can subscribe to them as RSS feeds.

Let’s not forget social media. Videos abound on sites like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+, to name a few.

Versatility translates into extraordinary marketing power. Video introduces a new way of communicating. It enhances existing marketing platforms by bringing them to life, such as email marketing.

This uncovers a sea of new consumers who perhaps wouldn’t “read” your content. Viewing videos is faster and in many cases more preferable to reading text. Now you’re reaching a wider audience.

Fact #3: Shareability is fast and effortless

In the same Forbes study mentioned above, 54% of senior executives said they share

videos with their colleagues every week. A slightly greater percentage, 59%, says they receive work-related videos.

Again, these statistics show that online videos are highly shareable. More important to B2B marketers is that decision makers share and receive these videos.

The future for sharing videos online is bright. The data suggest this trend will significantly increase. Younger executives share videos at much greater rates. While 47% of all executive say they post videos to social networks, that percentage increases to 69% for younger executives.

Fact #4: Video Search Engine Optimization Extends Reach and Access

Search engine optimization work wonders for textual content. And it works especially well for videos. As with text, video content has to be useful. Relevant and valuable content attracts prospects.

For videos embedded on your website, you can optimize videos by including keywords in the title. And use those keywords in the description.

On YouTube you have three opportunities to add keywords. A form pops up that includes fields for the title, the description and tags.

Optimizing your videos makes them easier for your target audience to find. Keep those senior executives in mind when optimizing your videos.

Fact #5: Internet Video Achieves Great Impact with Low Cost

By now, I’m sure you agree that video marketing has great impact. It reaches millions of viewers, depending on the platform you use. Its shareability is instantaneous. And it does a good job in reaching and attracting your target market.

Video drives action. According to a Forrester report, click-through rates easily double and even triple when inserting video into emails.

Michael Miller, author of The Idiot’s Guide to Video Marketing estimates that a business can invest as little as a $1,000 dollars to develop quality videos. Some businesses may not need an investment at all.

Round Out Your Marketing Campaigns with Video

If you haven’t already integrated videos into your marketing, consider adding it now.

You can easily rev up your lead generation and branding by adding online video to your marketing mix. Video has many advantages with no obvious downside.

It adds another dimension to your marketing content, while expanding your prospect universe. More viewers lead to more conversions. More conversions lead to more profits.

It’s fast. It’s affordable. Most importantly, your customers love it.

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Boomers In The Work Force

If you follow the baby boomer demographics and you are a baby boomer (born between 1946-1964) you begin to wonder about a lot of things because the numbers are staggering when it comes to our generation. We are 76 million strong. (39)They numbers say that 64 million baby boomers (over 40 percent of the US labor force) will be eligible to retire in large numbers by the end of the decade. Statistics also show that the average retirement age today is 63 because baby boomers are staying on the job longer, either by choice or because they need to stay employed. (57)The increase in retirement age from 55 to 63 represents a trend for baby boomers and requires a change in our culture to recognize that retirement age is an arbitrary number and must be adjusted to respect the choice many make to stay in the work force. (45)As a society we must change our vocabulary and shift the paradigm that life begins to decline once a person enters the fifth decade of life, to life for many is just getting started in the fifth decade. If we replace the word retirement with “transitional phase”, for example it creates a different image in our minds and leaves more room for individual design of that phrase rather than a “one size fits all mentality”.(75)The word retirement leaves no room for variation on that theme in terms of employment and it is very cut and dry… either you are working or you are retired. Why can’t employers work with employees of retirement age to develop a transitional plan that allows the worker to remain productive and the employer to continue to benefit from the knowledge and skills provided by the experienced employee? (68)

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What Should a Reference Page Look Like?

There are multiple documents involved in the job-search process: your résumé, your cover letter and your follow-up or thank-you letter. If you haven’t done so already, consider adding one more item to your application package: a reference page. Since prospective employers almost always ask for references, it’s smart to have a list immediately available for them to look over.Employers use a number of strategies to get to know job candidates and make a determination about the candidate’s suitability for employment. Contacting references is a key part of the process. However, listing references on your résumé is a bad idea. It’s better to use every inch of your résumé to showcase your skills and education; putting references down could appear as filler. The best way to share your references is by showcasing them on their own page.A reference page is much simpler to write than a résumé or cover letter, but don’t overlook its importance. This step requires nearly as much thought and analysis. You must use care, thoughtfulness and communicate openly with the people you’ve chosen as your references. More than one person has lost out on a position for failing to properly vet references. While you don’t want to be portrayed as a saint without imperfections, you want to make sure your references share your goal of helping you find new employment, and keep that in mind when speaking to potential employers.The accepted standard is three professional references, such as supervisors and co-workers, and three personal references. Personal references, which allow prospective employers to see another side of you, can be people you know from volunteer activities, church, or school. Avoid choosing personal references that are too personal, like spouses and parents.Once you’ve contacted your references, obtained their approval, and collected their information, you need to create your reference page. Don’t simply type out the information; remember you’re creating a package of documents to represent you to your employer. The same level of care you put into your résumé and cover letter should go into your reference sheet. As a résumé writer, I give the reference page the same heading as the résumé, and use the same font. I use bold text and italicized text sparingly, to emphasize job titles or places of employment, and follow the same format for each reference:NameTitleOrganizationAddressE-mailPhone/FaxAs with your other job-search documents, you want to make sure you proofread, focusing on the contact information for each reference. A misused letter or number could result in missed communication, causing embarrassment for you along with a possibly missed opportunity.Try to view the reference page as one more item to represent you to employers, and give it the same care and attention you give the rest of your application package.

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