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Content viewing has changed drastically in the past couple of years. People prefer to watch videos than reading content. Isn’t it?

Now, 80% of internet traffic is video. They are easy to understand and engaging too. Brands have taken the clue and the results are surprising. They are having success with video marketing.   

Video Marketing Statistics

1. 87% of consumers prefer video content from brands
2. 85-90% of the customers are likely to purchase a product that has video representation.
3. Videos increase conversion rates by more than 80%
4. 78% of marketers consider video to be an important marketing strategy.
5. 40% of the businesses plan to start YouTube video marketing.
6. 200-300% click-through rates are achieved when a business email has a video in it.
7. Videos generate 1200% more shares than images and text combined on social media
8. People prefer authentic video even if it of low-quality over an artificial high-quality video
9. 68% Consumers prefer short videos, 15% articles, 4% infographics,
10. 39% want explainer videos, 20% want entertaining ‘viral’ style videos, 12% want product demo videos, 10% want video blogs, 9% want interactive videos, 6% want software tutorials.

Credits: HubSpot, Optinmonster

What is video marketing?

Video marketing is a form of content marketing. Here, a video format is used for business promotion.

Businesses have reported sales profits through video marketing. It has also helped them to transform the entire business cycle.

Importance of Video Marketing 2020

The young generation prefers to watch content rather than read it. Marketing has moved from an image reproduction of a product to motion pictures. Video content marketing has become an effective way to communicate and convey the message to customers.   

Why is video marketing so effective?

The video conversion rates outperform any other form of content marketing. Why?

1. Effortless Engagement-Video viewing is fast and easy.  
2. Perfect Start- For startups, videos are the perfect way to raise awareness of products/services.     
3. Effective- You can convince viewers more easily through videos.  
4. Clear Understanding- Videos convey information without confusion.  
5. Personal Connection- A video helps brands to instantly connect with the audience.  
6. Stronger Reach- Videos through paid campaigns can attract lazy buyers.
7. For Mobile Users- It is convenient to watch product videos on mobile rather than read about it.
8. Higher Retention Rate- People remember videos better than what they read.
9. Appeal- Videos appeal to all age groups.  
10. Versatile Content- You can make videos on any content or topic.

What are the advantages of Video Marketing?

People spend most of their day watching videos on their mobile. As a business, you win customers easily through video marketing.

The benefits of video marketing are-

1. Higher Shares- Videos are instantly shared on social media. Good videos go viral in no time.
2. Calls-to-Action- Videos compel the viewers to take action like making a purchase or seek more information about it.
3. Rank Better than Competitors- Sharing more video content means that you have a better chance in sales than your rivals.
4. SEO Boosting- Websites with videos boost SEO and help in higher SERP rank.
5. Better Analysis- Analysis of your video reach and engagement helps to know your target audience and their preferences better.

How to do video marketing?

Any video marketing strategy has research, analysis and improvement with the cycle repeating itself.

1. Plan-

Decide on the purpose of your video. What would your customers like to see and what action would you want them to take? Get some references online and see what your competitors have uploaded. Prepare a set of points like-

1. Purpose of the video
2. Target audience & its interests
3. Length, topic, type & budget of the video
4. Social Media accounts on which the videos will be uploaded & the time

Your video marketing strategy should revolve around your target audience preferences.

2. Decide-

The form of video content should be entertaining, informative, educational, inspiring, or a combination of these. The preferences of your target audience and your business type will help you to decide the video format.

3. Create-

Plan it right so that video creation does not consume much time. Your videos may not be up to the mark initially. It will get better with time. If you have the budget, go in for a good video marketing agency. They will create professional-level videos for you. Otherwise, there are free tools available online.

Make videos based on the social media platform.

LinkedIn- professional

Instagram- appealing

Facebook & YouTube- engaging

TikTok- short & funny

Twitter- up to the point  

Keep the videos short and simple. 

4. Upload-

Uploading a video is easy. But SEO is an important aspect. The title, description, tags and upload timings are necessary for each social media platform. If you are on Twitter, TokTok or Instagram, hashtags are important.

Optimization plays an important role for maximum video reach. Create an impressive thumbnail and an impactful headline.

5. Share-

Be proactive and share the video on all platforms. Share it among your friends and other online communities. Create backlinks of videos from guest blogs and comments on other websites. This will increase the views of the video. 

6. Collaborate-

Other than sharing, there are methods to get increased views for your video.

Influencers- Team with social media influencers based on the target audience and budget. You will see an increase in video views.

Paid promotion- Promote your video on strategic social media platforms through paid ads. Take the help of an experienced digital marketing professional for better ROI.

Third-parties- Collaborate with third-parties to display your videos in any event or conference. Cross-promote with other same-niche vendors so that it is a win-win strategy for both.

7. Retarget-

Use videos to target customers who have already shown interest in your products. Many companies have shown increased conversion rates of over 80% through retargeting.

8. Track-

Analysis is important to see the result of your video marketing strategy. Pay attention to viewer feedback for improvisation. Your track metrics will consist of-

1. Engagement Rate

2. Play Rate

3. View Count

4. Feedback in the form of comments

5. Social Sharing

Types of video marketing for businesses:

1. Explainer video- It is about the products/services you offer. It explains to the client what value addition your business provides.

2. Live videos- Quite popular on social media, a live video requires no budget. It helps customers to be in direct contact with your brand through new launches and updates. 

3. Commercial (Ad) Videos- It is for the pure promotion of your brand that may feature a new launch, updates or the products/services. 

4. Demo Videos- It is a step-by-step instruction & information video on features, uses and how-to-use the product.

5. Company Videos- It is about the infrastructure, employees, founders, special activities, celebrations, events, recorded discussions & interviews, and the journey of the company for a personal connection with the audience. 

6. Customer Videos- The customer videos can include reviews, testimonials, and unboxing of products.

Video Marketing Tips 2020

1. Never upload a poor quality video. It will impact brand value. Hire the video marketing services of a good company for professional-quality videos.
2. Make short crisp videos that do not run for more than 1-2 minutes to have higher engagement rates.
3. Videos that are informative and entertaining connect emotionally with the viewers.
4. Use minimal text content in your video with simple and easy language.  
5. Include a CTA at the end of the video to force the viewer to act like make a purchase or call.
6. Insert a video on your website or the blog section for increased visibility.
7. Repurpose the blog on your website to a video form to gain more followers.
8. Insert video in your emails to increase click-through rates. (Tip: Use ‘video’ in the subject line of your email)
9. An impactful thumbnail for your video will help people notice it when browsing through the list on social media platforms.
10. The headline for your video has to be impactful and address the viewer’s problem.
11. Go LIVE on social media platforms like Instagram or Facebook for increased engagement.   

What are the popular free Video Hosting Platforms?

Many of the video hosting platforms provide live streaming services.

YouTube- Take advantage of paid promotions on YouTube, the most popular free video hosting platform in the world. Get it done from an agency that provides efficient YouTube marketing services.

Vimeo- This second largest video hosting platform hosts some of the best professional business videos. Select its premium plan to get better service.

Daily Motion- A great option for businesses that are into news, sports, music, entertainment, and fashion.

Twitch- A great live streaming platform. Businesses can host live events and new product launches.   

Wistia- A perfect video hosting platform for businesses. It helps to generate email leads or add links to websites.   

Facebook- This social media platform allows video uploading as well as live streaming free to all its users.

Instagram- Instagram, the popular social media platform has ventured from images to videos using the IGTV service.

Twitter- Even though hashtags rule Twitter, video uploading and live streaming features are also available here.

TikTok- Famous for its short-format video, TikTok is rising in popularity even though the user demographics differ.

Snapchat- Snapchat allows brands to use short-form video content that becomes inaccessible after 24 hours.

LinkedIn- Though LinkedIn supports video uploading, its LinkedIn Live video streaming is a recently introduced feature that is catching up. 

Quora- Though Quora allows video uploads, people prefer to write answers.

Pinterest- Pinterest permits only business accounts to upload videos.

Conclusion

Video marketing has outperformed all other forms of content marketing. It is high time that brands focus on developing video marketing strategies to get the right leads and conversions. What is your say on it?

Hard times are here. The coronavirus pandemic has created havoc in the economy. The future is uncertain. Businesses have to cope up with the stringent lockdown measures and at the same time be prepared for decreased businesses when the restrictions ease and life moves towards normalcy. How do small enterprises cope up with the subsequent loss in business? One simple and more realistic solution will be outsourcing.

What is outsourcing?

Outsourcing is the process of entrusting projects, tasks or parts of it to a third party or external vendor who has expertise in it. Many of the functions like mobile software development, graphics design, account management, website design & development, data entry processing, transcription, data conversion, call center services, inventory management etc, can be outsourced and completed with high-quality services, better resources and reduced costs.  

What are the benefits of outsourcing?

Outsourcing can be considered as getting access to the best in class rather than cutting down on costs. The reduced cost is an added benefit, but not the main motto of outsourcing.

1. Saves on time, money & resources:

Outsourcing makes your task easy. For example, you outsource web designing & development to a country where the skills are advanced and the costs are reduced. You save on time, efforts, money and valuable local resources. Similarly, when you outsource designing social media banners or logos, you save on time and money.

2. Reduced cost of operations:

Outsourcing is a big boon for small enterprises and startups that are looking for advanced solutions at reduced costs. By outsourcing, you hire advanced skills so that you can train the local staff for business growth. The cost of hiring a third-party service provider means that you reduce the costs of setting up in-house operations.

3. Start projects fast:

With outsourcing, you can start working on projects with immediate effect. If you go for in-house, you need to hire talent, train them and provide support that is time-consuming. But when you offer the same project to a vendor, your project gets initiated and completed soon.

4. Save on infrastructure and technology:

You will not have to worry about investing in infrastructure and the right talent. The third-party service provider takes care of the business project from start till completion. In fact, you save on hiring and training costs of employees.    

5. Focus on core functions:

Outsourcing frees the hired talent from performing basic tasks. If you have to design a corporate presentation, it is better that you outsource it rather than deploying your marketing manager to complete the task. This frees the manager so that they can concentrate on more productive business-oriented tasks for growth. So as to say, you can focus the resources on core functions.

6. Increased productivity:

You just have to repurpose the saved funds to more profit-generating modules. The saved cost and time can be utilized to upgrade the local employee skills like managerial or marketing skills. It can be used for advertising and increasing the audience reach thus increasing the team productivity.

7. Access to skilled resources:

When you outsource projects to a technically advanced team of professionals, you get access to skilled experts who have vast experience in their respective fields. Your business gets enhanced by their capabilities. 

8. Great opportunity for startups and SMEs:

Big firms have the capacity to hire talent, train them and provide in-house support. The smaller firms and startups simply cannot match up to their standards if they plan to develop projects in-house. Outsourcing acts as a great leveler and gives small firms the same opportunity of utilizing talent, expertise and technology as the big firms.

9. Increases flexibility:

When you outsource your work or project, you can take benefit from the time differential. You can manage the business for a longer duration, say 16-18 hours by combining your working hours and the external agency working hours.

10. Better end result:

High-quality deliverables help in your business growth and promotion. With outsourcing, your work is better and you get services that add value to your business.

How will outsourcing impact business profits?

Outsourcing is not a replacement for local hiring. It is just an enhancement for improving your business dynamics. It is taking advantage of the best talents and advanced technologies but at a lower cost. It helps you to concentrate on your business growth by allocating the saved costs to places where it will yield fruitful results.

It is not just the coronavirus pandemic. Outsourcing is beneficial to firms in the long run if you select the right vendor. If your small business or startup has to sail through the uncertainty, it is time you think about cutting costs and increasing the profit margin.  

A hybrid mobile app has elements from web applications and is developed for a specific platform. It is a web app carried in a native container that stacks most of the information on the page as and when the user navigates through it. Let us know the advantages and disadvantages of a hybrid mobile app. 

What are the benefits of hybrid apps?

1. Finding resources to build a hybrid app is easy. It is written in web development languages like HTML, JavaScript, and CSS.
2. The coding remains the same when deployed across different mobile platforms.
3. The development time and costs involved are reduced since the same code is reused. 
4. For an update on any page of the hybrid mobile app, the user gets to see it when it is downloaded from the server. The app in the store needs to be updated only if there is some big change that will affect the user experience.    

Given the benefits, you would want to opt for a hybrid mobile app. But, wait, it has its limitations.

What are the disadvantages of a hybrid mobile app?

1. A hybrid mobile app doesn’t have a real feel like a native mobile app. There are some restrictions and the full potential of the mobile device cannot be exploited.
2. Since plugins and code of the platform are used to make the app suitable, it suffers from slower performance and transition between pages.
3. The loading speed gets affected because only the wrapper is downloaded on the user’s mobile device. The remaining data gets downloaded from the server. The overall performance may suffer when the server gets requests from many users at the same time.
4. A hybrid mobile app cannot be accessed offline.
5. Device-specific capabilities like GPS and location access are not possible using a hybrid app, even if it is, it comes at an exorbitant development cost. 

Conclusion

A hybrid mobile app is most preferred when you need it as an enterprise application for internal users or when your business reach is for a limited audience. It is also advisable to get a hybrid mobile app when you are not sure about the validation of your app idea. It will save you time, money, and resources. If you are interested in knowing what type your mobile app should be, contact a reliable mobile app development agency that clearly understands your business requirements. 

What do you think about a hybrid mobile app and its advantages and disadvantages? Comment below and let us know of it.

How do you recognize a Mercedes? Through its 3-pointed star logo. The McDonald’s has its famous golden arches to form an ‘M’. The logo is symbolic of its brand. Logos give a face to the brand.

Thanks to the popularity of logos associated with brands, businesses nowadays are placing more importance on logo designing. If you are to come up with a logo that resonates with your products and offerings, have your logo designed by the best logo designing agency near you. Because crafting a logo that compliments your brand is no easy task. And believe in us when we say that a free logo from any of the available online logo makers is not going to serve its purpose in the long run. It is better to invest in good logo design at the start itself rather than keep making changes later. 

If you are interested to know how to design a logo, let us first get into the 5-step roadmap to designing your logo.

The five steps to design your logo are-

1.Strategy:

A task with a good start is akin to half accomplished. Logo designing needs to be inclusive in your brand building strategy. Logo design starts with the interaction between the business owners and the designers. One thing is for sure. Do not hurry to design a logo. Have ideas in mind. Have a purpose for your logo. The logo has to denote what your product or service stands for. Talk to the designer if you are confused. He will provide you with a specific direction since he has expertise in designing logos. Do not settle for anything less than a high-quality logo because a logo stays with the brand forever.

2.Meaning:

Your logo is not to satisfy your creative aspect. It has to be designed relevant to your brand. The best way is to draw inspiration from some famous brands and their logos. Your logo creation needs inspiration and it is your responsibility to gather information and draw insights. Only then will you be able to conceptualize a logo that relates to your product and conveys your brand.

3.Designing:

Designing is the most important stage in your logo creation. It starts with experimentation. Be sure to include your ideas in the brief. Your logo can be an emblem, monogram, symbol, initials, the name of your company or a combination of these. The positioning of elements, the colors, the shapes of elements, the background, the fonts- all these play an important role in logo creation.

4.Feedback & Refinement:

Look for constructive feedback. Work closely with the designers regarding some disagreements in color or font style. Do not be adamant about your idea. It is good to find the right balance between your idea and what others suggest. Definitely, your logo will not please everyone. But if you believe that the logo defines your product and your brand stick to it. Some minor changes are okay. If your logo design is unique, creative, and fresh there is no way that it will miss the eyes of the audience.

5.Final Output:

Before you finally select on a logo, see to it that it is available in different file formats. Get your logo ready for every medium from social media, hoardings, and banners, to print media. You might want your logo in single or full-color pieces for different platforms. If you get everything prepared before-hand it will save your logo from being badly reproduced.

Conclusion

There is no specific format to create your business logo. It is a combination of ideas, the skills of your logo designer, and your input. You can start to experiment with any of the free logo makers online. But when it comes to the final result, it is better to hire the services of expert logo makers in town to get an effective logo design. There is nothing more satisfying than to see your business identified by its logo. Isn’t it?

If you have your profile on LinkedIn either personal or business-related, the main concern would be content creation. If you are short of ideas regarding posts for your LinkedIn feed, here we suggest some of the best.

What to post on LinkedIn?

1. Video

Video comes first in our list because the generation today prefers visual content to a written one. The videos can contain any useful informative content. It need not necessarily be a lengthy one. Short videos of length 30-60 seconds are the most preferred, for, the message is conveyed precisely.   

2. Image

Images may be varied. But don't limit it to festive posts and uplifting quotes. Try to post simple banners of statistics, trends, research and surveys, one point at a time.   

3. Infographics

People love to read content in the form of infographics. This visual mish-mash of information through graphics is easily absorbed by the viewers. It may be a short crisp explanation of your product, service, trends, uses or any other information.   

4. Your thoughts

Write about your experiences and make more use of the word ‘I’. Such a first-person post feels natural and instantly connects with the audience.

5. New product launch

Keep your viewers informed of every new product or service launch so that they are tuned to the happenings in your business.

6. Feature enhancements

Feature enhancements in your products make your viewers believe that you constantly work to make your services better. These posts help you to grow your network and get the right connections in business.

7. Team 

Photos of your team at work, meetings, conferences, work engagements- these showcases the work culture in your office. Allow a sneak peek into your company culture. It sends a positive signal to your potential clients as well as future employees.   

8. Achievements

The best employee award of the month, special achievements of your team and company are to be posted on LinkedIn. The intention is not to brag about the achievements but to be proud of it. It helps to connect with your network as responsible employers.  

9. Live streaming

Accessible only on request, this new feature on LinkedIn is a boon to businesses to grow their customer base. You can live stream any of your new product launch events, conferences or plan any live series like discussions and interviews.

10. Article on LinkedIn

If you are a pro in any topic, share some useful information and tips on it. The audience will connect to you for more of such relevant information. It not only grows your customer base but also wins their trust.

11. Blog links

You can share links of your website blogs so that your connections get to know about the company's products/services. In addition, it will earn you backlinks and clicks.

12. Third-party content

If you are tired of posting content about your business, try to share links of third-party content related to your business. This will let out the signal that your company is invested in the future and you stay updated with the latest advancements in your field.

Conclusion

In any social media profile, engagement is necessary through consistent postings. These are the ways that help you to stay connected with your connections on LinkedIn. For more on digital marketing and social media posting, you can contact an expert digital marketing agency near you that will help you in getting more viewer engagement and conversions.  

What is your strategy to get viewer engagement on LinkedIn? Share your opinion with us.  

The growth of the global e-commerce industry has been phenomenal in the last decade. The business that adapts itself to changing trends is the one that survives. Let us discuss the top e-commerce trends for 2020 that the businesses need to acknowledge to be in the game-  

1.Play with colors

Yes, we know that minimalism is in vogue. We even stress on keeping the whitespace. But a little bit of experimenting on color pops is advisable. This is to connect with your customers. Select striking colors in front of neutral backgrounds.

2.Chatbots

Introduce chatbots on your website platform to provide the best shopping experience to customers. The chatbots deliver shipping notifications, offer discount codes. This helps customers to make shopping decisions.

3.Security

Have stringent security for your e-commerce website through SSL certification and PCI compliance. Use bot detection technology to reduce the chances of crucial data stealing and misuse.

4.Responsive Design

Adaptability to any screen size is core to an e-commerce website’s survival. Your e-commerce website design has to be responsive. This will help it to fit into the appearance and functionality of different devices.

5.Video

Video marketing is gaining prominence thanks to the preference of moving content by the young generation. Videos of your products, its usage and reviews help not only to get new customers but also to win their trust.

6.Micro-interactions

In an e-commerce website design, we hardly pay attention to things like call-to-action buttons, uploading status or simple animations. But it is these micro-interactions that help in website navigation. It makes the user experience more rewarding.

7.Voice Search

Trending among the top e-commerce trends for 2020 is the voice search. We all know how popular Alexa and Siri are becoming by the day. These voice search devices help customers with easy shopping. Make your e-commerce website voice-search optimized. This will provide a great shopping experience for visitors. 

8.CTA Buttons

‘Buy Now’, ‘Click Here’- these are the Call-to-Action buttons that provoke the visitors to go for the purchase. Place these buttons at strategic locations on a page. It has to merge seamlessly with the design but also stand out to elicit a response from the viewer.

9.Payment Flexibility

High-quality payment gateways help websites to reduce the load time and thus retain customers. The latest entrants are the payment through social media platforms and mobiles. Security should be a prime concern when money transfer takes place. 

10.Artificial Intelligence

One of the very important and top e-commerce trends for 2020 is the role of AI in website development and design. AI helps in automation and localization thus helping in personalization or contextual merchandising. Data plays a crucial role here. The small e-commerce players can partner with third-party providers to tap data volume.

Conclusion

For sure, e-commerce will get bigger and better in 2020. It is up to you to implement the trends in your e-commerce website to better the user experience. Also, when you team up with a good e-commerce development agency, you can be assured that your website will incorporate all the top e-commerce trends for 2020.