Gmail Stories

This is a great example from Google. People sending in their stories on why they love gmail and the only thing google has to do is put together a simple but creative video that relays these stories. It is not corporate but it is very engaging. Give your customers the tools to tell their stories. Simple yet priceless.

5 Ways To Get More Search Engine Traffic To Your Pocast

If you are doing podcasting, Jason gives us 5 good tips for maximizing trafiic to your podcast blog.

1. Have a blog. Most people are comfortable with navigating a blog now so your content will be easier to find. Mahalo Daily hasn’t learned this lesson yet. The result is even though their content is great, it is difficult to find out what content they do have.
2. Use text: Search engines can’t index audio or video. You need show summaries with information rich keywords and links to tell the surfer and the search engines what it is you are offering.
3. Keywords in post titles: This is basic SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Skip this one and suffer the consequences.
4. Feed keywords: Your feed is what iTunes and other aggregators use to figure out how to display your podcast in search results.
5. Submit to the most popular directories: You took all the time to make a great podcast, let the world know you are out there.

The common factor here is you need to pay as much attention to text and keywords in your podcast as anyone who is just doing a text blog. Maybe more so.

Be sure to check out the entire article if you are interested in increasing your podcast presence.

Viral Marketing 101

David Scott over at the Pragmatic Marketing has written a nice article on the basics of what a viral marketing campaign is and what makes it successful. Here are a few of my favorite pointers.

Create a number of campaigns and see what hits, then nurture the winners along

This is key. If your projects are too big, they get too expensive and bogged down and probably over produced. Keeping the projects fluid and honest without busting the bank is the goal here.

The fact is, some of the best online video comes from unlikely sources.

Everyone expects the skaters that live down the block from you to have a video on YouTube, but what if your shoe store had some crazy or interesting video. That could have a chance to stand out more than the obvious ones. He has some great examples of “Normal” companies being successful at viral marketing. Think Blending iPods.
Also helpful is his:

Ten tips for using YouTube for viral marketing

Tip #1 Creating a video is easy, and posting on YouTube is free
Copy the video to your computer, and then either upload your video as is or edit it with such software as iMovie or Windows Movie Maker to add titles and special effects.

Tip #2 Homemade is just fine
You don’t need to hire a professional. A homemade-quality video can work well. But plan ahead and shoot several takes to get it right.

Tip #3 Your video should be no longer than two minutes (preferably less)
Think very short. Although YouTube will accept a video that is less than 10 minutes (smaller than 100MB), try to make the video between 30 seconds and two minutes.

Tip #4 Make your description clear and specific
To best promote your video, create an accurate and interesting text description. Use descriptive keywords and language that people will use when they search for videos like yours. And use the correct categorizations on YouTube so people will find it.

Tip #5 Don’t attempt “stealth” fake customer insertions
Some companies attempt sneaky, stealth insertions to YouTube of corporate-sponsored video in a way that makes it seem like the video is consumer-generated. A typical case is happy twenty-somethings at a party doing fun things while using a certain brand of technology. The YouTube community is remarkably skilled at ratting out inauthentic video, so this approach is likely to backfire and cause harm to a brand.

Tip #6 Consider inviting your customer communities to submit video
One of the most effective ways to use video to drive viral marketing is for companies to develop a contest for people to submit their own video, which then is made available for others to see. Would-be directors are given prizes, and the best videos are usually showcased on the company site. In some cases, the winning videos are also played on TV as “real” commercials.

Tip #7 Try a series of similar videos to build interest
Sometimes a series of videos works well as in the case of “Will It Blend?”.

Tip #8 Tell everyone about your video
When you upload your first few videos, you are likely to hear a deafening silence. You’ll be waiting for comments, but none will come. You’ll check your video statistics and be disappointed by the tiny number of viewers. Don’t get discouraged—that’s normal! It takes time to build an audience. When you’re just getting started, make sure people know it is there and can find it. Create links to your video from your home page, product pages, or online media room. Mention your video in your email or off-line newsletters, and create links to your video as part of your email signature and those of other people in your organization.

Tip #9 Make sure bloggers know about the video
Sending bloggers a link to the video or commenting on other people’s blogs (and including a link to your video) is a good way to build an audience. If you comment on blogs in the same space as yours, you might be surprised at how quickly you will get viewers to your video.

Tip #10 Experiment! Try it! Have fun!
Video content on the Web is still very new for marketers and communicators. But the potential to deliver information to buyers in new and surprising ways is greater when you use a new medium. And while your competition is still trying to figure out “that blogging thing,” you can tap into the world of video and leave the competition behind.

Definitely worth a read if you are just starting to investigate viral marketing or you are just looking for some interesting examples.

How Are Your Ads Interrupting

I just clicked on a video on the front page of the New York Times. The video was a tribute from a dad to his son that was killed in action.

Instead of seeing the somber video of one family member mourning another, I was treated to a 30 second “fun” commercial of silly white males making wacky faces with upbeat music behind it.

Needless to say, the ad was a total flop with me.

Context is everything so be careful when spending those hard earned marketing dollars on messages (and message delivery) that miss your target by a thousand miles.

As of today, media is measurable and accountable.

Don’t miss your mark.

This Is Why We Do Not Trust Anyone

Today I received and email from someone that I don’t know personally, but I know people that know him and from what I can tell, he is an honorable guy. He has a real estate company and I get emails from him time to time telling me about his deals, or what he has going on, or some opportunity that he has coming up.

I always look forward to see how he is growing his business and what current opportunities he has for his subscribers.

Today I get an email from him (or his assistant, I think) and the body of the email says, “Please participate in our quick five question survey! This is ideal for those that are seeking Instant Seller Leads! This invitation is to participate in our survey to enable us to better serve you. Your feedback is invaluable to us, and we thank you in advance for your help. ”

Great, he is asking me for his help. Probably some new business angle he has come up with and is testing the waters. I would like to give some feed back.

[ View the photo I captured of the survey if you haven’t already peeked. ]

Here I am taking the poll like some schmuck and POW!, I get T-BONED by question number 5! Instead of continuing to build my trust, he zings me with some spam poorly disguised as a survery!

He doesn’t need my help or feedback. He has made up his mind that his subscribers are merely just lemmings that will soak up whatever spam he sends out.

Well, his subscribers minus one.

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