Category: Digital Marketing

If you thought explainer videos lacked that human touch and wanted a real human to do all the talking, live in the video, you are not alone. A number of companies have begun to utilize the method of video scribing. Now, you may ask what the video scribe method is all about. Well, it consists of a human being, a white board, whiteboard markers and a video camera. Even if you didn’t have access to world class cameras and a photogenic model, you can make an impressive “real” in a short span of time. In this article, let us take a look at why you need the video scribing method and what you need to do in order to make your videos look great. What is the video scribe method? Basically, when you use the video scribing method, you are essentially using someone from your office or someone who is hired for the purpose, to demonstrate your products and services, from an educative perspective. People are more attuned to educational and informative videos rather than pure commercial and marketing videos. That being said, unlike explainer videos, video scribe method allows you to have a “real video”, with a real human being et al. In the video scribe method, a model/professional demonstrates the purpose of your business, product, service or whatever that needs to be communicated, with the help of a whiteboard and some markers. It is just like sitting in a classroom with a trainer explaining the fundamentals of a concept. It is real, easy to understand and people are going to like it. The video scribe method ensures that people see your videos from a different perspective: from the perspective of being students and learning about a concept from a real trainer. And that is going to make them want to buy your products or services. It is not only true of B2C clients, but also B2B clients. Now, let us take a look at how you can make a great video using the video scribe method. • Have a script ready This is probably the most difficult part of making a video of this type. Yet, it is easier to write a script for the video scribe method than for others. There is no need to worry about minor aspects of animation or video production. Even a stationary camera would do. Thus, writing a good script is very important. Include all that you think will help the viewer to gain something. The more educative and informative your videos are, the more marketable and share-worthy they will be. • Assign the role of the presenter You do not have to hire a professional actor or a model. Anybody that looks presentable on the camera and can speak well can be chosen to do the part. All they need to do is, learn the script and enact the “training sessions”. If the presenter is well versed with the concepts being discussed in the video, there is no need for enactment. It shall be a real training video with the help of a whiteboard and markers. And yes, do ask the presenter to smile and look friendly, while presenting. If the presenter does not make the video fun and interesting, it will probably not be viewed. Thus, there is always an element of entertainment to these kinds of videos. • Start shooting! Easier said than done. Yet, if you follow the script, you will not which parts to edit and which parts to omit. If certain parts do not come out well, they can be re-shot and a simple movie-making application will help you to weave all the parts of the video together. All that you need to do is to ensure that there is enough light and that the presenter looks presentable. The camera need not be an expensive one. As long as it can shoot decent vides, it should be enough to create a video using the video scribe method. Video scribe method is not an alternative to explainer videos and other forms of videos. Instead, you must look at it as an addition to your collection of video content which need to be shared across platforms, as part of your content marketing strategy.

Why does your business need explainer video for branding? It is known fact that branding is not used for obtaining direct benefits from customers. As a small business owner, you may think that branding is not your cup of tea. It is only to do with large businesses.  Having just a corporate identity package and a company website is not enough for meeting your branding requirements especially when your business needs online presence.  You need to do a lot more. We know you are already present on various social media platforms and blogs. But are you taking full advantage of your presence there? Have you been using explainer videos to brand your company and products? If not, then there is no reason why customers would want to lurk around your website for a long time. Quality video content creates an impact on the viewers as they are innately entertaining, dynamic and stimulate action. How does explainer video help you build your brand? Customers recognize you not because of your name but by the product you make and the services you offer. But it is not enough. To survive in this harsh and cutthroat business world, branding is more than important. And explainer videos are your best bet for brand disparity. For a growing business, content marketing is awfully essential. This is where the role of explainer videos comes into existence. Explainer videos act as a powerful video marketing tool that helps your target customers to form a perception about your brand. Let us find out how explainer videos help you to strengthen your online brand image: 1)      Increase traffic and visibility of your brand  Search engines give a higher preference to videos over pictures and text. Uploading a high quality original video content with appropriate SEO tactics help you to rank higher in the SERP. If your visibility increases, it is followed by an increase in the footfalls to your website. Increased footfalls mean a higher conversion rate. Even if people don’t visit your website, they at least know that you exist. Adding a video on the homepage is a fairly impressive step as it is the first thing visible when a customer visits your website. According to Unbounce, conversion rate increases by 20% by using animated explainer videos. 2)      Give a voice to your brand  Branding is an essential means of communication with your target customers. It is not just about spending money and creating a brand image. When you invest time and thought in your brand, you understand what you want to say and how you want to be seen. People don’t like to interact with robots. It is that vibrant human factor involved in the videos that seeks the attention of target customers. Videos are dynamic in nature. Graphics, animation, moving pictures and a solid voice over adds up to the strength of an explainer video. People know who they are talking to and the message is heard loud and clear. 3)      Define your brand  Branding is not just about advertising the name of your company or promoting a brand name you use for your product. It goes much beyond that. Brand association requires significant thought in it. There are various aspects that act as an interface between the brand and the customers. For instance, customers’ contact with the organization and its employees, price, celebrity association, advertisements, product quality, discounts and offers, product category etc. Explainer videos are not specific about any one particular aspect. The way you deliver your message and the way it is perceived by your target audience define your brand. 4)      Add personality Besides the functional benefits of a brand, brand personality plays a vital role. The human traits like excitement, sincerity, ruggedness, competence and sophistication all add to brand personality. And customers are more likely to purchase when your brand spells these characteristics. The quality of the video used and the purpose it solves adds a niche to your personality. Offer content which differentiates you from your competitors. I would recommend you to include brand logo and company name in your video so that even if it is viewed outside your website or offline, it bears your stamp. And as a start-up organization, marketers do not afford to avoid branding via explainer videos. 5)      Help you form a consistent brand image Brand consistency is an unconditional necessity especially in the era when your content is marketed through different digital media platforms. Moreover, it helps you to win trust of your customers. Most often customers purchase from a company they are familiar with.  Creating a video is an art. It has to be symbolic to your brand. Consistency in video creation will help you carve a distinct brand image. A consistent look, tone and quality will make it easier for the customers to identify you in the crowd thus avoiding confusion. 6)      Explain your brand Explanation is about simplicity. The simplest way you choose to make it understand to your target customers the importance of your brand, higher is your probability of success. Explainer videos come into picture when the words fall short. Ideally, videos eliminate guess work in explaining the efficacy of your product or service. Customers stop presuming and rather start believing in your product. Explainer videos help you to connect with your customers and tell them explicitly what your business has in store for them. It also clarifies why they choose you instead of your competitors. 7)      Evoke emotions  Explainer videos have a capability to share a visual story with your customers. Customer success stories are most likely to evoke emotion in the viewer. Besides, explaining the usefulness of your products or even the vision and mission of your company, customers may feel rejoiced or surprised. I know that you are relating it TV advertisements. Yes, there is a relation but to a certain extent. TV ads are mainly short commercials meant for masses and therefore involve a huge sum of money. On the other hand, explainer videos are

Whether it is a large or a small business, marketing is equally important for them. The only difference is that the small business owners usually have a financial constraint in their marketing budget. Many times, small business owners don’t even have a separate marketing budget. Owing to such circumstances, various modes of online marketing have come up to suit the needs of such businesses. Growing popularity of explainer videos Engaging customers through textual content has existed for quite a while through the mediums like email marketing, blogs, website content and social media.  Off late, marketing through explainer videos have gained a lot of popularity owing to their simplicity of approach and their ability to provide a better understanding to the customers. Furthermore, videos help in better information retention resulting in high brand recall value and ultimately higher conversion rates. Another significant advantage of explainer videos is their ability to retain customers. Wondering, how? Customers need support even after the sales end to resolve their issues in operating the product failing which they feel frustrated and are never willing to buy the product again from your company. At this phase, explainer videos prove quite handy to the customers wherein they can follow and act. Besides all that, explainer videos are a great tool for increasing brand awareness and generating highly qualified leads. Considering this contemplation, explainer videos should be thoughtfully created that fulfill your marketing goals. Let me share with you 5 tips for marketing your explainer video effectively. 5 tips for marketing your explainer video 1.      Consistent and valuable content Keep your videos consistent in appeal. Use an appropriate combination of your brand logo, colors that give your video a unique look. Target audience should identify your video the minute they start watching. Avoid using real screen shots especially when you are explaining software. Use animation instead to avoid corrections in the video after product update. In case, you have a taste for using character animation, keep it consistent for your subsequent videos. Script is a valuable part of your video so pay importance to what you want to say and how you want to say before you start making a video. Do not generalize while making a video. We are not asking you to use jargon either. But we want you to understand the professional approach of your customers and what perception do you wish to form. You content should add value to your target customer, in line with the content marketing strategy wherein you produce content which will be read and digested by pin-pointed target customers. Follow a problem-solution approach starting with the problem faced by your customers and providing a solution to their problem. Or you can use emotions to state how your product adds value. Whatever way you choose, always stress more on the benefits over features as your customer only cares about the former part. 2.     Good audio, music and voice over Have you ever tried watching a TV ad after muting its audio? If not, you should try it once to understand what exactly I’m going to say. It is agreeable that you pay a lot of attention in the visual appeal of your video which is understandable. In the process, marketers forget the relevance of clear audio in the background. Do not forget that though their eyes are glued to the video, their ears are tuned to hear you. Every part of your video should have a consistent audio quality.  Remember that video is a great support but without good audio, your message will be lost. Audio and video should be in sync. We often turn our TV channel if the audio is not good. At that time, even HD video quality fails to stop you. Likewise, your customers also behave in the same manner and the whole exercise of making video goes to drain. Secondly, music has its own importance. It should not overpower your voice over. Choosing a right piece of music is vital to your visual appeal. It should sound professional and go along with the expression you want to convey. Thirdly, be careful in whom you choose to do your voice over. A strong voice bearing conviction and excitement leaves a deep impact on the audience. 3.     Fun to watch After all your effort put in to create a video, it is quite possible that your video looks boring and fails to engage your visitors. To avoid this situation, let your video look natural. Do not exaggerate about your product features. Do not talk about the point that you are the best company in the world. All this nonsensical communication hurts your agenda; remember it is not a commercial TV advertisement. Explainer video puts forth explanation about your product as a key agenda but with an element of fun. Use a story to describe a situation as stories are engaging and people love to follow stories. Use character animation, drawings, transition effects, colors etc to make it entertaining. We know this sounds too much of a work for a start-up company but it’s worth the expenses if done smartly. Even if you wish to go slow, you can use a case study explainer video by interviewing your customers and sharing their stories. Again people would be intrigued to see real stories that testify your claim as a new company. Ask your customers to visit your webpage and check out your video. A satisfied customer will take pride in promoting your video by liking it and sharing it with their friends through social media. To say the least, fun does not mean it has to be humorous or amusing, keep it short and sweet. 4.     Appropriate title tags  A video created by you is your intellectual property but it loses sheen if it is not seen by your target audience. There are two ways you can expect your video to be seen. One is to ask your customers to visit your website to see the video and share it

There is a growing tendency among business owners to invest a lot of money in online ads. That is partly because digital marketers have been hollering since years that we must all start to invest in online ads. The shibboleth is, if you do not have your advertisements on Google or Facebook, you are on your way down a downward spiral. That is not really the case. In this article, let us take a look at why website videos add more value than online ads when it comes to marketing. Of course, we are not saying one is better than the other. What we are really trying to say is that you might probably want to give more prominence and interest to website videos. 1.      Plethora of website videos in which you can invest There are a number of ways in which you can invest in website videos. One of them is explainer videos. Explainer videos are basically short animated movies that describe your products or services. They may last anywhere between 30 seconds to a minute or two. Shorter, the better. These explainer videos are cost-effective, take less time to produce and get the message delivered easily. On the other hand, online ads are like shooting in a barrel. You can’t really say what is going to work and when. Explainer videos are not effervescent. They last for a long time, lying on your homepage. 2.      Website videos are more attractive than online ads While online ads are great for people who do not know who you are, website videos on the other hand, are tailor made for your leads. Online ads can in fact direct your target audience to a landing page that contains your explainer videos. Explainer videos are a step ahead of online videos in terms of importance. To give a better explanation, one can say that online ads are like the boy who holds a banner on the street, hoping that customers see him and walk in side for a cup of coffee at the cafe that he works at. Website videos are more like the coffee, a steaming cup of coffee, which is kept right under the customer’s nose, hoping that he buys it. Chances are, he will most certainly buy it. 3.      ROI of website videos is higher It is often found in research that website videos have a higher ROI than online ads. Online ads are expensive. Whereas, explainer videos and other forms of website videos are not all that expensive. They are quick to shoot and easy to create. When you start to allocate more money for explainer videos and less for online ads, you will see a huge change in your ROI, for the better. At the end of the day, we all want more money from the money that we invest in something. Website videos seem to be the answer. 4.      Fringe benefits of website videos There are a number of fringe benefits of having website videos. Website videos are a great way to make sure that your voice is being heard. Website videos can be made part of content marketing and can be shared along with blogs and web copy. They can be used alongside content marketing and shared across social media. This helps you to build social signals. Online ads do not build social signals and people may even find them annoying. Website videos and explainer videos will ensue that you will create viral videos once in a while, which will help you to bring in a lot of traffic to your website. Going forward While online ads are important, there are a number of reasons why you must start paying attention to website videos as well. What we mean by website videos is, having a few explainer videos and a couple of other videos on your website on a regular website. These videos add to the overall branding strategy and help to build your brand name far and wide. Online ads do the same but the effect of such ads is limited. Website videos on the other hand are more sophisticated, look professional and help you to create a message that is best suited for your audience. To add more value to your website, consult Oomphbox.

How many of your employees have begun to take up online courses in order to boost their careers? Whether you like it or not, every employee dreams of honing his skills and eventually progress ahead of his position and the company he or she is currently working at. It is human tendency to want better things in life and if employees want to acquire skills and get a better job in a more formidable company, you should not stop them from doing so. Encourage employees to take up online courses Encouraging employees to acquire skills that will allow them to fly further will improve your own company. As a policy, you could try and help employees to register for online courses and build their expertise so that they can move ahead in their careers. There are always new recruits who have just passed out or less experienced but talented individuals to hire. It is a cycle that we must encourage, rather than getting insecure about. With that in mind, if you begin to offer online courses in your area of expertise, it may actually boost your revenues. In this article, let us take a look at why you must proactively start offering online courses and how that can help you to boost revenues. What sort of online course can you offer? Whatever you offer as a service or product, you can form an online course that caters to the target audience. For example, if you are a web designing company, you could probably begin to offer online courses related to CSS. Now, anyone can offer CSS courses. But the fact that you took the trouble to create a training manual and made it available online, with a certification at the end, will make your company known for what it is worth. Employees too appreciate such moves. They probably can take up those online courses themselves, which will help them to move ahead in their careers. You could either charge a nominal amount for these courses or choose to offer them for free, in exchange for contact details and email addresses. This works like the best lead generation activity out there. When you build quality leads, they will spread the word around and you will begin to see more clients and customers contacting you. Certainly, online courses can act as revenue generators if you know how to use them in the right manner. How to create killer online courses? If you are not sure how to create online courses, there is always help at hand. Specialized agencies take up projects in which they help you to create an online training curriculum that actually works. A combination of content writers, educationists and pedagogy specialists come together to create the perfect e-learning course that you could ever offer. If you are a small business, you can use your online courses as a lead generation activity. You could also use it in subtle ways to market your products and services. If you choose to use your online courses as a way to market yourself, make sure that you offer something valuable. Without giving away anything valuable, you cannot expect to gain something back. When it comes to online courses, you must remember that it is not one of the core marketing strategies. Yet, it can help a lot if you have additional budget to allocate. A great way to popularize your products and services is to advertise your online courses and talking about them, without mentioning your products and services directly. This ensures that people who are really interested in your chosen area of profession will eventually realize that you offer products and services that would be of interest to them. At the end of the day, nothing is more important than making sure that you get all the leads that you possibly can. Leads should be useful to you and they should have the propensity to turn into customers. For that, make sure that you use your online training programs in a fruitful and planned manner. It should not only be a philanthropic and educational project but also a marketing strategy that will eventually bring you results.

Most people think training programs have to be staid and formal. It is really not so. Using props and aids in education and training have always been preferred methods of teaching. In corporate training, one usually encounters very few educational aids mostly because of the misconception that adult learners do not respond well to visual teaching aids. On the contrary, adult learners get easily distracted when there is monotony, just like child learners. Thus, it is important to make sure that our training programs are as versatile and entertaining as possible. The first step is to include a good set of simulation and e-games that are designed to ameliorate the knowledge of the learners. It is not difficult to make sure that simulation games are in sync with training programs. There are several professional organizations that can create e-games and simulation games based on your curriculum. No matter what your training program consists of, there will always be a simulation or video game to create. There are several reasons why simulation games are good for training programs. In this article, let us take a look at the few advantages: Simulation games add life to training programs Most training programs utilize audio visual aids that are rather staid in nature. Trainers often make use of PowerPoint presentations, slides and handouts to make sure that trainees are learning what they must. However, simulation games add a certain sense of life to training programs. They ensure that training programs are relaxed, fun and interesting at the same time. They also add life by boosting interaction between the trainer and the trainees. Simulation games provide hands-on experience Most trainees depend on lectures and handouts to learn what they must. This is not the ideal method of learning. There must be a balance of theoretical and practical training when it comes to official programs. Unfortunately, most trainers lecture for hours and then finally assess with a test. A simulation game provides trainees with the option to apply their theoretical knowledge within the game. These games can be built to attend to the needs of training programs. Simulation and electronic games allow trainers to monitor and assess trainees In traditional learning models, trainers often use convoluted methods to assess their trainees. This may include going as far as checking what trainees are doing in the classroom, in order to assess and mark them. However, simulation games make things much easier. All that a trainer needs to do is to let students play simulated and coordinated games which can help the trainer to assess and monitor the progress of trainees. Simulation games increase competitive spirit among learners Learning is never an activity that happens without a sense of competition. Every trainee is inherently hard wired to compete and outperform other trainees. Video games, simulation games and other forms of games help trainees to engage in competitive gameplay that will increase their motivation to learn more. Gamifying training programs has the unique advantage of motivating and encouraging learners to learn more. Simulation and electronic games break the monotony of traditional learning We must admit that adult learners find it quite tiresome to go through training programs unless they are designed well. Simulated games help adult learners to apply what they have learned and make progress eventually. Simulated and other forms of games break the monotony that is associated with training programs. This is one of the reasons why educationists always exhort trainers to gamify their training sessions. Training programs must always include some sort of dedicated simulation and eGames within the curriculum. Specialized e-learning agencies are equipped with the knowledge and expertise to create simulation games for any training program that clients may request for. Based on what the goal of the training program is, one can always design simulation games with the goal of helping students to break monotony and increase productivity. A number of studies have proven that simulation and eGames contribute to the success of training programs, no matter where they are conducted. If you have a training program in progress, do think about inserting a simulation game into the program and that must help.

Pinterest is the third most popular social media networking site after Facebook and Twitter. Imagine a photo album with catalogues for different events in life. Pinterest is not just another social media to sell your goods, it is a visual delight exclusively designed to promote the images of your product and sell them through your e-store. Pinterest is a visual social networking platform We’ve already seen in the past how marketers use integrated Facebook stores and Twitter hashtags to sell their products online and increase traffic to their e-stores. We have also seen that these platforms are flooded with content like status updates, links to blog, articles, websites, images, videos etc in a textual format. Both these platforms undeniably serve good to meet your content marketing needs. But if you see Pinterest, it is clearly focused on promoting content through visually charged content i.e. images pinned on a board of your choice. So whether you want to promote your content or sell a product, Pinterest does equally well to serve the dual purpose. Pinterest allows you to upload any number of images on a board. The images on Pinboards are displayed with an embedded link to your e-store check-out page, thus, selling is faster and fun-filled. People love to re-pin images which they like and share it with their friends. Your products should be accompanied by a good quality image to attract viewers’ attention so that it gets re-pinned more that drives traffic to your e-store. Another thing to note is that always prefer using an original image on your board with a washed out brand logo at the corner to stay distinct. Two important components of Pinterest Pinboard – A pinboard is a set of images that have something in common. Every board has a different story to tell and different product category to sell. You can create and classify boards as per your choice. Every board has a different cover photo. And visitors don’t follow you they rather follow your board. Pin – Images are called pins here. Visitors can like the image, share it on Facebook, send it to their friends and visit the source of pin. The source will be your e-store here. Running a Pinterest campaign to boost traffic on your e-store Make it SEO friendly by using sufficient links  Images pinned on your board have to be linked to your e-store.  Google identifies the images more that are linked to a verified website rather than just an image upload from your computer. Even if you are attaching image that is not directly linked to your e-store, make sure it is linked to your blog, website or other social media profile.This will ensure that your target audience is following you by hook or by crook. The image links can be embedded through Call-to-Action buttons like Buy Now, Visit, Browse e-store, Subscribe for latest offers and so on. You can even upload pins from different sources that have similar products as yours. Create interesting boards with proper description and prices  Every pinboard you create should be specific to a single topic and share the images related to that content. In this case of promoting your e-store, you can display a particular collection on a pinboard like a stock clearance pinboard, new product pinboard, limited availability pinboard, best selling products etc.Every pin you want to sell should have a relevant description that talks about the usefulness and quality of the product to help people know about your product. Though your images are linked to your e-store, do not forget to add a hyperlink in the description to increase click through rate. Adding a price tag to the pin gives you an edge as people who are really interested in buying your product will click through it. Embed Pinterest sharing buttons on blogs and website  To create awareness among your target audience about your presence on Pinterest, make it a point that you add Pinterest sharing button on your blog and website. This gives you an opportunity to increase exposure of your brand. And understand that getting those initial likes is completely driven by your content marketing strategy. A satisfied visitor will share your content with his friends. Create shareable pins  Your pins don’t have to match the product images on your e—store. These pins are used to attract users attention. For instance, if you are selling products for Valentine’s day, you can use love quotes with roses as your pins. But try to keep some link between the pin and the image on your product page.  Hold activities  Ask your fans and followers to repin the best product from your board of new products. This will tell you the most popular product in the category. The products that receives maximum pins will be among the most popular one and you can set all those products in a trending now category.Once you pick up the most popular product, hold a caption contest for that product. Choose the best caption and award the participant with freebies or special offer on the entire category. Such activities will arouse visitor curiosity and enhance recognition to your brand. Increase interaction with the board followers  People love to repin interesting pins. Why don’t express your gratitude to the ones who repin it. Ask them to check your entire range of product on your e-store. Reply to the queries of your board followers. You also have the leverage to grant access to your ardent board follower to upload content on your board.Likewise, you can also repin the content from the board of your followers. Such gestures attract the attention of your followers and they are most likely to visit your e-store. It also increases your follower base. Added to that, you can start following the boards of your followers. Pin exclusive offers  Create a unique pinboard for latest offers and discounts. Keep this offer time-bound and for Pinterest users only. This will spread word-of-mouth through your followers and your Facebook & Twitter users