Archive for rule of seven

Using Google to Market Your Business Part 3: YouTube

by Andrea J. Stenberg
October 22nd, 2009

YouTube is now owned by Google so this is yet another way to use Google as a marketing vehicle. With over 100 million U.S. viewers of YouTube (never mind the rest of the world) as of January 2009, clearly YouTube is a way to reach a large number of people.

Why should you add YouTube videos to your marketing plan?

SEO

First, search engines are starting to rank video higher than longer articles and blog posts. If you’ve used good keywords in your title and meta tags, your video is more likely to get found by Google and other search engines. Additionally, since you can include a link to your own website, you can further increase the ranking of your site by adding videos to YouTube.

More Clicks

Our eyes naturally go to photos. If your video shows up in a search someone does on Google, the thumbnail of your video is more likely to catch their eye and get clicked than a text only result. This means more traffic for you.

Link Bait

Good videos are “link bait”. YouTube automatically includes a link for views to use to add to their website. If you provide interesting or useful content it is more likely someone will add your video to their website, increasing the number of people who see and hear your message.

You’ll be cutting edge

Even though people are moving to YouTube in droves, the majority of small businesses haven’t tried it yet. If you start using video online today, there’s a good chance you’ll be one of the first ones in your industry to do so. You’ll be seen as cutting edge or just reach people your non-YouTube competitors don’t.

Works well with other social media sites

Social media sites like Facebook are designed to work with YouTube. You can easily and quickly import your YouTube videos and get double duty. Even if someone has never used YouTube before, they can still watch your content.

The rule of seven

YouTube was made for the Rule of Seven. I’ve said it before: people like to do business with those they know, like and trust. And getting to know, like and trust you takes time – at least seven contacts with your marketing message. Video is a great way to let people get to know you: they can see your face and hear your voice. You’re no longer an anonymous entity online but a living, breathing person. If you combine that with interesting and helpful information, video can speed up the process of getting people to feel comfortable enough with you to be willing to open their wallets and purchase your products or services.

Tips for creating a good video

I’m not a videographer so I’m not going to give you tips on how to actually use a video camera. If you need help there, hire someone or find a teenager who knows what she’s doing.

However, there are some tips I can give you to get better results.

  1. It doesn’t have to be perfect. While you don’t what to look completely unprofessional, if your video is too polished viewers may feel like they’re viewing a commercial. Sometimes a slightly homemade quality to the video can make your message more authentic.
  2. The average YouTube viewer spends 2.5 to 3 minutes per video. Keep your video in that range and you’ll likely get more viewers.
  3. Dress professionally. I know I said a homemade quality may sound authentic but that doesn’t mean I think you should create your videos in your pajamas. Unless your personal and business brand is very quirky, dress how you would if you were meeting clients. Clean up your office – if that’s where you’re shooting.
  4. Provide good, useful content. People don’t want a sales pitch. The best format is to talk about a problem your customers have and give them tips on how to solve it.
  5. Don’t forget a subtle sales pitch. If you’ve given useful information, end your video with a soft sell. Include your website address and some sort of call to action – what do you want the viewer to do next. An ideal call to action is send them to a place on your website where they can get more information.

If you haven’t started using video yet, now might be the time to give it a try. Go to YouTube, see how others are viewing the site, get out your video camera and give it a try.

Andrea J. Stenberg

Are you using video and YouTube to market your business? Let us know how it works by leaving a comment. Also, if you know of businesses that are doing a good job with video, leave us links to the best online videos.

Categories Information Marketing, Marketing Basics, SEO, Technology
Comments (4)

Are you unhappy with the results you’re getting from social media?

by Andrea J. Stenberg
March 24th, 2009

I often hear from people who spent some time on Facebook or LinkedIn but eventually gave up because they just didn’t see results. Others keep going but are telling me they don’t know if it’s working.

If you’re not seeing results – or you’re just not sure what they are – you need to take a step back and consider what your social media goals are. Remember the Rule of Seven? It says people won’t buy the first time they hear your message. They need time to get to know, like and trust you first.

Be interesting

That’s goal number one in social media: getting people to know, like and trust you. Connect with people. Show your personality; let people know who you are as a person. Talk about your life, your family, funny things that happen. But don’t forget to show who you are as a business person as well. Read More→

Categories Marketing Basics, Planning, social media
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What is the Rule of Seven? And how will it improve your marketing?

by Andrea J. Stenberg
October 17th, 2008

The Rule of Seven is an old marketing adage. It says that a prospect needs to see or hear your marketing message at least seven times before they take action and buy from you. Now the number seven isn’t cast in stone. The truth of the Rule of Seven is you can’t just engage in a marketing activity and then be done. Marketing must be an on-going process in order for it to be successful.

So why do prospects need to hear your message so many times before taking action? If you are doing your marketing well, you are targeting the right people; your ideal customers. You have created powerful marketing materials that use language your target audience relates to. You speak to their major problems and how you can solve them. Why don’t they jump to their feet and grab what you have to offer the first time they see your message?

1. Noise

In today’s world, people are being bombarded with messages constantly. It is truly difficult to get past all this noise and be heard.

The first few times someone sees your message its likely it won’t completely register with them. We all have marketing blinders we’ve built up over time – otherwise we’d be overwhelmed with the constant noise from businesses clamoring to be heard.

It’s no different with your prospects. They’re not sitting around waiting for you to show up. They’re busy living their lives and you may not even be a blip on their radar.

2. They don’t need you … yet

Even if you’ve closely targeted the right people, they may not need your product or service today. And if they only see your marketing message once, it’s not likely they’ll remember you tomorrow or next week or next year when they suddenly do need you. When it comes to marketing out of sight is definitely out of mind.

This is true even when your target audience is a business. When I was doing marketing research Read More→

Categories Definitions, Information Marketing, Marketing Basics
Comments (41)

What to do with your Facebook Friends Once You’ve Got Them

by Andrea J. Stenberg
June 19th, 2008

When it comes to any type of online marketing, it’s not the size of your list, it’s what you do with it thatSo you have a bunch of Facebook Friends. Now What? counts. The same is true with Facebook. Having 300 highly targeted Facebook Friends who you develop an active relationship with will be far more profitable than 3,000 Friends who come from everywhere, are interested in everything and who have little connection with you.

That said, 300 targeted Friends is better than 30 so keep working to build your list of Friends. Once you reach 300 to 500 Friends you need a way to connect with people more efficiently. On Facebook, a great way to do this is to create a Group of your own.

To do this, click the groups link on the left side of your Facebook page. In the new window, click “Create a New Group”. Give your group a memorable name, related to your business, and fill in the other details. Then start inviting your Friends to join your group.

Be sure to populate the Group with useful information to make people keep coming back. Post articles, links to blog posts, audios and videos. Get discussions going by posting provocative questions on the Discussion Board. The key to making your Group successful is to make sure people want to come back again and again.

Too many groups on Facebook seem to be created just for the purpose of collecting names but don’t give any value to the members. When I find a group like that, I don’t stay for long. But if there are interesting discussions happening and useful information I’ll keep coming back.

Once you have a good sized group and some good activity on your Discussion Board, you need to find a way to get the Group members to your website and to join your mailing list outside of Facebook.

If you have an email newsletter, post some of your best articles on your Facebook Group. At the bottom include a link to your sign-up page and a suggestion that they sign up to get more of the same type of articles.

Likewise if you offer free teleseminars. Post a few free recordings on your Group page. Then post a link to sign up to receive notification of future teleseminars.

By posting free content on your Group page you are proving yourself to the group. Once they know you offer quality information, they will be more likely to want more. It’s all part of the “rule of seven” – it takes time for people to get to know, like and trust you. (What’s the rule of seven?)

Andrea J. Stenberg

Have you had success using Facebook to market your business? Please share what’s worked for you by leaving a comment.

Categories Marketing Basics, social media, Technology
Comments (1)

Are you making this fundamental mistake with your advertising?

by Andrea J. Stenberg
March 25th, 2008

If a complete stranger where to look at all your marketing materials – your website, brochure, business cards, advertisements – would they be able to tell at a glance – without looking at the name – that they were from the same business? If the answer is no, you have a problem.

What is the problem? It relates to the rule of seven. This old marketing adage states that your prospects need to see your message an average of seven times before they are motivated to buy. But you aren’t accumulating seven ‘hits’ if the prospect doesn’t realize each message is from you.

Like the old expression “too many cooks spoil the broth”, too many graphic designers can spoil the marketing message.

If you are like many business owners, your printer designed your business cards and brochure, someone else designed your website and you take advantage of the fact that newspapers, magazines and the yellow pages will design your ad for free.

But consider, if you have a different designer for each ad, your target market may not recognize that each ad is for the same business.

What’s the answer?

The solution is to hire a graphic designer to create all your advertising. Your designer can create an overall ‘look’ that will appear in all your visual marketing. This can include a logo, specific colours, fonts and layouts. Done properly, your marketing materials will tell everyone it’s you before they even see your business name.

This doesn’t have to be expensive. If you have regular advertisements going into publications, plan ahead and create several ads in the correct sizes. Then when it’s time to place your next ad, you can just send it to the publication.

In addition, many publications will give you a discount if you provide “camera ready” ads (ads that can be dropped into the publication without any changes). Depending on the discount, the amount you save may pay for the graphic designer.

How to hire a graphic designer

Talk to other business owners whose advertising always looks professional. Ask who for a referral.

Be sure to talk to several graphic designers to get prices and a feel for their abilities and style. Ask about printing too. Most have relationships with printers and can negotiate better printing deals for their clients.

Also speak to print shops – most have qualified designers on staff and may give you a discount if you have both your design and printing done with them.

Be sure to shop around because prices and ability can vary widely. Ask to see a portfolio and ask for references. Check the references because you not only want someone who does good work, but who is easy to work with.

Make sure you own the copyright

Make sure that you own the rights to any work the designer creates for you. Some designers claim ownership of the copyright and expect a royalty any time you reuse an ad or logo they design.

This is not standard practice in the industry and you shouldn’t accept it. Negotiate with the designer or choose someone else. You don’t want to be in a position of being unable to change designers or printers without changing your logo.

Having one graphic design “cook” in your marketing kitchen can really increase the effectiveness of your marketing efforts.

Andrea J. Stenberg

Categories Marketing Basics
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