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The 4 Pillars of a Great Google Campaign

The World Wide Web was launched in 1989. It was created to meet the demand for online information sharing. After a year, the first search engine tool, Archie, was released. In 1998, Larry Page and Sergey Brin wanted to rank the importance of pages in the World Wide Web. It resulted in the creation of Google, the largest search engine in the world today.

According to a digital marketing speaker Hong Kong, Google marketing evolves from a vast expanse of information into knowledge that only a brand or business can provide. To succeed, they need to make it easier for modern consumers to find everything they need about their products and services. How can someone do business if they do not know where to buy and how much is the price? All the more, how can someone buy something if they do not know how it can solve their problems or use them in actuality.

Most brands and businesses target to rank on Google searches. It is what we call search engine optimization or SEO. This is because 87.8% of online searches happened on Google. More than 86% of online searchers looking for the location of a business on Google. Being the world’s largest search engine, there is no doubt that Google can help in the discovery of a brand or business. Below, here are the 4 pillars of a great Google campaign!

Build Mobile-Optimized Creatives

Out of 7 billion people in the world, 4.48 billion use mobile devices. It means more than half of online users do their searches using Android devices or smartphones. Thus, the 1st pillar of a great Google creative is to create mobile-optimized content. They are easy to read content when accessed even on small screens. Basically, these creatives minimize the amount of scrolling involved and use uncomplicated designs. 

The best way to build a mobile-optimized creative is to use a responsive web design. It displays a single design that automatically alters its look when clicked on a phone. However, a site optimized for mobile must still contain information about a brand or business. These include the address, business hours, contact information, and the list of products and services it offers. Allowing a user to click the phone number for direct calling is a must. So is a checkout option to add items to a cart and readily checkout.

Mobile-optimized creatives typically contain images with no overlaid text. If there is a need to put a caption, the text should not be over 20 characters. Such creatives performed 1.2 times better than those with longer overlaid texts.

Connect to a Wide Variety of Assets

A social media agency Hong Kong highlights the importance of connecting to a wide variety of assets as a pillar of a great Google campaign. Modern consumers can get bored seeing pure ads on a brand or business page. They are no longer purely interested in articles and blogs when doing a Google search. A great Google campaign includes images, videos, and text. Text formats may be memes, infographics, quotes, etc. Most people look for the helpfulness of content. More than 78% of online searchers expect brands and businesses to show them how they can help in everyday living.

For a video marketing agency Hong Kong, videos are now a part of SEO on Google. They are the most popular types of content when people want to learn how-to, product assembly, unboxing, etc. It is because many people retain information from moving media rather than a static image. Using people in your video can also boost engagement. More than 64% of consumers took action after seeing a diverse or inclusive ad featuring people in a video campaign. Through ratings, reviews, and testimonials, a lot of brands and businesses can better resonate with their audiences using people as assets.

Find Time to Test Your Creatives

The 3rd pillar of a great Google campaign is finding time to test your creatives. Google recently enabled automated bidding and video 360. It is an A/B testing framework that helps evaluates all dimensions of a campaign. Using these types of experiments, brands and businesses can test the dimensions of every single creative. These include interval settings and targeting. Google recommends waiting for 2 to 3 weeks to test your creatives. It is to minimize fluctuations in their performances. It will also allow the Google ad system to learn more about the creative. After finding time to test your creatives, Google can provide more accurate reports on:

  • Click-Through Rate (CTR)
  • Conversion Rate (CVR)
  • Cost-Per-Action (CPA) 
  • Cost-Per-Click (CPC) 
  • Cost-Per-Thousand Impressions (CPM)

Use a Clear Call-To-Action

The 4th and last pillar of a great Google campaign has to do with influence and motivation. How can you influence or motivate someone to do an action out of your Google creatives? The answer is through clear call-to-actions (CTAs).  They tell your target audience what to do next. The simplest call to action is “Buy Now.” Other common words for a CTA are:

  • Call today
  • Click here
  • Download
  • Fill up form
  • Find out how 
  • Get 50% off
  • Order
  • Register
  • Shop
  • Subscribe

Putting distinct or personalized CTA in the description or headline of a Google creative can also relate clearly to a target consumer. 

Reference: https://blog.google/products/ads-commerce/google-ads-creative-performance/

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7 Secrets to Succeed in Video Marketing

Video has been the most popular choice for online content consumption today. This year, an average person is predicted to watch 100 minutes of videos daily. Nine out of ten people wanted to see more videos from brands and businesses. As such, video marketing also becomes an irreplaceable part of a digital strategy among brands and businesses. According to a digital marketing speaker Hong Kong, by 2022, videos will occupy 82% of internet traffic. This is because modern consumers prefer to learn more about a brand, product, or service by watching a video. If you are one of the 86% of businesses that use videos as a marketing tool, this article is for you. Here are 7 secrets to succeed in video marketing.

FOCUS ON STORYTELLING INSTEAD OF SALES

social media agency Hong Kong reveals the 80/20 rule in social media as a secret to succeeding in video marketing. People do not go to social media pages to shop. Their main goal is to connect with the community and get ideas or inspiration. As a video marketer, you need to focus more on storytelling rather than sales. People prefer to watch videos that provide valuable information. They typically ignore salesy videos.

Videos that tell stories are the content most watched by viewers. Connecting to your viewers by telling your story helps them better understand your brand, products, and services. Some good examples of stories video ads are those from Budweiser, a popular American lager. Their videos were able to connect sports fans globally. By showing short clips of the Chicago Cubs victories, they have successfully generated a large number of press coverages and social media followings.

MAKE USE OF THE FIRST FEW SECONDS OF A VIDEO WISELY

A video marketing agency Hong Kong has noted the importance of using the first few seconds of a video wisely. This secret to succeeding in video marketing has to do with the short attention span of video viewers. Because of their busy lives and so many distractions online, people only hold videos in an average of just 8.5 seconds. So, video creators should create a hook at the very beginning. This is to let the viewers know that what they are about to watch is worth their time. Adding a video thumbnail has proven to be an effective hook. They are small still images showing a preview of your video. As they sit alongside your videos on Facebook and YouTube, they get the viewers excited even before the video starts playing. When choosing video thumbnails, avoid blurry shots. Pick a frame with clear and crisp subjects showing the viewers what’s coming up on the video. 

OPTIMIZE FOR SEO

Videos are now part of search engine optimization (SEO). More than 3.5 billion people search for videos on Google. YouTube recorded 3 billion video searches. Facebook also recorded 2 billion searches for videos daily. Here are some tips to optimize videos for SEO:

  • Use keywords in your video title yet keep it under 66 characters.
  • Add auto-captions and descriptions on your video that include your keywords also.

By doing these two steps, you make the video discoverable on search engines. They also allow video discovery among the hearing impaired or people who watched videos with sounds off.

PARTNER WITH INFLUENCERS

Around 90% of social viewers trust peer recommendations over company advertisements. This is how a trusted influencer becomes a secret to succeed in video marketing. Today, a brand is no longer what it tells the consumer it is. It is what the consumers tell each other about the brand. A great example of a video marketing partnership with a brand influencer was that of Nike, the famous sports brand. They partnered with YouTube influencer, Casey Neistat, to create a video in launching FuelBand. The Make It Count video created by Casey now has over 24 million views. 

TARGET RELEVANT AUDIENCES ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Most social media networks feature targeting tools where you can segment your video audiences. This is another secret to succeed in video marketing. By segmenting your audience to those who would most likely watch your videos, you are boosting both its conversion and performance. These are two important metrics of success in video marketing. 

Take Facebook for one. It is an incredible content distribution platform. One of its best features that makes it stand out from other social media networks is its in-depth audience targeting tools. The platform allows marketers to target audiences on ads, Pages’ posts, and even videos. You can segment the audience by age, gender, language, and location. You can also target them based on their interests and preferences. 

TELL ENGAGING STORIES IN VIDEOS WITH SOUNDS OFF

Most online viewers watched videos in public places. They may watch videos while commuting on a bus, having coffee in a shop, or spending their breaks while in their offices. This, they do, using their smartphones. As such, a large percentage of them watched videos with sound off to avoid distracting the people around them. As proof, 85% of Facebook users were reported to view videos with sound off. So, how do you keep a video engaging with the sound off? The secret is to use beautiful visuals, colorful captions, subtitles, and text-heavy descriptions.

TRIGGER EMOTIONS USING A CTA

A Call-to-Action (CTA) does not necessarily mean asking the viewers to make a purchase. It is an image or line of text that prompts viewers to take action. These actions may include commenting, downloading, event promotion, form submission, following a page, learning about a product or service, reading more, sharing, etc. Proper positioning of CTAs is another secret to success in video marketing. They can be placed at the start of a video for everyone to see. They can also be positioned mid-roll to target viewers when they are most engaged. Or, they can be placed at the end of a video to influence highly interested viewers.


Reference:https://buffer.com/library/video-marketing-tips/

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The Marketing Elements of a Video

Today, video marketing is one of the most powerful strategies to promote a product online. According to a digital marketing speaker Hong Kong, companies using video marketing have 44% more traffic than those who don’t use videos. Videos share on social media get 1200% more likes and shares than images and text. Emails with videos received 200% to 300% click-through rates than non-video emails. On the other hand, videos in landing pages boost website conversion rates by 80%. So, if you have not yet embraced video marketing, it is high time to adopt such a strategy to boost awareness and sales. Below are the marketing elements of a video to further guide you.

ELEMENT NO. 1 – THE HOOK

Every brand needs to catch the audience’s interest in the first 5 seconds of a video ad. That is why brands need to use a hook to boost their interest. A hook is something interesting that plays at the start of a video to draw the viewers’ interest. Yet in reality, there are two ways for brands to use a hook. First, at the start of a video (first 5 seconds). Second, to use a hook throughout a video to remind viewers that there is more to come. Here are some ideas on how you can create a hook:

  • Animation is a fun element and for easier understanding. 
  • Brand messaging in bold graphics.
  • Introducing a problem and promising a solution.
  • Offering a surprise through blurred images, exaggerated statements or upside-down elements, etc.
  • Promising a “once-upon-a-time” story.
  • Telling potential clients about your expertise or what you do.
  • Text memes or quotes to inspire your viewers. 

ELEMENT NO. 2 – THE VIDEO INTRODUCTION

Another important element of a video is an introduction. The video introduction is a summary of the video content. It should be done in a straightforward tone and as quick as 30 seconds. Typically, brands use the following video introductions:

  • Announcement about the presenter and his or her credentials
  • Brand or company snapshot 
  • Business case description
  • Event preview
  • Project proposal

The video introduction is a brand’s chance to make a good first impression. Today, there are more dynamic ways to liven up a video introduction. These include:

  • A timeless short clip that evokes emotion.
  • Creative AR introduction.
  • Self-introduction of a speaker.
  • Stomp sound effects introducing the video context.
  • Teaser of the outcome in full HD graphics.
  • Text placeholders highlighting a brand message in bold characters.
  • The glitch effect engages viewers out of the gate.

The video introduction should always be translated into text. This is by filling up the meta description of the video during the uploading process.

ELEMENT NO. 3 – THE CONTENT DELIVERY

The content delivery element of a video should be the most creative and informative part. Why? Because it is the section of the video that will make viewers aware of the benefits of a product or the importance of a brand. Every video needs to be planned. Everything planned should complement each section – from the hook, introduction, content, bonus, offer, and CTA. Above all, the content delivery should be a brand’s value, a promised story, or a solution to a problem, 

ELEMENT NO. 4 – THE BONUS OR OFFER

Bonuses on a video are elements that help viewers go to the next step of their viewing journey. It may either be a BOGO promotion, discounted offer, or trade exchange. The purpose of these bonuses or offers on a video is to encourage viewers to make a purchase. Other ways to add a bonus or offer element in a video are an action plan, added tips, or template. These things give them a wow factor to remember the brand.

ELEMENT NO. 5 – THE BONUS OR OFFER

A call to action (CTA) is a link to take immediate action or response from the viewers of a video. This video element should be less than 20 seconds. Only one CTA must be added per video to avoid confusion among the viewers and to boost action over the CTA. According to a video marketing agency Hong Kong, the three basic types of CTA are:

  • Small CTAs asking for likes, comments, shares, and subscriptions
  • Bigger CTA asking for email opt-in and lead magnets
  • Huge CTA asking for conversion or sales

THE BOTTOM LINE

If you’re starting to use video as a marketing strategy, keep in mind to grow your audience and followers. This you can do by creating a video with a hook, introduction, content delivery, bonus or offer, and call to action. Once you’ve got 1000 followers or subscribers, you can use small CTAs. If you’ve got around 2000 fans, you can use bigger CTAs. Likewise, a social media agency Hong Kong recommends using huge CTAs if you’ve got a great following on the videos of your social media accounts. Today, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram are the top social media platforms for video marketing.

Reference: https://www.green-umbrella.biz/five-key-elements-creating-video/