We talk a lot about the benefits of incorporating video into your sales and marketing strategies...

But you should know about the dark side of video, too.

There's no doubt that video marketing requires an investment. And we're not too shy about sharing that, because we also know that video produces the best results.

But with just a few missteps, it's easy to waste your time and money on an ineffective video. Unfortunately, we see it more often that we'd like.

Here at WireBuzz, we want nothing more than to see your business get ROI from your video investment.

In many cases, that means knowing which pitfalls to avoid, which is why we're showing you the way by sharing some of the biggest mistakes marketers make when using video to educate prospects and drive sales.

In this episode of Video Marketing Mastery, we're going to pull back the curtain on the dark side of video — the 5 biggest mistakes marketers typically make in their video marketing — so your business can avoid those embarrassing blunders and generate ROI.

Hard to keep up, isn’t it?

 

The role of social media continues to evolve at a frenetic pace, but many marketers are still using these platforms like they did back in 2010.

 

Here’s the approach practiced by 90%+ of brands: broadcasting sales-oriented content and promoting their products directly on social media.

 

In other words, marketers are using new media (Content and Social) the same way they’ve always used traditional media (TV and Print).

But as you probably know, social media offers a lot more than that.

 

With social, you have the opportunity to make real connections with real people, who can eventually become evangelists for your brand. However, you’re not going to get great results if your entire strategy is based on “broadcasting” content to your “audience.”

 

Instead, social media is best used as a tool for creating one-to-one, human-to-human connections with your prospects and customers. It’s all about giving your fans an opportunity to build relationships and interact with you directly.

 

And what better way to do that than with video?

Discover the role of social video (and social media in general) on this episode of Video Marketing Mastery!

You’ve designed a great product, launched it, and waited for prospects to line up for it…

But few people are buying, or even showing interest.

What went wrong?

Did you target the wrong audience? Was the price too high? Bad timing?

It’s easy to make excuses for why quality prospects don’t convert, but in our experience, it can usually be boiled down to one common mistake…

A mistake that guarantees most of your qualified prospects will ignore your sales message entirely…

You haven’t created enough demand for your solution.

So in this episode, we’re going to talk about how you can increase demand before the sale. But first, you need to understand that there are three types of buyers, each of which need you to establish demand in different ways.

Today’s consumers act as their own experts. They don’t want your sales team to interfere with their buyer’s journey. At least, not until they’ve done their own research. In fact, most people don’t want to speak with a sales rep until they’ve reached the consideration stage, and many would rather not interact at all.  So how do you guide prospects toward making a decision in your favor, without having a one-on-one conversation with them?

This week I’m joined by Marcus Krieg, who explains what thought sequences are, and how to use them to effectively teach prospects about your product.  You won’t want to miss this in-depth discussion on how to strategically use video content to move your buyers through your sales funnel, even without a sales team!

There’s a big problem I’ve noticed with video marketers today...

They’re stuck in the past.

They still act like all you need to do is create a great video and share it on social media to grow a massive audience and attract loyal customers.

But if you’ve taken a peek at your business’s social media analytics recently, you probably already know that’s not the case.

Yes, video will get more engagement than text alone. But unless you already have a significant audience, your video likely isn’t getting the exposure it deserves.

Fortunately, it's possible to stimulate a viral sharing effect, even if you don't have a massive ad budget!

In this episode, Marcus joins me to discuss how to promote videos effectively in 2017. 

If you like the show, please leave us an honest rating and review on iTunes. You’d really be helping me out!

Why Video Promotion is Critical for Getting ROI

If you’ve been following WireBuzz for long, then you already know that the formula for video marketing ROI is to create videos with a high business impact and high exposure. After years of working in the video industry, I’ve discovered that many companies prioritize the wrong types of videos and rarely promote them effectively.

We’ve already discussed topic selection a great deal, including in episode 28 and episode 50. You may have even downloaded our free topic selection worksheet, which walks you through a series of questions designed to help you choose profitable video topics that will have an immediate impact in your business. 

But choosing high-impact topics is only half the battle. Even the best video in the world won’t generate ROI if nobody sees it. 

And that's why this blog post and podcast episode are dedicated entirely to the topic of video promotion.

The WireBuzz team and I had an exciting week as we made our way to Amsterdam for a client shoot. While we were there, I met up with some of the leading physicians in breast cancer at the 2017 European Cancer Congress to advise them on their live video strategy.

If you've listened to the last few podcast episodes, you might remember that 2017ECCO was the conference I was testing personalized video with; I created custom videos for conference attendees, where I introduced myself and invited them to meet with me during the event.

Well, the results are in. So tune into this podcast episode to see how it went!

You’ve probably heard the phrase, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

Sure, that’s sound advice if it’s coming from your mechanic or your plumber…

But what if it’s coming from your colleague, or worse, your boss?

Sticking to an outdated rulebook can come at a high price. And even if you’re still seeing returns from old methods, ask yourself this: do you really think it’ll still work a few years from now?

If you want to maximize ROI and crush the competition, you need to make testing your marketing and sales strategies a priority.

To ensure you understand the importance of optimization, be sure to listen to this episode of Video Marketing Mastery!

Sure, you can drive traffic to your website, but how do you ensure that visitors convert?

 

You may have noticed that text and image alone isn’t enough anymore. To capture the interest of prospects long enough to educate them on your product or service, you need to deliver information in their preferred content format: video.

 

Adding an explainer video to your homepage is the perfect way to attract your visitors’ attention and improve homepage conversion rates.

Want to learn more? Listen to this podcast episode, or read the original blog post!

The new year is bringing us lots of fascinating news in the worlds of tech and video marketing.

 

Already, we’re seeing a continued debate about the role of censorship by tech companies like Apple and Facebook.

 

Competition is causing social media giants to adopt questionable practices. And ranking on Google has become even more difficult than ever.

 

But there’s one thing that’s for sure: no matter where you look, video is going to be at the center of marketing, sales, and advertising, well into the future.

 

Want to learn more? Just listen to this week’s episode of Video Marketing Mastery!

2016 was a huge year for WireBuzz. After studying our prospects’ online engagement, examining their interests, and paying attention to their decisions, we discovered something that would change how we do business.

As a result, last year we closed 3X the number of deals and sped up our sales cycle by 67%.

But I still think we can do better.

So check out this episode to find out the most important lesson I learned in 2016, and how I plan to use that knowledge to improve my strategy for 2017.