Stress-free video

Video content is becoming the norm.  People expect to have video material in their social feeds and, of course, on YouTube.  But if your business hasn’t quite got to that point, it’s time to give it some thought.

You could invest in getting professionally made videos, but that incurs a cost and not every small business has the budget to keep generating this kind of video.  It is possible to do it yourself and today’s smartphones video cameras are excellent, but then you have to consider what kind of videos you want to make.

Not everybody is comfortable talking to a camera.  While there are many people who feel completely at ease chatting away to their smartphone video camera, it’s not everyone’s cup of tea.  

If you’re one of the people who press record and then stumble over your words, get embarrassed and try again - and again.  Or you just can’t remember what you’re supposed to be saying, there are other ways to produce video material.

Animation

Everyone loves a good animation - they’re generally attractive and easy to make.  You can subscribe to something like Doodly, probably the best known (and currently on a special deal). 

Alternatively there are great free options like Powtoon which is excellent for explainer videos.

There are others such as Videoscribe and this article lists a selection with costs. 

Voice over slides

If you prefer to voice over slides there are plenty of software options, such as InVideo and Wavevideo.  These allow you to build a presentation and add your words on screen to the combination of images and video clips.  You can upload your own images and video or use their library.

If you don’t want to use your own voice some software offers an automated voice or you can look on Fiverr for a voice-over actor and give them your script and/or slide presentation.  They will then do the voice over for you to upload.

You can even simply use a Zoom meeting - without inviting anyone and record it.  However, you might need something like Camtasia to do any editing.

Video clips

You may be wondering where to get video clips from.  Most of the image libraries, such as Shutterstock and istockphoto offer video as well as static images.

Even the free libraries like Pixabay, Pexels and PikWizard have video libraries too.

Initially, it will take time to put together a video, but as you become familiar with the tools and know what you’re doing you’ll be able to put together a short promo or explainer video in a relatively short time.

The secret is to explore the tools, find the ones you like best and then have a systematic approach to create a video once a week (fortnight/month) and you’ll soon grow a video library.

Use your videos on your website, on social media and on your YouTube influencer channel.

Does email marketing work?

There’s plenty of evidence that it does - and also plenty of evidence that it doesn’t!

The question is a bit like asking ‘how long is a piece of string?’  There’s no simple answer.

A better question might be ‘how can I make email marketing work?’

And here are my top 10 tips to improve your success rate:

1. Know your audience.  The more you know about the people you’re trying to influence the better your content will be.  Understand their problems, their dreams and goals and that will guide what you deliver to them.
2. Be clear about your purpose.  If you’re sending an email campaign, you must have a clear goal in mind.  What do you want your reader to do when they’ve read your message(s)?
3. Don’t swamp people with sales:  Think about how you feel when you get daily emails selling you something - you either delete or unsubscribe.  Plan your campaign carefully to spread the message.  If there’s an event or closing day, then by all means do a countdown - usually the last few days you can get away with emails on D-Day minus 5, 4, 2, 1.
4. Spend time on your subject lines.  Your subject line is the equivalent to a headline.  It’s the trigger to get people to open and read your message.  Pain and gain both work well (Are you suffering from … problem or The secret of … [big result]).  Refer back to tip 1 to really hone your subject lines to your target audience.
5. Deliver genuine value.  People aren’t idiots so pretending that your offer is limited numbers, has an end date or is a price drop (when it isn’t) are only going to damage your reputation.  Always present your offer in terms of benefits - what’s in it for me? (WIIFM)
6. Choose the right image.  An image brings your text to life - but when you’re trying to promote something it must be the RIGHT image.  It’s not visual candyfloss, it must work to help you to get the message across.  If you’re promoting a product it’s easier as you will have professional shots of your product - or someone using it (won’t you?)
7. Speak your reader’s language.  That doesn’t mean pepper your text with jargon, but it does mean writing copy that shows you get their challenges and why they are keeping them awake at night and that what you’re offering will solve their problem.  
8. Keep it conversational.  The best email marketers use a conversational style - as though they are talking directly to the reader.  Imagine that your ideal client is right in front of you and you were talking directly to them - and write that.
9. Don’t forget a clear call to action.  Tell people what to do next and make it easy for them to do that.  That means a live link - ideally as a button (links embedded in text can be hard to use on a smartphone).  If you want them to phone you - put the phone number right after you’ve asked them to do that.  In a perfect world you will have a dedicated number, but even if you don’t make sure everyone who might answer the phone is aware of the campaign and can answer questions and convert enquiries to sales.
10. Don’t add anything after your call to action.  This is a common mistake - some people think that, if people don’t take action you need a secondary offer.  However, all that does is downgrade potential enquiries to a lower level of action.  P.S.s do work well, but they need to be a second call to action for the SAME offer, not offer an alternative.

Happy email marketing!

3 marketing funnel mistakes to avoid

Whether you call it a sales funnel or a marketing funnel - the purpose is to bring in new leads who have a need for whatever you are offering.

These are a few of the pitfalls that prevent your funnel from working as well as it could.

1: A lead magnet that has a wide appeal

Most people understand what a lead magnet is - but not everyone understands how highly targeted it needs to be.  A general lead magnet will attract lots of people to your list, but it won’t bring in your ideal clients or customers.

A lead magnet that is targeted to attract your ideal customer will ensure that, when you move people along to the next stage, they’re open to it - because you’ll be offering them something they actually want - which will increase your sales.

2: No nurturing of your subscribers

Giving people something free that has great value for them is only the first step.  If that’s all you do before you start sending sales messages, your list will start unsubscribing.  As the saying goes ‘One swallow doesn’t make a summer’; similarly one item of value doesn’t make a customer!

Nurturing is easy - and there are various ways to do it.

My advice would be to set up a series of automated emails (autoresponders) that are triggered by the initial sign up - so once done you can leave them to work away in the background.  I often take the main points from the lead magnet and sent a series of email over a couple of months - every few days - reminding people to download it first, then highlighting the main points and encouraging them to take action.

Another way to keep delivering value is to send an email to your list linked to each new blog your write.  You can probably get away with this once a week - or put two blogs into one email every month or so.  As long as you write great value material in your blog posts, you’ll keep giving your list excellent, quality material.

3: Start without the funnel mapped out

There’s nothing wrong with launching your lead magnet without having ‘built’ the rest of your funnel - BUT that often means that the follow up is either long delayed, by which time people have forgotten the great value they started out getting OR it doesn’t happen as life/work gets in the way.

Good practice is to have a clear map of the four or five levels of your funnel mapped out, what you’ll offer at each level, how you’ll engage your subscribers, what the upsells will be and how they’ll be delivered as well as the nurturing focus for at least the top two levels.

This will ensure that the effort and time you invest in building your sales funnel will actually pay off in converted subscribers.