Kony 2012 is a Lesson in Viral Video Marketing

Posted on March 13, 2012 by

Last week, the charity Invisible Children unleashed their viral video, Kony 2012. If you haven’t yet seen the 30-minute documentary, you’ve probably at least heard of it by now: so far, the video has received over 74 million hits on YouTube and has raised over $5 million.

While all this unprecedented attention has garnered some criticism (which you can read all about in the National Post) a couple of things are clear:

Kony 2012 - HBO

Kony 2012 - HBO (Photo credit: Avakian)

  1. Video connects on an emotional level
  2. Video moves people to action
  3. Video is easy to share
  4. Video is an increasingly effective way to broadcast a message
  5. Video is a powerful sales tool

Invisible Children is reportedly planning on releasing a 10-minute follow-up video on Monday, to address the criticisms and concerns raised by the first video. Agree or disagree, count on the world to be watching and the discussion to be heated. Either way, mission accomplished: Kony is famous.

Posted in Videos, YouTube | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Marketing Your Business With a Facebook Page? Better Get Ready for Timeline!

Posted on March 5, 2012 by
Facebook Timeline

Facebook Timeline (Photo credit: GusF)

Heads up!

Remember when Facebook changed the look of your wall and profile by introducing Timeline a little while ago? Still shook up about it?

Well,  hold onto your apps because Facebook Timeline for Pages will soon be kicking in. For now, you have a choice to opt in for the new Timeline look. But if you don’t choose Timeline for your pages before March 30, Facebook will choose it for you.  So if you are marketing your business with a Facebook page, you need to prepare for this design shake-up, otherwise things might look a little wonky for your brand.

Fortunately, you can avoid any surprises by previewing what your page is going to look like in Timeline and try it out for a curation period before launching it for the whole world to see.

TechCrunch has written an excellent in-depth explanation of Facebook Timeline for Pages and its features. Click here to read it. 

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What’s the point of Twitter #Hashtags?

Posted on February 25, 2012 by

I’ve noticed that many of my social media clients who are just starting out on Twitter are completely perplexed by hashtags: “What’s a hashtag and when do I use them?” Here’s a quick rundown:

  • this is a hashtag symbol: “#”

    Academy Award

    Image via Wikipedia

  • anyone can use the hashtag; all you have to do is type the “#” symbol in front of a key word in your tweet, and then that key word will automatically show up as a clickable link within your tweet
  • use the hashtag when you’re tweeting about a specific topic, or a particular event
  • the hashtag will categorize your tweet, so that your tweet shows up in relevant searches: when you click on the hashtag link, you will see a feed of all the most recent tweets in the Twitterverse (yes, “Twitterverse” is a word!) using that same hashtag… you are now part of a conversation!
  • Twitter is all about what’s going on right now, so you’ll find the hashtag most useful when you’re discussing a hot topic: the most popular topics of the moment are called Trending Topics

Hashtags are awesome for promoting an event. For example, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has been creating Oscar buzz on Twitter the last few weeks by designating #Oscars for discussion and hype surrounding tomorrow night’s Academy Awards broadcast. You can even post a question for a celebrity with #RedCarpetQA (talk about interaction!). This not only builds excitement leading up to the event, but during the ceremony, anyone will be able to witness or take part in a live conversation on Twitter. Fun!

Hashtags are not just for celebrities, though! Use the hashtag to promote your own business, blog, brand or event.

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6 Reasons Your Site Needs Video

Posted on February 21, 2012 by

Anyone with a successful website knows that content is king. Posting articles is fantastic, but don’t forget photographs and audio links and especially don’t forget about video. What’s that, you say? Why complicate your life with web video? Here are just a couple of reasons why you need to add video to your website:

  • Search engines love video. Add video and improve your ranking with the proper use of tags and key words.
    Українська: Хіросімський паперовий журавлик
  • Video is the next best thing to being there. Imagine trying to teach someone how to fold an origami crane using only words. Photos would be more helpful. Video would be a lot more helpful. 
  • YouTube is the world’s second largest search engine (right behind Google). It gets one billion views a day. If you’re not on YouTube, you’re missing out on a lot of attentive eyeballs.
  • Video is engaging. It keeps your audience glued to your site longer than text.
  • Video is a cost-effective way to drive more traffic to your site: have you checked out the cost of print and radio ads lately?
  • Video is easy to share. Maximize your video’s reach with social media and you’ve got yourself a powerful and relatively cheap marketing strategy.
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Explaining Social Media With (Too Many?) Donuts

Posted on February 13, 2012 by

You’ve likely seen the “Social Media Explained With Donuts”  chart that’s been circulating around the web lately.

It’s Funny ’cause it’s True

Jokes aside, this gag is more than just hilarious. It also points out that there are a LOT of social media venues for you to explore. So many, that it can be very overwhelming. As a social media coach, I get a lot of new clients who are terrified of the prospect of having to familiarize themselves with so many social media outlets for business, and once they do (if they do), how on Earth are they going to have enough time to maintain all of their social media accounts?

What I advise is this: you do NOT have to work every angle when it comes to social media. Specialize in a couple (or even just one); focus on what feels natural to you, what fits your business, and what helps you reach your intended audience.  That’s it. For example, LinkedIn tends to appeal to more corporate types. Are you trying to attract more corporate types? If you are, get on LinkedIn.

English: An Entennmann's cake donut, bought fr...

Image via Wikipedia

P.S. Unfortunately, I don’t know who originally created the brilliant “Social Media Explained With Donuts” image but if someone out there does, please educate me so I can credit them properly.

P.P.S. Anyone else craving Tim Horton’s now?

Posted in Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter, YouTube | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Difficulty Uploading to YouTube? Here’s a Troubleshooting List

Posted on February 6, 2012 by

YouTube has certainly made it easy for you to share video content with the rest of the world, but you may encounter technical difficulties while uploading your videos once in a while. Hey, we all do. Here’s a quick and handy troubleshoot list if you get stuck:

  • Is your file too large? Even if it is within the YouTube limits, it might be too heavy for your Internetconnection.

    youtube-logo

    youtube-logo (Photo credit: www_ukberri_net)

  • Is your video too long? Try to keep your video to under 10 minutes as you may not be approved for longer videos.
  • Is there any copyrighted music or other material in your video? Your video may get pulled down, or your audio might get stripped… so you’re left with a silent movie!
  • How’s your connection? Have you updated your browser? Are your Firewall, browser privacy settings, or ad blockers possibly messing things up?
  • Are you using any fancy symbols in your filename? Be sure to only use standard characters.

For more YouTube help, follow this link.

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Calling all GTA event professionals…

Posted on January 30, 2012 by
Centerpiece

Image by Flower Factor via Flickr

We’re happy to announce that Night Day Productions will be sponsoring eventConnectGTA on February 23, 2012!

eventConnect is an event production created by Define Events and a team of ambitious, emerging event planners, bringing together more than 100 professionals from the events industry to provide them with a platform to network and build relationships.

eventConnect will host meeting, wedding & event planners, photographers, caterers, florists, entertainers, and more. Attendees will be treated to passed hors d’oeuvres and entertainment.

Hope to see you there (we’ll be the ones with video cameras!)

For more information on eventConnect and to purchase tickets, visit this link.

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