Blog Archives
Sometimes, all you have to do is tell the story: YouTube basics
Image via Wikipedia
I’d like to share a couple of examples of good B2C YouTube videos with you today, because I think they illustrate what makes for especially good YouTube content. Not every YouTube video has to be viral, edgy or funny. And you don’t have to spend a fortune on an elaborate concept, either. Sometimes just telling the story in an engaging and visual way is all you have to do maintain interest in a product or service.
You can’t do that in a television commercial, but you can on YouTube, and that is one of YouTube’s great and engaging strengths.
These marketing videos share a number of admirable qualities in common:
- The videos are clearly produced with the audience’s needs and preferences in mind. Watching them, it’s easy to imagine that both of these videos would make the target audiences think positively about the brand, and stimulate purchases or plans for purchases.
- They are original in concept. They’re presenting subject matter that hasn’t been featured over and over by others.
- They are not overly promotional, and they aren’t commercials. Instead, they provide straightforward information that the viewer might not otherwise know about.
- The presenters are warm, engaging, articulate, and credible.
- The videos are brief, well-produced, and fun to watch, with good audio and lots of visual interest.
Check out this video produced by Krispy Kreme, which epitomizes these qualities
and this one by Dutch Wonderland. This one accomplishes twin objectives: it reassures 
parents the rides are safe and it tells kids (and kids at heart) what happens in an amusement park when it’s closed for the winter. This also looks like a great place to work, so I can see how this might encourage summer employee applications
Your Marketing Strategy for 2012: 5 Ways to Improve Your Public Relations Capabilities
Photo by Jerry Silfwer
Would you like to improve your public relations capabilities in the new year? Is that a goal for you? Here are some free online resources for you to check out.
If you find these resources helpful, do us a favor and please tweet this post!
1. Write Better RFPs
Need to hire a public relations firm? The next time you gear up to prepare a Request For Proposals (RFP), check out this free online resource, RFP Builder, with tools that walk you through the RFP process.
2. Power Up Your Press Releases
If you are using a service to distribute your press releases, you may be confounded about which one to select. Download this Press Release Buyers Guide from Bulldog Reporter.
3. Refresh Your Basic PR Skills
Sharpen your public relations skills. Download the free PRSA APR Study Guide.
4. Measure the Results of Your PR Efforts
Measure the results of your public relations efforts. Here is a comprehensive Communications measurement guide. Be sure to review the 2011 Barcelona Principles.
5. Master Social Media
You already use social media for networking and engagement. Now learn how to use social media in your public relations efforts. Download this HubSpot ebook.
Review and refine your corporate social media policy regularly. Here are more than 150 real-life social media policies to guide you. Don’t forget the employee training component. For more social media in the workplace guidelines, read these posts on the Fletcher Prince Blog.
Engage your supporters on Facebook. Read these Facebook Pages guides and tips. There are links here to guides for businesses, nonprofit organizations, government agencies, police departments, the military, and more.
Make sure you taking full advantage of YouTube. Download the free YouTube Handbook. We also have a YouTube tips section on the Fletcher Prince blog; that is another resource for you.
Want to use Google+ effectively? Watch this video from Chris Brogan on using Google+ for business.
Related articles
- Your Marketing Strategy for 2012 – Avoid 10 Common Pitfalls in the New Year (fletcher-prince.com)
- Your Marketing Strategy for 2012: Invest in the Basics; Refine What You Have (fletcher-prince.com)
- Marketing Lessons We Learned in 2011 (fletcher-prince.com)
- #PRin2012: 12 Trends That Will Change Public Relations (prsay.prsa.org)
- YouTube and Your Brand (Video) (fletcher-prince.com)
- 30 Top Ebooks to Help You Master Inbound Marketing in 2012 (hubspot.com)
Christmas, with a little social media (video)
It’s Christmas Eve and I found this wonderful video that puts the season in a modern perspective.
Enjoy, and have a wonderful, Merry Christmas! 
This is our 500th blog post!
Your Marketing Strategy for 2012: Invest in the Basics; Refine What You Have
You ever open your closet and think: oh, god, I hate ALL my clothes!
Yeah, me too.
Who among us couldn’t benefit from updating our look? Or even a makeover? You’d still be the same person inside, but the packaging. Ah. Packaging is powerful.
Wait a minute, are we talking about clothes or marketing? Well, maybe there are similarities. Just like you need to have a fantastic “networking” outfit that makes you feel like you can do anything, you also need to have a website that reflects your success.
You need the basic pieces, but you also need accessories to bring life to those pieces and show your individuality.
Get the idea? Same concepts apply to your business…or nonprofit.
These are the basics you need to have in your marketing closet. Most clients I see who do not have all the basic elements they need in place. That, or they could benefit from refining those vehicles.
We did a lot of “makeovers” in 2011 and expect to do even more in 2012, as clients resume their goals for positioning themselves competitively in the gradually improving economy.
Regardless of company size, most business owners and nonprofit managers should be considering an investment in most or all of these basic marketing elements…
- A marketing audit and plan for your business ($1500).
- A suite of professionally designed logos ($1500) in various sizes for your website, business card, letterhead, and for your business presence on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Yelp.
- A public relations kit that includes executive bios, company fact sheet, and launch press release (starting at $500).
- For proposals, mailings, and speaking engagements, you may also want to invest in a corporate brochure ($1500) and custom presentation folders ($350).
- Professional headshots and corporate photography ($ call for estimate). At the bare minimum, you will need professionally taken, recent photographs of the principal and top managers, as well as photographs of your company headquarters, signage, products, services in action, staff, and community participation.
- A website that is searchable and easy to update ($850-$1200) that integrates social media features.
- A branded YouTube Channel, and at least three videos ($2500 ) YouTube is the third most visited website on the Internet and there is no better way to tell your story than with video.
- An email marketing plan and calendar of communications. So important, and so easily neglected. Email has been shown to be the most effective form of marketing there is. If you have a B2C business (and even some B2B businesses), it is not optional.
- Some form of strategically scheduled direct mail outreach ($ call for estimates).
And here are some recommended accessories. They’re not right for every single client, but for those who can pull it off, it can make those basics sing…
- A blog ($850 for set-up and training)
- Additional videos throughout the year ($750 to $1200 each)
- Facebook Page ($300) – for some clients
- Twitter Profile ($300) – for most clients
- Flickr Photo Sharing – for all clients
The service fees above are for fixed-fee projects are estimates only, based on 2011 published rates, and are subject to change in the new year. Fees do not include affordable printing fees.
Related articles
- Marketing Lessons We Learned in 2011 (fletcher-prince.com)
- 28 Small Business Marketing Resolutions for the New Year (startupnation.com)
Marketing Idea: Create a Holiday Greeting Video (with video examples)
Holiday Greeting Video Ideas: December Holidays
- Wish your viewers a Happy Holiday, Seasons Greetings, or wish them the plethora of holidays that take place in December.
- Show off the seasonal beauty of your workplace or campus.
- Record a silly skit, with props, Santa hats, etc. Show your employees around the workplace or office: decorating, icing cookies, exchanging Secret Santa presents. Use speed motion to capture the hectic pace of the holidays for a humorous effect.
- Record the haul of toys collected for Toys for Tots.
- Record an appeal encouraging donations to your company’s charity.
Holiday Greeting Video Ideas: New Year’s Celebrations
- Wish your viewers a Happy New Year.
- Record a mini-annual report of your organization’s achievements, or reveal your goals and plans for the New Year.
- Have your staff reveal their wishes for the New Year, or resolutions (keep it positive). How is your business going green? Being responsive to customer feedback and suggestions?
- Relate your product or services to the notion of resolutions that will deliver convenience or quality to your customers or clients: This year, resolve to (benefit) by using (product or service).
- Share a “10 Best of 2011″ list of events or developments that are related to your industry.
Working with Fletcher Prince is a fun and affordable way to create holiday greeting videos for your company. Please contact us if you would like us to produce a holiday greeeting video for you, and show you how to share it on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and through email communications. We would love to work with you!
Related articles
- Holiday video greetings for your company or nonprofit organization (fletcher-prince.com)
Tips for recording a great holiday greeting video on YouTube
Everyone markets their company around the holidays, even if all they do is send a greeting card to employees or clients. The trick is — standing out from all that holiday buzz and clutter.
As you know, at Fletcher Prince we are big on marketing with YouTube video. For businesses and nonprofit organizations, YouTube is a terrific way to relate key messages that are relevant and informative for your target audiences.
Business and nonprofit managers should realize, however, that while people do go to YouTube for company and product information and how-to tips, they also want to be entertained and engaged.
Your company can be engaging by being sincere and amiable, and by reaching out to your audiences with positive messages. A holiday greeting video is an easy way to accomplish that.
It’s traditional for many businesses to send holiday greetings to their customers, clients, or members. Creating a holiday greeting video is a novel way to acknowledge that your customers matter.
Creating a holiday greeting video can be as easy as slide show of messages and photos with background music, or a heartfelt greeting from an executive, or as complex as a funny skit featuring your employees with lots of props and settings.
Participating or helping plan a holiday greeting video can be a fun team-building activity for your employees (you can’t say that about a greeting card!). And with social media, there are so many creative ways to use a holiday greeting video, that it just makes sense to try this marketing tactic this year.
And, you know, it’s just a nice thing to do.
Ways to Use Holiday Greeting Videos for Marketing
- Wish your Facebook Page followers a happy holiday (upload the video to your Facebook Page)
- Send a special holiday email to your customers, clients, vendors, partners, and employees (saves postage and paper!). Email communications that “feature” video have higher open rates and click-through rates.
- Use it as the featured post in your blog for the holiday month (ask me how to feature a blog post on your front page).
- Play it at your holiday party, or in your lobby, or other public space.
- Share it on Twitter. The new Twitter allows YouTube video to play right on Twitter (you don’t have to click a link).
Holiday Greeting Video Production Tips
- Look at some of the holiday greeting videos on YouTube. What do you like? What do you think didn’t work so well? Ask some of the creative people on your staff for ideas. (Remember, receptionists are also creative people!)
- In each video, emphasize what is great and unique about your company or organization (incorporate your key message). For example, in the video example from the Business School at the University of Rochester, they used the New Year’s greeting video to reinforce the value of diversity at their school.
- Is location an important part of your company? Do you market locally? Photograph or videotape seasonal decorations around town, and incorporate that in your video.
- You don’t have to have “video” to make video. A collection of high-resolution images with background music can also work.
- Keep it simple and short: holiday greeting videos are best kept under two minutes or so.
- Did you mess up a few times while recording your video? Don’t trash those clips! Keep them and create a bonus blooper video (with all the participants’ permission, of course).
- To incorporate video in a special email message (as you see in the image, right), or in your monthly email newsletter, create an image of your YouTube player and embed it in your email communication, hyperlinking to the YouTube video. Be sure to include the word “video” in your email subject line.
Related articles
- Holiday video greetings for your company or nonprofit organization (fletcher-prince.com)
- 12 YouTube Video Ideas for Businesses (fletcher-prince.com)
Marketing Lessons We Learned in 2011
2011 was definitely a face-palm year, at least for marketers
. I think I have a permanent indentation on my forehead now. Hopefully that will heal up in 2012
Hindsight is 20/20 but the truth is — we marketers do learn from other’s mistakes. This isn’t schadenfreude. I’m not into that. This is: read and learn, Grasshopper. Do this, not that.
What We’re NOT Going to Do On Twitter in 2012…
Twitter has been around since 2006. You would think, in 4-1/2 years, professional communicators would learn how (and how not) to use it. You would think that, but you would be wrong.
Advertising Age did a cracker-jack job of collecting the past year’s biggest social media blunders. No surprise, all of them erupted on Twitter. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it one hundred times. Twitter is great. Yes. Check in. Keep tabs on your reporter buddies. Respond to complaints. But don’t let it take over your marketing communications.
Take some of that energy and put it into blogging. Blogging is much more thought-intensive, it has more longevity, and it’s a lot less likely to land your company in the soup — because, frankly, it’s just not as easy as Twitter.
People and companies who tweeted and regretted later in 2011 included Representative Weiner, New Media Strategies, Kenneth Cole, Gilbert Gottfried, GoDaddy, Netflix, and Ashton Kutcher, among others. These were devastating blows to their personal and corporate brands, all from a tweet!
No More Bloopers on YouTube in 2012
YouTube has been around since 2005. You might recall a few months ago when I conducted an analysis of the YouTube usage of 100 top PR and advertising firms (links below), and I did not like what I found. Overwhelmingly, agencies are not taking full advantage of YouTube — from not having a presence at all to uploading truly bizarre and off-brand, poorly produced videos.
It is time — well past time — to take the 3rd most visited site on the Internet seriously. YouTube will soon be on all of our televisions. It’s already on a lot of sets. Have you got $500,000 to produce a 30 second commercial for distribution on national television? No? Well, this might be a good time to start investing some resources into your brand presence on YouTube.
Just Because It’s An “App” Doesn’t Make It Amazing
I think in 2011 we learned that not every app is going to sing like Angry Birds. They may have entertainment value, but what matters in marketing is the relationship between app usage and conversions — which isn’t always strong. This turned out to be true for QR codes and to a lesser extent for Groupon and Foursquare.
Agencies need to post more YouTube videos
Number of Videos: concentrate your efforts on optimization
More than half (65%) of leading public relations and advertising agencies on YouTube have fewer than 25 videos on their Channel.
One global firm is the exception and has the most videos in the group by far, with 288 videos on their Channel.
However, the agency does not have the most combined views for its 288 videos. They’re essentially getting a low MPG for their videos.
Number of videos vs. number of views is an important distinction. Yes, it’s good to have lots of videos, but not if it gets in the way of optimizing the ones you have already produced, or producing more compelling content people want to watch.
These findings were derived from an analysis of 100 leading public relations and advertising agencies and their activities on YouTube.
Related articles
Related articles
- Harness the Power of YouTube, Professional Communicators (fletcher-prince.com)
- Get More Views for Your YouTube Videos With This Checklist (fletcher-prince.com)
- Run a YouTube Channel Diagnostic (fletcher-prince.com)
Holiday video greetings for your company or nonprofit organization
For the second year, we are offering holiday greeting videos for a discounted fee.
Why? Because we like doing them, that’s why!
Holiday greeting videos recorded here at Fletcher Prince: $175
Holiday greeting videos recorded at your location, $300, plus extra if you need bells and whistles. Because bells and whistles are really expensive these days. Otherwise, it’ll just be $300 plus your undying gratitude to us for making such a rockin’ holiday video.
Things you WILL have to pay extra for…
- Set up of your branded YouTube Channel, if you don’t have one yet: $450.
- Adaptation of your logo to YouTube specifications, if you haven’t done that yet: $450
- Incorporate YouTube video into Constant Contact email greeting card: Free, if you join our partner program and have a permission-based contact list of at least 20 contacts.
New changes to YouTube Channel features and layout
Image via CrunchBase
YouTube dramatically changed the appearance of YouTube Channels today, available as a preview option, removing several customization features in the new version. To me, it doesn’t appear to be a good thing. The main benefit I see is the design is much cleaner. But so many features have been sacrificed. They must have their own reasons behind it, and maybe they will re-consider as this is tested.
This change won’t affect most users yet. Right now, it’s purely an “opt-in” feature (like Facebook’s Timelines). Once you opt in, all channels will appear this way to you. Right now, it’s reversible, just click “Exit Preview” and your Channel will revert to the old design.
When the changes take place, Channels will look much more like each other. Removed features include:
- No more font selection.
- No more color selection.
- No more ability to rearrange elements on a page.
- Channel count views have been removed from display.
- Subscribers are no longer displayed (!)
- Subscriptions are no longer displayed (!)
- Friends are no longer displayed.
- “Insights” stats reports has been changed to “Analytics.”
What else is new…
- The Channel title is much more prominent, so be sure to revisit that, in case it needs tweaking.
- The total amount of video views is more prominent.
- The channel has 3 new “tabs:” “Featured” (combination of videos and playlists), “Feed” (your activity, if you choose to share it, plus Channel comments and bulletins), and “Videos” (your uploaded videos and playlists).
- You no longer have the option of featuring certain videos as you once did — for example, before, you could feature your favorite 6 or 12 uploaded videos on your Channel. It was a great feature. That’s gone now.
Sigh. The more things change, the more they are really different 
The new YouTube doesn’t feel very social at all. I really don’t like them taking my subscriber views away. I tried it (didn’t like it much) and “opted” out.
If you are ready to opt in and change your Channel, click this link. And let me know what you think of the new layout and features in the comments!
