TangledMESH - Marketing Unwound

Will the Real New Media Broadcaster Please Stand Up

Last week I had the privilege of presenting a keynote speech to the AMA Tampa Bay Digital Media SIG event. The focus was video -- and how New Media is changing traditional broadcast models. It sounds fairly straight forward, right? But when you think about it, the components or framework for monetizing content hasn't changed; the real change is in the new-found ability of all stakeholders to take on new roles in the process.

At the event, I introduced a concept I like to call the "New Media Framework," which illustrates how similar old and new broadcast models are. "Monetization" is one of today's top buzz words. However, traditional broadcasting and new media are built on the same principle: generating sustainable revenue from content. The 3 key components to successful content monetization are: Content, Audience, and Sponsorship/Advertising.  When all 3 are clicking, you have monetization. NOTE: I intentionally left out paid content, as it has its own dynamics.

Within the traditional media framework, each participant is rather fixed in their role. Content producers make content and sell it to broadcasters. Audiences passively consume it. And, sponsors/advertisers place their 30- or 60-second spots in targeted media outlets. Again, it's all designed as one-way communication, hence the term broadcasting.

So what's "new" about New Media. In short, emerging technology, the Internet and social media platforms have unleashed the true potential of the traditional broadcast model, allowing flexibility. Here are just a few examples of new broadcast strategies where roles have shifted resulting in monetization:

• Audience acting as broadcaster: YouTube personalities. The user generated content (UGC) craze has been fueled by social media portal sites where anyone can publish/distribute content. Individuals like Dave Days, YouTube Fred and LonelyGirl15 have all built significant audiences with nothing more than a hand-held camcorder and their computer. Even though it's challenging to reach maximum monetization (see: Online Video, Nothing's for Free), strong content and established audience creates sponsor demand. Specifically, product placement and in-video branding, enabled by companies like HitViews (started by YouTuber Caitlin HIll) has created real revenue for these content entrepreneurs.

• Content producers acting as broadcasters. A great example of this is Endavo Media's client American Powerboat TV. Here is a traditional content publisher that continues to sell content production services to traditional media brands, but realized they were leaving money on the table. With their own Internet TV channel, AmericanPowerboat.tv has created a niche audience of enthusiasts with sponsorship driven deep into the content. In effect, they have become a broadcaster, with all 3 pieces of the New Media Framework under their control.

• Sponsor acting as broadcaster, or as its become known, branded entertainment. Arguably, this has become one of the hottest trends in marketing. It can take many forms, from concert sponsorship with an online component (recent U2 on YouTube event), to serialized webisodes like IKEA's acclaimed "Easy To Assemble," and/or UGC contests like Hienz Ketchup's ongoing "Top This TV Challenge." In all cases, the flexibility of the New Media Framework allows big brand marketers to create/aggregate content, deliver it, promote it and wrap their brand around it. Again, controlling all 3 pieces of the model.

These examples are meant to demonstrate the opportunity that exists for multiple groups to succeed within the New Media Framework. Now, no one is relegated to a single role. However, taking on these new roles can mean venturing into uncharted water for some. If you lack the ability to fill the content production role, or you're not a strong marketer, you'll need to find partners that are and forge relationship that can deliver on all 3 phases of monetization.

Look at the graphic above, and remember: shoot for the middle.

Lookout SeaWorld, IZEAfest is Here!

Endavo Speaks at PDMA Brand Marketing Conference

With a little help from my friend KelvinG, I spoke at the Product Development & Management Association's(PDMA) Brand Marketing Conference. Hot off the set from filming "Zombie Truckers 3," KelvinG took time to share his insights with the group -- including a nod to pitchman Tony Little and his hit product the Gazelle. Check it out:

What KelvinG gets, that a lot of product managers and brand marketing types don't, is that social media marketing is all about content. That's right. Social media = participation. Participation = content. Content, specifically relevant and engaging content, has become the currency of social media. The more of it you produce, deliver and promote, the more influence you can create for your brand.

One of the points I made during my presentation was the disconnect many in business seem to have when it comes to video. I mean, almost everyone has a video camera at home; posts movies online for their familyy to share, and in some cases does some basic editing to clean up the finished product. But that same person never thinks to bring their camera on a client visit to get a video testimonial, or to the trade show booth or to the product manager's office to get product tips and tricks to share with clients.It's weird... like a mental block or something.

And before you ask: Yes, I did shoot video from the event. You can see it here:

The reality is, your business, products and colleagues are creating content opportunities everyday. This is content your clients and prospects want to see, as evidenced by an April 2009 Nielsen report. They don't care as much about how slick it is or its production value. They want to engage with your brand, so create a content plan with that in mind.

I believe the next big wave in online video is Business Generated Content (BGC). We've all heard about Consumer Generated Content (UGC); well BGC is poised to be even bigger. Companies that have invested in hiring content strategy experts, and basic in-house video production capabilities will be poised for success. They will be able to communicate faster and with more engagement than their competitors. Those waiting to "figure it out," or dismiss online video as a fad, will be sadly left behind. Video content will be a key component for any successful multichannel marketing campaign.

Some examples of companies doing it right include:

• MarketLeverage Video Channel:Using video to communicate with members of it's referral marketing network, promoting premium merchants to special promotions to affiliates.

• TurfNet: Creating original video content and delivering it regularly online to increase membership engagement and promote key association sponsors.

• Numara Software: Using video to educate clients and prospects on product features and benefits. Extensive collection of client testimonials that bring instant credibility to their brand.

The writing is on the wall. Don't be the brand manager or product marketing director that gets the importance of online video too late. Don't sit back, now is the time to build a video strategy that's inline with your overall branding goals. Think of new, creative and cost-effective ways to gather and distribute video content. Become a video "rock star." Your customers will love you for it, and your CEO and CFO will eventually come around, too.

Follow me on Twitter @ShaunPope, or connect with me on LinkedIn.

College Sports Programs: Create Social Media Interns

With the exception of top tier universities, college athletic and sports marketing departments are notoriously lean operations with everyone wearing many hats. But they have access to help. Universities have a stable of willing and able resources right at their fingertips: the student intern. But like any other business bringing on an intern, the question becomes how best to use their time; not only to benefit the school, but the student as well.

Social media marketing, including blogging, user generated video, Twitter, Facebook and other online awareness techniques, has become a key consideration for marketing and promotional campaigns both small and large. It can drive online awareness, build brand/team advocates, spike ticket sales, create fan engagement and more. However, the challenge in executing these programs is creating the content required to sustain relevancy in the crowded social media space.

Interns are nothing new for college athletic departments. But how they should be used is changing. While attending the NACDA conference recently, the social media marketing and technology tracks were packed with assistant athletic directors eager to learn social media tricks-of-the-trade. And that's part of the problem: there are no "tricks" or magical shortcuts to social media. If anything, it's just the opposite. It is a time consuming commitment that requires dedicated resources and planning. Specifically, a content strategy and a resource to produce/gather/organize the content. It may be cheap, but it's by no means free.

Here's an example of a current Internship description for Auburn University. Not to pick on Auburn, but I'm a Gator, so it's understandable. You can see it has no mention of social media. This is typical of what I found with most other universities.

Comparing the overwhelming interest in social media I found at the NACDA conference with the fact that very few university athletic department internships are focused on social media, I discovered a gap. University athletic departments want to use social media, but don't fully understand how to do it themselves, much less teach a student intern how to do it.

The reality, however, is many students today are very media savvy. They understand the technology; the content creation process; the conversational marketing style. What they need is someone to channel that activity towards established branding goals and defined marketing objectives -- something assistant athletic directors are especially good at.

So here are a few suggestions to all you college athletic department internship description writers out there. Start including these activities:

Title: Social Media Marketing Intern

Description:

• Grab your digital video camera and laptop, bring your passion for your school, and start building an online audience for your content.
• Plan and schedule interviews with coaches, alumni, students, student athletes, local community businesses.
• Create a content deliverables schedule including blog posts, twitter updates, Facebook updates and video posts.
• Comment and engage with existing fans online, bring them into conversations, promotions and niche content on the university's web properties.
• Coordinate with ticket sales and events group to drive core business goals through the use of social media techniques.
• Establish method for measuring social media campaign effectiveness.

They great thing about this kind of internship is the department will learn as much from the intern as the intern does from the department.

YouTube or MyTube? Video Content Strategy

Social media marketing expert, Bernie Borges, interviews Shaun Pope of Endavo Media for the Find and Convert Podcast. Shaun is a contributor to the video chapter of Bernie's forthcoming book, "Marketing 2.0: Bridging the Gap Between Buyer and Seller Through Social Media Marketing.

Sports Teams/Leagues: Huge Opportunity to Use Online Video

The great thing about sports is that people get so passionate about it. So, if you’re a sports marketer, team/league promoter or just a hardcore fan, building an online community around sports is a no-brainer.

The first step is to create a place where fans, players and supporters can meet online. You can always start with a blog. But sport is about action and nothing does this better than video. So, using online video is a great way to attract fans to your site. Not to mention the sponsors that want to reach them.

The good news is that you don’t even have to worry about production. Most fans, parents and coaches are already capturing video and pictures. What you need is a centralized place where community members can share their user-gen content and interact with one another. The most cost- and time-efficient way to get your video community up and running is to select a fully-hosted online video platform that lets you create a branded video community and gives you total control over your media, audience and monetization options. As your community expands, you may decide to stream live video from key athletic events or to invest into additional video production like interviews with players and weekly team reports.  Your Internet TV platform should have the capability to supports your community’s changing needs.

You can then monetize you online video community by attracting sponsors and advertisers who want to reach your audience.  Advertisers will be able to become active community members by supporting team segments, including their own videos, sponsoring live events or displaying ads on your website and within your online video player. Need an example? Take a look at what American Powerboat TV has done with its sponsors. You can also monetize your community through fee-based subscriptions or by selling access to live streaming events.

What’s great about online video is that it’s a great equalizer. It’s now possible for USA Water Ski to have the same powerful marketing and promotion tools as the National Football League. And if you’re wondering, yes, Endavo Media can help.

Promoting Online Video: SEO Lift and Viral Buzz

In previous posts, I covered how production and publishing are central to a strong online video content strategy. But it's how you promote your content that impacts measurable results the most.

The key to success in social media marketing is participation. Posting regular tweets on Twitter, updating "what your doing now" in LinkedIn, commenting on your Wall in Facebook, and including links to ultra-relevant content in your blog posts are all opportunities to promote your online video.

While seasoned social media experts can accomplish more than a novice, it's not a secret art. The function is very much about ongoing activity online, being timely with your updates and authentic with your voice. In other words, it's hard to fake it. The name of the game is building online credibility, and in return, increasing your influence. Social media experts are not born, they're raised. The only way to get better is to engage and participate.

Okay, so social media marketing takes effort, it's not always easy to measure, and, while cheap, it's not free (as many marketing execs seem to think). However, there are ways to measure effectiveness and ROI:

1. Increasing video views by seeding viral sharing of your content and promoting your online video content as part of your everyday social media participation will drive inbound traffic. A good tool to use to measure click-throughs on specific links is URL Brief. This service lets you abbreviate the URL and provides tracking for those links. Another tip: make sure to alert everyone in your company when new videos goes live and encourage them to promote it, too.

2. Building inbound links is a great way to earn SEO "juice" for your content, as most search engines (especially Google) use inbound links heavily in their search algorithms. SEO takes time. Increasing your search engine results page (SERP) to 1, 2 or 3 is the result of continued link building over time, as well as the relevancy of your content (a whole separate topic). But it is measurable. 

In summary, alway be promoting!

• Link to your content EVERYWHERE (where relevant)
• Encourage employees, friend and followers to link to your content
• Provide video sharing features so viewers can promote your content
• Use Embed Players to let users put your content on their blogs, websites and social media profile pages.

So, get out there and Produce, Publish and Promote more video content. Want more like this? follow Shaun on Twitter, or connect with Shaun on LinkedIn.

Online Video Publishing: Nothing's for Free!

This post is second in a series on creating a strong video marketing strategy: PRODUCE, PUBLISH, PROMOTE - Repeat!

In the first post I discussed declining video production costs and how UGC and DIY techniques can result in more content on a regular basis. This serialized content is key to building audience in a Social Media world.

With a content production plan in place, the questions quickly turn to delivery. The explosion of video sharing sites like YouTube, Blip.TV, Vimeo and many others has given rise to the user generated content (UGC) phenomena by making it easy to publish videos online. A main driver is that these services are FREE. In large part, this has been a good thing for broadband video providers and helped generate real data behind the theory that web video is a more compelling and effective medium.

The reality, however, is that these sites are cutting a deal with you; free hosting and delivery in return for loss of control, limited understanding of your audience, one-size fits all implementations and shared-to-no ability to monetize. The cost of this approach to your business down the line can be significant.

You should ask yourself: is building audience on someone else's site in my best interest? In most cases the answer is no. So what your doing is failing to invest in something that is emerging and expected to explode over the coming years, in return for a free offer. Your video content is helping another site build-out its long-term value rather than your own. That's not FREE.

To be fair, I must acknowledge the strong points of free video sharing services. They can deliver audience... not sure if it's the right audience, but audience nonetheless. SEO benefits can also be realized, but the search results generally take users back to the site where your video is hosted, not yours. Not overly compelling when you break it down.

If you're serious about making video content part of your marketing mix, or even more so, a central part of your business model (ad supported, subscription and/or pay-per-view), a free service will never get you there. You need to invest in a content management system that puts you back in control of your content, your audience and your revenue. In many cases, the workflow efficiencies alone will justify the cost associated with having your own Internet TV platform.

But the real opportunity is the ability to drive product sales, engage with your audience (collect data), give partners/sponsors the ability to reach your audience, and/or charge access to your premium level content. To fully realize this revenue opportunity you need control over media and the user experience, as well as touch points with other business systems. This is how you should be investing in the tremendous opportunity that exists with online video.

Remember, you get what you pay for.

IZEAfest at SeaWorld - Ted Strikes Again

IZEAFest at SeaWorld from Ted Murphy on Vimeo.

Digital Media - Content, Advertisers and Technology Trends