How to Use Video Marketing Effectively - Digital Media Marketing

Contrary to what many have claimed, videos are actually a potent online marketing tool. However, there are some key things to know about using videos for search engine marketing purposes, some of which might surprise you:

1.  Consider Other Sites
While YouTube still dominates the world of online video presentation, many marketers argue that it isn’t always the ideal site for video SEM. Keep this in mind when testing your video content and consider trying them across multiple sites to see which one generates the greatest response.

2.  Consider the Use of Ads
It’s not uncommon to be greeted with an ad upon visiting a video site. While some major companies, like Coca-Cola and Disney, acquire positive responses from video ads, you might not see the same success after factoring in their often high cost.

3.  Consider the Content
While video ads can be hit-or-miss, those with video SEM experience have found that content videos—videos that offer information, instruction, and/or advice—work better for offering content on demand. Online customers have displayed greater interest in web marketing material if they can learn from videos—and about their provider.

4.  Consider Restraint
Video marketing material, as video SEO, requires you to study the response and analytics. If your content is receiving a positive response, great, but don’t oversaturate the web with it. Not only will doing so be expensive—about the same costs as PPC ad optimization—but having too many videos up can cause people to get sick of them—and your company—very quickly.

5.  Consider Sharing
With the means for video production being so accessible, you have a lot of creative freedom. And with that freedom comes the chance to share your business’ videos across social media and increase the number of viewers. Make sure you share your videos across as many sites and outlets as you can without, of course, oversaturating the market.

Read more at http://www.business2community.com/video-marketing/perfect-take-use-video-marketing-effectively-01048699

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How social media marketing has become an important tool for destination companies

The travel and tourism industry has uncovered the potential of social media in promoting destinations. Sharing of travel related content has become second nature for Indian consumers who are driving a high level of engagement through their travel stories. Cashing in on this wave are tourism boards that are using social media to disseminate their messages. South African Tourism believes that ‘travel is social’ and has been driving its marketing efforts through social platforms. In conversation with Rashi Bisaria, Hanneli Sabber, Country Manager, South African Tourism explains how consumer outreach initiatives have been amplified through the digital medium and how the number of Indian visitors to South Africa has steadily increased over the years. Edited excerpts:

What kind of presence does South African Tourism have on digital media? How did you amplify the latest campaign through social media?
 

When #TakeMeToSouthAfrica was first conceptualized in 2012, the main objective was to reach out to travel enthusiasts all over India thereby showcasing the variety of wonderful experiences on offer to Indian travel enthusiasts. We wanted to launch a direct consumer outreach initiative where we get them to experience the destination first-hand and to further augment the consumer outreach, we decided to get our Brand Ambassador and cricketing maverick Jonty Rhodes to don the role of a host to the winners on the 2 week trip to South Africa. Hailing from South Africa and being extremely passionate about travel we were sure to have had made the perfect choice.

Rightly so, the entries for the first edition and the current one of #TakeMeToSouthAfrica received phenomenal response from travel junkies across the country. This year in an attempt to further intensify our approach as per the tastes of Indian travelers, an extensive external research was carried out. The results indicated that gaming was one of the key influences of the customer’s preferences. On the basis of this understanding, South African Tourism introduced the latest edition #TakeMeToSouthAfrica through an online gaming contest where contenders had to cross multiple levels on adventure, wildlife, art & culture and history about South Africa. As expected, the contest was a huge hit across India with a very high level of engagement across platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and a specially designed microsite linked to the South African Tourism website.

With the understanding of ever rising influence of social media platforms on travel decisions of Indian travelers, South African Tourism is extremely active on various digital media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Our official website is also extremely user friendly and provides our consumers an insight into South Africa with a number of blog posts, tweets with popular hash tags, Instagram posts and much more.

In the social space there is a focus on building communities that will be most receptive to the content you have to share. Community building extends the reach of organic activity if the communication is good. The recent South African Tourism “Reconsider Ad” garnered more than 500,000 views on YouTube not only due to the sheer brilliance of the ad also due to the sustained efforts of the #MeetSouthAfrica community that invested in the initiative almost 18 months prior to the ad, by proactively sharing content in order to generate initial buzz around the ad . The ad along with the hashtag #MeetSouthAfrica has worked perfectly and generated large conversations with the majority of comments and shares.

What was the #TakeMeToSouthAfrica campaign all about?
#TakeMeToSouthAfrica commenced earlier this year and immediately caught on with the audiences. Participations started pouring in from across the country, the moment the contest went public. Over 800 numbers of entries were received and from the 24 shortlisted contestants who made it to Round two, 4 lucky winners have been chosen for a two week trip to South Africa with Jonty Rhodes. This year, we adopted a distinct and innovative strategy to inform the chosen winners about their victory. Billboards were set up outside the office of the four winners with a personalized message from Jonty Rhodes announcing that they have won a trip to South Africa with him. Amazed to see their billboards, contestants expressed excitement for this once-in-a-lifetime voyage to South Africa. These travel enthusiasts will embark on their journey to South Africa from December 1-15, 2014 for some amazing travel experiences with Jonty as their personal host.

Compared to last year what is the consumer sentiment like this year? Are people travelling more this year?
All our efforts with varied initiatives in the Indian market to reach out to our target audience and key stakeholders have always paid off extremely well and has helped strengthen the perception of South Africa as a tourist destination offering a varied set of experiences. 2013 recorded 1 12 672 Indian tourists visiting South Africa which was an increase of 5.5 per cent vis-à-vis 2012. 24 556 Indians have visited South Africa in the first three months of 2014.

Has digital gained prominence as compared to 2013 in the tourism industry?
The tourism industry has changed dramatically with the overwhelming emergence of social media platforms. While choosing a holiday destination, consumers today opt for research on the internet for reviews as the first step to understand the destination and its varied offerings. Hence, digital and social media marketing has gained immense importance in the overall marketing and communication strategy for destination companies and tourism boards. Social media is a massive tool to reach out to the global audience with your key messages and immerse prospective consumers in an engagement programme through contests, pictures, videos among others. Engagement is the key feature of social media marketing which has worked well for many destinations including ours.

We at South African Tourism believe that “Travel is Social”. This means that travelers worldwide love to talk about where they have been, where they are going and the things they are planning to do at the destination. This process is aspirational and it is absolutely crucial in today’s digital age to pay attention to what is being said. Digital media and technologies now affect every single stage of the visitor’s journey to a destination – from planning to stay to post trip conversations. The purpose of every Tourism Board should be to develop a holistic digital marketing strategy targeting the decision-making process of planning a trip, to providing useful visitor information to utilizing attractive social media tools for sharing their memorable experience upon their return home.

Read original article source : http://pitchonnet.com/blog/2014/10/30/social-media-marketing-important-tool-destination-companies/

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What's Really the Difference Between Facebook Pages, Groups and Profiles?

Image: Mashable composite, Facebook

 

With several overlapping features, Facebook's Pages, groups and profiles leave many users confused.
Together, these three functions help us stay connected, but each has its own purpose and works for different types of content. Whether you want to stay in touch with friends, promote your brand or meet others with the same hobbies, we can help you determine which tool will most effectively meet your needs.

Below, we highlight the differences between Facebook Pages, groups and profiles to help you understand when and how to use each one.

What's a profile?

Image: Facebook

A Facebook profile is meant to represent a single individual, and is for non-commercial use. Made up of photos and experiences, a profile summarizes a person's story. On a profile, individuals can personalize their profile by uploading a profile photo, cover photo and adding personal information like hometown, birthday, relationship status and work history. Profile owners can post statuses, life events and can control what information is shared on their respective profiles.
They can add and message friends, choose to view friends' statuses on their News Feed and share personal updates. Those with a profile can follow other profiles to see public updates from people they are not friends with. Similarly, profile owners can "like" pages to see updates in their News Feed.

Timeline

Within your profile is a space called Timeline. Sorted by date, Timeline allows profile users to view their own posts, posts from friends and stories they're tagged in.

How do I create a profile?

Image: Facebook

Signing up for a profile is easy. Here are five steps to get you started:

• Go to Facebook.
• Fill in the required information, and click "Sign Up."
• Facebook will send you a confirmation email. Log in to the email account you signed up with.
• Click the link in your confirmation email from Facebook.
• Follow the instructions to find friends, fill out profile information, choose interests and add a profile picture.

What's a Page?

Image: Facebook

Think of a Facebook Page as a Timeline for organizations, businesses, brands and public figures. Similar to profiles, Page owners can post stories, add a cover photo, host events and more. Those who have "liked" a Page will see the Page's updates in their News Feeds.
Anyone can create a Facebook Page, but only official representatives can create and manage a Page for an organization, business, brand or public figure. To create a Page, all you will need is a Facebook profile. Profile owners can manage multiple Pages, and Page creators can give permission for others to be administrators to help manage the Page.
If you're looking to promote your company or raise brand awareness, you'll want to create a Facebook Page. You can share promotions, offer specials, make announcements and essentially, build a central fan base. It's free to create, and once it is set up, the Page is optimized to look the same across computers, phones, tablets and other devices. Conveniently, there is a free Facebook Pages Manager app (Android, iOS) so owners can conveniently run the Page when they're on-the-go.

Image: Facebook

Pages come with a set of features that profiles and groups don't have, for example, the ability to manage notifications, messages and scheduled posts on the "Activity" tab. Pages also come with a section called "Insights," which help track of how posts are performing and who is connecting to your Page. This section shares engagement information and breaks down the demographics of the Page's fan base to help the creator understand who their fans are. In the "Settings" tab, Page owners can change visibility, choose whether they want people to post to the Page, enable messages, set up profanity filters and more.
Similar to profiles, Page administrators can view an activity log to see published posts and comments. In this log, administrators can delete posts, comments and hide or allow posts.

How do I create a Page?

Image: Facebook

Building a Facebook Page is easier than it sounds. Make sure you're logged into your individual Facebook profile. Then:

• Click on the downward arrow at the top-right of your Facebook profile's homepage, and select "Create a Page." This option is also on the left-hand sidebar under "Pages." Or, you can visit www.facebook.com/pages/create.
• Click on the category that is most relevant to the Page you want to create.
• Select a more specific category from the drop-down menu.
• Fill out the required information.
• Click "Get Started" and follow the instructions.

What's a group?

Image: Facebook

Today, more than 500 million people use Facebook groups monthly, and thousands of groups are created daily. Like discussion forums, groups allow specific sets of people to share photos, links, updates and more.
Groups are great for connecting family, peers, teammates, co-workers or people with a shared interest. Members can ask and answer questions, post about events or job openings and follow conversations about topics that interest them. Additionally, groups allow you to send mass messages directly to the group members' inbox.
Groups have three privacy options. Here's a rundown of what they are and what they mean:

• Public: Anyone can join or be added or invited by a member
• Closed: Anyone can ask to join or be added or invited by a member
• Secret: Anyone can join, but they have to be added or invited by a member

How do I create a group?

Image: Facebook

To create a group, you need to be logged into your individual Facebook profile.

• On web: From your homepage, go to the "Groups" section on your sidebar and click "Add Group." Click "Create New Group," and a window will pop up. Enter your group name, add members and select the privacy setting for your group. Click "Create" when you're finished.
• On iPhone: Tap "More" at the bottom-right corner. Under "Groups," tap "Create Group" and enter group name, description, privacy setting and an icon. Tap "Create" in the top-right corner to confirm.
• On Android: In the menu, scroll down to "Groups", tap "Add Group," enter the group's name and select the privacy setting. Tap "Continue" to confirm.

How do I join a group?

Image: Facebook

To become a member of a group, go to the group page and click "Join Group" in the top-right corner. You can also join any public group that you see on the "About" page of someone's Timeline, by clicking "Join." To browse through the most popular groups your friends are in, type "Groups joined by my friends" in Facebook's search bar.
Keep in mind that some groups are private, and you may have to wait until the group administrator approves your request. Depending on the group's settings, you can also be added by a friend who's already a member.
If you have additional questions, visit Facebook's Help Center.
Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.

BONUS: Facebook Timeline How-To

• 

  Step 1

  1. When you get here, click "allow."

• 

  Step 2

  2. Click "create new app"

• 

  Step 3

  3. Name it whatever you want, and give it whatever namespace you'd like -- it doesn't matter. Click the checkbox "I agree to the platform privacy policy." And then click Continue, pass the security check by filling in the Captcha, and you'll be ready for the next step.

• 

  Step 4

  4. After you've verified yourself as a human, you'll reach this screen, where you'll need to click "Open Graph" on the left side.

• 

  Step 5

  5. You'll see the next screen, entitled "Get Started with Open Graph" -- fill in anything you want (it doesn't matter) in those fields under the heading "start by defining one action than one object for your app." Click Get Started.

• 

  Step 6

  6. On this screen, do nothing except scroll to the bottom and click "Save Changes and Next." Do the same thing on the next screen.

• 

  Step 7

  7. You'll be taken to this screen. Wait a few minutes, and then go to your Facebook homepage. That's where you'll be invited to enable Timeline. Be patient at this point -- sometimes it requires you to wait before the changes take effect.

• 

  Step 8

  8. When you go back to your Facebook homepage, you'll see this. Success! Click Get It Now, and you're in!

• 

  You've Done It!

  Here's where you fiddle with your timeline, set it up the way you like it, and when you click Publish Now, your Timeline goes live. Or, you can wait two to four weeks (there is no set date), and you can opt in without going through this process.
  If you want to get into your timeline from another computer, the address for this developer's version is located at this URL: http://www.facebook.com/[yourusername]?sk=timeline and of course [yourusername] is your own Facebook user name.
  

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10 Tools for Making Your Digital Life Easier

Do you ever find yourself creating to-do lists for organizing all of your to-do lists? Are you struggling with establishing a system for storing files online? Is the idea of sharing your screen in an online meeting a daunting task that you would prefer to completely avoid? Have you ever had hiccups in the past when attempting to collaborate with clients via the Internet? If so, you are not alone. Here are 10 tools to help you increase productivity, boost social networking, manage online storage, simplify communication, and make your digital life easier.

Wunderlist

 

Wunderlist is the ultimate "to-do" list that seamlessly integrates all of your tasks through desktop, web, and mobile applications. Manage items in multiple to-do lists by adding due dates, reminders, subtasks, notes, and sharing the tasks with teammates or individuals working on a project with you. Prioritize lists or tasks by setting the item as "Starred" and quickly figure out at a glance for what's due today or this week.

Download: iOS / Android

Evernote

 

Evernote is another productivity app that lets you create notes via text, camera, photos, reminders, and lists. Organize notes into notebooks for work, home, travel, and more or import information into a new notebook from apps such as Penultimate. Use tags and places to make notes easier to find too. And if you plan on investing in some wearable tech in the future, Evernote works great with Google Glass too.

Download: iOS / Android

IFTTT

 

IFTTT (If This Then That) is a service that gives you the ability to make recipes based on triggers and actions. Add channels such as email, SMS, phone call, weather, social media, calendar, etc. so that you can configure your recipes to automatically make something happen. Personal favorites include receiving daily weather forecast text messages, adding files to Dropbox whenever files are saved to Google Drive, starring email adds task to iOS Reminders/Wunderlist, and uploading YouTube videos automatically creates a WordPress post with the video in it.

Download: iOS / Android

Dropbox

 

Dropbox comes with 2 GB of storage and is an excellent way to store files and photos online. Easily share items with others by creating links to specific documents or allowing access to entire folders. Works great on mobile devices and tablets and is especially useful if you find yourself switching back and forth between a Mac and PC throughout the day.

Download: iOS / Android

Google Drive

 

Google Drives offers 15 GB of free storage that is shared between Gmail, G+ Photos, and Google Drive. If you need additional storage, monthly plans are available starting at $1.99 for an extra 100 GB of space. Google Drive is great for those who need a little more storage space than the 2 GB available with Dropbox and/or want to keep everything on the Google platform.

Download: iOS / Android

Box

 

Box is another method of secure online storage that is popular with financial services professionals and starts out with 10 GB of free storage. Box is mobile-friendly and allows you to easily create notes, share documents with others, and sync data between devices.

Download: iOS / Android

Hangouts

 

If you use Gmail, then Hangouts is a great tool to use for instant messaging, sharing files, and impromptu video calls. The Hangouts Toolbox comes with a variety of options for sharing documents, your screen, and fun visual effects when communicating with others.

Download: iOS / Android

Skype

 

Skype is a nice tool for making calls from your computer, instant messaging, sending files, and sharing desktops. It is a reliable alternative to Hangouts, especially from the making calls from a computer perspective, and also works well on mobile devices.

Download: iOS / Android

join.me

 

join.me is a great screen sharing service for online meetings. It is a quick way to start a meeting and is a simple method for joining meetings; simply enter the meeting code, type in your name, knock, and join the meeting. Basic screen sharing is free and additional plans are available at the Pro and Enterprise level for $13 and $19 per month, respectively.

Download: iOS / Android

TeamViewer

 

TeamViewer is the "All-In-One software for remote support and online meetings." It is free for private use and perfect for those in technical troubleshooting roles or in need of remote access to computers and/or servers.

Download: iOS / Android

Do you find any of these tools particularly essential to your day-to-day life? Are there any tools that we should add to the list? Feel free to join the conversation and let us know what you think by leaving a reply in the comments section.

Read Original source article: friedmansocialmedia.com/blog

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Apex Telecom Net MLM Based Company Gives Business Opportunity to Earn Money At Home

Here about multi level marketing/digital marketing comapny which is running successfully while very long time, not heard bad news of it over the web. it gives business opportunity to earn money from mobile or dth recharging, direct product selling, and other making money plans. Also new "triple income plan."

www.apextelecom.net is a part of Apex Group. Apex Group is one of India’s prominent business houses established in the year 2004 with a diverse portfolio of assets in software development, business solutions, online gaming, investigations, technology-enabled services, infrastructure development, water treatment and online-education.

In the business solutions division, Apex has given business and software solutions to more than 800 companies across India. In the process, it has developed contacts of more than 5 million hard core marketing persons. These marketing persons are geared to sell anything and everything with their contacts.

The business solution developed by Apex is unique and resembles self employment generation to the subscribers and consumers of the respective companies. Till now Apex has been a back bone to several companies, who sell Insurance, consumer durables, real estate, financial products, etc. The solution is so powerful, that a single entity sells more than 1000 insurance policies per day.

Keeping the same spirit alive, we now selected telecom products as our new product. Most of our top line marketing agents voted for mobiles and mobile accessories. As telecom is the future of digital India and is ever growing with the penetration of mobile and Internet usage among urban and rural India. Hence, we selected the product ‘Anti Radiation Patch’, which will help reduce the ill effects of EMF radiations emitted from their mobile phones. We are confident that this product will be marketed more efficiently that all other products of the past.

How To Start ?

Option - 1 Pay Rs.350/- and purchase a Hand book on effects of Radiation. Your mobile will be converted as DEMO SIM, so that you can Recharge any Mobile or DTH across India. After you make the payment, you will get a joining PIN along with the hand book from your nearest Franchisee. Payment can be made at your nearest Franchisee or deposit Rs.350 in Apex account and get PIN number by SMS and email. Option - 2 Pay Rs.600/- and purchase a Hand book on Re-Live. You will get a 30 Capsule bottle of Re –Live Daily. Your mobile will be converted as DEMO SIM, so that you can Recharge any Mobile or DTH across India. After you make the payment, you will get a joining PIN along with the hand book from your nearest Franchisee. Payment can be made at your nearest Franchisee or deposit Rs.600 in Apex account and get PIN number by SMS and email. Option - 3 Pay Rs.1800/- and order a basic Mobile Phone worth Rs1800. Alternatively, you can order high price mobile phone by paying the remaining balance to your ‘My Bank’ and confirming the order. The ordered mobile phone will be sent to you by courier. Your mobile will be converted as DEMO SIM, so that you can Recharge any Mobile or DTH across India. After you make the payment, you will get a joining PIN number from your nearest Franchisee. Payment can be made at your nearest Franchisee or deposit Rs.1800 in Apex account and get PIN number by SMS and email.

Recharge Opportunity

Highlights Recharge all Mobiles and DTH Services. Recharge Online from your login. Recharge by sending SMS from your mobile. Recharge from mobile by using GPRS. All recharges will be charged without any transaction charges and if you cross Rs.500 worth recharges in a month, then you will be eligible for Monthly Repurchase Plan Income. Incentives will be paid to you on every recharge transaction from your sales team.

source: http://www.apextelecom.net and http://www.mlmdiary.com/classifieds/apex-telecom-net-gives-business-opportunity-to-earn-money-at-home/5000278

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