Maximizing the Power of Employee Chatter

Many companies know that employees make the best advocates when building a company’s image – what they may know be doing is using that to their advantage online.

New digital ad technology and software is helping plug workers into marketing strategies according to top ad industry experts. For example, LinkedIn introduced a new metric that scores how well content performs on the site – the Content Marketing Score – among other recent changes for business profile pages. From an AdWeek article, employees are now key to increasing this score, the more they post the better the content fares because shared content has the best chance of being seen on the platform, and gauges how well their messaging is faring compared to rivals.

Other factors in the CMS include how often a brand posts and its reach and engagement. As LinkedIn moves beyond 200 million users, the company is making numerous changes for business that could also mean major changes in social media message strategy. Not only do businesses need to redesign their LinkedIn profiles into portfolio pages, but now they need to reconsider how to use their employees’ profiles to benefit the company bottom line as well.

“It’s just good to keep folks inside a company engaged with what the brand is producing,” Percolate CEO Noah Brier said. “Ideally, if the brand is producing interesting content, it is a point of pride and also keeps them informed.”

Do you agree with LinkedIn business changes? How do you think the Content Marketing Score will affect message strategy across social platforms?

 

Quick Tip for SEO Video

Absolutely had to share this quick tip for publishing your next content marketing video to YouTube. Not only does video add a completely new and exciting element to your marketing mix but it can also have multiple purposes.

From Social Media Impact, the first way to ensure your video is optimized (and the most obvious) is to edit the Title, Description and Tags sections with keywords related to your video content. If you do some research in advance, you can use the most popular related terms to maximize your SEO results.

Another good idea is to create and add your videos to Playlists so similar videos can be viewed in a continuous stream.

Finally, and most easily to look over, is adding captions to your video. By adding captions to your upload, it increases the SEO influence by having a transcription in the file upload that is “crawlable.”

The article includes detailed instructions for editing video captions but here’s a brief overview.

1. In edit mode, click the Captions tab and then Add a new track.
2. Type what’s spoken in the video. Pause as you move along to accurately align the typed text with the video.
3. Disable the automatic captions (This really does not accurately transcribe video, I wouldn’t trust it).
4. Review your upload transcript and make necessary changes.

Now, you’re ready to upload great new content!

Branding the Baseball Experience

I cannot begin to express how excited I am that SPRING is Here! That means many days of playground running with my kiddo, zoo exploring, fishing, local park and backyard hiking, and camping trips… and possibly a few bonfires. But one of the things I love most about warmer weather is Baseball.

Baseball, and pretty much any sport you can think of, creates a fan experience. You go to the stadium and watch your favorite team take the field while you enjoy drinks, snacks and the occasional jump up to catch that fly ball, all while hoping in the final minutes of the game your team is winning.

And with any sport, your favorite team has a catchy name and mascot – the Brand for the city/stadium to merchandise and top fans to show their support. Some teams do this very well, and have an easy time if their team is top in the league, while others have a long way to go.

My favorite team, being a Clevelander, is the Indians. Yeah, we annually reconsider changing the team name, but I’m not biased and the natural tribes of Ohio had a major influence on its history. I don’t know that I’d ever be able to call them anything else. And I’m not even sure what the stadium is called these days (JK, though it really has changed names several times since it was built 20 years ago).

My point being, this year Opening Day had one of the largest crowds ever. Proof of great branding and selling the baseball experience for a team that hasn’t made the playoffs in several years.

A recent article from Crain’s Cleveland Business, talked about the ongoing changes management considers to annually meet visitors needs as well as developing new ways to engage fans in the stadium at a recent luncheon. While the team is still on the lower end of the baseball profitability spectrum, big things are in the works to turn the team around and get more fans back in stadium seats. Mark Shapiro, team president commented that one of the questions they discuss most is, “How do we create a compelling experience for you to want to be here?”

One way they brand the baseball experience is by making the stadium a comfortable place. At one point it was as simple as adding cup holders for fans, now it includes a range of improvements from new scoreboards, heating and cooling system components, plumbing fixtures and pumps, concession stands and seating. Not to mention corporate sponsorships,  interactive mobile trivia, and in-person sponsored efforts that get fans excited to be at the stadium.

Another is to align a team of coaches and players that work together to build excitement each and every time they take the field – and the more they win, the easier it is to market the fan experience because they Want to be part of the success.

Additionally this year, the Indians are changing their uniform design and look of the brand focusing more on the “C” rather than mascot, Chief Wahoo. We’ll have to see if this part of the team marketing will pay off by end of the season. If nothing else, the fans will be inspired to dress in the new brand.

What do you think are the best ways to brand the baseball experience? If baseball isn’t your sport, what branding methods have gotten you to that last game?

 

 

Inspirational Makeup Ads Reveal by Uncovering

These very inspiring Dermablend Professional ads help their clients tell a revealing story of their inner beauty and are a great demonstration of a brand’s promise to its customers.

If you are unaware, Dermablend corrective cosmetics are used by people with mild to severe skin conditions. Through testimonial, two women reveal how makeup has allowed the world to look past their skin and into who they really are inside – unconventional to the standards of most advertising that tells women to cover up, its makeup that makes you beautiful. In these ads however, the women cover-down and remove their makeup while telling her compelling story.

AdWeek choose to feature these ads for the idea behind them in which makeup isn’t about vanity; it can help free oneself from ridicule and live a normal life.

The new ads from Agence Tudedo make the dramatic point that Dermablend products don’t allow people to hide, they allow them to reveal who they truly are to the world.

These women “fight through the shock that their skin condition creates—people look at them and stop at their skin,” said Tuxedo creative director Ludwig Ciupka. “Covering themselves allows people to see through their imperfections and see who they are inside.” (AdWeek)

In the unscripted testimonials, these women define what the Dermablend brand brings to its customers. EXCELLENT brand message and felt compelled to share when I find that an agency and a brand create something great.

The videos are running on YouTube and the Dermablend site.

CREDITS
Client: Dermablend Professional
General Manager, U.S., Dermablend & Vichy: Sonya Sheth
Agency: Agence Tuxedo, Montreal
Art Director/Director: Ludwig we had planned 45 minutes per girls to allow them to talk and they took 5 minutes each and we were amazed at how much ‘real’ content we got from them.
Director of Client Services: Nancy Gendron
Manager, Client Services: Roxanne Champagne
Video Editing: Jean-Michel Simard
Production Company: Agence Tuxedo
Music: Zoo Brazil, “Heart’s a Legend” (Blackhole Recordings)
Talent: Cassandra Bankson, Cheri Lindsay, Rick Genest (aka Rico or Zombie Boy)