EXPO Scotland – a Marketing and Social Media Seminar

Session One: YouTube/ Live Streaming

With 100 hours of footage uploaded to YouTube every minute, how do you successfully market your business on the world's largest video site and No.2 search engine? Furthermore, the introduction of Live Streaming Platforms such as Periscope & Blab have opened up a whole new avenue to your audience and ways to engage with them!

To Video and Beyond presented by Graham Innes of Creation Social Media, a Perth based company talked through the best ways….and the easiest ways to be even more visually engaging with the people who you want to talk to. He addressed the extension of video into live streaming.
(Presentation is available on Creation Social Media Facebook page.)

First question was why video?
Video is very engaging.
YouTube is the second largest search engine on the Internet. SEO linked directly from YouTube to Google (because it is owned by Google). Graphics attract engagement. Video is possible on Twitter, Instagram, Blab, Vine, Nomad cast (live to Twitter and Facebook audience at same time), Facebook, Periscope.

YouTube v Live Streaming
Streaming is received by and presented to an end user while being delivered by a provider.
Don't over complicate, anybody can use YouTube.
A group of images can be uploaded as a slideshow and so you could make simple videos. Screen captures can be used as slides. No need to have a wobbly camera. Alternatively you can attract interest online just by being daft!

Three keys things to make a good video
1 Something that is topical
2 How to do something.
3 Be Informative

Professional video makers are not necessary.
You just need a phone, light, microphone, tripod.

Optimum length of video clip – maximum 90 seconds
Video can be minimum cost and high impact
A YouTube sensation called Zoella makes money out of her YouTube channel, a beauty therapist with 47m viewers.

Now live streaming is gaining momentum
No need for an outside broadcast unit. Live video is now being done on social media channels and BBC etc are now doing the same.

Benefits of live streaming on Facebook, YouTube etc.
Get instant response
Build new followers
Engage current followers in new way
Launch events
Opportunity to act and interact in real time.

Next stage
Periscope (and Meerkat – which has now gone) were first but now Facebook Business pages can broadcast live. Events set up on Facebook can be broadcast live – this is very new.

Periscope has 10m users but you have to be on and connected through Twitter to use Periscope.
Blab is instant schedule, up to four users at any one time in discussion/chat. Blab can be recorded to YouTube. Allows you to access bigger audiences. (Blab was born out of Bebo.)

Why use live streaming?
1 Endorsed by industry presenters
2 Do not underestimate the potential.
3 Sometime you might get lucky.

You decide how it can work for your business
Don't be afraid to be an early adopter.

Session Two: How to become a Digital Trailblazer

A Digital Trailblazer is a business or an individual that harnesses the power of the internet and technology to rapidly grow their business.

The guys with the biggest YouTube channels, the largest Twitter following, the most engaged email lists, the best websites, they are always at the top of Google, they simply are everywhere. They understand their market and know how to grow their business through it. Becoming a Digital TrailBlazer may seem difficult, but actually it is not as tricky as it looks.

Many successful TrailBlazers thrive within local and regional areas. There are always national figure heads for every industry, but for your City or Region is there really a standout Accountant? IT Consultant? Business Coach? or Solicitor? If you complete a Google search now for your service title (I.e. Butcher and your local area (e.g. Lanarkshire) you may find that there isn't a stand out Digital TrailBlazer competing in your market?

You can actually take that local market and own it for yourself. It is easier to do than you think, you just need a structure and a process to really stand out as the 'go to' entrepreneur or business.

Richard Woods' presentation explained tricks, tips and described his bestselling book Digital TrailBlazer. Richard is possibly better known for being fired by Lord Sugar on the Apprentice.

Richard now concentrates on marketing with a focus on digital. Considered the perfect marketing campaign. After writing a process document he was encouraged to make into a book.

Digital TrailBlazers are the leaders, doing the speaking gigs etc.
Very few businesses claiming the ground on Google searches. Google reviews can boost your business up to trailblazer status.
Search engine boosted by video contact. Tag it up properly, make the videos.
On Twittter it tends to be recruiters who come up top on trade sector searches.

Like Sir Edmund Hillary climbing Everest, Digital TrailBlazers need to identify an Everest every year. You need a process – a route map.
1 Basecamp – planning, goal setting, route map
2 Selling more to existing customers – unlock the gold mine you are already sitting on. (Go there first)
3 Find new customers – build your business through intelligent customer acquisition
4 Turn up the volume – now you have everything in place, let's tell the world
5 Final push – turn up the heat on what works
6 12 month summit – review the progress then look at new horizons.

1 Basecamp
Trail trackers
1 Unique different phone numbers to identify source of an enquiry. These can cost just £3 per month and good evaluation of an advert in a newspaper or magazine – this is called tracking numbers.
2 Web forms – captures on websites. Can be linked to follow ups from an advert. Can react by sending enquirers price lists or samples.
3 Website analytics – logs hits, web forms, pay per click advertising.

Digital assets – all websites
HQ site – main website, probably already set up
Outposts – local search engine from micro website targeted to an area
Scouts – landing page with unique domain name, unique only to those you have been exposed to at a specific event. This gives good evaluation of the effort taken attending an event

2 Selling more to existing customers
About relationships, feedback. Is there a gap in product offer? Doubling wallet spend of existing customers – easiest method but you need a method. Divide and conquer matrix.
Divide up Product sector and list along top, Customers logged down the left. Soon you can work out which products are not being bought by which group of customers. Get stories from the people who love it and get that communicated to those not buying them.

3 Find new customers
Need to find and create reliable system – the stretch further technique. List where target audience are hanging out. Customers are on Facebook unless they are Martians. YouTube will be just as important. Stretch in and go deep with regular relationships. Retweets can be useful recommendations. Do not neglect traditional marketing routes, have face to face discussions. Billboards still work.
Over 40s are on Facebook, youngsters (under 23) will be on Snapchat. Mum friendly profiles have moderated content on Facebook.

Need to convert cold leads into warm leads. Have a nice pack, a process to introduce customer to the product. Must be as focused in converting interest into sales. Advocacy bowl: don't lose customers once you find them, ask them for feedback, they share that to their friends creating loyalty and loyal customers keep on buying. First do a great job and work to get them onside long term.

4 Turn up the volume
This is about spreading the message. Push it out there and stand out. People engage with people not logos so be personal. Grow your following because you need to lead from the front. Apply for awards and you will win, celebrate and broadcast about them.

5 Final push
Turn on what work, ditch what doesn't. Follow up and track everything through.

Session three: SkyAdsmart
Sky AdSmart is the revolutionary approach to TV advertising which levels the playing field, so businesses of all shapes and sizes can benefit from the advertising impact of TV.

With Sky AdSmart different ads can be shown to different households watching the same programme. This means brands and businesses can now advertise on national channels, but to relevant audiences. With thousands of combinations to choose from when selecting the audience that sees your ad. Households can be selected based on factors such as age, location, life style or even if they have a cat!

The data is derived from a combination of Sky's own customer data and information from consumer profiler experts such as Experian. By allowing advertisers to cherry-pick their audiences the power of TV can now be used to greater effect by existing advertisers, whilst becoming accessible for the first time to niche brands, small & medium-sized businesses (SMEs) and location-specific advertisers.

The power of TV has been missing at local level for a number of years.
AdSmart targeting is done through mosaic analysis of households. Lots of clever knowledge 900 different attributes. So almost limitless in potential.

Target on a postcode basis, 127 postcodes in the UK.
Only ads watched for 75% of the time are chargeable.
What does it cost?
Charged per impressions £50 cost per thousand.
Most viewers multi screen during ads.
Sky have learned brand awareness greater in AdSmart format.
Evaluation of Sky customers getting AdSmarts and those not, the more responsive were the AdSmart viewers – about double (and about 66% of all Sky customers have a smart box).

Set up costs – Minimum of £3000 buy in and minimum of 5000 households targeted.