Apart from running the daily activities here at DMTG, Marketing Director and Lead Instructor, Joe Schaefer makes a strong effort to stay current with the latest trends in digital marketing. SEO (search engine optimization) is no exception. Joe also keeps good company with SEO companies and SEO professionals around the globe.

Recently, Joe was interviewed by RankWatch.

RankWatch is a cloud based Internet Marketing Platform, which has Artificial Intelligence of its own. We help Website Owners and SEO Agencies alike to pin point the key areas where a website is losing traffic and areas where it can gain traffic by tracking areas such as Rankings, Backlinks, Analytics, Competitors etc and then analyzing and providing them Intelligent Data to work with, which in turn increases revenue. It is currently an industry dominant in this space and has been growing exponentially every year. Their client base has exceeded more than 29000 users and is growing rapidly.

Read the entire interview here.

There are many possibilities when you talk about mobile marketing. These possibilities keep on growing every single day. Technology has developed very rapidly and so has techniques. Mobile is also changing as well and the change is very fast.

When you are able to reach consumers using mobile devices, you can bring a lot of satisfaction especially when the message is right. The bottom line of many companies is bolstered. When you can adopt the best mobile marketing strategies, then you are definitely headed for great things ahead.

You should note that the expectations of the customers keep on rising every single day. It is the job of the marketer to exceed those expectations by offering the most personalized experience. There are different tips that can actually allow you to come up with the most engaging and personalized experience by making use of mobile marketing.

First tip: you should use indoor and outdoor location targeting together

This is a tip that most people would dismiss at first saying that it is rather an obvious one. Regardless of what anyone thinks, it is important to note that there is a grave mistake at play here. Most of the marketers often approach using mobile channels as just an outlet where they can have their messages as well as communications.

While it is true that marketers will definitely get a chance to communicate with the customers because of the fact that most mobile users have their phones with them most of the time, the thing that is missed is that the message is usually not connected to the right place at the right time.

Because of this, it is essential for the marketers to think about the location of the consumer to give a message that will definitely encourage them to actually engage and possibly make a purchase. When you make a consideration on the time of the day as well as the location, you can localize your offers as much as possible making them very highly targeted. Such an action can lead to more conversions at the end of the day.

You should consider using virtual geographical boundaries or even geo-fences to surround the kind of locations that are of great importance to you and your brand, this should be an obvious part of it all.

The mobile marketing solution that you select should be able to allow you to establish the geo fences easily like different physical locations where the goods and services you offer are available. Such things can also help you mark the areas where your competitors offer their goods and services as well. In order to save time as much as possible, you should automate the effort by synchronizing a location list as regularly as possible.

In this case, you have to think and decide the action that will trigger a message. It could be entering a certain location, leaving the location, or even staying at that location for a specified period of time serving as the minimum.

In order to utilize the location even further, you can subdivide the geo-fence. Multi-story locations like the department stores or even large locations such as airports or entertainment venues can benefit from using location beacons.

These are small devices that can help you identify the location of the customers who are within a given location. If you had promoted something to customers and it is displayed in a certain location, you should remind them where they are exactly once they go near that area so that they can find them easily.

This is the best way that you can guide patrons to help them find your products, restaurant locations and designs. When you give them a special offer, they are encouraged to actually make a purchase.

Second tip: make use of Artificial Intelligence powered preferred locations

Finally, we have AI marketing and it can actually transform all those mobile marketing efforts that you are making. Think of the many possibilities that could exist if you could determine when customers are leaving or approaching their work or home location non-invasively and securely.

AI can actually be used to determine all preferred locations securely like work and home. Such information can then be used for purposes of AI marketing. It is important that the information remains secret and should only be known to a certain device and should also reside there. In such a case, you can have an automated message or campaign that can use a given trigger that is provided to deliver messages.

When you are equipped with the locations that are cognitively determined, then a marketer is able to come up with programs that would have been impossible in the past. There are different ways in which the artificial intelligence information can be applied.

Think of someone who has got a flight reservation is say three hours. Once they leave the home location, they can receive a notification through mobile or through a push message that will remind them that of the departure time and also to confirm the status. This is something that can save such a personal effort and it can also improve their loyalty and satisfaction.

Another example is someone leaving their work location at a certain time and then getting a message from a grocery chain to actually pick something and also offer an incentive. This allows communication between consumers in real time to get optimal responses as well as results. There are many possibilities that are very exciting. Many brands are now coming up with marketing campaigns that are AI powered and things seem to be working great.

Third tip: Connect your mobile strategies with many channels

When you are using mobile marketing, never use it in isolation. You should also use the profile and behavioral data from any data system to target your marketing efforts. In order to access such data, you will need to connect your mobile automation platform to other related solutions. The channels are best managed using a single marketing automation kind of platform to be effective.

When you can access messages, offers, and dates within a single solution, you will find that it helps you create efficiencies and it also ensures that there is consistency across all the journeys of the consumers.

With multichannel automation that speaks a single language with the ecosystem, you can get the job done effectively and very quickly as well. This will also allow the customers to experience the brand in a more natural and consistent manner. This in turn allows the brand to actually exceed the conversation and engagement goals that you may have. Many brands are now working hard to transform the marketing campaigns to have better results.

Every brand needs a video marketing strategy. This is an idea that has been around for a long time. The only difference today is how important this has become. You need video marketing on every channel and platform, and it is not just about an overall plan anymore. Videos need to be playing a central role in the campaign and outreach efforts.

Video has made an entry in a major way and there is no end in sight as of now. There is a great need for everyone to optimize their content as this is the smartest thing today in this day and age. If you do not use content optimization hand in hand with optimization on YouTube, then you are missing out on a lot of things.

Today, more and more people will prefer videos as compared to email newsletters, especially when the videos are about the brands that they support. Videos are more popular than social images too. Videos are also easy to remember when compared to images and texts that can be forgotten within a short time.

Video production has become quite accessible to marketing teams. You can create any kind of video you want very easily. The production equipment is also quite cost-effective than was the case in the past. You can even use your own smartphone to shoot a 4K video without compromising the quality. For the social videos, when it is simple and raw, it comes across as being authentic and this is all that matters to your customers.

Types of digital marketing videos that you can create

Before you start creating a video, you will have to determine the kind of video you want to make. There are some options available and each is handled differently. Some of the videos that you can create include:

• • Demo videos: these are used to showcase how a product works. This could be done by taking the audience on a software tour and how it is used. It can also be about how a product is unboxed and tested before use.
  • Brand videos: these are usually distributed as part of a larger campaign. They show the level of the company’s mission, vision as well as its services and products. The main aim here is to come up with videos that create awareness about the company and make an attempt to attract an audience.
  • Event videos: your company could be hosting a discussion, a conference, a fundraiser or any other event. It is important to come up with a highlight reel. Making interesting releases, presentation and interviews will capture the minds of many.
  • Expert interviews: getting some thought leaders or experts to conduct interviews in front of the camera is an amazing way to build authority and trust in your audience. You need to track down influencers within your own industry or even someone with a contrary view and then let your audience view them.
  • Educational videos: these videos can be used to teach the audience new things or add to the functional knowledge that they already have. This is the best way to help them understand your business better and also the solutions that you offer.
  • Explainer videos: these videos help the audience to understand the reasons as to why they need the product or service that you are offering. Many of these videos focus on the buyer persona, especially in dealing with a given problem. This person ends up overcoming the issue at hand by adopting the solution offered by the business.
  • Animated videos: animated videos can be an amazing way to format concepts that are hard to grasp. These are usually concepts that need very strong visuals or a product or service that cannot be touched.
  • Customer testimonial and case study videos: prospects only need to know that their problems will be solved by your product. One of the best ways to showcase the products and build customer trust is to come up with case study videos featuring your loyal and happy customers. These are the best advocates. You need to get the customer to talk about the challenges they faced and how exactly you helped them to meet any goals and solve the issues.
  • Live videos: live videos are an amazing way of giving viewers a kind of behind the scenes look at the company. You can stream live presentations and interviews as well and then encourage people who are watching to comment with their own questions or opinions.
  • Virtual reality and 360-degree videos: with the 360-degree option, the viewers can see all directions by simply scrolling to see it in a different perspective. This style is best for letting the viewer’s to experience an event or a location like exploring with scientist and so on. Virtual reality allows the viewers to control and navigate their own experience. The videos are usually viewed using different devices like the Google cardboard or Oculus Rift.
  • Augmented reality videos: this is a style where a digital layer is added to what is being watched. For example, you can point the camera to the living room and see how an addition such as a couch, could look in a particular space.
  • Personalized messages: recorded videos are a very creative way of continuing with a conversation and getting someone’s attention, especially when a response has not been received through email or any other communication channel. You can make a recap video about a meeting or a video where personalized recommendations are given using different tools. These are videos that can be a great delight for prospects and they can encourage them to purchase.

Other things to note about video and video marketing

Before you begin a recording, you need to establish the purpose of the video that you are creating. All decisions point back to different actions that you want the audience to complete once the video is over. When you do not have a clear purpose, you will have to edit and reshoot the video which translates to a lot of lost time.

Come up with a clear questionnaire that will answer some unknowns and then create a superb video so that the stakeholders of the project can view it. It need not be too long, but ensure all the essentials are covered.

Know your target audiences, set your goals, choose your platform, know the due date, set the budget, and look at the creative requirements and so on. These are the things that will greatly help any video marketing campaign.