Great Video Underscores the Mobile, Multi-Screen Marketing Revolution

/in , , , , /by

One of my mantras seems to be “it’s hard to keep track of how fast things are changing when things are changing this fast.” 

It really is hard to ‘grok’ 67 million iPads being sold in just two years, isn’t it?

The question as posed by this video is “Are You Adapting?” That’s a great question given that mobile web traffic was 1% is 2009 and it was about 12% in 2012 and that’s rising rapidly. I highly recommend this highly visual video via the Associated Press and the international sports video agency, SNTV as a wake up call. (And, if you will please forgive a brief moment of shameless self-promotion, we would love to help your company or organization adapt to and take advantage of these changes. I think it’s safe to say that they will effect every organization either as an opportunity… or an opportunity missed because someone else in your niche got there first… or adapted more effectively.)

“It’s a Wonderful Web” ENewsletter Highlights Facebook Pages, Google AdWords and Luscious Links

/in , , , /by

The March 2013 edition of our “It’s a Wonderful Web” e-newsletter is out. It includes:

  • social media puzzleWhy a Basic Facebook Page is Not Effective Marketing
  • Get QuickStarted with Google AdWords, the World’s Biggest Ad Platform
  • Luscious Links including where to find great images for your blog, why Google+ is a must, and Twitter’s Vine video app

If you’re not already a subscriber, click here to read it online.

Is Vine, Twitter’s Video App, Useful for Social Media Marketing? Expert Reviews & Luscious Links

/1 Comment/in , , , , , /by

The face of online video, or what I like to call The Video Web, has just grown a new “nose.” In other words, there is now a new dimension to the online video world. In case you haven’t heard yet, the latest mobile and social video sensation is called Vine and it’s a free download app for all major mobile smartphone platforms.

Like Twitter, Vine uses #Hashtags as a way to find things and connect to stuff

Like Twitter, Vine uses #Hashtags as a way to find things and connect to stuff

Vine videos take the form of some pretty neat (and of course sometimes boring) little six-second video clips that are tightly integrated with Twitter, who recently bought the company. (FYI, Vine videos are also post-able to Facebook.)

While Vine is getting some mixed reviews—ranging from raves that it’s “the next big thing” to distain that there’s too much porn—I think the truth is that it’s got potential. While we wait to see if its buzz will last, in my opinion, Vine is fun and worth checking out.

As you will see from the aggregated “luscious links” below—all of which are from what I consider to be a solid selection of social media authorities—many major brands as well as smaller businesses are already experimenting with Vine videos. Even Sir Paul McCartney of the Beatles (or a member of his team?) is starting to run contests via Vine (see below). So, as Dylan sang, “Something is happening here…” even if we don’t know exactly what it is…

 

(FYI, Sir Paul’s next tweet said that the answer was ‘Mamunia’ from ‘Band On The Run.’)

On a more personal note—beyond my own app-aholic fascination—my litmus test proving Vine’s viability was sharing the app with a couple of 21 year old women who I met at a party. We had already established that these extremely charming social-media-active individuals were way into Instagram. But Facebook, not so much. Even as a very active Facebook user, I could appreciate their point of view, “There are too many people on Facebook posting opinions that we don’t care about.” I found this point of view to be refreshing! 🙂

When I showed them Vine and how easy it is to create multi-scene six-second mini-movie clips, they literally took to it like fish to water. Fun! Here’s one of my first Vine videos, shot (which in this case is the same as produced) at that party:

Reinforcing the “mixed reviews” theme, MarketingProfs’ Ann Handley says, “Vine: Stupid, Simple and Brilliant.” In fact, it was also Handley who tweeted the first clearly commercial Vine video that I saw. Specifically, this little ditty by the LA Dodgers in support of a new baseball star bobble-head promotion:

More Luscious Links

And last but not least, one of my favorite “social media gurus,” Jay Baer not only offers valuable insights with The 2 Ways Most People Are Misusing Vine but in this 4-minute video interview (embedded below), he tells us the bottom line of all the hype, i.e. Vine will not usher in a “new era of content marketing,” but it is an interesting new tool for serious social media marketers who are being strategic about their use of content marketing:

Bottom line, as Jay says, content marketing without a coherent strategy is not going to have a bottom line impact, no matter how nifty a tool Vine may be. And it is nifty, IMHO. After all, making video this easy to create and post is not a no-brainer.

Any comments?

“It’s a Wonderful Web” 2013!

/in , , , , , , , /by

cb-ipadThe first edition of our “It’s a Wonderful Web” e-newsletter for 2013 is out. It includes the following articles:

  • 2013: The Year of Anything is Possible
  • Special Offers!
  • Free 1-Hour Audio: Web Radio Interview
  • Luscious Links

If you’re not already a subscriber, click here to read it online.

New Internet Radio Interview: What’s So New About New Marketing?

/1 Comment/in , , , , , , , , /by

One of the fun things about having written a book about Internet marketing is getting to do interviews. Thanks to Susan Scher of the BlogTalkRadio show, “In Other Words” for the opportunity to take a full hour to discuss why I think that understanding the new dimensions of online communications is so important. Among other things, the interview (linked below) covered topics like “what’s so different about New Marketing,” authenticity, the rise of online video, the empowered consumer, social media marketing, my Attract/Engage/Relate approach to sales funnels, content marketing, and much more. Please enjoy and let me know what think.

Listen to internet radio with Perfect World Network Radio on Blog Talk Radio

New Forms of Online Video and TV Advertising Empower Advertisers

/1 Comment/in , , /by

In today’s TheTVNews “New Media / New Marketing” video report (which is embedded below at the end of this post), I talk about the tectonic shifts in the online video and TV advertising spaces. Video and TV advertising will never be the same as advertisers take advantage of new video-enabled advertising and marketing tools that are far more targeted and responsive than traditional TV could ever provide. Clearly, the old broadcast “shotgun” approach to advertising is rapidly going the way of the horse and buggy. Today’s advertisers rightly require accountability for their valuable advertising spends.

Native Video AdvertisingAlso, unlike, traditional TV advertising which is still extremely large in scope, the upstart online video advertising market is continuing to grow rapidly. According to one study, it grew 27% in 2012 and will grow at least 20% next year as well.

For your reference, here are a few links that provide more in-depth insight into these changes in the video-related advertising marketplace, including a new research study on “native video advertising” and a New York Times perspective on “programmatic buying.”

1. ReelSEO: Native Video Advertising Drawing Much Interest from Major Brands which references this Forbes study, “Going Native, How Marketers are Reinventing the Online Video Advertising Experience,“

In the words of the Forbes/Sharethrough study, ” ‘Native advertising’ has emerged as the convergence between original brand video content and dramatically new approaches to distribution that ensure an ad matches the look and feel of a website and does not interrupt the viewing experience in the manner of a television commercial.”

My favorite native video advertisement is the Red Bull “Athlete Machine Kluge” embedded here, but click on “YouTube” in the lower right corner of this clip to view on YouTube… and turn up your volume! 🙂

2. NYTimes: The New Algorithm of Web Marketing
Not only are we living in the era of the empowered consumer, but we are also seeing advertisers take on new power as “programmatic buying” technologies allow advertisers, not media companies to set advertising rates based on the real value of the highly-targeted consumers.

This is a major new trend that I believe can be expected to accelerate rapidly. And, as with all rapid changes, there are those who are dragging their feet. The Times reports, “That shift is punishing traditional online publishers, like newspaper, broadcast and magazine sites, who are receiving a much lower percentage of ad dollars as marketers use programmatic buying across a much broader canvas. Some sites, like CNN.com, refuse to even accept advertising through programmatic buying because they do not want to cede control over what ads will appear.”

Everything old is new again, especially in the online video advertising and TV spaces. Here’s my video comments about what’s linked and discussed above:

As always, I look forward to your thoughts and feedback!

New YouTube Video Invites You to Our Online Course in Internet Marketing

/1 Comment/in , , /by

I don’t know how to get more personal than creating a 3-minute video invitation that explains the real value that I know will be available to those who join me in the four-part online course in Internet marketing, Start with a Solid Foundation: Building on the 8 Key Concepts of Sustainable Online Marketing. At the very least, I’m “walking my talk” about using online video; but I hope it’s more than that… By the way, I have a few discount coupons for anyone who signs up by Saturday. Please let me know if you’re interested.

Please check out this video and let me know what you think:

You can also click here to check out an online press release overview of the new book and the new course, “Internet Marketing’s Missing Links Revealed and Illuminated by New Book and Online Course.”

I hope you’ll join us! Any questions? Please use the Contact Us form and I’ll do my best to get right back to you.

“Demystifying Internet Marketing” – Free Webinar, This Tuesday, 10/30

/4 Comments/in /by

I want to help you get a handle on Internet marketing. I wrote a book. I’ve designed a new online course. Now, I’m offering a free introductory webinar in partnership with another thought leader.

As part of the build up to my new online course, “Start with a Solid Foundation: Building on the 8 Key Concepts of Sustainable Online Marketing” I am joining with another small business marketing leader, author and consultant, Christy Strauch (http://www.smallbusinesswarrior.com ) in co-presenting a free webinar introduction called “Demystifying Internet Marketing.” 

This is happening in a web browser near you, or via dial-in phone, tomorrow, Tuesday, October 30th, promptly at 11:00AM PT. Click here to register now for this free Internet marketing webinar. And, yes, if you register we will also send you the recording, presuming that all the tech gods co-operate. 😉

We hope you will join us!

Or click here to read a press release that explains more and will also tell you how to get a free Kindle copy of my book!

Just Announced: My New Online Course on Internet Marketing

/in , , , , , /by

I’m thrilled to announce a brand new online course as part of our NewMarU.com start up:

Start with a Solid Foundation: 
Building on the 8 Key Concepts of Sustainable Online Marketing

There will be four one-hour state-of-the-art online sessions, all within a two week period. Here’s the dates

  • Tuesday Nov. 6th
  • Thursday Nov. 8th
  • Tuesday, Nov. 13th
  • Friday, Nov. 16th

All at Noon PT, 3pm ET (9am next day in NZ)

Helping people to do Internet marketing right is why I wrote my new book, Internet Marketing: 8 Key Concepts Every Business MUST Know.

NOTE: This will be a small group. There will be time for you to get your questions answered personally, and I will also give you direct feedback on your progress and step-by-step accomplishments as you grow your own online presence.

Each one-hour sessions will have a specific area of focus:

  • Session 1: Know Your Fundamentals
  • Session 2: Choose Your Building Blocks
  • Session 3: Be Your Best By Using Best Practices
  • Session 4: Marketing Fueled by Your Own Sustainable Energy

Please click here to learn more! And please let me know if you have any questions whatsoever. I’d love to see you there.

Wishing you every success,

Jon

Latest Review of Our New Internet Marketing Book is Awesome

/3 Comments/in , , , , /by

We are thrilled with this new review on BlogCritic.org of Jon’s new book, “Internet Marketing: 8 Key Concepts Every Business MUST Know.” Among other clear and articulate nuggets, Tara Hornor says:

“The author, Jon Leland lays out a systematic approach to marketing that both encompasses a strategic vision for authenticity married with practical, functional tactics.”

“Internet Marketing is a short read at about 85 pages, but you’ll find that every page is packed with powerful information. It’s a distilled version that could be hundreds of pages if Leland wanted to fill the book with fluff. Instead, he provides a very refined and focused piece that is brimming with uniquely centered and balanced approaches to both big picture strategy and down-to-earth tactics for Internet marketing.”

We are grateful. She got it! 🙂

Read the full book review

Learn more about the book

Order Now from Amazon in Paperback or Kindle Edition