Takeaways from the Twitter-CBS video ads deal

Twitter used Advertising Week to announce a new ad deal with CBS that means clips and highlights from 42 shows will be promoted across the social network this fall. Both Twitter and CBS will sell the new distribution to advertisers in packages that could also include TV. 

Twitter's Glenn Brown visited Ad Age @ Advertising Week to explain how the joint venture will work.

Reference:  Advertising Week Video: Inside Twitter's Ad Deal With CBS.

If you're a small business owner, this major deal between Twitter and CBS may seem rather complex, out-of-reach, and thus irrelevant for you.  But my takeaway from this deal may jog creative ideas that you can use.

Amplify is Twitter's advertising program, and what it does, using my commonplace parlance, is this:  (a) It repurposes existing content, actually just clips of existing video content, of media companies, like CBS and ESPN; (b) ties it with video content of advertisers, like Ford and AT&T; and (c) actively promotes it on Twitter.

Amplify deploys its algorithms to target select users among the millions and millions on Twitter, based on users' data, such as following, tweets and profile.

A small business owner ought to have some videos that promote their products and services, and the takeaway is to repurpose clips of these videos, say, into another edited video, to promote them actively on social media.  Besides Twitter, you have quite a host of options freely at your disposal, of course:  from Google+, Facebook and LinkedIn, to Pinterest, Tumblr and Instagram.  You can easily use tags to help your target audience find your promotional video posts.

Big Dogs speak their voice on social media

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Dustin Stout posted 5 Social Media Tips for Becoming one of the Big Dogs on Google+ recently:

In case you missed it over the weekend, I shared my thoughts on why it doesn't matter how large your social media following is, your voice is important. You should never have to qualify any statement with, _"well I'm not one of the "big dogs" of [social network]..." because your voice and your opinion matters! 

And even if you're still a bit intimidated to throw your voice in, these 5 tips can help steer you in the direction of becoming one of the big dogs of social media yourself.

I shared it, and commented:

How to be a Big Dog on social media: It takes time and effort, but it's quite doable as Dustin W. Stout points out.

My comment: Just to reinforce a point you mention in your note, Dustin: Whatever content you post ought to be something you're truly interested in and speaks your genuine voice. I get the sense that some people are liking, posting or sharing, simply for the sake of liking, posting or sharing. There isn't much of their voice in it.

Thanks to Mike Allton for sharing.

Website essentials to attract leads

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This is quite a useful infographic from Entrepreneur: 7 Website Essentials to Land More Sales.  How well does your website engage visitors, attract leads, and land you more sales?

How we social networked, before social networking

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Scott Torrance posted this image on Google+, and asked How ever did we cope before social media?

I shared it, and quipped: There, you see, some of us have been social networking, even before social networking was in vogue.

Taco Bell jumps in with tweets and video ads

Tressie Lieberman

There's a wonderful, potentially mysterious story on this one.  Trust me, and bear with me.

Tressie Lieberman is Director of Digital and Social Marketing at Taco Bell, and she know very well that nowadays you have to have a pulse on what's hot and trending, socially speaking, and you have to act quickly on your marketing ideas.

Of course, she cannot just do anything her pulse or creativity tells her to do.  I don't imagine she has a limitless budget.  But while some ad campaigns do require time, effort and planning, some must move, move, move without hesitation.

There was no time for rest this past Labor Day for Taco Bell’s social marketing team, busy shooting a YouTube video about a fan who started a drawing club out of the chain’s Pacifica, Calif., location. 

The concept was pitched the previous Thursday, then developed and filmed over the holiday weekend. 

... Lieberman describes her job as a “daily adventure” where each morning begins with a staff meeting in which ideas just like this are hatched.

Whether it's the your iPhone videocam, or a easily portable Toshiba, you have to be ready to shoot and shoot well, and edit quickly, too, of course.  

"Bo, stop trying to make fetch happen"

Apparently Lieberman saw a chance, when The White House tweeted the message and photo above, in reference to the 2004 film "Mean Girls," and Taco Bell jumped right in.  I threw in my two cents, too.

If you saw 2004's "Mean Girls," you know the line. High-schooler Gretchen throws out the word "fetch" as a synonym for "cool," and head Mean Girl Regina blows up at her with "Gretchen, stop trying to make fetch happen! It's not going to happen!"

Reference:  'Mean Girls' fan Bo Obama is making 'fetch' happen.

Someone perpetuated a hoax on the remote town of Bethel, Alaska and convinced them that a Taco Bell was opening soon. Then they found out it was all made up. When the story started making headlines and we caught wind of it, our team decided to do something about it. "Do something" like drop a Taco Bell Truck in town by helicopter and serve the whole town Doritos Locos Tacos. 

In a matter of days, the team went from idea, to production, to live on air and on the web. In social media, we live tweeted #OperationAlaska as it was happening and fans began to follow along to see what came next. 30 second TV spots aired just days after shooting, which drove viewers to see the full story online. At the website, viewers could also explore bonus footage, and react through social media. It became the feel good taco story of the year.

Reference:  Operation Alaska.

Of course, this video took more production planning, time and effort.  But I really love it!  Definitely a feel-good story.

But then I wondered, Who perpetuated that hoax?  Hmm.

How McDonald's does a video ad

Using online video for your business is not about sharing your commercials or recycling something that aired on TV, says Shira Lazar, host of What's Trending on YouTube. Instead, Lazar advises thinking about how to create a new experience for viewers, like a recent McDonald's video [below] that took viewers behind-the-scenes of an ad shoot to answer a customer's question [emphasis, added].

Isabel M from Toronto asked "Why does your food look different in the advertising than what is in the store?"

Our answer? An exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of a McDonald's Canada photo shoot.

Building a social media audience

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Kimberley Drobny walks us through Three Steps to Captivating a Larger Social Media Audience, with my commentary:

Know the networks

Google+, Twitter and Facebook are not all created the same, even though they fall under the umbrella of social media.  If you're not familiar, then get to know a site by joining up, exploring it, and participating.  It's easy enough to post stuff, but I find that commenting and discussing, asking and listening do not happen nearly often enough.  So don't fall into the trap of merely posting stuff.  

Search with keywords

There are search bars or drop-down menus on social media.  Remind yourself what audience you may be targeting, then enter keywords that describe or fit them:  for example, by city, title or industry.  Also, search for groups or communities where your audience gather, and get familiar and participate actively.

Use engaging content

Experts often advises to post content that engages our audience.  That's very true.  If they don't like it, if they don't need it, or if it doesn't something satisfy a need, then you are likely to fall short of your aims.  The other half of the equation, however, is that the content you post must be genuinely of interest and agreeable to you, too.  Building an audience takes time and effort, and if you are just halfway enthusiastic about some things you post, then it can be an arduous, even failed effort.  So reflect on that, decide what you need to do differently, and post accordingly.