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Video marketing is nothing new but it’ll have explosive growth in 2017 as a form of content marketing. Make sure you have these tools in your arsenal to be prepared for such.

The post How to Get Into Video in 2017 by @JordanKasteler appeared first on Search Engine Journal.

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Looking for a marketing strategy that’ll give you that extra leg up in 2017?

While it’s always helpful and entertaining to spend hours absorbed in the blog posts, webinars, and podcasts from your favorite marketing influencers, there’s not always time for that. And with January 1 just a few short days away, you need to finalize your plans — fast.

So in addition to all that content, why not look at what your favorite influencers are actually doing themselves?

When I went to HubSpot’s INBOUND event last month, that was my goal. Before I even got to Boston, my coworkers and I started planning who we wanted to learn from. We made a list, we checked it twice, and we set out to learn from the best.

Guess what? It paid off. While there, we spoke to some of the smartest people in inbound marketing and found out what marketing strategies they’re excited to use more in 2017. That’s not to mention what we learned in their talks and sessions.

Check out the infographic below for some of the most helpful highlights from folks like Gary Vaynerchuk, Peg Fitzpatrick, Larry Kim, and more.

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Picture this all-too-common scenario: You’re 12 revisions into a client project, when you promised only four. You’ve now spent almost triple the time you intended on the project, which gives you less time (and energy) to devote to other clients.

It’s a frustrating situation, for sure, but the damage goes beyond that — it’s also hurting your bottom line.

Scope creep is the ever-lurking monster under the bed for marketing agencies. A recent Deltek study on agency workflows, for instance, found that nearly 40 percent of agencies exceed their budgets because of scope creep.

It whittles away at your profitability, and when you’re constantly handing out a dozen or more revisions, it also sets unrealistic expectations for your clients. If left unchecked, it can mean less time for your agency to grow its business.

Of course, there’s a fine line between providing good service to your clients — which sometimes does require going above and beyond — and flat-out giving away your services for free.

I’m not suggesting you nickel-and-dime clients to death, but it is essential to set strict limitations on what you will (and won’t) do and stick to them. Otherwise, your profits will continue to seep out of the hole you’ve failed to block up at the bottom of your boat.

Scope Creep Starts with Vague Proposal Documents

It’s easy to blame clients for scope creep, but truthfully the blame sits right at your feet. At the end of the day, it’s your responsibility to serve as the gatekeeper of your agency’s services. Scope creep is entirely yours — not your client’s — to control.

Vague proposal documents are the number one culprit when it comes to this problem. They lead to over-servicing your clients, which in turn leads to lower profits.

The key: Set limits, set boundaries, and be very specific. Good scope documents include assumptions about both the project and the processes. Clearly outline the ripple effect that will happen if one piece of the project is delayed or altered, and detail how changes should be addressed, should the need arise.

Your clients need to know explicitly what they can and cannot expect from your team. If you specifically outline the deliverables you will provide each quarter, with little room for interpretation, then you’ll be setting yourself up for success.

It’s a Numbers Game: Know the Math, Increase Profits

OK, so you know you need to tighten up your language on your proposal documents, but where do you start?

Before you add in any additional fees for excessive revisions or change orders, you must intimately know the math and exactly how your agency makes money.

You may find that you are literally paying for the privilege of working with certain clients. If you run profitability reports for your clients (and you should), you might see that certain clients — those who consistently exceed scope with “small projects” and “just one more revision” — are actually costing you money.

But it’s not just agency leaders who need to be financially savvy. Your account team also should have a clear understanding of how the business works. After all, they are the ones in charge of communicating with the client and monitoring the budget.

If they don’t understand agency math — or how you spend your AGI — then how are they supposed to know when to say “yes” or “no” to a client request?

3 Strategies for Stopping Scope Creep in Its Tracks

Scope creep is an issue all agencies face, but it’s not impossible to stamp out of your business practices. Here are three strategies to ensure you’re both maximizing profitability and providing clients with top-shelf service.

1) Teach Your Employees the Rules of the Game

Every single day, your agency is either making money or losing money.

If your team members don’t understand the dollars-and-cents of the business, they will continue to believe their greatest priority is keeping clients happy. The easiest way to do this, of course, is to over-service clients — not a great tactic for maximizing profits.

if you educate all employees on the costs of your goods and services, they’ll be better able to balance keeping clients happy and servicing your firm.

2) Leave No Room for Misinterpretation in Your Scope Documents

At the very least, your scope documents should define your deliverables, the number of revisions you’re willing to do, and each project’s timetable.

Use language that leaves no room for interpretation, such as “With this estimate, you are going to be granted four revisions. Any revision after the fourth will result in a $250 fee.”

The number of revisions and the fee amount should be tailored to your agency, but the important thing is that your client knows from the very beginning of your contracted relationship exactly what they’re agreeing to. Once the client signs the document, there doesn’t have to be a big discussion every time the fifth revision rolls around.

3) Don’t Be Afraid to Issue Change Orders

Change orders give your scope documents some teeth. How you treat changes in scope helps train your clients with how much you’re willing to bend. So try not to bend.

The biggest reason change orders aren’t issued is that agency leaders and employees think they don’t have enough time or it’s not worth the headache. Here’s how the thinking usually goes: “By the time I calculate the change order cost, write up a document, and get it signed by the client, I could have just made the change.”

The reality, though, is that you can’t afford to not issue change orders. By doing this, you’ll prevent the client from future abuse of scope. You want to make the client happy, but you are also running a business. And businesses run on profitability.

There will be times when the client or the circumstance justifies waiving that change order fee. But by having the fees in place, those free revisions become a gift you are giving clients, not a right. Giving one revision out gratis sure beats handing out 10 for free — which is what you may be doing now.

Being specific and firm with your scope won’t damage your client relationships. Rather, being firm will train them to get their ducks in a row before they request changes or revisions.

It’s tough love, sure, but you’ll be surprised how receptive your clients will be to having firm parameters to operate within. Most importantly, you’ll no longer have to watch project scope continually creep and profitability shrink.

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It’s that time of year. Holiday music, sweet treats, classic movies — all the reasons to cozy up and spend time at home with the ones you love. And with Google Home, there are countless ways to spread the holiday cheer.  

Play Netflix on your TV with the magic words “Ok Google”

Serve up the holiday classics that make your season bright, hands-free, right to your TV — when Google Home is paired with a Chromecast device. Now, in addition to YouTube videos, you can stream any movie or TV series from Netflix to the TV, using just your voice*. Start with “Ok Google, play Stranger Things from Netflix on my TV” or “Ok Google, play Love Actually on Netflix on my TV”. You can even control your media with commands like “Pause this episode”, without lifting a finger. Here’s how to link your Netflix account to the Google Assistant from the Google Home app (make sure you’re running the latest version). Netflix linking in the Google Home app is available now for iOS and rolling out to Android this week.

Enjoy your Google Photos on the big screen, hands-free.

The holidays is the perfect time to gather around and relive memories from the year. Google Photos now works with Google Home, so you can share your photos on your Chromecast-connected TV, using just your voice. Simply say, “Ok Google, show my photos of Lake Tahoe on my TV” to see your beautiful pictures bigger. Even if you can’t remember the name of the album, you can search for pictures. Try “Ok Google, show my photos of selfies at Christmas on my TV” or “Ok Google, show my photos of Brazil sunsets on Chromecast”. You can even use your voice to search for your places, things and people.

Learn how to link your Photos account to the Google Assistant here.

Enjoy holiday music from your favorite apps

Fill your home with festive tunes from your favorite music apps like Google Play Music, Spotify, Pandora, or YouTube Music with just a simple voice command. Say, “Ok Google, play Hanukkah music” or “Ok Google, play Christmas music” and you’ll get into the spirit in no time.

Keep track of Santa

Whether he’s preparing his sleigh or already in flight, your Assistant keeps you informed of Santa’s latest whereabouts (tracked by Google Maps). Just say “Ok Google, where’s Santa right now?”

Get YouTube Red FREE for six months

Keep the holiday glow going well into the new year as you enjoy a premium music experience — more songs, more versions, no ads — with YouTube Red. Get six months free of YouTube Red when you buy a Google Home before December 31, 2016**.

Make your holidays truly magical with Google Home.

*Netflix streaming membership required

**Offer expires 12/31/16. Terms apply. New subscribers only.

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Campus Exchange is a start-up exchange program hosted by Google for Entrepreneurs. We recently invited four start-ups from Korea and another four from Brazil, Ireland, Mexico, and Poland to join us at Campus Seoul for a week.  We gave them access to Startup:Con 2016, and hosted workshops on the topic of going global with their businesses. Two founders — Byungik Choi, CEO of CoolJam, the Korean start-up behind “Hum On!”, an app which transforms hummed melodies into musical soundtracks, and Pedro Matsumura Kayatt, co-founder of VRMonkey, a virtual reality start-up based in Brazil — share their insights from the exchange.  

What are some of the differences between running a start-up in your countries and elsewhere? 

Byungik of Cool Jamm (Korea): I’ve realized just how supportive the Korean government is of start-ups compared to some other countries. Mentors are readily available here—though I do think there’s always room for more role models who are open to sharing advice about their entrepreneurial journey. 

Pedro of VRMonkey (Brazil): Korea has a very tech-friendly environment that helps companies to perform better and even attract more investments. Brazil’s still an emerging country when it comes to technology—there aren’t many big tech players, and many people with a technical background end up going abroad. 

How do you think your experience at the Google Seoul Campus Exchange will shape your company?

Pedro: First thing we learned is to focus. Our VR studio has been doing a lot of things, and we should really focus on doing more in one particular area. We also learned how we can collaborate better with so many content providers to create really amazing VR experiences that’ll hopefully go mainstream.

Second, we now understand how important it is for our projects to be accessible in other languages. English is not enough. People in Korea and other countries want to play games in their own language. Plus, we understand that we can launch games and experiences that can also impact other regions, so we are exploring more themes—including Asian themes—to create more content. 

Byungik: First, it reminded me of the importance of English. For a global start-up, having fluent English skills are mandatory. Second, the dogfooding session taught us that we could get a lot of meaningful feedback from Googlers and other start-up members who are from different cultures. It was really helpful. We’ve now decided to do dogfooding sessions frequently.

Who was one of the most memorable entrepreneurs or people you met during this trip? 

Pedro: Wow, that is hard! I met so many amazing people during the program, but one guy who made me feel at home was Junsoo Kim, Chief Operating Officer of Reality Reflection. He invited me to their office and we spent a night there talking about the future of VR and sharing our companies’ projects over a pizza! It was a great time and made us rethink a lot of things about VRMonkey.

Byungik: All the participating start-ups are wonderful. FanFootage from Ireland was most impressive to me. I think it was a good example where a great idea and great technology are well-combined. And the Brazilian guys of VRMonkey were cool and friendly.

The week-long Campus Exchange in Seoul featured participants from all around the world, icnlduing FanFootage from Ireland, FEAT Sp. z o.o. from Poland,  Machina Wearable Technology from Mexico, VRMonkey from Brazil, and 1DAY1SONG, Cool Jamm, Maverick Co. and Busking TV all from Korea.

A panel on fundraising in Korea featuring Tim Chae of 500startups and Kihong Bae of Strong Ventures

What’s your advice to entrepreneurs seeking to expand their business?

Byungik: Staying humble. It is I who must ask for advice from other entrepreneurs because I just started my first start-up. Everything is new to me.

Pedro: My strongest advice would be to share. Be honest about what you are doing, do it in the best way you can imagine, and share your work with anyone interested in it. There are few secrets and almost no competitors when it comes to markets like mobile and VR because basically, the whole world is your client.

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Google Assistant vs. Siri – is one smartphone AI better than the other? We’ll leave that for you to decide with this infographic.

The post Google Assistant vs. Siri: Which is the Best Smartphone AI? [INFOGRAPHIC] by @MattGSouthern appeared first on Search Engine Journal.

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For the first time ever, Amazon Product Listing Ads have been popping up in what appears to be an AdWords test.

The post Amazon begins testing Product Listing Ads on AdWords appeared first on Search Engine Land.

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Google claimed 5 spots in the list of top 10 downloaded apps of 2016 in latest Nielsen report.

The post Google Has 5 of the Top 10 Apps in 2016, According to Nielsen Rankings [REPORT] by @MattGSouthern appeared first on Search Engine Journal.

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Google is going to prioritize mobile in 2017. And it means that digital marketers and SEO professionals need to seriously consider implementing Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) on their sites. But does it make any sense? Read on to learn more!

The post Do I Need AMP? by @grybniak appeared first on Search Engine Journal.

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The transition from text-based to visual marketing is already well underway, as customer demand drives organizations to rethink how people communicate on the most basic level.

Cisco estimates video will constitute 80% of all consumer Internet traffic by 2019, and although marketers are racing to catch up, they’re still behind the times: in 2015, 52% of senior marketing executives believed that visual assets such as infographics, photos, videos and illustration could help them tell their brand story. But given that human attention spans dropped a whopping 33% between 2000 and 2015, from 12 to 8 seconds — and some report its dropped even lower — marketers no longer have any choice in the matter: eye-catching visuals that are quick to digest and easy to share will be an essential tool for any brand moving forward.

But what’s a brand to do when you have no idea what visual assets will be both effective and the right fit for your organization? This post will explain a few essential terms and tips you’ll need to get started.

1. Visual Communication

Visual communication may be the most form of all.

It may sound simple enough: visual communication uses images and visuals to create meaning.

Why?

Because it is likely to become the only way that the majority of marketers communicate with their audiences — so you need to know it when you see it. This isn’t just because people prefer video to text, and are more likely to share photos. It’s also easier than ever for any brand to reach an international audience. Just take a look at Google AdWords, which (finally!) launched a redesign in March, of which an essential part of the design was making it language-agnostic to remove obstacles for audiences with a wide variety of backgrounds and skill sets.

The new Google AdWords features clean visualization and icons that communicate the type of information being mapped, no matter what language you speak. Image Source

When necessary, limited text is included to explicate the meaning. Take a look at Starbucks’ visual communication strategy: one tweeted image incorporates autumn leaves combined with moss emblematic of their Pacific Northwest roots, announcing that the drink in hand is both seasonal and rooted in Starbucks’ larger tradition.

The holidays. When everything shows its heart. #HolidaySpiceFlatWhite pic.twitter.com/XIvy1ZFQMG

— Starbucks Coffee (@Starbucks) November 23, 2016

Starbucks’ visual communication strategy ensures every piece of visual content is immediately identifiable with their brand. In one of Starbucks’ most-liked tweets of the last few months, autumn leaves communicate the seasonality of the drink while moss connects to the company’s Pacific Northwest roots — no text necessary.

Another tweet reminds customers (without using a single word) that the brand is famous for just how personalizable their products are. Their stores and products project the same visual identity as their social pages. You know a Starbucks image immediately when you see it. That’s effective visual communication.

Find your holiday favorite: https://t.co/DgCc0G1fIS #RedCups pic.twitter.com/aXW1vNrYuz

— Starbucks Coffee (@Starbucks) November 12, 2016

Starbucks communicates its reputation for personalized drinks, the breadth of its product offerings, and its release of seasonal cups — all in a single, text-free illustration.

But it’s easy to fall short of this goal. A great piece of visual communication should communicate in just the same way as the AdWords interface now strives to: without reading a word, you should be able to look at the design and tell what the graphic is about — what message it’s trying to send.

Here are a few questions to ask to determine whether your visual content meets the standards that your audiences will hold you to. If the answer is “no” to any of these, rethink whether your content is really communicating effectively:

Ask someone unfamiliar with the graphic or video to glance at it for 5 seconds. Can she tell you what the theme is?
Are you using illustrations and assets custom-made for the content, as opposed to cookie-cutter graphics or clip art?
Is the content targeted toward achieving a single goal?
Are both the design and the copy calibrated to attract and interest your target audience?
Have you kept text to a minimum?

2. Visual Storytelling

Every brand has a story to tell, but with more stories to choose from than ever before, keeping an audience engaged can be a challenge.

The answer lies in what’s already interesting to your viewers: we’re living in the golden age of television and online video; game and virtual realities are becoming more complex every day; and websites encourage visitors to interact actively with their content. Storytelling today has to be something users can see, interact with or hear before they’ll share.

Take a look at Carrington College’s informational motion graphic on springtime allergies:

It transforms pollen, white blood cells, and even mast cells into humorous characters to reframe what could otherwise be a boring explanation as a story. Every audience is attracted to stories — it seems to be a part of our human DNA. And with the help of clever visual storytelling strategies, anything can become a story.

Visual storytelling uses visual communication to craft a narrative that explains a concept and often evokes an emotional response. It’s ideal for those marketers seeking to share an idea, promote a point of view, or convince potential customers of the quality and effectiveness of their product. As with visual communication, education is one of the end goals, but this approach aims to persuade the viewer to reach a specific conclusion.

Here are a few elements that make for a great visual story:

Plot: You should carefully guide your viewers from beginning to end.
Priorities: Only use the strongest data and arguments. Too much information is overwhelming.
Audience: Identify a single target audience and create a story they can relate to.
Goal setting: If you’re trying to make too many points at once, or share too many ideas, you’ll end up turning viewers away. A targeted, single goal promotes shareability and engagement.

3. Information Visualization

You’ve got more data than ever and no idea how to cull meaning from that data. Or maybe you do know what it means, but it’s nearly impossible to get your colleagues interested in what that data has to say — much less get your customers so excited that they’re willing to retweet that data to their followers. This is where quality information visualization comes in — and “quality” is the keyword.

Information visualization aims to convey meaning as quickly as possible. The primary focus is to educate the viewer, not to persuade them to form a specific opinion. Information visualization can also be aesthetically engaging and even interactive, as The New York Times proves with its visualization of deportation numbers.

Massive amounts of data are made meaningful in The New York Times’ visualization of U.S. deportation numbers. The graphic transforms as readers scroll down. Image Source

But to be effective, you need to use visualizations that stand up to scrutiny, follow mathematical and scientific best practices, and quickly communicate the big picture. Not everyone is up to this task. Here are a few essentials for when you’re visualizing information:

Check your graphs: Using a pie chart for something that’s not a percentage or setting inconsistent scales for your graphs are both big errors that could take center stage instead of your actual message.
Keep it simple: Don’t try to pack too much information into one image. One graph should have one takeaway.
Focus on the message: Getting lost in the data is the opposite of the point. Help readers understand what’s important and why through careful organization of the content, as well as icons and illustrations when necessary.

4. Visual Campaigns

What if you have a more complex story to tell? Most companies do. One piece of content just can’t say everything you need to say.

One piece of content — even if it’s a social post that goes viral or a video that gets thousands of likes — also isn’t likely to assure the long-term success of your company. That’s why more and more organizations are looking at improving their branding by placing more emphasis on visual content and creating a consistent look and feel that will span multiple marketing campaigns and a variety of content types, from motion graphics and interactive pages to infographics and social posts. At the same time, marketing campaigns are now expected to have a consistent and recognizable visual element — something that can be recognized instantly.

Take a look at how Coca-Cola’s one brand campaign launched this year. Its products were available in dozens of countries, with dozens of looks designed for maximum appeal wherever they were sold. It was a massive undertaking, but the company pared down its product design to just four universally recognizable packages.

Image Source

Coca-Cola’s old strategy was to create new branding for each new product. Now, they’ve united their global branding with four consistent, and instantly recognizable, colors, each of which is visible on all sides, no matter which way the bottle or can is turned on the shelf.

“When people see this new brand identity, they’ll know they’re buying a Coca-Cola,” explained James Sommerville, vice president of global design.

This is all to say that companies are redesigning all their customer-facing content to offer up a consistent visual message. Here are just a few of the benefits of undertaking a visual campaign:

The consistent use of quality assets across your brand communicates an overall dedication to quality that customers today are equipped to recognize and prepared to appreciate through engagement and sharing.
A single face for your visual content communicates that you’re committed to authentic and honest communication — not changing your stripes with every new piece of content.
Multiple visual assets can reach a broader audience because of their adaptability to different platforms.
A consistent look builds brand awareness.

Conclusion

In the end, visual communication is an indispensable tool for any marketer, but execution is key. Not just any visual content will do the job. Consumers ignore sloppily designed or cookie-cutter graphics in favor of those that inspire — not only in how they look but also in how they deliver their primary message. Armed with these essential terms and a list of dos and don’ts, you’ll be well prepared to avoid the pitfalls as you navigate to the visual communications agency that’s right for your brand.

Did you know? With Kissmetrics, you can track the effectiveness of your online advertising. Optimize your marketing by knowing which campaigns perform and which don’t. Check out our infographic to learn more.

About the Author: Erin McCoy is the Public Relations Manager for Killer Infographics.

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