Babies, Cats & Dogs...

Have you ever noticed how many businesses sell their products using cute pictures of babies, cats or dogs? While little scientific research has been done to determine exactly how and to what degree these images influence our purchasing behavior, these images do catch the attention of most viewers – a good thing when you have only seconds to grab the prospective buyer’s attention.

Some other ways to grab attention:

• Whether you’re writing a book, article, e-mail or social media post, a catchy headline will encourage readers to stop and look at what you have written. Note that the headline must be related to what you have written; if it’s totally off-topic, the viewer may open the e-mail this time but may discount future e-mails from you or unsubscribe. 
• Your business (or individual) personality should shine through whatever you do. 
• Make your posts timely. Value is lost if the discussion becomes “so yesterday.” 
• Keep your content brief. Everyone is busy and if your content is too long, it’s ignored. 
• Use interesting photos. If you are posting on Facebook, don’t just post a single photo. Add at least three to an album and comment on the photos for more follower interest. 
• Include statistics or numbers (“…90% of people surveyed say our hot sauce is the best they’ve ever had!”). 
• Use humor, if it’s appropriate for your product or service. Don’t try this if your business provides funeral services! 
•  Another option is video. Provide short, educational or informative pieces viewers will be likely to share with friends and associates. 
• Use client testimonials. Real people talking about the benefits they received can be persuasive. 
• Music can also catch attention. Match the music to your product or service. 
•  Try something different. Have you ever looked up at the TV when the chatter stops to see a commercial with only moving pictures or text across the screen?

Finding new ways to catch the attention of prospects is an ongoing challenge and you may need to test various approaches to find out which is the most successful for your business. You’ll also want to monitor the results over time and adjust your approach as your audience changes or grows. Want to learn more? Send us an email at cs@vitalinkweb.com. 

Expert Advice

With the growing influence of social media and new ways to communicate, it is getting harder for your voice to be heard above the chatter. To succeed, you must not only be heard but believable. This begins with positioning yourself as an expert. Here are a few tips that might help:

1. Choose the one thing that you do best and are passionate about and build on that strength. If you are a marketer and your passion is branding, focus on that. If your business is local, start by targeting your efforts close to home.


2. Talk about your passion to everyone who will listen. Okay, this should not be the only thing you talk about at holiday parties, but have an elevator speech ready to use when someone asks what you do!


3. Participate in online conversations related to your topic. Follow other bloggers or news sources and comment on their stories (make sure you include your website URL in your response); contact local radio and TV stations and offer to comment on news stories; submit commentary or offer to be interviewed by reporters. Check out the website HARO.com (Help a Reporter Out); this is a good way to get quoted as an expert.


4. What is your Google "footprint"? Will people find you when they search? Press releases and social media like LinkedIn (a business must), Facebook, Twitter, Picassa, Flickr, having a website URL with your name (even if it redirects to your bio page on your business site), and creating a Google Profile all increase your footprint and make it easier for others to find you online.


5. Start a blog. Make sure you add new content at least a couple times a week. Even if no one reads the blog at first, it helps get you “found” by the search engines and gives you another place to post relevant content. If you don’t feel you have time to blog, guest blog for others. Note that it makes sense to secure a URL related to your passion and use this on your materials.


6. Write a book or produce a video. Both are great ways to add credibility and position you as an expert.

Building yourself as an expert in the eyes of the public is not an overnight process. It does take time and effort, but keep at it and you will be surprised at the results! Let us know what you have done to distinguish yourself and become more visible to colleagues and the public.

Should Video Be Part of Your Firm's Marketing Efforts?

The marketing channels available to you to market your firm continue to expand. From blogs to social media websites to e-marketing to old fashioned direct mail or television ads, you have many options. Video offers a flexible option to reach and educate prospective clients. While you can spend a large portion of your budget on professional videos, they are not always necessary. A January 2010 Nielsen survey showed that YouTube had over 100 million visitors who viewed over 6 billion videos. Google Places (formerly Google Local Business Center) links YouTube video to your Google listing so that web visitors can learn more about you through video.

But isn’t video pricey? I’ll give you my favorite answer: “It depends.” Done properly, video can position you and your firm as the subject matter expert in the eyes of the viewer. Done poorly, you can position yourself as untrustworthy just by not having fine attention to detail. Proper planning, knowledge and doing it right the first time will help your return on investment. As an example, if you are an estate planning/elder law firm in a highly competitive market and are looking to be noticed, you might choose to professionally produce an educational video in a news program format. This video could also be made available to interested groups, giving them permission to run the program at a group meeting or event. On the other hand, many subjects lend themselves to a less formal video format. You might choose to create a short video (1-4 minutes) in your office with home equipment on a tripod that presents one of your attorneys offering “need to know” points on workers’ compensation in your state. Any video could be posted on YouTube (make sure to include appropriate keywords) and on the appropriate practice area page on your website. It should also be promoted through your other marketing channels.

Who’s using video? Many businesses and organizations are utilizing video to promote their messages. YouTube is a favorite place to post these videos. The United States Coast Guard (USCG) has posted a number of boating safety videos on YouTube and promotes these videos on their website. The National Transportation Safety Board has also used YouTube to post informative video clips on such topics as how to choose a motorcycle helmet. That particular video was used as an integrated part of the May 2010 Share the Road motorcycle safety campaign. The campaign included a press kit with free photos, resources and links that supporting organizations could use on their own websites at no charge. And don’t forget—you may want to have your video set up in a loop on a screen in your waiting area for visitors to watch.

CNN’s Twitter posts recently showed that for the first time ever more viewers get their news online than from radio or newspapers . As peoples’ use of online media continues to increase, providing information in a video format will become even more commonplace. If your firm has not yet considered how video will play into your marketing mix, it’s time to do so.

When you’re ready to add video to the mix, here are some things you need to know:

• Videos must be educational – consumers can spot a sales pitch a mile away. View some sample videos done for law firms.
• The style, message and “look” of your video should support your brand
• Determine your audience before you begin – audience should determine the presentation style, language and the content
• Choose your presenter with your audience in mind – you want to find a good “match”, so that the viewer feels a comfort level with the presenter but still views your presenter as the subject matter expert
• The length is not as important as content – when you watch the video, does it provide value to the audience? Keep in mind though, attention spans tend to be short, so lead with the important information.
• Choose one topic for each video (or segment of a show) and provide a mid-range of data – you want to educate and add value but not so much that the viewer feels they don’t need you!
• Make the video part of a multi-step marketing plan – if you do a monthly e-newsletter, add a link to the video and promote it; if you print your newsletter, provide the URL so interested viewers can watch it. Promote the video on your blog. And make it easy for readers to forward the link to their friends!
• There are options to promote your video via paid advertising. The effectiveness will depend upon your market and the subject matter. You may wish to try a short test to see if it is effective.
• Consider also using a dedicated phone number or website landing page to track business coming from the video.

Using video to market your company can be a great option to reach and educate potential new clients and to position yourself and your firm as the experts. It should be a part of your firm’s long-term marketing strategy.

Jeanne Frazer is a well-known marketing speaker and author. She is the President of vitalink® (http://www.vitalinkweb.com/), a creative and strategic marketing think-tank, and partner with Lawyers Marketing Agency (http://www.lawyersmarketingagency.com/). Jeanne has many years of marketing experience marketing in a variety of industries and has just launched a new innovative educational television news program to market law firms, Spotlight on the Law. She can be reached at jfrazer@marketingspeakerauthor.com or at 919.850.0605.