The Art of Going Viral with Video ft. President Obama

This past Sunday, Feb. 15, was the deadline for people to sign up for healthcare coverage. While this is a priority for many people across the country, millennials have been elusive and have proven to be a hard demographic to appeal to with this message.

President Obama wanted everyone, especially millennials, to sign up for healthcare coverage. There are two great ways to connect with this powerful demographic: social media marketing and viral videos; so, to connect with Millennials, the President utilized those mediums, especially the video part. Obama and Buzzfeed Motion Pictures created a video to promote Healthcare.gov. 

The results that speak of the video's success are still being calculated; however, the popularity of the video is tremendous, having been watched 15 million times in its first eight hours. By the end of last night, the video surpassed 42 million views.

In the video, we see President Obama doing American-Millennial things like taking a selfie on his iPhone with a selfie-stick, blaming Obama for something (you know the sarcastic phrase, "Thanks, Obama."). However, the point of the video is hidden in his speech practice that is done in front of the mirror.

Obama is no shy person to social media, using it heavily in both Presidential campaigns and for other efforts, such as his Reddit AMA, chats with YouTube stars, and other creative projects.

Does your business need to reach a difficult demographic with its marketing? Does your business want to improve its social media presence? Then email Integraphix and our Chicago creative marketing team can help you strategize! 

Twitter to Launch Autoplay Video Feature, a Win for Social Media Advertising

Social media giant will be giving us a late Christmas gift this year, however, the wait was worth it: autoplay video! This is a great day for social media marketing as well as search engine optimization since both are often tied together.

The last year, Twitter has been working out how it would construct its built-in video system, if it decided to implement it. This new feature would give Twitter users and digital marketers a way to create great footage within the app. If you attended the CES 2015, then you likely saw this being shown. 

In a previous blog (seen here), we talked about this being in Twitter's plans and the possibility that the videos would play when users scrolled over them. This is the setup that Facebook has and it has shown to be a lucrative and efficient way for some good ROI that both consumers and brands love.

Video has proven that it is great for social sharing and is being embraced by many companies, including search giants Yahoo & Google, as well as social media giants Facebook, Snapchat, and Pinterest.

Twitter is not newbie to the video scene, they own Vine and have implemented other cool formats like GIF support in recent years. Twitter's new video feature will operate differently than what we see elsewhere. 

How will it be different?

• 6 seconds to impress- Viewers will get a 6 second preview of the video, enticing them to click and watch the full thing. However, this is not limited to the first 6 seconds of the video, so digital marketing agencies must choose their 6 seconds wisely. 
• No sound at the start- The autoplay will not have sound until the viewer clicks to watch the rest of the video (we see this with Facebook's autoplay feature). Of course, this means that advertisers will not pay until consumers click. 
• There will be a good length of time- Videos will be given the option to run up to 10 minutes. Of course, any one of our Chicago SEO specialists will tell you that the average user only watches for about 30 seconds. 

Does your business want to have a better presence on social media? Then contact Integraphix-- a Chicago SEO firm with extensive, proven success with social media. We can help you build videos that will delight the Twittersphere. 

What SEOs and Social Marketers Can Learn from NASA

NASA teaches us a lot of stuff, such as the effects of various science experiments in space and other really cool & interesting phenomenon; however, they have also taught us "creatives" a thing or two about our own domain.

The days leading up to a campaign can be petrifying. You wait for the time when everything is going as you planned it to; social media marketing posts all the way up to online ads, everything has to be perfect and your results are ideal. The launch is set to happen.

This launch is what NASA infamously refers to as "liftoff", our Chicago SEO team says "infamous" because the line, "We have lift off" is known by 99.99999999% of humans on the planet, probably. As creatives, we are always wanting to believe that our work is so necessary to planet survival that the work has to be done right now and that the world is watching as it happens. This level of pressure can make it so we don't recall the tips we've learned along the way.

Marketers are not the only people to understand this pressure, remember, NASA has the task of getting a huge rocket ship into space. They want people to know the level of pressure they have.

Now and then, NASA invites social media influencers to a program called NASA Social, in which the influencers attend a launch and document the whole thing. Here are some of the things that can be learned from seeing the launch of a spaceship, such as Orion.

1. Make your brand loyalists and all stakeholders a priority. Yes, brand loyalists are under the "stakeholder" umbrella. Now, with each step of the launch, NASA Social gives attendees the same level of exposure as the press. They can meet with NASA leaders and go inside building where the spacecraft is being built, etc. By giving the social influencers this level of access, NASA is going above and beyond for their brand fans. 
2. Get help when needed. There are few journeys one can make solo. However, the journey of going into space and leaving the atmosphere is not one of those journeys. NASA calls in lots of help, including the U.S. Navy and its own employees. As humans, we like to try and do things ourselves instead of calling in help. 
3. If conditions are not optimal, wait. Do you ever see a space launch during a hurricane? No. We don't even see them happen during a thunderstorm. Why? Well, these less than optimal conditions are not going to increase the chances of a successful launch, which are already hard to get. NASA waits as long as it needs to for perfect conditions to execute the launch. 
4. Test and retest. NASA runs multiple tests on things they do, especially when it comes to launches. They never say, "Well, this will be the first launch for this aircraft. We've never seen what it can do or tested for any flaws. But we have some eager astronauts and we'd hate to say 'No'". By the time the launch arrives, they know everything because the tests have informed them of the necessary info. Can mistakes still happen? Yes. 
5. Think big. NASA has shown several interviews about Orion, the ship destined for Mars. Why Mars? Well, we've been to the Moon and the ISS plenty of times, Mars has yet to be conquered by anything more than a satellite (We see you, Rover). 

NASA has a lot of intelligence behind it, much like a successful marketing campaign. 

As a Chicago SEO company, we strive to know the latest and best techniques and help clients gain exposure and heightened success. Do you want to hire a creative marketing agency that knows what will work for your company because it looks at you as unique and not cookie-cutter? Then talk to Integraphix! 

Local SEO in 2015: Maps & Review Sites are Key

When you want to do great internet marketing and search engine optimization, for your business, you have to look at optimizing and promotion beyond your website. In regards to a local business, this means considering maps and review sites.

If you only do internal SEO, then you are missing out on some serious promotion for your site. When Google released the Pigeon update back in July 2014, it put more emphasis on local SEO. Directory/review sites such as Yelp now have the possibility of ranking above a business's website.

Do a search for "bakery in [your local city]". You will have to go past map listings and then, likely some Yelp or other review site listings, THEN you will find some websites.

So what can you do to rank well? 

Set up your Google My Business account. List your site and make sure all information is 100% correct. You can create a listing or claim ownership of an existing one. This is a free service and will help a lot.

Utilize Yelp. Yelp gets a lot of flack for "fake reviews. Any review site will (and does) have fake reviews on the site. Guaranteed. However, it is a great place to have your business listed and get good reviews because it can really help with Google rankings. Make sure to claim your business on Yelp.

Optimize any and all listings. Claim your listings. Verify information. Add photos, hours of operation, contact info, vanity URL, and other important information. Our Chicago SEO company makes sure this is done for all clients because it helps so much.

Gather some reviews and testimonials. Have people give you reviews (don't buy them or ask your family members) but when you have a customer, ask them to fill out a review. Also, ask around for some testimonials. You won't want to ask for reviews on sites, as that is often frowned upon.

Engage with people. On social media and review sites, talk to people. Respond to them. The more talking going on and the more traffic, the better it is for your site. This also shows people that your site is human-owned and run, not by robots. As a social media marketing firm, we can tell you that there is a massive difference in popularity and success of companies's online presence between those that are robotic vs. human.

Does your business need to be noticed on the web? Contact Integraphix and see how we can help you! Talk with our digital marketing team about search engine marketing and social media.

How To Run a Social Media Program That's Effective

Social media has become one of the leading efforts for marketing for just about every company. Think about it, when you hear about a company, one of the first things we do these days is check them out on social media. However, when you have a social media program that is not working, is it actually harming your company? Is your company wasting time and possibly money?

So how does you company run a social media program that is worthwhile?

• Think strategy- Do not go at social media like you do a gym membership right after New Year's. You know what I mean, we get super excited and say we'll do it right. What really happens is we go in blind, get overwhelmed by the lack of immediate success, then we get out of there, never to return. You have a much better chance of being successful if you plan out your routine. Do not just choose the platforms you want to use because you like them and are comfortable with them; think of which ones your consumers use the most. Think about what you're going to post and when. 
• Think about the content- This is often something that is overlooked and it does not make sense why that's the case. When a company is not able to have a solid content game going, they miss their chances and their potential consumers. Make content that is relevant to your audience, relevant to the times, and makes you sound like an expert. 
• Remember, it takes time- Just like the unmotivated gym-goer after a week of their new resolution, getting fit takes time and so does successful social media. The heavy lifting is when you are designing and installing the processes towards your social media. 

Of course, if you would rather have a Chicago SEO firm handle your social media marketing, then contact Integraphix. 

Why You Should Do Social Media Marketing

Why do social media marketing for your business? Is it even worth it? It is definitely something to look into if you want to grow your small business or if you want to build brand loyalty with your consumers. Here's the thing though, you want to grow your small business and you want to build brand loyalty with consumers. Social media has done a lot in the business world and done things that we did not even know were possible.

One way social media has impacted marketing, especially internet marketing is that it has enabled quick interaction between consumers and businesses. For example, Coca-Cola has a twitter account for Doc Pemberton, inventor of Coke, and when people tweet at him, he will respond and interact; of course their other twitters will do the same, but it is just cool to see. Other brand's twitter accounts interact. The reason this is so great is because it makes consumers feel like they are noticed by their favorite brands and can actually have their voice be heard. Being able to talk with a company is like talking to a friend; you are much more loyal and genuine with a friend than you are with a stranger.

A second way social media marketing has impacted internet marketing is by enabling companies to announce news much faster than they were able to in the past. For example, say a company want to announce a new promo opportunity or something like a logo change, they can do it via social media in a few minutes; in the past, they would have to rely more on traditional media and public relations to do this work.

A third way that social media has impacted marketing is by allowing companies to go places that they were not able to go before. I don't mean that they can establish offices in geographic locations that they couldn't before but rather get involved in things they couldn't before, or at least with as much ease. For example, MLB was able to post pictures on Instagram during the home run derby when in the days prior to social media, they couldn't post their own pictures of the home run derby as the derby was going on; not that there were rules against it, but uploading pictures to the computer and then to the internet took a lot longer than simply hitting a single button on Instagram.

Overall, social media has had a huge impact on marketing and has so many benefits to it; if your business is not in on the social media buzz, you can be missing sales and exposure.