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Guest Post: How Animated Videos Can Help Your Business Reach More Customers

Today, companies have a bevy of tools they can use to interact and engage with their customers. But those same tools can compete for the attention of the same target audience, posing a unique challenge for companies and their marketing team.

Study after study indicates that the attention span of the average consumer found online has been dwindling. Online interactions can be cut short by a variety of reasons, ranging from slow loading of a website to lack of engaging content.

 

Another tool to add to your arsenal

When it comes to drawing (and holding) the attention of your target customers online, whether it’s on your social media pages or even on your website, one powerful tool that you can use is the animated explainer video.

Why should you invest in the production of an animated explainer video?

As the old adage goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. Videos engage both the senses of sight and sound, making these superior to text or even infographics.

Humans are physiologically and psychologically wired to take in and process visual information thousands of times faster compared to a block of text. But apart from that, that processed information is more likely to be retained compared to merely reading something.

It doesn’t take much to reap the benefits of an animated video. Even just a few minutes of footage can pack in much information. Compare that to reading a 700-word article that can take anywhere between three to five minutes to read.

 

How can you use animated videos?

Another unique advantage of animated videos is their versatility.

Marketing is one key aspect where animated videos shine. With these videos, your imagination is the limit. Untethered from the limitations of ordinary videos, you can tell your animation studio how exactly you want your brand to be represented. 

Animated videos are almost peerless in terms of storytelling. Whether you are introducing your company to the public or new employees, or telling customers how your products work, the diversity of animated videos makes other platforms pale in comparison.

Animated videos can also be used to boost your SEO rankings. For one, these videos can increase the time a user spends on your website. And the more time site visitors spend on your website, the more search engines like Google see this as a sign of the quality of your website and its pages.

 

And if you post these videos on YouTube, the second largest search engine, your search engine ranking is more likely to move up.

 

Live vs. animated

How do animated videos compared to live videos where you have human actors? In order to better answer that question, it is critical to look at a few factors.

 

Animated videos contain various elements. Typically, the process of making one begins with a script and a storyboard. From there, the process moves toward the actual animation and the addition of music, voiceovers, and sound effects.

Production times can range from weeks to months, depending on a few considerations, including requests for revisions. Live videos can take just a few days to shoot.

Like animated videos, live videos start with a script and a storyboard. From there, you will need to cast actors and put together a production team for various elements, including props, costumes, and sound.

 

In terms of savings in both time and money, animated videos almost always win over live videos. That’s because everything is made from scratch. An animated studio does not have to deal with hassles like the fickle weather, finding a suitable location for a shoot, or even the temperament of actors.

On top of that, animated videos have a higher click rate compared to their live counterparts.

 

On the converse side of the coin, live videos exude an authentic vibe. When viewers hear and see emotions from the actors, your company can quickly gain their trust. Live videos can also be produced faster. 

However, these videos can be quite expensive and can take a substantial amount of work to produce.

 

Which should you choose?

That will depend heavily on your budget and intended purpose. For companies that aim to reap the benefits of videos, but want something that can be produced quickly and at a fraction of the cost of a live video, animated is the way to go.

 

AUTHOR BIO: Anthony Lam is the founder of Punchy Digital Media, a creative agency that helps organisations grow using animated videos and creative visual content. Punchy has a team across Australia and Asia and has worked with clients such as Apple, Westpac and the Australian Government, running campaigns and reaching millions of people.

Guest Post: The Importance of Evergreen Content

 Creating content that is unique and relevant to your business and will drive traffic to your site is an important part of any business’ marketing strategy. You want to create quality content that people will appreciate and keep coming back to over and over. This type of content is called evergreen content.

This article will discuss what evergreen content is, why it’s important for your business, how your businesses can create and incorporate evergreen content into their marketing strategy. 

What is Evergreen Content?

While you may have never heard of the term evergreen content, you surely have browsed the internet and came across some examples of it before. So, what exactly is it? Evergreen content is simply relevant, quality content that will continue to be relevant even years after it’s posted. The type of content that you keep coming back to and referencing time and time again. 

This type of valuable content can include actionable tips, how-to guides, case studies, resources and tools, everything you need to know about a niche, infographics, lists and more. Avoid time-sensitive subject matters such as seasonal content or content related to a specific date. The more information you can provide to your viewers the better. People like having all the information they need to know at the tip of their fingers. 

While this may seem challenging for businesses that need to constantly update their site to show no longer available or new inventory, such as a car dealership site or an online furniture store, there are other places they can house evergreen content. For example, Audi Bellevue has all of their current inventory on their site, but also hosts articles on their site that will remain helpful to readers, such as an “Audi Wiper Blade Replacement Guide”.

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When creating evergreen content ask yourself if it will still be relevant in a year or two. Of course, it may need to minor updates from time to time depending on your industry trends, but evergreen content is timeless. Remember to think long-term when creating these types of pieces. 

Why Evergreen Content is Important for Your Website

If you’re creating a high-quality post, chances are you’ve taken the time to optimize it for it to rank higher in search engines. Because of the quality content and its relevancy, it will continue to move its way up on search engines. Evergreen content is never outdated, so search engines will continue to view it as valuable. Which brings us to our next point, higher rankings in search engines means higher website traffic. When your content remains relevant, people will keep coming back to it, which means a high volume of eyes will see it even after you’ve published it. The higher you rank in search engines, the more traffic your content and website will receive, which will lead to more potential leads. Creating great content can always generate leads, but evergreen content will continue to bring in leads over time. Think of it as a piece of content that keeps on giving. Since it will continue to remain relevant, people will continue to search for it, link to it and share it. 

How to Create Evergreen Content

So now that we know what evergreen content is and why it’s important, let’s dive into how you can create your own evergreen content that will continue to drive organic traffic to your business. When thinking of topics of focus to create content around, make sure you’re coming up with ideas that are relevant to your specific industry. There will always be multiple versions of a topic, so it’s up to you to put a unique spin on it. 

First things first, brainstorm topics you want to center your content around. Focus on topics that are niche-specific and receive consistent traffic. Do keyword research for that topic and see what keywords you will be able to rank for. Again, when looking up keywords, make sure the topic you are searching for has a high search volume over a long period of time. 

After you’ve decided on a topic, you need to figure out what angle you are going to take that will make readers read your content over others. Once you start creating the content, whether that be an article or infographic, make sure the content is of high-quality. High-quality content is easy to read, provides useful advice or tips, is interesting and provides readers with actionable takeaways. 

For example, let’s look at this hiring process checklist infographic created by ShareAble for Hires. 

For starters, this is a handy guide for employers that will always remain relevant, and the title and content don’t include any jargon that will go out of date. Since it’s an infographic, it’s a piece of content that websites can easily integrate into their blog posts.

 

The content provides readers with actionable steps, is easy to read and is visually appealing- a great example of evergreen content. 

Promote Your Content to Uphold the Evergreen Status 

So now you have a great piece of evergreen content that you know will stand the test of time, but how can we get it to uphold its status long after it is published? It’s up to you to put in the work to get the content where it needs to be, and the rest will follow. Here’s how you can get more traffic to your evergreen content: 

Build Links 

In order for your content to gain the exposure it deserves; people need to be able to find it. Build relationships with other bloggers and websites that would benefit from your content. Obtaining backlinks from other relevant, authoritative sites in your niche can drive more traffic to your content. 

Refresh Content When Needed 

Take the time every few months to refresh any of your content to ensure it remains relevant. This could be as simple as changing the publishing date, reposting on your blog or social media, or adding new, high-ranking keywords into the piece. 

Share on Social Media

Social media is a powerful tool, so take advantage of it. Post your content across all social media platforms to reach a wider audience and drive traffic to your business. Many businesses also create content within their site that include social media share widgets, making it easier for their audience to share their work. One perfect example of this is I Am Net Worthy’s website. Within their site they have a comprehensive blog, then from the information fund on the blog, they create finance “nuggets” for their readers to share on social, in turn increasing their brand recognition and SEO. 

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Track Content Rankings 

Check the rankings of your content often using tools like Ahrefs and SEMRush. See what keywords you are currently ranking for, how much traffic your content is driving to your site and who’s sharing your content. These tools are a great way to figure out what adjustments you need to make to your content in order to uphold its evergreen status. 

In Summary 

To get consistent traffic to your site over time, evergreen content is the way to go. By taking the time to create this valuable content, your business will continue to reap the benefits for a long time to come.  

 

Author Bio: Emily Banks is a Bay Area native who got tired of San Francisco’s cold beaches, so she moved to San Diego. She is currently the Editor for the HR section of 365 Business Tips. When she is not typing away on her keyboard, she can be found eating street tacos in the sunshine.

UnoDeuce VIDEO: Expert Connexions Episode 1: Positive Pandemic Pivots with Local Marketing Experts

While many companies have been forced to make major changes to stay in business, not all of these pandemic pivots have been negative. In fact, we hope some are here to stay!

In this episode of Expert Connexions, our marketing experts share some of the most successful pandemic pivots they’ve seen.

Watch the full episode, including additional interviews with experts in legal, sales, and leadership: wlaj.com/expertconnexions.


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Deucey Awards Winner Reveal Replay

In case you missed it, here is the replay of the Deucey Awards winners reveal. We sincerely appreciated all of the voting and all of the organizations that we had the opportunity to work with to tell such wonderful and impactful stories over the past year. Also, congratulations to the winners all first time winners. We look forward to working with you in the future to create more awesome videos.

UnoDeuce Multimedia – 9th Annual Deucey Awards Promo

It’s our favorite client appreciation event, so get ready to start voting for your favorite video project that we have produced and launched in the last year!

Here are the four categories for our annual Deucey Awards:

  • Most Informational
  • Most Inspirational
  • Most Entertaining
  • Best Video of the Year

Voting starts Monday, April 5th. Each week, we will feature one of the four Deucey Awards categories. Each day, we will highlight one of the top videos in that week’s category. So, you’ll want to make sure to vote each week for your favorite video! Winners will be announced the first week of May.

Click here to watch last year’s winners!

Also, join the email list, so you can be reminded each week. Tell everyone all about it and happy voting!

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GUEST POST: 4 Ways to Make Your Packaging as Attractive as Possible

Many different important components of marketing can make a big difference for a product. However, one of the most important is not discussed that often. That, of course, is packaging. Packaging can create a huge psychological impact on the consumer. In certain cases, it can make or break a sale. Overall, it’s important to make your packaging as attractive as possible. Below are some strategies for doing so. (more…)

CLIENT VIDEO: It’s a Breast Thing – Our Financial Grants

You are not alone while navigating your breast cancer diagnosis. You have friends at It’s a Breast Thing. Our mission is to enrich the lives of breast cancer patients on their journeys to better health.

We help men and women diagnosed with breast cancer who are currently undergoing treatment with additional out-of-pocket expenses not covered by insurance. If you live in one of the following Michigan counties: Ingham, Eaton, Clinton, Shiawassee, or are receiving treatment in one of these counties you are eligible to apply for a grant. Since our inception in 2007, It’s a Breast Thing has awarded 246 grants; 32 in 2020 alone.

Are you undergoing breast cancer treatment or know someone who is? Contact us to learn about It’s a Breast Thing and our financial grant program. (more…)

GUEST POST: 11 Best YouTube Marketing Hacks To Create Viral YouTube Channel

YouTube undoubtedly considered being the world’s biggest video platform, which consists of billions of channels along with the new videos that are uploaded every time. Youtube is the second-most used app with more than 1.9 billion active users. Always creating your channel viral is based on effective marketing methods using the video content.

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