A MjrVisuals Documentary travel series - This is America.
About two years ago I was hired to film a commercial for RMA, Randolph Macon Academy. It’s a school in a part of Virginia that is actually not known for its diversity. I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that the school was a US Air Force Academy and very diverse. It made me think that all the thoughts I had about the area were wrong because how can there be such a diverse campus in the middle of a town that is rumored to be extremely racists. That understanding of thea area was given to me not just from passersby but actual work colleges that lived in the town. It wasn’t unheard of to see an upside flag or the Confederate flag in yards, on cars and on the back of trucks driving through town.
Fast forward a year, I wanted to do a travel show on small-town America and the first town I wanted to tell a story on was this small town. The history was amazing and the fact that it was close enough to the nation’s capital that people communted to Washington DC for work but lived here made it an interesting location because of the revitalization that was happening due to the influx of those government employees.
MjrVisuals has done to date 9 documentaries for a number of executive producers, now we are normally left alone with telling the story but given the topic. I was told the even though all the documentaries that we have produced for clients have won awards, we are not considered a top tier production house because we have not entered a festival directly. This show idea changed that.
We won the first festival we entered this season, lets hope for more.
The Feature Trailer of "the SixTripleEight" movie
In February 1945, the U.S. Army sent 855 black women from the Women’s Army Corps (WACs) to England and France to clear the backlog of mail in the European Theater of Operations. The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, known as the SixTripleEight, was the only all-black female battalion to serve in Europe during WWII. Confronted with racism and sexism from their own leadership and troops, they served with honor and distinction completing their mission in six months. By war’s end, the SixTripleEight had cleared over 17 million pieces of backlogged mail ensuring the troops stayed in touch with their loved ones back home. The last of the women returned home in March 1946. They were never fully recognized…until now.
5 Reasons to Stop Using Stock Videos (and to use a Videographer instead
Using video for marketing content is becoming increasingly popular. Simply put, stock videos lack the soul that an original videographer can give your marketing content. Often companies spend a lot of time developing an original look and feel of their brand personalities and their owned media, such as their websites. However, in my experience the same level of attention to detail to originality isn’t placed on making marketing materials that are unique to you. Here are the 5 reasons why I would avoid using stock videos and rather focus on hiring a videographer instead.
Reason 1: Lack of Originality
Despite the fact that there are huge amounts of stock content on the Internet, you’d be surprised by how little there is that’s relevant to your specific product or service. The window of stock videography is often quite small for companies that have unique offerings. This means that there can actually be an embarrassing overlap between the stock video content you use and the video content your competitors use.
Reason 2: Lack of Authenticity:
I believe that real video footage creates a real sense of authenticity between a company and potential customer. I feel there’s a level of wariness when they don’t see genuine content created by the company.
Reason 3: Never the Perfect Fit
While stock videos can be okay sometimes for limited use, there is rarely a stock video for every occasion. If you use stock videos for long form content, your finished piece will look like a patchwork quilt of disconnected and unrelated video slots.
Reason 4: Editing Time
Often if you use stock videos your editing time will be substantial and your finished product may not even be one worth the investment. This is why it’s better to use actual recorded video that allows better editability.
Reason 5: Expensive
Good stock is rarely cheap, and it’s easy to spend several hundred on just a short video for the stock you need, as well as the video distribution rights. While it may be costlier initially to get a videographer, it’s well worth the investment when the finished product is a long-term piece of content you can use over and over on various platforms.
Next Steps:
While it may seem like you’re saving money on your marketing content by using stock videos, you might be doing so at the price of your brand respect and potential customers. I believe that people crave authenticity and respect a company that is willing to put time and effort into their marketing content.
We are a boutique production company; we create creative and imaginative visual solutions.
MJRvisuals is ignition defined.
Why its important to Record your Conference
One of the things in business I regret seeing is when companies don’t record their conferences. To me this is letting valuable content slip through their hands without any thought of lost opportunities. The fact is that almost every business that hosts a conference or gives a talk is an expert or specialist in some area. This professional expertise communicated at such events is lost forever once spoken and only lives on in the minds of the attendees after the conference. I propose that the best way to capture and distribute this high quality content is through recording a conference into a highly valuable piece of marketing content. Through good videography, you can first capture the conference and through editing you can then successfully seed the most important parts across your various platforms.
Lets look at some differences in providing long form and short form video recording on your site.
Long Form: Conference Recoding for Your Website and YouTube
The best place to host the video that you capture from a conference is on your website. Both YouTube and your website are friendly to long-form content, meaning that if you have long speeches or presentations, people will be able to access, listen and learn. Even though the video will be hosted on YouTube, Vimeo or other Video housing sites, it’s best to embed that same video to your website. Embedding your video on your company site will consolidate not only the videos in one location but gives you the opportunity to cross market other valuable information you might want to provide. Make sure to keep your website up-to-date with fresh content, video is some of the best type to feature. If you have a long video about your conference that is featured on your website, you’ll be able to improve visitor time on your site and reduce bounce rate, which ultimately helps your Analytics and online footprint.
Short Form: Instagram and Facebook
Once you’ve captured a conference, I advise you to edit highlights into manageable bitesize chunks and distribute those videos across your social platforms. Facebook and Instagram put a huge amount of emphasis onto video content. Distill the best content from your conference for instance memorable quotes, memorable scenes, testimonials, key phrases, marketing idea for your next like ask the participants to say “why they came to your conference”, make those ideas into mini videos that capture audience attention on social platforms. This is key to distributing content that gathers traction on social media and increases engagement for your website, your message and hopefully next years conference.
Next Steps:
This is more of a “think outside the box” more then it is a step. Figure out how you want to portray the conference in your videos. Do you want just a wide screen angle of you and the speakers, multiple angles, presentation in the video next to you or possibly a full screen image of the presentation. Remember the main advantage of recording a conference you host is to prove to your audience that you are an authority in the area you speak about. A conference is packed full of valuable content that you should preserve for future usage in a way that will be available for seeing and distribution to the masses.
Malcholm Reese is the Creative Director of MJRvisuals. MJRvisuals is a boutique video production company offering full service conference and live stream production.
MJRvisuals is ignition defined.
4 Costless Inbound Marketing Ideas You Should Try in 2018
Are you just getting started with inbound marketing? Have you been doing inbound marketing for sometimes now? How long do you think it should take one before they start seeing results? If you are getting started with inbound marketing, you will definitely find it very challenging. Many marketers wonder how much it could cost to regularly generate content, improve social media outreach and all aspects of inbound marketing.
The good news is that there are countless ways you can increase your inbound marketing activities without having to break the bank. In other words, the basics are not out of your reach. From writing your own content to utilizing thousands of available website tools to help you reach your potential customers, here are 10 no-cost inbound marketing ideas you can try.
- Create high quality free content
Publishing high quality content remains the key to successful inbound marketing. If you want to attract customers to your website, you must publish high quality, valuable content. Content can be in the form of blog posts, articles, videos, infographics, white papers or tweets, among others.
At the very least, dedicate a few minutes of your time to create well-written content that is relevant and useful to your audience. of course if you are unable to produce the content yourself, you can contract a marketing agency or freelance content producers to help you publish the right content that will not only be right for the search engines but also one that your users will love.
- Create a loyalty program
You can develop a simple strategic partnership with your prospects through loyalty programs. A good example is B2B referral software known as Advocate Hub. This software allows users to build a loyalty program so that the firm can trigger customer enthusiasm and boost referrals of qualified leads.
Loyalty programs are done by incentivizing partners, customers and employees so that they become brand ambassadors of your target audience. Incentives can range from discounts to reward for content created such as guest posts and online reviews and testimonials.
- Use social media networks
Social media networks have become the cornerstone of inbound marketing, thanks to their global outreach. Social media like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Snapchat, LinkedIn and Google++ can be used to promote and share content, products as well as special offers. Social media also allows you to not only interact with your customers, but also create brand loyalty.
Remember to keep track of your social media interactions both on your website and on your social media profiles/fan page.
- Lead nurturing
Lead nurturing is the process of ensuring that your prospects are ready to buy before directing them to your sales team. Sometimes your sales department can waste valuable time and resources on leads that are not qualified. Here are some tips on how to ensure successful lead nurturing:
- Ensure the timing is right: do not rush your prospects such that you start bombarding them with your sales emails soon after they hit the subscribe button or like your page. It is important to take your time to bring them closer to wanting to open their wallets
- Constantly and consistently refine your messaging: know the kind of information your prospect wants to hear based on the data you have collected. By ensuring that you keep giving them the right and relevant information, you will be building rapport and trust with your customers.
- What do you want to give them? State what you want to provide them and what they stand to gain from your offer.
- Videoproduction on demand or VPD can be one of the brightest ideas of 2018. VPD gives you the ability to produce broadcast quality visual imagery for your business. We provide Video Production, Graphic Design and Audio Video services. Instead of being left with the question of how much does it costs, you now can ask the questions when, where, and why. Mjrvisuals invites you Get started today ! Click here to learn more. Video production on demand by Mjrvisuals
Marketing Buzzwords You Should Know
Many marketers think of marketing buzzwords as some over-used, obnoxious industry jargon that means absolutely nothing. But maybe it is time we go back to the basics. Maybe it is time we re-educate ourselves on the true meaning of some marketing terms. So what are the marketing buzzwords we should be focusing on this year?
• Pragmatic TV marketing
It is a fact that most customers don’t wait to watch a TV episode when it first airs on TV, thanks to streaming servers that make it possible to watch shows on-demand at any time that is convenient to the viewers. For instance, if you miss marketing to people who watch “The legend of the Seeker” on ABC, you can still market to those who decide to watch it online on Hulu. Smart marketers are now using the guerrilla approach to reach customers on TV, YouTube, and other streaming channels. Companies Like Media Design Group uses that approach to design individual customer profiles using available data. This is what makes it possible for these kinds of businesses to reach millions of customers through personalized ads systems wherever they are.
• Local Search Marketing
Local search marketing refers to the process of optimizing your content for local search. In other words, you can target the local market by optimizing your digital properties to generate traffic from very specific locations/countries/towns/regions. Thus, it is safe to say Local search marketing is the foundational digital marketing strategy for local businesses. Your local customers can find you based on the information they get from search engines.
• Analytics
Analytics is a fancy word for analysis of data. Whoever you are running some marketing campaigns, it is important to look at the data, analyze it, and make conclusions.
Simply put, analytics is the marketing dashboard to help you track your numbers and find out what areas need improvement.
• Conversions
When a customer takes action such as making a subscription, opting into your marketing list, downloading, purchasing, or sharing your content, we say the customer has converted. Conversions can thus be viewed as some sort of interactions between the customer and your business.
• Influencer marketing
It has been found that nearly 84% of marketers have lined up at least one influencer campaign in the coming year. Influencer marketing involves the process of using influential members of society to market your products and services. For instance, you can find influential users on Social Media who can help deliver your marketing messages. Influential users can significantly influence consumers to trust your brand.
• User-generated content marketing
Smart marketers also understand the power of user-generated marketing. User-generated content is normally content that is generated by the users, and in most cases, it is not solicited or paid for by the company. Many consumers have come to trust user-generated content because it comes from other users who might share vital experiences. In other words, user-generated content seems more authentic because it is not coming from marketing experts. Another advantage of user-generated content is that there are no risks involved in terms of cost if it doesn’t produce the desired results. Mjrvisuals company has its own thoughts, engage your business marketing through video content with video production and design when you need it.
• Referral marketing
Did you know that people are four times more likely to make a purchase if a friend recommends the product or service? Referral marketing can also be called word-of-mouth marketing and utilizes the power of personal recommendations to build trust and bring in new businesses. The key to having referral marketing work is by having loyal customers who are willing to act as your brand ambassador.
Why Online Marketing is Essential for Your Business
Online Marketing is Essential for Your Business
Are you thinking that the business world has become so competitive that it has almost reached the limit of competition? The bad news is that it is not about to. You are still going to witness more rival business set-ups opening operations and more websites designed to sell the product you are selling being created. Just imagine that whatever line of business you are; whatever industry you are in, there are thousands, sometimes millions of others offering the same product as you are. What do you think will make a customer to choose you over others offering the same services or products? In this century, it is suicidal for any business owner not to have an online presence. It is part of the strategies of remaining relevant and being competitive, as well as attracting new customers, globally.
Why Being Online Matters
It doesn't matter whether you have been in business for the last five decades or you are just starting out. The internet has actually leveled the playing ground for both the big boys and the small fish; in other words, when a customer is looking for a product online, it doesn't matter who is selling the product. What matters is whether the customer is able to find your site and can trust you. Essentially, those businesses which are not yet online are in for a big trouble because sooner than later, they will be out of business if at all they aren't already.
You need to get noticed through Search Engine Optimization
If you are online, the biggest headache is getting noticed. You cannot afford to be ignored if you want to make a fortune online. As they say, creating a website is the easiest part-the hardest part is pushing your site as far up the search engines as possible. Remember, for very niche, there are millions of other individuals, and businesses who are scrambling to get noticed in the search engines.
That is why you need a professional marketing company to help you reach your potential customers. Search Engine Optimization companies are doing a wonderful job to assist businesses undercut competition by pushing their sites up the search engines. Otherwise, if you just create a site and sit back and relax, you are not going to see substantial number of unique page views from your site. Does this explain why many people who created blogs and website with anticipation of carrying home a fat AdSense check are left disappointed?
Optimizing your site isn't a simple-one-day-event as some optimists think. It requires skills, dedication, professionalism and patience for you to succeed at it. Therefore, it is important that you get a professional SEO company to pull your site out of the murk and make it recognizable in the local or global search engines. It is time to let a SEO expert company perform search engine optimization for you as you concentrate on your core business.
Of course there are many other marketing strategies you can apply to grab the attention of the potential customers such as social media, email marketing, pay per click marketing, among others. For optimum results, you ought to apply all the available marketing strategies, depending on where your target customer base is located.