Archives par mot-clé : marketing

Ryan promises to keep government open — and makes no promises on health care

Video Marketing,

House leaders told GOP lawmakers Saturday that they plan to devote their energy in the coming week to keeping the federal government open, conspicuously avoiding an immediate commitment to take up health care despite pledges to do so by conservatives and the White House.

House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.), speaking on a conference call with GOP members Saturday afternoon, offered no specific plan on how or when lawmakers might see details of a new proposal to revise the Affordable Care Act, which White House officials suggested might receive a vote by Wednesday.

Ryan also made clear that his top priority was to pass a stopgap spending bill to keep government open past April 28, an objective that requires Democratic support. “Wherever we land will be a product the president can and will support.” Ryan said, according to a senior GOP aide on the call.

Less clear was whether even a narrow focus on spending would allow Republicans to avoid a showdown with President Trump, whose top aides have in recent days that any spending bill must include funding for a border wall. Such a demand would almost certainly prompt Democrats, whose support is needed to pass the budget bill in the Senate, to vote no.

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said leaders in Congress could reach a spending agreement, but only if the White House stays out of the negotiations.

“I want to come up with an agreement,” Schumer said Tuesday on a conference call with reporters. “Our Republican colleagues know that since they control, you know, the House, the Senate and the White House, that a shutdown would fall on their shoulders, and they don’t want it.”

On the flip side, there was no guarantee that Trump would sign a spending plan without funding for the wall, several aides said.

The Ryan call comes as GOP leaders find themselves trapped between proving that they can complete basic tasks of governing such as funding the government, while also meeting the demands of Trump, who is looking for a legislative win ahead of his 100th day in office next Saturday.

Trump and his top aides have been calling on Congress to take dramatic action in the coming week: vote on health care, take up tax reform and demand that Democrats agree to a stopgap spending measure that includes funding for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Ryan’s comments suggested that he and other House Republicans are pushing back on that pressure. He said, for instance, that the House will vote on a health-care bill when Republicans are sure they have the support to pass it, according to several GOP aides on the call — suggesting that he does not believe that to be the case currently, despite renewed negotiations between House conservatives, moderates and the White House.

[@PKCapitol: History tells us that Republicans are taking on too much this week — and it isn’t likely to end well]

The direction of the border wall fight was less certain. Ryan and other Republican leaders have suggested that it is more important to protect a spending deal with Democrats, who have vowed to oppose spending on the wall. The speaker assured members on the call that the spending talks were still promising and ongoing, but close Trump aides continued to insist in public that the spending bill should include money for the wall.

“I think it goes without saying that the president has been pretty straightforward about his desire and the need for a border wall,” Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly said in an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper scheduled to run Sunday morning. “So I would suspect, he’ll do the right thing for sure, but I would suspect he will be insistent on the funding.”

The comment is likely to further threaten bipartisan budget talks, which were jostled after Trump’s budget director, Mick Mulvaney, was the first suggested that Trump would demand border wall funding in the upcoming spending bill.

“This president should be allowed to have his highest priorities funded even though the Democrats rightly have a seat at the table because of the Senate rules,” Mulvaney said Friday in an interview with Bloomberg Live. “You cannot expect a president who just won election to give up very easily on his highest priority.”

Mulvaney repeated his expectation that the spending talks will include border spending at several events throughout the week, causing a flurry of confusion among congressional aides who say the spending bill must remain free of major controversies if it is to pass.

Aides on the Hill and inside the White House, who spoke candidly on condition of anonymity, said they believe Trump sees a demand for wall money as the best way to prove that his most controversial proposals can be fulfilled.

The border wall confusion was one of many instances in recent weeks where aides, who spoke candidly on condition of anonymity, said they were receiving mixed messages from the White House. Public statements from the White House have often contradicted private discussions on the spending bill and other issues, the aides said, leaving some to question who in the administration represents Trump’s final position.

Ryan attempted to calm the disorder Saturday by telling members that spending talks were still ongoing and promising. Ryan has vowed for weeks that there will be no government shutdown, and many Republicans and Democrats have said in recent days that negotiations are proceeding apace.

At the same time, Trump has publicly downplayed the significance of achieving a victory in the coming week. He dismissed the symbolism of the 100-day mark — despite his repeated promises on the campaign trail that he would meet many of his goals by that date.

Trump also began walking back the health-care promise after signs emerged that GOP leaders were not prepared to take it up because of the risk that it would anger Democrats.

“We’ll see what happens,” Trump said on Friday. “No particular rush, but we’ll see what happens.”

Then, on Saturday, Trump added to the confusion with a promise to release details of a tax overhaul next week.

“Big TAX REFORM AND TAX REDUCTION will be announced next Wednesday,” he tweeted.

[‘Big announcement’ on tax reform unlikely to reveal details, White House official says]

The bipartisan budget talks were seen as a rare bright spot in an otherwise acrimonious relationship between Republicans and Democrats in Washington. One particular area of agreement was not to include border-protection funds in the stopgap budget, which, it was agreed, should be debated separately, after government is kept open.

The demand for border funding, as well as the push for a vote on health care, came as a surprise to Democrats, who have been working for more than a month with GOP leaders to craft a bipartisan spending bill that would keep the government open through the end of the fiscal year on September 30.

“Floating the possibility that the House could vote on this amended health care bill next week is irresponsible when the government could shut down on April 29,” said Joseph D. Crowley (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House Democratic Conference. “The focus must be on keeping the government funded — the most basic legislative responsibility we have.”

On his call, Ryan encouraged members to continue discussing ideas, but he did not open the conversation to questions, leaving members to wait until Wednesday morning before they can weigh in on spending or health care.

Some conservatives had hoped Ryan would use the call to reveal details of a revised health-care plan. Members of the far-right House Freedom Caucus spent the two-week Easter recess working with House GOP moderates, the White House and Ryan’s staff on changes to the health-care bill. Conservatives said Friday that the legislation was nearing completion, but no details have been released.

Damian Paletta contributed to this report.

Read more at PowerPost

Advocates fan out in global show of support for science

Video Marketing,

Thousands of people gathered in the rain Saturday on the soggy grounds of the Washington Monument to turn Earth Day into an homage to science. After four hours of speeches and musical performances, they marched down Constitution Avenue to the foot of Capitol Hill, chanting “Build labs, not walls!” and “Hey, Trump, have you heard, you can’t silence every nerd!”

The March for Science began as a notion batted around online on Reddit after the Women’s March on Washington, which was held Jan. 21, the day after President Trump’s inauguration. The idea snowballed after it was endorsed by numerous mainstream science organizations, which vowed that it would not be a partisan event. It eventually became a global phenomenon, held in more than 600 cities on six continents — and cheered on by scientists on a seventh, Antarctica.

“We are at a critical juncture. Science is under attack,” said Cara Santa Maria, a science communicator who is one of several emcees of the four-hour rally that kicked off at 10 a.m. “The very idea of evidence and logic and reason is being threatened by individuals and interests with the power to do real harm.”

She went on: “We’re gathered here today to fight for science. [The crowd cheered.] We’re gathered to fight for education. [Cheer.] To fight for knowledge. [Cheer.] And to fight for planet Earth.” [Cheer.]

[Surgeon general is removed by Trump administration]

She was followed by the musician Questlove, who said “many people” are refusing to follow scientific facts, and he pointed toward the White House. “That guy over there,” he said in a whisper. He waved, said “Hi,” and made a fast gesture with his middle finger that someone not paying close attention might well have missed.

YouTube star Tyler DeWitt took the stage with another pointed message: Experts need to learn how to explain things in a way regular folks can understand.

“Ditch the jargon!” he said. “Make it understandable. Make people care. Talk to them, not at them. We cannot complain about slashed funding if we can’t tell taxpayers why science matters.”

[The Founding Fathers, 18th-century tech geeks, would love the March for Science]

Cell biologist Lydia Villa-Komaroff, one of the march’s honorary co-chairs, told how she and her colleagues in the 1970s discovered how to make insulin in bacteria, and how that breakthrough was made possible only through basic research funded in the 1950s and 1960s when no one knew if it would lead to anything. “Support for science has been declining for decades. Mr. President, members of the House and Senate, support our future. Invest in science!” she said.

Denis Hayes, co-founder of the first Earth Day in 1970, chose not to dial back his rhetoric, saying the White House “reeks of greed and sleaze and mendacity” and declaring, “America has had 45 presidents, but we have never before had a president who is completely indifferent to the truth. Donald Trump makes Richard Nixon look like Diogenes.”

President Trump issued an Earth Day statement that did not mention the March for Science directly, though seemed to be aware of what was happening within shouting distance of the White House. After pledging to keep the nation’s air and water clean and protect endangered species, the president said:

“Rigorous science is critical to my Administration’s efforts to achieve the twin goals of economic growth and environmental protection. My Administration is committed to advancing scientific research that leads to a better understanding of our environment and of environmental risks. As we do so, we should remember that rigorous science depends not on ideology, but on a spirit of honest inquiry and robust debate.”

At times, the lines to get through the event’s security checkpoints stretched for several blocks. The advanced technologies known as the umbrella and the rain poncho proved useful. The program ran so precisely on schedule, you would think it had been timed with an atomic clock. People danced when Thomas Dolby took the stage to perform his 1982 blockbuster hit “She Blinded Me With Science.”

Some people wore lab coats. Some wore pink, knitted “brain” hats. Sam McCoy, 27, who traveled from North Carolina, carried a homemade sign certain to baffle anyone lacking an understanding of P Values and the null hypothesis. But most of the signs were more straightforward:

●“In peer review we trust.”

●“The oceans are rising, and so are we.”

●“If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the precipitate.”

As it happens, the National Math Festival is also in Washington — so there’s an unusual number of people in town who can recite pi to more than five digits.

Some signs jabbed the current occupant of the White House:

●“Hey Trump — Think You Can Stifle Science? Ask Galileo How That Worked Out!”

●“Empirical Data Trumps Imperial Alt-Facts.”

As marchers waited in a glacially moving line for the bag check, and huddled under umbrellas, 60-year-old Cathy Butler implored everyone to join her in a chant.

“Science, not silence! Science, not silence!” she shouted.

A few of the protesters joined in halfheartedly.

Butler sighed.

“I get it! We’re scientists, and we’re all introverted!” she said. “But this is the time that we’re supposed to be loud!”

Butler, a retired engineer and educator from Kennett Square, Pa., said she has been dismayed to see the Trump administration’s efforts to roll back environmental regulations and cut funding for research. Still, she said, she has been trying not to get too political.

“Even people who voted Republican can still get behind clean air for their grandchildren,” she said.

Next to her, 44-year-old Jeffrey C. Jacobs of Herndon, Va., agreed.

“We’re not here for partisanship,” said Jacobs, who runs a science book club. “There are many Republican scientists. Science helps everyone.”

Three federal scientists, approached by a reporter, refused to give their names for fear of repercussions at work.

Another person was dressed as the Muppet “Beaker” and, when interviewed, would say only “Meep.”

Next to Beaker, however, was Erik Molvar, director of the Western Watersheds Project, who had traveled from Wyoming. Molvar is a sage grouse expert who studies the impact of livestock on grouse habitat. Politicians supporting the livestock industry ignore his research into cheatgrass, which is highly flammable and leads to damaging wildfires, he said. “Livestock spread cheatgrass like mosquitoes spread the Zika virus,” he said.

Emily Fink, 28, and Kayla Denson, 29, are biomedical researchers who drove seven hours from Buffalo to attend the march, and they said they fear the Trump administration’s proposed budget cuts will imperil their careers.

“It feels like we’re getting our foot in the door right as the door is closing on us,” Fink said.

Fink brought several copies of her résumé to the march and held up a neon sign that read, “Are you looking for a highly motivated post doc? Ask for CV.” She thought the march might be a good networking opportunity, though so far no one had asked for a résumé.

“I’m a meteoriticist,” said Conel Alexander, 56, as he wrote down his occupation to make sure he spelled it correctly. He studies meteorites and was with a group from the Carnegie Institution for Science. “Most people just think I’m a meteorologist,” he said.

[Historians say the March for Science is ‘pretty unprecedented’]

Speaking of meteorology: Favorable weather forecasts took a turn by week’s end, and this turned out to be a soggy Saturday in which periodic showers gave way to heavy late-morning downpours.

But many people present are veterans of protests. Grace Francis, 33, and Ron Frerker, 36, of Washington, said they’ve been to a series of protests since Trump took office. Francis, a former public school teacher who conducts special-education research at George Mason University, said when she heard about the science march she asked her daughters Sage and Eleanor, who are 5 and 3 years old, respectively, if they wanted to go.

“It’s important for them to see that not just our family feels this way,” she said.

The two girls were dressed in koala costumes, and holding signs that read “ DeVos is un-koala-fied” and “everyone deserves a Koala-ity education.”

“What do we feel about schools,” Francis asked Sage.

“Bad,” Sage answered.

“Because everybody deserves to have a . . . ”

“Education.”

“What kind of education?”

“A good one.”

Maryam Zaringhalam and Kelly Fleming, both 28, came with poster board signs they’d made at an event Friday night with the group 500 Women Scientists. Zaringhalam, a molecular biologist, and Fleming, a chemical engineer, had been concerned about the way diversity issues were dealt with by the march organizing committee.

“But I thought, people are going to be taking pictures at the march and this is what I want them to see,” Zaringhalam said. “I want them to see someone who looks like me.”

Zaringhalam is an Iranian American who was in Iran when Trump issued his executive order on immigration. Although she is a U.S. citizen, Zaringhalam worried she would not be allowed back into the country.

At their sign-making event Friday night, a passerby had asked what the women were doing. When they told him, he responded, “You don’t look like scientists.”

“I think he thought he was flirting,” Fleming said, making a face. Zaringhalam came up with the motto for her sign: “This is what a scientist looks like.”

Craig Fryer, 47, marched down Constitution Avenue alongside several of his colleagues from the University of Maryland School of Public Health, all wearing T-shirts that read “Black Scientists Matter.” Fryer, a behavioral scientist who studies substance abuse, carried a sign that proclaimed “Black Scientists Speaking Truth to Power.” He said he and his colleagues are concerned about racial disparities in funding for research.

“We need increased funding, not budget cuts, and we need an equal opportunity to be funded,” Fryer said.

Carol Trosset, 57, an anthropologist at Carleton College, traveled to Washington from Northfield, Minn., having never been to a political rally before. She wore the lab coat — now quite the vintage item — that had belonged to her late mother, who had been a PhD chemist in the 1940s and 1950s.

“I thought, what should I wear? I’ll wear mom’s lab coat,” Trosset said. Her mother was also a naturalist, collecting data at their home in Cincinnati, recording when birds would arrive and flowers would bloom. Trosset has begun analyzing her mother’s data and sees clear signs of a warming climate.

[Here are some of the best signs from the March for Science]

Brooke Hardesty, 16, waited nervously in front of the science tent. She was looking for the other “Science Teens,” fellow high school students who are slated to speak at the rally. From far-flung cities around the country — Hardesty is from Buckeye, Ariz. — they’d previously communicated only through social media and Skype. On Saturday, Hardesty met her fellow nerds for the first time in person.

“I’ve never been around so many other people who are excited about science,” she said.

The teens, chatting awkwardly, discussed who they’re most excited to see — “Bill Nye!” they said in unison — and talked about how surreal this experience has been.

“I’m kind of surprised they let a bunch of teenagers do this,” said Sam Rosenberg, 17, of Gaithersburg.

“We’re even verified on Twitter!” Hardesty agreed.

The lineup for the rally includes some prominent names in science and environmentalism, including Nye, chief executive of the Planetary Society and an honorary co-chair of the march. But the organizers wanted to erase the stereotype of science as a stodgy enterprise dominated by older white men, and the lineup includes speakers from a broad range of ages, backgrounds and expertise.

They included Taylor Richardson, a 13-year-old aspiring astronaut who raised $17,000 this year to send other girls to see the film “Hidden Figures”; chemist Mary Jo Ondrechen, a member of the Mohawk Nation and chair of the board of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society; and Gallaudet University biologist Caroline Solomon, who is deaf.

“We need more girls in computer science. We need more diversity in computer science,” said speaker Kavya Kopparapu, 16, a student at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology and founder of the Girls Computing League.

“In my future career, I don’t want to be known as a girl that happens to be a computer scientist. I want to be known as a computer scientist that happens to be a girl,” she told the crowd.

[The Redditor who kicked the march off with a throwaway line]

No politicians were given speaking roles, though some reportedly planned to show up for the march.

Some scientists in recent weeks have said they worried the march would politicize the broader scientific enterprise and signal an alignment with left-leaning ideologies. The march’s website offered an answer to that concern: “In the face of an alarming trend toward discrediting scientific consensus and restricting scientific discovery, we might ask instead: can we afford not to speak out in its defense? There is no Planet B.”

Molly Jung, 29, a doctoral candidate at Johns Hopkins, echoed that view: “It’s time for scientists to get out of the ivory towers and get the message out.”

The Washington march may have been the biggest gathering — organizers received a permit for up to 75,000 people — but there were similar events in more than 600 cities on six continents. Seven researchers in Antarctica went on Twitter to express their support for the march. Thousands of people gathered in Sydney, Australia, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. Science advocates went on social media to post bulletins from marches in Austria, England and Malawi, among other places.

Jia Naqvi, Kayla Epstein, Perry Stein, Martine Powers and Taylor Hartz contributed to this report.

Read more:

As scientists erupt in protest, a volcano researcher is running for Congress

U-Md. president: Why I march for science

Atom-smashing scientists are unnerved by harsh Trump budget

Why scientists are marching on Washington — and more than 600 other cities

Here come back-to-back science and climate marches. Organizers insist there’s no competition

Unveiling the secret of YouTube fame: How to navigate YouTube and generate more click through on videos

Video Marketing,

Getting your video to go viral is a hefty task. The most popular YouTube videos are filled with reality, humour, and most importantly, a clear connection with its audience. They follow people’s lives, disrupt the atmosphere with reality or mock our human nature; psy soars through streams with an air of nonchalance, his dominance unchallenged with 2.6bn views to date for Gangnam Style and Star Wars kid majestically dances through shares on social media.

Getting a tutorial or work based video to become popular sounds impossible, but there are a few simple tricks to assess how well your video ranks by asking yourself these (at times frank) questions:

Is your video rubbish?

Lacking in production values, coherent structure and adequate length, some videos are scored low on quality, excitement and originality and disappear into obscurity soon after being uploaded.

Your video viewers’ behaviour is seen by Google and this data is used to estimate the quality of the video. This process is generally sound because the indicators of video quality are clear in most cases. The key indicators are:

Instant subscribers

Is your video good enough to make your viewers want more?

Audience retention

How much of your video are people watching? The standard is different in each topical space – it may be normal for your audience to watch only half of your video if they get what they need in the first half.

Comments

Does your video get people talking?

Shares

Does telling other people about your video make people look cool?

Favourites

Do viewers want to watch your video again and again?

Thumbs up / down

What is Caligula’s verdict on your video?

Wouldn’t it be great if there was something like Google Analytics which could provide in-depth insights into these indicators for your videos? You know, some kind of YouTube Analytics?

Well, YouTube Analytics exists and is already buried deep in your account. First, you need to find the tiny settings button in the account dropdown (not the other ones that look identical). Then, in the settings window, you need to click the barely visible ‘show additional features’ link and then it reluctantly appears on the left hand menu. Despite being well hidden, it contains a bundle worth of dashboards and reports offering insights into all areas needed for fruitful analysis, including the ability to compare videos against each other. So, if your video isn’t performing in video search, chances are good that the answer is here.

For example, you might find that you’re losing viewers just a few seconds after the video starts. This is likely an indication that your video is not what users are expecting to see – or that it’s sadly, rubbish.

Once you’ve reviewed the analytics, and done some soul searching, is your video a rusty shopping trolley which has made its way down the Humber estuary and sunk to the ocean floor? If it is, don’t blame yourself – chalk it up to experience and have another go. However, if your un-ranked video is a masterpiece which has unjustly been condemned to the murky depths, ask yourself this:

Who needs to watch my video?

There are a lot of beautifully produced videos out there which nobody sees. This is because they’re about things which nobody is interested in. YouTube’s abyssal plain is littered with jewels like this because the people behind the projects were video producers, not digital marketers, and couldn’t have been expected to know any better.

Here are the questions that non-digital marketers should be asking to push their video rating up:

What’s my target keyword topic?

By making your video about a specific defined topic, it’s easier to match it to real-world demand for content, using specific words or phrases which can be used in optimising your video for YouTube success. If you’re looking for fruitful keyword ideas, try YouTube autocomplete. It’s unwieldy to use for research purposes but the data is bang up to date and very useful.

Does Google view my keyword as a video keyword?

Google shows video results in its main web search results to varying extents, depending on the keyword. Keywords which show many videos in the web SERPs are deemed highly relevant to video, and have the benefit of providing viewers not just from YouTube, but from Google’s main web SERPs. You don’t have to choose these video keywords when making your video, but if you’re planning on creating a video in order to generate maximum exposure for your brand, it certainly helps. Video keywords are often associated with reviews, how to guides, tutorials, fun/entertainment and sports/fitness to name but a few.

Is there adequate search volume?

Before committing production resource, AdWords Keyword Planner should be consulted, but this is far from the only source of information:

  • Google trends – While this only shows the popularity of a keyword or topic in relative terms, it’s still useful for comparing one prospective topic against another. Trends recently introduced the ability to see only data for video searches.
  • Display planner – Since shelving YouTube Keyword Planner, Google has recommended that marketers use the display planner instead. There is a learning curve, but it does provide insight into demand for some of the more general video topics and keywords.

If you’ve planned and researched your YouTube video expedition to the utmost and still aren’t making waves in organic video search, don’t be discouraged. There’s still a boatload of YouTube SEO tactics for you to unleash.

Have you optimised your Youtube video so Google can understand what it’s about?

Google cannot place your video in the correct context in its search results and serve it to searchers without clear identifying attributes. It cannot understand what videos are about by simply watching them (yet). It needs help from you, the heroic YouTube uploader, in the form of YouTube optimisation.

Here’s how you can make sure your video isn’t relegated to the book of unclassifiable oddities:

Title

The most important optimisation attribute for any video. Put your most important keywords at the front of the title. Directly address you target audience’s needs. Make ’em click!

Description

Tell your audience (and Google) what your video is about, how it will help them, and where they can get more information.

  • Put a link to your website near the top of the description to maximise click-throughs.
  • Make it at least 250 words.
  • Use your keywords in the description – three times, maybe four if it’s long, should do the trick.

Tags

The main role of these is to allow your video to appear in the ‘related video’ lists when users watch other videos. Make sure your tags relate your video to more popular videos out there which attract your target audience.

  • Use your keywords to inspire your tags but don’t be limited to them.
  • Some cheeky YouTube video optimisers add their competitors’ channel name as a tag, making it more likely that their video will appear as a related video on the sidebar which shows for their competitors’ videos.

Filename

Your video’s filename should represent its content – just one more source of information Google can use to determine what your video is about.

Video thumbnail

Sometimes, the first frame of your video is a beautiful summary of the what the video is about, in which case no action is required. Usually, however, it’s just a bush or a blank screen which gives little indication of the proceeding content. Choosing your own eye-catching thumbnail will maximise click-throughs to your video.

Conquering the Channel – Is your house in order?

Having a well optimised channel can do wonders for your YouTube SEO. Here are the key elements:

  • Channel description – Provide a long keyword rich detailed description of your channel – why does it exist, who is it for, what problems does it solve?
  • Channel keywords – Give Google a clue as to the sorts of keywords your channel is targeting. Lots of YouTube marketers miss this – get the edge by optimising here.
  • Playlist organisation – Organising your channel’s videos into playlists is an instant plus in terms of user engagement – instead of sifting through a seemingly random list of videos, they’ll find it easy to find what they are looking for and be more likely to stick around and interact.
  • Custom URL – Channels with at least 500 subscribers (recently introduced) can change their channel’s URL from the random string of numbers and letters to something more user friendly and shareable. Make sure you don’t miss this.

Hidden gems – Little-used YouTube optimisation features

YouTube’s interface can be a challenge to navigate for the YouTube SEO newcomer. You may not be aware of these handy features which can make a real difference to your video’s performance.

Closed Captions

Google automatically tries to transcribe the words in your video for the benefit of hard-of-hearing viewers as well as to aid its own comprehension. If you hired Sir David Attenborough to narrate your skateboarding tutorial, you’ve got little to worry about – Google will fairly accurately transcribe Attenborough’s impeccably spoken words into text, which it will then use to help it understand what your video is about, helping your video rank better in video search.

However, if you didn’t hire Attenborough, the accuracy with which Google will be able to transcribe your video’s spoken element, let me just say, is not guaranteed.

But there’s great news here. Google’s transcription can be edited! This truly is a bonanza for the YouTube optimiser. You may find on viewing the transcription that Google has been unable to recognise your key phrases. Simply editing these could go a long way to improving your YouTube video’s optimisation, but I’d go the whole hog if a lot of resource has been invested in the video.

Featured Content

Do you have videos which are already popular but can’t get your new video to succeed? Then YouTube’s featured content option is for you. It lets you show a little teaser ad in the bottom left corner of your existing popular videos which encourages viewers to see the new video. It’s quite enticing and successfully drives click-throughs. Your new videos will benefit from the success of established ones.

YouTube SEO is your video’s life raft. Now that you’re an expert, it’s time for you to surface your video and achieve great rankings on YouTube and Google Video search. Carpe Diem!

Richard Lewis is SEO lead at paid search agency Found.

GameStop Receives Marketing Material Possibly Linked to ‘Call of Duty’ Series

Video Marketing,

GameStop (GME)  stores have started to receive notifications that marketing material for a new Activision Blizzard (ATVI)  game title will be arriving in stores on April 25, Charlie INTEL reports.

The report suggests that the marketing campaign is related to Activision Blizard’s « Call of Duty » video game series.

The report also indicates that marketing material is being sent for the « Destiny 2 » video game to GameStop next week.

Activision has yes to confirm any details. Shares of Activision Blizzard and GameStop were lower during midday trading on Friday. 

(GameStop stock is held in the Dividend Stock Advisor portfolio. See all of the holdings with a free trial.)

5 Changes I’m Making to My Social Media Marketing in 2017

Video Marketing,

If there’s one thing you can rely on, it’s change – especially when it comes to social media. It seems like every day there’s some new feature or new technology that is taking the digital landscape by storm.

And social media isn’t showing any signs of slowing down yet. Today, one-third of the world’s population uses social media networks on a regular basis.

With so much constant change, it’s the brands that can keep up and roll with the punches that are going to be the ones to succeed on social. But to keep up and stay ahead of the competition, businesses must understand the latest trends and how to use them effectively.

If your brand is still stuck using Google+, it may be time for an upgrade. Here are five of the latest social media marketing trends that I want to incorporate into my strategy this year – you may want to consider them for yours, too.

1. Live Video

In 2016, 14% of marketers experimented with live video, and that number is only going to climb this year.

We saw live video come on the scene last year with Twitter’s Periscope, and soon after, Facebook followed with Facebook Live, bringing livestreaming into the limelight. Instagram has also launched its own live video feature, and other social networks will likely follow suit in the near future.

It’s no secret that audiences love video content. YouTube has been a successful platform for years, and Facebook users watch 100 million hours of video every day. But live video takes video content to the next level.

Audiences crave authenticity, and that’s exactly what live video provides. With no editing or scripting, going live presents your brand in a more personable and genuine way.

Incorporating live video into your social media strategy is easy to do – especially if you’ve already been creating video content. “First and foremost, you’ll want to consider where your audience already spends time on social media – and try to connect with them on those networks,” says Sophia Bernazzani, staff writer at HubSpot.

Once you’ve chosen where to post your video content, you need to decide what to post. If you have an event going on, have a member of your team livestream it. Consider providing a behind-the-scenes look at your office and operations. Try hosting a QA with a special guest or demonstrate how to use one of your products.

2. Paid Content

If you’re publishing a Facebook post and just hoping someone will see it, you aren’t doing enough. With more and more changes being made to social networks’ algorithms, the chances that your audience will see your content grow slimmer and slimmer.

While these algorithms serve to ensure the platform’s users are seeing content they actually enjoy, there’s no doubt they make it harder for brands to get noticed.

Plus, other brands and consumers are sharing and publishing more content than ever, so competition for attention is fierce. In the past two years, content consumption on Facebook has increased 57%.

So how do you cut through the clutter? The answer is: you must pay for it. Organic traffic on social can only get you so far. But paid content is well worth the investment.

Promoted posts and native advertising allow businesses to narrowly target a specific audience, so you know the right people are seeing your posts. By paying for it, you can ensure that your posts actually show up on your target audience’s feeds.

Trump Scrambles For A Win — Any Win, Really — As He Nears 100 Days

Video Marketing,

“The White House gambit to hold hostage health care for millions of Americans, in order to force American taxpayers to foot the bill for a wall that the President said would be paid for by Mexico is a complete non-starter,” said Schumer’s spokesman, Matt House. “The U.S. government is supposed to take care of its citizens and, according to the President, Mexico is supposed to pay for the wall. If the administration would drop their 11th hour demand for a wall that Democrats, and a good number of Republicans oppose, Congressional leaders could quickly reach a deal.”

The Latest: Rescued teen back home in Tennessee

Video Marketing,

COLUMBIA, Tenn. — The Latest on the missing Tennessee high school student who was found in California with a teacher (all times local):

4:10 p.m.

A California sheriff says a Tennessee teacher accused of kidnapping his 15-year-old student got the idea to go to a commune after visiting Berkeley, a city long known as a counterculture hotbed.

Siskiyou County Sheriff Jon E. Lopey said teacher Tad Cummins took the girl to the commune at Black Bear Ranch in northern California but “didn’t get along” with the residents and wound up leaving.

Police say the teacher kidnapped the girl from Columbia, Tennessee, on March 13. He was arrested Thursday after a tip led police to them at a remote cabin in Cecilville, California.

___

The lawyer for the family of a 15-year-old girl who was allegedly kidnapped by her teacher says the teen is back home in Tennessee and being evaluated and treated by mental health experts. Attorney Jason Whatley said in a press release that the girl is in a safe location with family and friends.

Police say teacher Tad Cummins kidnapped the girl from Columbia, Tennessee, on March 13. Cummins was arrested Thursday after a tip led police to a remote cabin in Cecilville, California.

The lawyer said there is no doubt the girl suffered severe emotional trauma and the process of recovery is only beginning. He thanked people across the country for their thoughts and prayers and asked that the family have privacy.

___

1:30 p.m.

The sheriff of a northern California county says a 15-year-old Tennessee girl who was allegedly kidnapped by her teacher was “laughing, crying and acting stoic” after deputies found her at the remote cabin.

Siskiyou County Sheriff Jon E. Lopey tells the Associated Press that she did not exhibit any anger toward her teacher.

Police say teacher Tad Cummins kidnapped the girl from Columbia, Tennessee, on March 13. Cummins was arrested Thursday after a tip led police to the cabin in Cecilville, California.

The sheriff said the girl showed no signs of elation when she and Cummins were found. He said she did not act like a rescued person.

He said the two were staying in the cabin and doing work for a land caretaker in exchange for food and fuel.

___

7 a.m.

The father of a 15-year-old Tennessee girl who was found in northern California with a teacher after being missing for more than a month says he thinks his daughter was brainwashed.

Speaking Friday on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” the father said his daughter will need therapy and that her family will be patient with her and get her the help she needs.

The Associated Press is not naming the girl or her family members because she is an alleged victim of a sex crime.

In the meantime, a teacher at the girl’s high school, 50-year-old Tad Cummins, faces state charges of aggravated kidnapping and sexual contact with a minor as well as a federal charge of taking a minor across state lines to have sex.

Cummins surrendered to deputies Thursday near a remote cabin in Cecilville, California.

___

2:40 a.m.

After being missing for more than a month, a 15-year-old Tennessee girl was found near a cabin in a remote part of northern California and the 50-year-old teacher accused of kidnapping her was arrested.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation says health sciences teacher Tad Cummins surrendered to sheriff’s deputies Thursday without incident in Cecilville, California. The girl was apparently healthy and unharmed, but authorities say their main concern was her emotional and mental state.

Cummins faces state charges of aggravated kidnapping and sexual contact with a minor as well as a federal charge of taking a minor across state lines to have sex. Acting U.S. Attorney Jack Smith says that if convicted of the federal charge, he faces at least 10 years in prison.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Why are brands turning to live video streaming?

Video Marketing,

New Delhi: When smartphone maker Motorola Mobility India launched its fifth-generation Moto G5 in India on 4 April, the event was live streamed on YouTube and Facebook, where it received 37,000 and 210,000 views, respectively.

Motorola’s parent Lenovo Mobile Business Group (MBG) says most of its product launches are webcast live on social media.

“A live event video is the first actual asset that officially goes out as launch communication,” said Rachna Lather, marketing head of Lenovo MBG and Motorola Mobility India, adding, “We believe that through live video streaming, our consumers get information about the product, its specifications and the offers to be availed of in real time. We make sure that the brand presence should be felt at relevant platforms by seeding the live video for the in-market audience.”

Motorola isn’t the only one. The Indian units of automobile giants like Hyundai Motor Co. and Jaguar Land Rover Automotive Plc., US home-sharing giant Airbnb Inc., beauty brand Avon Products Inc., and home-grown fashion e-tailer Myntra have adopted the same strategy.

Essentially, a live video allows a brand or an individual to stream video content using either a smartphone or desktop in real time. The feature was first launched by Facebook, followed by micro-blogging platform Twitter and then YouTube. Companies quickly latched on to it to launch new brands and engage with consumers.

Experts say live videos are growing in popularity because they are immersive and engaging, giving consumers a front-row experience. They can ask questions of a brand, give feedback and become a part of the community. Unlike a mass media channel like television, the communication is not one-sided.

“While the traditional launch mediums usually result in a unidirectional flow of information, the live video format helped us build positive digital chatter among our target audience by encouraging interesting conversations around our new range of products,” said a spokesperson for Avon India.

The beauty products maker recently unveiled its new range of colour cosmetics called ‘Avon True’ through Facebook Live which was viewed by more than 100,000 viewers.

Apart from product launches and live webcasting of on-ground campaigns, another big use case of live video for brands is getting celebrity endorsers to interact with consumers. Avon India, for instance, received more than 2,000 interactions within a span of one hour during the Avon True launch in which consumers asked questions and sought tips from the brand ambassador, Bollywood actor Aditi Rao Hydari.

Saurabh Doshi, head of media partnerships at Facebook India, says the chance to talk to someone influential tends to attract viewers. “It is an authentic communication in real time and that is why we have seen live videos getting far better traction than pre-recorded videos which feature celebrities,” he adds.

Along with brand promotions, live videos are also becoming a staple tool for movie studios to launch trailers as well as execute marketing promotions. Viacom18 Motion Pictures, which distributed and marketed American action movie xXx: Return of Xander Cage, featuring Hollywood actor Vin Diesel and Bollywood’s Deepika Padukone, live webcast the premiere of the film on Facebook and YouTube. Viewers got a chance to interact with the stars.

“Live, as a concept, is still growing and evolving. However, once the viewer tunes in, live videos beat every other platform in terms of engagement and interactions. Currently, being leveraged in a non-curated fashion, it has to evolve in a way where content creators can plan the kind of content that viewers want to consume including a multi-camera set-up which ensures superior live experience,” said Rudrarup Datta, senior vice-president, marketing, Viacom18 Motion Pictures.

Filmfare Awards also live broadcast all the action from the red carpet where celebrities interacted with users on Twitter through live streaming. Twitter also live broadcast a special show with film director Karan Johar and Filmfare’s editor Jitesh Pillai hosted by digital creator Abhish Mathew an hour before the awards show was broadcast on television.

“There is a novelty factor in seeing something happening in the world in real time. Live video also helps build virality. It the content is good, people will start retweeting it, which will lead to more people joining in,” said Taranjeet Singh, business head, Twitter India.

Live video is also a cost-effective tool through which brands can easily map the engagement primarily through views, likes, shares and comments.

Although the cost of a live video is one-tenth that of a digital video campaign, it attracts ten times more views and eight times more comments than a pre-recorded video, said Manu Bhadane, associate vice-president, video strategy, WATConsult, the social media agency of Dentsu Aegis Network.

“I believe that marketers will invest 5-10% of their digital video spends on live videos,” said Bhadane.

According to a report jointly published by Dentsu Aegis Network and exchange4media, video advertising spending is estimated at Rs1,249 crore a year and poised to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 40% until 2020.

Search Promo Marketing For:

Video Marketing,

Promo Marketing’s Video Battle pits two industry videos against each other for the chance at the ultimate bragging right: Being declared our readership’s absolute favorite. (Next up: Gearing up for the NFL Draft, which is happening right down the street. Of course, I’d prefer to get drafted by the Eagles, but I’ll take what I can get.)

Last week, Dynamite Promo won again, and now will face off against Promo Town Powered by HALO Branded Solutions.

The winner will be decided by a simple poll. The poll will close the morning of Friday, April 28, the same day a new challenge will start.

Companies whose videos win for four weeks in a row will be retired to the Video Battle Hall of Fame and General Awesomeness, forever enshrined in internet glory.

Click here for prior video battles. Have a promotional product video you’d like to submit to PM’s Video Battle? Send suggestions to bmenapace@napco.com.

The Promo Marketing Video Battle is brought to you by SnugZ USA.