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The Rise of Video Marketing and How it Affects Your Business

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It’s no secret that video use in content marketing is on the rise. Online video is becoming an efficient means for people to gather and consume information quickly and frequently impacts purchasing decisions. However, many businesses are failing to include it as part of their marketing strategies—doing so at their peril.

If you aren’t currently using video or don’t believe your strategy is effective or appropriate, now is the time to shift your thinking. Video is the perfect format to quickly grab busy audiences’ attention. Promoting visual and interactive content enables businesses to show, not tell. It can help explain more complicated stories in a short and compelling format viewers can enjoy—and marketers can measure.

Research shows that 46% of consumers confirm they made a purchase after watching a branded social video. That stat is supported by the reality that YouTube is the second-largest search engine. Additionally, half of the marketers who use video in email campaigns see increased click-through rates, increased time spent reading the email, and increased sharing and forwarding.

The best way to get your marketing messages across to the right people is by understanding the role your content is playing in the customer experience. By being customer-centric, you can speak directly to your target audience with the right message, at the right time of the customer journey. So, for example, if we’re talking about Generation Z, research shows that in four years, they will represent 24% of the U.S. workforce and 40% of consumer spending. As their purchasing power increases, it will be critical to recognize they are one of the largest consumers of video content and if you’re trying to reach them, you need to adopt and develop video strategies for engaging them successfully.

For the most part, individuals respond positively to emotional connections from large brands. Designing emotion into video requires new insight methodologies and data sources that deliver deep, ethnographic understandings—interpreted and analyzed through a customers’ viewpoint. Often, how a customer behaves relates to how they feel. From our perspective, the emotional experiences are foundations for business success. Customers want brands they believe in, that respect their time, understand their needs, and make them feel valued.

Brands creating videos can effectively set the tone, explain who they are, provide solutions, and share stories in a visually captivating way. Online videos are also easy to share and consume. Audiences are about 10 times more likely to engage, embed, share, and comment on video content than on blogs or related social posts.

Furthermore, video is clearly a priority for social media channels, which are making it even easier to execute on their platforms. For example, Facebook’s Canvas advertising product and its partnership with BlueJeans, “the first platform for large-scale, interactive video events that can broadcast over Facebook Live,” will only extend the trend.

Many marketers have the impression that delivering a video marketing strategy is difficult and expensive. However, new technology and the proliferation in platforms have led to a vast range of choices and have made major improvements to video and its implementation online.

Now that video is finally easy enough to produce, edit, and publish, marketers can feel more comfortable experimenting with it. Depending on the production quality you’re aiming for and your budget, you can invest in an in-house videographer or, for a more professional execution, outsource to an agency to collaborate with throughout the whole process.

To get started, review your company’s overall needs. It’s important to outline your scope, research your audience, identify relevant content, and develop a strategy to contribute to reaching each of them. You’ll need to know what type of content you’ll make, who you’re making this content for, where your content will live, and what the call to action will be.

A solid, data-driven plan can make the difference in knowing if your content is delivering on ROI. The “post and pray” method won’t cut it when it comes to generating a pipeline. Measuring performance is the only way to know if your videos are successful. Collect data on how your videos are performing and resonating with your audience. Data has the potential to be your most valuable marketing resource. With the right information, you can gain a better understanding of your customers and their behavior.

Ultimately, to truly appreciate the value of video as an effective business solution, don’t think of it as a one-hit wonder. Approach it as a long-term tool with a long-term goal. It takes commitment—you want to sustain momentum by improving on and learning from each video you make. With the right video strategy in place, your company will benefit from its powerful potential to tell engaging stories and inspire audiences to take action.

Why Video Has Become THE Hottest Digital Marketing Trend

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Online marketing trends change with every new delivery method and channel. Each year brings new technology, new opportunities, and new social channels to catch user fancy. The big winners in the battle for buyer attention might be early adopters throwing resources into promising new technology that proves successful, or businesses who stick with a particular channel to build a huge following.

Video marketing is certainly not new, but the market is changing, and video has emerged as a clear winner.

Video Marketing Trends

YouTube already dominates the field, with a billion users watching hundreds of millions of hours every day. To sweeten the marketing appeal, YouTube reaches more 18-49 year-old viewers than any of the cable networks.

While YouTube traffic expanded more than 40 percent since last year, video viewing options also opened up. Facebook now offers embedded videos and in-line livestreaming, and services like Periscope and Facebook are starting to attract the bravest of no-do-over video pioneers marketing in real time.

Video Ads in Search Results

Another clear indicator of just how popular video marketing has become is the inevitable launch of in-SERP video ads. Google and Bing are both testing video incorporation into rich search results.

The new True View for Shopping, a product that allows users to order products from inside a demo video, has already yielded impressive results. Sephora and Wayfair test cases report increased viewing time, revenue and ad recall.

With big retailers and eager viewers already on board and social media and SERPs ramping up viewer opportunities, video marketing is set to explode like never before.

Why Video Marketing is Effective

Content marketing and social media changed the marketing game in a major way. Brand storytelling took center stage, propelled by the advantages of humanizing and allowing businesses to connect in a more meaningful way with their customer base.

For small businesses, video is an inexpensive way to level the playing field. Here, big businesses and slick, expensive advertising spots don’t always have the advantage. Smaller companies can stand out in several ways:

  • Answering customer FAQs
  • Showcasing products in action
  • Asking for user-generated contributions featuring real-life customers
  • Introducing staff and showing an intimate look around operations
  • Demonstrating product use
  • Featuring video testimonials

Thousands of small YouTube businesses have built audience and credibility with simple, straightforward advertising, and case studies show that video has a big impact on sales, especially for small businesses and cottage industry. More than half of marketers responding to the 2014 Video Statistics study by Invodo said that video offers a higher ROI than any other type of content.

New Technologies in Your Future

Every aspect of marketing in the last few years has moved toward personalization, targeting and interactive content. New video technology takes the concept to a new level, with engaging videos that move from viewing into response. Data collection forms, surveys, polls and choose-your-adventure videos will become more common.

You’ve seen these formats in Hulu big business advertising for years, but not in heavy use elsewhere. That’s bound to change as new video production programs make fancy interaction cheap and available for any user.

Approximately 96 percent of B2B advertisers are already using videos, but smaller B2C businesses may have been slower to adopt due to production costs or simple reluctance to waste marketing dollars on a technology they may not feel is effective.

Now that you know which way the 2017 marketing winds are blowing, are you ready to jump on board with video marketing?

Video Marketing Photo via Shutterstock


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Fact-checking President Trump’s news conference

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“I don’t think there’s ever been a president elected who in this short period of time has done what we’ve done.”
— President Trump, news conference, Feb. 16, 2016

We can’t quite fact check the statement above — it’s certainly open to debate what counts as achievements — but we can fact-check 15 dubious claims made by the president in his lengthy news conference. Some of these are from his greatest hits of falsehoods, which we have fact-checked many times before. The claims are addressed in the order in which Trump made them.

“A new Rasmussen poll just came out just a very short while ago, and it has our approval rating at 55 percent and going up.”

Trump has a tendency to focus only on polls that are good for him. Rasmussen has a right-leaning bias and earns a C+ grade from FiveThirtyEight.com. Other polls show Trump with significantly lower approval ratings, such as Gallup (40 percent) and Pew Research Center (39 percent).

“Trump’s overall job approval is much lower than those of prior presidents in their first weeks in office,” Pew said. “Nearly half (46%) strongly disapprove of his job performance, while 29% strongly approve.”

But Trump apparently dismisses such findings:

“The stock market has hit record numbers.”

This is a flip-flop for Trump. Before he was elected, he dismissed the stock-market performance under President Barack Obama as “artificial” and “a bubble,” as Sopan Deb of The New York Times noted:

“Plants and factories are already starting to move back into the United States, and big league — Ford, General Motors, so many of them.”

Trump keeps giving himself credit for business decisions made before he became president. Ford’s decision has more to do with the company’s long-term goal — particularly its plans to invest in electric vehicles — than with the administration. Here’s what Ford chief executive Mark Fields said about the company’s decision to abandon plans to open a factory in Mexico: “The reason that we are not building the new plant, the primary reason, is just demand has gone down for small cars.”

“To be honest, I inherited a mess. It’s a mess. At home and abroad, a mess.”

Trump indicated he was backing up this statement by noting that “jobs are pouring out of the country…. The Middle East is a disaster. North Korea.”

The state of foreign policy is open to interpretation — Trump claimed he was developing “a plan for the defeat of ISIS,” the terrorist group in Iraq and Syria.

But the economy was in pretty good shape when Trump became president, especially compared to the economic crisis that Obama inherited in 2009. In January 2009, coinciding with the last labor report of the George W. Bush administration, nearly 800,000 jobs disappeared, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, compared to the nearly 230,000 jobs added in January 2017. (Trump has given himself credit for the January numbers, but the data was collected when Obama still held office.)

“We got 306 [electoral college votes] because people came out and voted like they’ve never seen before, so that’s the way it goes. I guess it was the biggest electoral college win since Ronald Reagan.”

This statement is wrong on several levels.

Trump ended up with 304 electoral votes, because two electors he earned voted for someone else.

Trump did get more raw votes than any other Republican candidate in history — but he also earned 2.9 million fewer votes than Hillary Clinton. Another 8 million people voted for third-party or write-in candidates. Moreover, turnout of the voting-age population (54.6 percent) was lower than in the elections of 2012, 2008 and 2004.

Finally, Trump was wrong on the size of his electoral college win. Of the nine presidential elections since 1984, Trump’s electoral college win ranks seventh. When a reporter pointed out his error, Trump first indicated that he was talking about Republican candidates. But George H.W. Bush received 426 electoral votes in 1988. Trump’s response: “I don’t know, I was given that information.”

“We’ve ordered a crackdown on sanctuary cities that refuse to comply with federal law and that harbor criminal aliens, and we have ordered an end to the policy of catch and release on the border. No more release. No matter who you are, release. We have begun a nationwide effort to remove criminal aliens, gang members, drug dealers and others who pose a threat to public safety. We are saving American lives every single day.”

There is limited research on the impact of sanctuary policies and crime. And the research that does exist challenges Trump’s claim. We previously awarded Three Pinocchios to Trump’s claim that sanctuary cities “breed crime.”

There’s no official definition of “sanctuary,” but it generally refers to rules restricting state and local governments from alerting federal authorities about people who may be in the country illegally. Immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility, and state and local law enforcement can decide how much they want to cooperate with the federal government for immigration enforcement. There are between 165 and 608 local and state governments with sanctuary policies, and they vary in their approach.

A handful of studies looked at whether there is a causation between sanctuary cities and crime. They either found no statistically significant impact of sanctuary policies on crime, or a reduction in crime due to immigrant-friendly policing strategies. Sanctuary jurisdictions release inmates after their criminal case is complete, and extensive research shows that noncitizens are not more prone to criminality than U.S.-born citizens. Moreover, some sanctuary jurisdictions do cooperate with the federal government if they believe the inmate is a public safety threat.

“In fact, we had to go quicker than we thought because of the bad decision we received from a circuit that has been overturned at a record number. I have heard 80 percent. I find that hard to believe. That is just a number I heard, that they are overturned 80 percent of the time. I think that circuit is in chaos and that circuit is frankly in turmoil. But we are appealing that, and we are going further.”

Trump is referring to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, which ruled against reinstating his travel ban. But there are other ways to slice the data, and it’s important to put this number into context. None of the data supports Trump’s contention that the court is “in chaos” and “in turmoil.”

Each court’s reversal rate changes every year, so it’s easy to cherry-pick this data. Under Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., the 9th Circuit court did not set a “record” for reversals. The 9th Circuit’s reversal rate was usually higher than the average, but not always the highest. In the 2014-2015 term, the 9th Circuit’s reversal rate was 63 percent, below the average rate of 72 percent. In the 2015-2016 term, the latest year of data available, the 9th Circuit court’s reversal rate was 80 percent, and the average rate was 67 percent.

Most cases that are reviewed by the Supreme Court are reversed. For this reason, a 2010 analysis by the American Bar Association also looked at the number of cases reversed in each appellate court compared to the total number of cases terminated by the appellate court. From 1999 to 2008, 80 percent of 9th Circuit court cases reviewed by the Supreme Court were reversed (compared to the median rate of 68.3 percent). But the number of reversed cases represented only one-fifteenth of 1 percent of the total number of appeals terminated by the 9th Circuit Court during that 10-year period.

Moreover, the 9th Circuit rules on more cases in general. According to SCOTUSblog: “Far more cases come to the Court from the Ninth Circuit than any other court, and — not surprisingly — Ninth Circuit rulings make up a sizeable portion of the docket of argued and decided cases — 75 cases, or 25.7% for the last four Terms including the current session.”

“We have also taken steps to begin construction of the Keystone Pipeline and Dakota Access Pipelines. Thousands and thousands of jobs, and put new buy-American measures in place to require American steel for American pipelines.”

Trump, in saying “thousands and thousands of jobs,” leaves himself some wiggle room here. (He’d previously incorrectly said 28,000 jobs.) Moreover, some of these jobs have already been created. Workers in Arkansas, for instance, have already built about half of the high-strength line pipe needed for the project, some 333,000 tons.

“You [the media] have a lower approval rate than Congress. I think that’s right.”

Trump indicated that he wasn’t sure if this assertion is correct. It is not. The public’s trust in the media has certainly fallen over the years. But a 2016 Gallup poll shows that Congress is viewed positively by 9 percent of respondents, compared to 20 percent for newspapers and 21 percent for television.

That’s not a high confidence level — besides Congress, only “big business” ranks lower than the media — but it’s enough to make Trump’s claim incorrect.

“When WikiLeaks, which I had nothing to do with, comes out and happens to give, they’re not giving classified information.”

WikiLeaks actually released hundreds of thousands of classified State Department cables, in a significant blow to U.S. diplomacy.

“Nobody mentions that Hillary received the questions to the debates.”

Trump overstates the disclosure about Clinton reportedly getting a single debate question. During the Democratic primaries, a debate was held in Flint, Mich., to focus on the water crisis. Donna Brazile, then an analyst with CNN, sent an email to the Clinton campaign saying that a woman with a rash from lead poisoning was going to ask what Clinton as president could do the help the people of Flint.

There’s no indication Clinton was told this information, but in any case it’s a pretty obvious question for a debate being held in Flint. In her answer, Clinton committed to remove lead from water systems across the country within five years. Lee-Anne Waters, who asked the question, later said Clinton’s answer “made me vomit in my mouth” because that was too long to wait in Flint.

“You know, they say I’m close to Russia. Hillary Clinton gave away 20 percent of the uranium in the United States. She’s close to Russia.”

Trump repeated this claim, worthy of Four Pinocchios, several times during the news conference.

An entire chapter is dedicated to this uranium deal in Peter Schweizer’s “Clinton Cash.” In the book, Schweizer reveals ties between the Clinton Foundation and investors who stood to gain from a deal that required State Department approval.

Trump’s claim suggests the State Department had sole approval authority, but the department is one of nine agencies in the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States to vet and sign off on all U.S. transactions involving foreign governments. As we’ve noted before, there is no evidence Clinton herself got involved in the deal personally, and it is highly questionable that this deal even rose to the level of the secretary of state. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission also needed to approve, and did approve, the transfer.

“We had a very smooth rollout of the travel ban. But we had a bad court. Got a bad decision.”

Trump appears to have forgotten that imprecise wording in the executive order led to confusion over whether U.S. permanent residents — green-card holders — were also banned from returning to the United States. The White House counsel later issued guidance making clear that they were not covered. The Court of Appeals later said that the counsel’s statement was not a sufficient fix.

“Russia is a ruse. I have nothing to do with Russia. Haven’t made a phone call to Russia in years. Don’t speak to people from Russia.”

The Wall Street Journal reported during the campaign that before Trump gave a foreign-policy speech in April, he met with the Russian ambassador: “A few minutes before he made those remarks [calling for improved relations with Russia], Mr. Trump met at a VIP reception with Russia’s ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Ivanovich Kislyak. Mr. Trump warmly greeted Mr. Kislyak and three other foreign ambassadors who came to the reception.”

Trump also is being misleading when he says has “nothing to do with Russia.” Trump repeatedly sought deals in Russia. In 1987, he went to Moscow to find a site for a luxury hotel; no deal emerged. In 1996, he sought to build a condominium complex in Russia; that also did not succeed. In 2005, Trump signed a one-year deal with a New York development company to explore a Trump Tower in Moscow, but the effort fizzled.

In a 2008 speech, Donald Trump Jr. made it clear that the Trumps want to do business in Russia, but were finding it difficult. “Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets,” Trump’s son said at a real estate conference in 2008, according to an account posted on the website of eTurboNews, a trade publication. “We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia.”

Alan Garten, general counsel of the Trump Organization, told The Washington Post in May: “I have no doubt, as a company, I know we’ve looked at deals in Russia. And many of the former Russian republics.”

“You go to some of these inner city places and it’s so sad when you look at the crime. You have people — and I’ve seen this, and I’ve sort of witnessed it — in fact, in two cases I have actually witnessed it. They lock themselves into apartments, petrified to even leave, in the middle of the day. They’re living in hell.”

“Inner cities” is not a category by which crime is measured, and Trump often uses this term to refer to large, urban cities. In 2016, there was an uptick in the homicide rate in the 30 largest cities. One outlier city — Chicago — was responsible for 43.7 percent of the total increase in homicide rates in 2016. Overall, violent crime is on a decades-long decline, since the height of the crack cocaine epidemic in the early 1990s.

The homicide rate in the 30 largest cities also increased in 2015, but the two-year trend does not indicate the return of a crime wave in “inner cities.” Crime trends can randomly fluctuate year to year, and criminologists consider the data over much longer periods of time — at least 10 to 15 years — to draw conclusions about trends.

We explored Trump’s exaggerated rhetoric on crime here.

 

 

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Harward turns down Trump’s national security adviser offer

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Retired Vice Admiral Robert Harward was seen by many as a steadying hand after Michael Flynn’s tumultuous tenure atop the National Security Council. | Getty

By

02/16/17 07:45 PM EST

Updated 02/16/17 10:32 PM EST

Retired Vice Admiral Robert Harward has turned down an offer from President Donald Trump to be national security adviser — saying he couldn’t give the commitment necessary for the job — raising new questions whether a White House in turmoil can find a permanent replacement for Michael Flynn.

Harward, a former deputy to Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, was seen by many as a steadying hand after Flynn’s tumultuous tenure atop the National Security Council. Flynn was ousted after he failed to tell Vice President Mike Pence about his discussion of sanctions with the Russian ambassador before Trump took office. Flynn also set off a revolt among NSC staff over some of the changes he was implementing.

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In a statement reported by CNN on Thursday evening, after news broke that he was passing on the job, Harward said that « since retiring, I have the opportunity to address financial and family issues that would have been challenging in this position. »

« Like all service members understand, and live, this job requires 24 hours a day, 7 days a week focus and commitment to do it right, » Harward’s statement continued. « I currently could not make that commitment. My thoughts and prayers are with those that carry such heavy burdens and responsibility for taking care of our country’s national security concerns. God bless this great country of ours. »

But according to an individual familiar with Harward’s thinking, the former Navy SEAL who served on the National Security Council under President George W. Bush turned down the Trump offer because he did not receive sufficient assurances about staffing and autonomy. Specifically, the source said Harward wanted commitments that the National Security Council would be fully in charge of security matters, not Trump’s political advisers. And he wanted to be able to select his own staff.

Trump’s decision last month to place his top strategist and former Breitbart CEO Steve Bannon on the National Security Council was roundly criticized as a departure from tradition, and previous administrations have tried to keep the NSC as divorced from politics as possible.

The individual familiar with Harward’s thinking, who asked that he not be identified, cited the « unwillingness of White House political team to be deferential to the White House national security team” and « unwillingness of [the] White House political team to be malleable” as driving factors in why Harward demurred.

A Trump administration official said Harward’s decision to decline the offer had more to do with family commitments and his obligations to his current employer, Lockheed Martin. « He came back today and said he could not overcome either, » said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Mary Beth Long, a former assistant secretary of defense in the Bush administration, was soliciting resumes from people willing to work on the NSC if he took the post, according to a former Bush administration official who was not authorized to speak publicly.

The first source also said that the broader appearance of a White House struggling mightily to get organized factored heavily on Harward’s thinking — what the source described as « lack of command and control, » a « lack of discipline, » and « an unwillingness of White House political team to be malleable.”

POLITICO reported Wednesday that Trump offered Harward the job on Monday and he asked for time to mull it over.

The news of Harward’s decision not to accept the job was first reported by the Financial Times.

The White House has maintained that Trump has a roster of other potential candidates to fill the crucial post, which is responsible for a staff of hundreds that coordinate national security policymaking with the Pentagon, State Department, and other agencies and directly advise the president.

The acting national security adviser is retired Army Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, who was serving as Flynn’s chief of staff and the NSC’s executive secretary.

“The president is currently evaluating a group of very strong candidates that will be considered to fill the national security adviser position permanently and is confident in the ability of General Kellogg, a decorated and distinguished veteran of the United States Army, until that person is ultimately chosen,” White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters Tuesday.

Harward was a deputy commander under then Gen. Mattis at U.S. Central Command, responsible for military operations in the Middle east. He previously served as the National Security Council’s director of strategy and defense before he was assigned to the National Counterterrorism Center in 2005.

Inside the National Security Council, even senior aides said confusion reigned. « I don’t know anything. Nobody knows anything. I don’t know who knows anything, » said a senior NSC aide who added that many colleagues are beginning to fear they will be dismissed by the incoming national security adviser, whoever that may be.

Eli Stokols, Tara Palmeri, Eliana Johnson, Michael Crowley and Daniel Lippman contributed to this story.

Trump claims he ‘inherited a mess’ at sprawling, grievance-filled news conference

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President Trump aired his grievances against the news media, the intelligence community and his detractors in a sprawling, stream-of-consciousness news conference Thursday, capping an extraordinary four weeks in office marked by tumult, disarray and infighting.

The beleaguered chief executive defended his advisers against claims of improper contacts with Russia and claimed — contrary to widespread perceptions both inside and outside the White House — that his fledgling administration “is running like a fine-tuned machine.”

“To be honest, I inherited a mess,” he said in a news conference that lasted an hour and 17 minutes and was, by turns, rambling, combative and pure Trump. “It’s a mess. At home and abroad, a mess.”

Yet moments later, the president seemed to acknowledge the widespread reports of turbulence and upheaval emanating out of the West Wing, only to claim that his White House — which so far has been marred by staff feuding, a controversial travel ban, false statements and myriad leaks — was operating seamlessly.

“I turn on the TV, open the newspapers and I see stories of chaos — chaos,” he said. “Yet it is the exact opposite. This administration is running like a fine-tuned machine, despite the fact that I can’t get my Cabinet approved.”

President Trump speaks during a news conference in the East Room of the White House on Thursday. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

Trump’s news conference — with the president firmly at the center as both complainer and defender in chief — capped a month of turmoil in what so far is the most tumultuous start to any U.S. presidency in modern history. His approval ratings are underwater in most polls, and he is battling setbacks including the firing Monday of national security adviser Michael Flynn and the decision Wednesday by Labor Department nominee Andrew Puzder to withdraw amid mounting opposition on Capitol Hill. 

The turmoil continued Thursday evening as Trump’s pick to replace Flynn, retired Vice Adm. Robert Harward, turned down the job, according to people familiar with the offer.

A senior U.S. official said that “family considerations changed his mind,” and a friend of Harward’s added that the hard-charging former Navy SEAL was not fully comfortable with the quickly moving process. One factor in Harward’s decision was that he could not get a guarantee that he could select his own staff, according to someone close to Trump with knowledge of the discussions.

Trump had said earlier at the news conference that one of the reasons he felt he could let Flynn go was because he had a good replacement in mind, without naming that person. “I have somebody that I think will be outstanding for the position,” he said. “And that also helps, I think, in the making of my decision.”

Asked about recent reports in The Washington Post that Flynn had improperly discussed Russian sanctions with the country’s ambassador to the United States before Trump was sworn in, the president defended Flynn as a “fine person,” saying he had done nothing wrong in engaging the Russian envoy.

But Trump said Flynn had erred by misleading government officials, including Vice President Pence, about his conversations with Russia, which is why he ultimately demanded his resignation.

“He didn’t tell the vice president of the United States the facts,” Trump said. “And then he didn’t remember. And that just wasn’t acceptable to me.”

Trump also made clear that he had no problem with Flynn discussing with the Russian ambassador the sanctions imposed on Moscow by the Obama administration, saying it was Flynn’s job to reach out to foreign officials.

“No, I didn’t direct him, but I would have directed him if he didn’t do it,” Trump said.

Asked several times about reports in the New York Times and on CNN that his campaign had repeated contacts with Russia, including senior intelligence officials, Trump grew testy as reporters pushed him for a yes or no answer.

He said that he personally had not had contact and that he was not aware of such contacts during the campaign.

“Russia is a ruse,” Trump said. “I have nothing to do with Russia. Haven’t made a phone call to Russia in years. Don’t speak to people from Russia. Not that I wouldn’t. I just have nobody to speak to.

Trump’s general defense of Russia stood in contrast to comments Defense Secretary Jim Mattis made at a NATO meeting Thursday in Brussels, where he said that there was “very little doubt” that the Russians have either interfered or attempted to interfere with elections in democratic nations. 

Thursday’s news conference was ostensibly billed as a chance for Trump to announce Alexander Acosta as his new pick for labor secretary, making him the first Latino in Trump’s Cabinet if approved.

But for 77 minutes, the president offered the verbal equivalent of the brash and impetuous early-morning tweets that have become the alarm clock for much of Washington. He took aim at everything from the recent controversies over Russia, which he dismissed, to the “criminal leaks” within the intelligence community. Although he inherited a growing economy, low inflation and low unemployment, he repeatedly portrayed a country in shambles under President Barack Obama.

Trump also said he would use his remarks to bypass the “dishonest media” and speak directly to the American people about the “incredible progress” his administration has made.

The president began on a subdued, almost melancholy note, looking down repeatedly to read from prepared remarks on his lectern. But he became more fiery and animated — joyful, even — when he began to banter and joust with the assembled reporters.

He reprised some of his favorite themes from the campaign trail, complaining about Hillary Clinton, whom he referenced 12 times; criticizing Obama’s policies, from his Affordable Care Act to his failed reset with Russia; and relitigating wounds old and new, in a Festivus-caliber airing of grievances. 

And he boasted of his accomplishments so far. “I don’t think there’s ever been a president elected who in this short period of time has done what we’ve done,” Trump said.

He said he’s asked the Justice Department to look into the leaks coming out of U.S. intelligence agencies. He promised a new executive order by the middle of next week that would replace the now-frozen directive that temporarily barred refugees and citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States. Trump also said he would put forward a plan to repeal Obama’s Affordable Care Act by mid-March, with a tax reform package soon after. 

“Tax reform is going to happen fairly quickly,” he said. “We’re doing Obamacare. We’re in final stages.”

Trump repeatedly lambasted the “fake news” media — which at one point he upgraded (or downgraded) to the “very fake news” media — while promoting some dubious claims and fake news of his own.

Trump was pressed on his incorrect assertion that he had the largest margin of victory in the electoral college since President Ronald Reagan, when Obama, Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush had bested him in all of their victories. The new president blamed faulty facts.

“I was given that information,” he said. “Well, I don’t know, I was given that information.”

During the news conference, Trump alternated between showering the media with scorn and adopting a more playful, almost jaunty, tone. At one point, he insisted he was enjoying himself.

“I’m not ranting and raving — I love this,” he said. “I’m having a good time doing this.”

In an exchange with April Ryan of American Urban Radio Networks — the only black reporter called upon by Trump — the president asked her to arrange a meeting with the Congressional Black Caucus. 

“Do you want to set up the meeting? Are they friends of yours?” he asked. 

Trump also claimed that he had tried to meet with Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), a prominent member of the group, but that Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), whom he called a “lightweight,” had urged Cummings not to attend. 

In a statement, Cummings rebutted Trump’s version of the facts. “I have no idea why President Trump would make up a story about me like he did today,” he said. “Of course, Senator Schumer never told me to skip a meeting with the President.”

In another notable exchange with a Jewish reporter, who asked what Trump was going to do to tamp down on the uptick in anti-Semitism in the country since he took office, the president rejected the idea that he or his rhetoric might be partially to blame.

“Number one, I am the least anti-Semitic person that you’ve ever seen in your entire life,” Trump said. “Number two, racism, the least racist person.” 

Trump’s Thursday performance seemed an acknowledgment, by the president, that he may be his own best press secretary and senior adviser, and allowed him to appear both confident, comfortable and in control.

While many of his comments, as well as the sometimes disjointed nature of his delivery, are certain to alarm official Washington, they are also the sorts of red-meat talking points that delighted his base during the campaign and helped propel him to victory.

“I won with news conferences and probably speeches,” he told the assembled reporters. “I certainly didn’t win by people listening to you people.”

Robert Costa, Adam Entous and Jenna Johnson contributed to this report.

How Video Marketing Can Transform Your Funnel – Search Engine …

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The way your customers consume content continues to evolve. Video marketing is all the rage and continues to be a hot topic for brands large and small.

With the rise of live video and video content, we’re viewing more content than we ever have before. We’re learning through each view. We’re finding new audiences that engage with our material. We’re including innovative storytelling and unique ways to grab attention and build relationships.

How are you leveraging video marketing for your audience?

This may seem like a loaded question. It’s about your video platform. It’s also about the story you’re trying to tell. According to findings by HubSpot, 64% of users are more likely to buy a product online after watching a video.

Whether that story is to advertise a product or service, deliver information, provide entertainment, or build trust, that’s up to you.

Video marketing takes on many forms. From the big brands that are able to display ads on Snapchat to the small business owners looking to make a splash with video, remember your target audience and create a unique experience to get ahead of the game.

Go Live on Social Platforms

Your social media feeds are filling up with live video. If you have something to announce or promote, go live on your company’s Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, or Twitter feed. Understand that each platform has a different audience, so put snippets of information on each platform to keep them interested and engaged.

Audiences love live video because it’s authentic content. It’s an immediate reaction and message directly to your audience. There’s no script; there’s no editing and master versions.

Of the companies that have experimented with Facebook Live, 78% said that the platform was an effective marketing tool.

Why Use Live Video?

Show your human side. Provide a sneak peek into company events or new products. Live video has the chance to become the face of your business. As a marketer, you want to reach the highest number of people.

  • Communicate Corporate or Organizational Values
  • Create Relationships Communicate With Your Audience
  • Showcase Your Brand
  • Conduct a QA Session to Learn About Your Followers

Pick your channel appropriately. Attract your audience and increase your following. Whether your audience is on Facebook, Instagram, or Snapchat, develop a strategy to reach them. Don’t be in all places at once.

Snapchat and Instagram users like quick, consumable content. You can also try Stories, which are videos and photos that disappear after 24 hours (and coming to Facebook soon). Facebook users may watch a short video or a longer form video. Know your audience and deliver content that appeals to your users.

Gary Vaynerchuk has built a personal brand with video marketing, using Instagram Live, Snapchat, and YouTube daily mashups to build awareness and market himself. Jay Shetty is an international motivational speaker that speaks on Facebook Live and holds QA’s on Huffington Post and other platforms. Both go viral, and both have adapted to the changing video landscape. Take a lesson from these two entrepreneurs to master your video marketing strategy.

For brand audiences, according to Livestream, 80% of users would rather watch a live video than read a blog post and 82% prefer live video to regular social media posts.

As a brand, there’s no better opportunity to humanize yourself and engage in a one-on-one conversation with your audience than through live video on social media. Leverage that for your brand.

video-marketing

My company, 1SEO.com Digital Agency, often uses video to reach a wider audience.

Utilize Video Advertisements

Boosting and displaying video advertisements allows you to hone in on your target audience. To users across mobile, social, and desktop computers, you can capture attention with brief, appealing advertisements.

Develop a cross-channel campaign—websites, social platforms, mobile devices, connected televisions—to reach users at all stages of brand discovery or the purchasing process across all devices.

In-stream video advertisements are your ads that play within other video content. It’s a great way for your brand to include a short segment in front of viewers already looking for video content. From pre-roll ads before a video plays, mid-roll ads during a piece of content, or an ad after a video plays, you have a unique opportunity to get your message heard quickly.

Keep video ads short and tight, delivering value with minimal distraction to viewers. For ads, it’s important to display strong calls to action both at the beginning and end of the video. When you invest in a quality production, your viewers will be interested and engaged.

On social media, your ads are present as your target audience is scrolling through their news feeds. Social ads are increasingly shared, resulting in a further organic reach and more chance for conversions. Your video plays on mobile and social without sound, so make sure your message is clear and you start your video with compelling images that increase conversion rates.

Pay attention to mobile video ads. Your audience is consuming video content at a rapid rate on mobile devices, and they’re paying more attention to ads they’re presented. Leverage your brand by staying ahead and taking advantage of this growing market.

Through banner ads, display video content for your brand on sites that your target audience already use regularly. This can help build trust for your brand and assist in the discovery process at key points in your audience decision making.

Videos in Your Email Campaigns

In my personal experience, emails sent out that have the word [VIDEO] in the subject line, tend to get more opens and more clicks than a subject line that doesn’t include the word video. HubSpot found that videos in an email lead to a 200-300% increase in click-through rate.

That’s not very surprising. Our inboxes are flooded with email after email. As we’re shifting to a visual world, it’s no surprise that emails with video get more interaction. It leads to success and interaction with your audience.

Your email marketing campaigns are developed for various reasons, and different types of video see different types of engagement and playback. For emails, videos with the best performance include:

  • Product Descriptions Demonstrations
  • Customer Testimonials
  • Educational Training Videos
  • Event Promotions

Whether you embed the video in your email or create a static image with a play button to indicate a video, you’ll see more interaction and an increased click-through rate from your email campaigns.

Prominently Feature Videos on Important Landing Pages

For your PPC and SEO campaigns, you rely on the power and influence of the content on your landing page to drive leads. Gain an advantage by embedding an interactive, educational video on your landing page.

According to findings by HubSpot, including a video on your landing page can increase conversion by 80%. Ads are increasingly linking directly to video landing pages.

Having a short video as a teaser to answer a question or garner interest, together with a call to action and phone number or contact box, will lead to more conversions. Videos make content easier to digest. A higher percentage of viewers will retain your message when they watch a video as compared to reading text on a landing page.

Capture the attention with a headline that stands out. Use text on the page that is easy to skim and is consumable, then feature a video above the fold that shows visitors to the page exactly what they’d be looking for from your company.

Keep your videos in line with your brand strategy. Learn what your audience is looking for from your company. Whether you’re showing how to use your software, what makes your products stand out, how to trust your services, or the value your company provides, you’ll improve your click-through rates and increase conversions.

Video Analytics to Guide Your Strategy

More and more businesses are investing in video content creation, using advanced analytics to determine much more than the basic metric of views. See how your viewers are engaging with your videos, determine a level of interest, and track more insightful measures.

Video analytics help you get more video engagement and increase your play rate. Track insights related to:

  • Impressions
  • Device Types
  • Play Rates
  • Referral Sources
  • Total Views per Viewer

When you embed a video on your site or social media, there are different tools that will help you understand how many conversions or sales are coming from your video campaigns. The most evident and most-used video metric is YouTube Insights, which gives you traffic sources, audience retention, demographics, playback locations, and more.

One of the best tools you can invest in include Wistia. This tool directly tracks engagement with your videos. You can determine which viewers finished your video and actions they take afterward. The value of Wistia is its integration into your sales funnel so you can make informed decisions.

If you’re creating videos for brand awareness purposes, you’ll find value in Brandwatch, which helps deliver key insights into the opinions of your audience. Identify more opportunities and build brand awareness.

Use video analytics to guide your strategy. With analytics, you’ll learn how effective your video marketing campaigns are, and how they complement your other marketing efforts.

Produce Create Interactive Videos for Your Audience

You may think of videos as a passive form of marketing. Audiences tend not to watch commercials and we’re often not giving our full attention to YouTube videos. According to MarketingProfs, your audience is in a shift from a passive to interactive experience, and you should be taking advantage of it.

There are various ways you can keep viewers engaged throughout an educational video with surveys, clickable URLs, and additional content that can retain user focus and drive action.

Interactive videos draw a higher engagement rate, which leads to more conversions and sales. Interactive media brings a personalized experience to your audience. They’ll view your videos longer, share more on social platforms, and interact more frequently with your content.

With consumer choice on a particular video, they’re selecting their own path to conversion. Gather insights on the intent of your audience, and generate qualified customers that help grow your business.

MarketingProfs found that 35% of marketers used a more sophisticated approach to video marketing from 2015 to 2016. Expect that trend to continue in the years ahead. Make informed decisions through video analytics, and leverage your business over your competition with a unique video approach.

Conclusion

Marketers that are ahead of the curve are using video throughout the marketing funnel and for more than just brand awareness. They’re there to educate. They’re there to entertain.

Whether organic or paid video marketing, the opportunities are endless if you take the right approach. You want to get your brand and your message in front of the right audience. Video is a powerful platform giving you tremendous opportunity.

Video marketing is one of the smartest ways to market your business. Think creatively, create content that is personal, and impact your audience with a video campaign that drives business results.

 

Featured Image: Image by BJ Bergey. Used with permission.
In-post Photo: Image by BJ Bergey. Used with permission.

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The Future of Marketing on Snapchat Is Video [Infographic]

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In a social media landscape dominated by Facebook and flanked by Twitter, Snapchat emerged on the scene in 2011 with critics insisting it would be exclusively used by pervs and creeps. The temporary message model was unheard of at the time and even the most innovative entrepreneurs couldn’t have foreseen the marketing impact this app would eventually have on the world. Now, brands across the world are creating stories, memories, and snaps to lure in potential customers on this little yellow app.

With the increased popularity and simplicity of use, marketers have started asking: what’s the best way to use Snapchat? Fortunately, Snaplytics, an SaaS company offering Snapchat marketing insights, has created the most comprehensive report of Snapchat data the world has ever seen, and marketers are drooling for obvious reasons.

“Snapchat is unique because it allows businesses to connect with people in the moment and offer a different brand experience,” said Thomas Cilius, founder and CEO, Snaplytics. “It’s the only social network where marketers aren’t seeing a decline in reach. With 161M daily active users on Snapchat, brands are quickly learning this is the go-to outlet because it allows them to engage their brand ambassadors and deliver content that really resonates with people, in real-time.”

The report contained a number of interesting takeaways for marketers, including the fact that most brands post twice a day, and completion rates (the number of people viewing the whole story) have continued to climb over recent years. The report also indicated that the power of Snapchat to sway potential customers is much higher than that of Twitter and Facebook, making the importance of innovative techniques all the more important.

“It is essential for marketers to be creative and build followers quickly since our research shows that recommendations and calls-to-action made through Snapchat are much stronger than what is accomplished with Facebook or Instagram,” said Cilius.

Perhaps the most interesting statistic found in the report, however, is that 61 percent of the content posted by brands on Snapchat are videos, a 5 percent increase from the first quarter of 2016. While this trend is in line with marketing trends around the world, the speed at which brands are adopting video as their primary means of reaching out to customers is a significant indicator of the future of marketing on the popular app and beyond.

If you’re interested in learning more about Snapchat’s marketing implications, take a look at this handy infographic, put together by Snaplytics.

Photo: Flickr / Maurizio Pesce 

Labor nominee Puzder about to withdraw

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Andrew Puzder becomes the first Trump Cabinet nominee to withdraw. | Getty

The fast-food exec faced numerous scandals, including a video of his ex-wife accusing him of abuse on Oprah in 1990.

Andrew Puzder is expected to withdraw his nomination to be secretary of labor after Senate Republicans informed the White House that he lacks the votes to be confirmed, sources familiar with the matter said Wednesday.

GOP senators advised the White House that Puzder could not pass through the narrowly divided Senate on Wednesday, and shortly thereafter a White House source confirmed his intention to pull out.

Story Continued Below

Puzder becomes the first Trump Cabinet nominee to withdraw. He could lose only two GOP votes in order to be approved, and multiple Republicans have expressed reservations about him.

« I’ve expressed my concerns about a number of issues, » said Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), one of the senators who is undecided.

Though a withdrawal is a major blow to the Trump administration, the alternative would have been worse. Taking Puzder’s nomination to the Senate floor and seeing it fail would have been a major embarrassment for both President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who has repeatedly backed Puzder publicaly. Puzder is also a favorite of White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus.

Agriculture Department hopeful Sonny Perdue has grown nervous about his own prospects in light of Puzder’s troubles — unable to get access to Priebus for reassurances that the former Georgia governor’s nomination is still backed by the administration, according to a source familiar with the matter.

McConnell has focused the early part of the year on pushing through Trump’s Cabinet picks. Though Senate Democrats have resisted, all of Trump’s nominees have gotten through the narrowly divided chamber until now.

But Puzder is different.

The number of issues plaguing the fast-food executive could fill an opposition research book: His ex-wife accused him of abuse on Oprah in 1990, he was tutored by a mob lawyer and recently admitted to failing to pay taxes on an undocumented immigrant. He also drew criticism for his companies’ risque advertisements and labor practicies.

This week Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee members began viewing the Oprah tape, with top Democrat Patty Murray of Washington state saying that she was left « deeply troubled » by the video. A copy of the video was obtained by POLITICO and published late Tuesday night.

« He’s done, » said a person close to Puzder.

Other Republicans on the HELP Committee wavered on his nomination included Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Tim Scott of South Carolina and Johnny Isakson of Georgia. None would say on Wednesday they outwardly oppose him. The preference among senators was to avoid having to vote down his nomination by having Trump yank it.

Puzder’s confirmation hearing was scheduled for Thursday after being delayed four times due to a multitude of problems with his background checks and ethics arrangement. One Senate Republican said it would make no sense for Puzder to wait until after his hearing to withdraw.

The hearing was still on as of Wednesday afternoon, sources said. And Senate Republican leaders said that his nomination was still moving forward.

« Nothing’s changed, » said Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas), the party’s chief-vote counter.

But privately, Republicans said there were widespread concerns about having to vote for Puzder after shepherding several controversial nominees across the finish line. Most notably, Vice President Mike Pence had to break a tie to confirm Education Secretary Betsy DeVos last week.

CNN first reported that Republicans lack the votes to confirm Puzder.

Eli Stokols and Seung Min Kim contributed to this story.

Trump calls on Netanyahu to ‘hold back’ on West Bank settlements

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President Trump directly called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday to curtail Jewish home building in the West Bank, as he predicted that he can help broker an end to the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“I’d like to see you hold back on settlements for a little bit,” Trump said as he welcomed Netanyahu to the White House for their first meeting since the Republican president took office. “We’ll work something out,” he added.

In his most extensive remarks as president about the chances for peace in the Middle East, Trump said he “could live with” either a separate Palestinian state or a unitary state as a peaceful outcome.

“I want the one that both parties want,” he said.

[Trump says he really wants Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, warns both sides to ‘act reasonably’]

That is a significant departure from past U.S. policy supporting the goal of an independent Palestine alongside Israel. Both Republican and Democratic presidents have backed a future Palestine on West Bank land that is now mostly under Israeli military occupation.

“I would like to see a deal be made. I think a deal will be made,” Trump said. “I know that every president would like to. Most of them have not started until late, because they never thought it was possible, and it wasn’t possible because they didn’t do it.”

“But Bibi and I have known each other a long time,” Trump continued, using the Israeli leader’s nickname. “Smart man. Great negotiator. And I think we’re going to make a deal. It might be a bigger and better deal than people in this room even understand, so that’s a possibility.”

Then, with his body turned toward Netanyahu, Trump put him on the spot.

“So let’s see what we do,” Trump invited.

“Let’s try,” Netanyahu replied.

He did not look pleased, but Trump laughed it off.

“That doesn’t sound too optimistic,” Trump said. “Good negotiator.”

At that, Netanyahu brightened.

“That’s the art of the deal,” he said to laughter.

Both leaders seemed to indicate that what was once an accepted formula of two states — one Israeli and one Palestinian — is now open to new ideas and a broadening of scope in what could bring about a peace deal.

“I want to deal with substance, not labels. The world is fixated on labels and not on the substance,” Netanyahu said.

He said that first the Palestinians must recognize Israel as the Jewish state and stop calling for its destruction and also allow Israel to retain security of the western banks of the Jordan river, a sliver of land that would allow Israel to encircle any future Palestinian state.

“We need to look for new ideas,” Netanyahu said.

Both leaders indicated that a regional approach that would involve a broad spectrum of Middle Eastern states and by default, eventually, the Palestinians.

“But if anyone believes that I, as prime minister of Israel, responsible for the security of my country, would blindly walk into a Palestinian terrorist state that seeks the destruction of my country, they’re gravely mistaken,” Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu’s caution stems partly from his skepticism about a peace deal and partly from political pressure at home. The Israeli political far right, elements of which Netanyahu needs as part of his governing coalition, reportedly urged him to make no concessions in Washington and not to even utter the words “two-state solution.”

[Netanyahu is urged not to use the words ‘Palestinian state’ when he visits Trump]

The news conference, part of a nearly day-long White House visit, was the public face of a new chapter in U.S.-Israeli relations after the testiness and rancor of Netanyahu’s dealings with former president Barack Obama. But there were hints of potential problems for Trump and Netanyahu, too, despite their friendship and Trump’s fiercely pro-Israel stance.

Trump’s insistence that a deal can be done, and his suggestion that he will move quickly to seek one, puts Netanyahu in the middle, between a powerful political constituency and his most important ally.

“If we work together, we have a shot,” he told Trump.

He did not publicly commit to rein in settlements.

Trump was not more specific about settlements, which have become one of the main obstacles to a comprehensive peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, but his administration had previously called on Israel not to expand existing settlement blocs.

As to his campaign promise to quickly move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, Trump said he is considering it “with great care.” Arab allies have urged Trump to slow down or cancel that pledge for fear of inflaming anti-Israel sentiment and lessening Arab governments’ leverage over the Palestinians in a peace negotiation.

A deal would “take some flexibility” on Israel’s part and a shift away from the “hate” Palestinians have been taught to hold toward Israel, Trump said.

“Both sides have to make compromises,” Trump said of an eventual agreement. “You know that, right?” he said, turning to Netanyahu.

[Jared Kushner proves to be a shadow diplomat on U.S.-Mexico talks]

Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and close aide, sat in the front row. Trump has said Kushner would be his chief envoy for a peace push.

Trump blames ‘fake media’ for treating Flynn ‘very unfairly’

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The president goes on the attack as crises engulf his White House.

By

02/15/17 09:18 AM EST

Updated 03/15/17 02:48 PM EDT

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Michael Flynn, the former national security adviser who was ousted earlier this week, is “a wonderful man” who “has been treated very, very unfairly by the media.”

The remarks, which came at a bilateral press conference alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, echoed similar statements Trump made on Twitter Wednesday morning, where he dismissed reports that his campaign was in frequent touch with senior Russian officials as “nonsense.”

Story Continued Below

“Michael Flynn, General Flynn is a wonderful man. I think he has been treated very, very unfairly by the media, as I call it, the fake media in many cases. And I think it’s really a sad thing that he was treated so badly,” Trump said. It was a decidedly different message from Trump than the one White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer delivered a day earlier in the daily press briefing, where he said Flynn had lost the president’s trust.

Trump has struggled to contain metastasizing crises, including sloppy executive orders, vicious infighting among his aides, combative calls with foreign allies, apparent ethics violations and a pile-up of evidence that Trump’s team has extensive ties with Russia that may have aided his victory.

The president, however, is on the offensive, blaming the media and the intelligence community for what he continues to call “fake news. »

“From intelligence, papers are being leaked, things are being leaked. It’s criminal action, criminal act, and it’s been going on for a long time before me, but now it’s really going on,” Trump said at the news conference. “People are trying to cover up for a terrible loss that the Democrats had under Hillary Clinton. I think it’s very, very unfair what’s happened to General Flynn, the way he was treated, and the documents and papers that were illegally — I stress that — illegally leaked. Very, very unfair.”

In an earlier flurry of tweets that was wide-ranging even by his own prolific standards, Trump attacked the news media first, lashing out at cable news outlets and newspapers for reporting on his alleged ties to Russia before blaming leaks on the intelligence community of which he is in charge.

“The fake news media is going crazy with their conspiracy theories and blind hatred. @MSNBC @CNN are unwatchable. @foxandfriends is great!” Trump tweeted Wednesday morning.

“This Russian connection non-sense is merely an attempt to cover-up the many mistakes made in Hillary Clinton’s losing campaign,” he continued, also adding, “Information is being illegally given to the failing @nytimes @washingtonpost by the intelligence community (NSA and FBI?).Just like Russia.”

He took one more shot at the intelligence community, with which he’s long had a rocky relationship, refusing to believe its assessment that Russian President Vladimir Putin directed cyberattacks trying to tilt the election his way, and accusing intelligence officials of leaking.

“The real scandal here is that classified information is illegally given out by ‘intelligence’ like candy. Very un-American!” Trump wrote.

Wednesday’s outburst is only the latest in a string of insults Trump has hurled at the intelligence community, which the president has clashed badly with both before and since taking office. Last month, Trump lashed out at the intelligence community over a dossier containing scandalous but unverified information that he believed to have been leaked by someone in one of the nation’s various intelligence agencies.

The dossier’s publication by BuzzFeed prompted Trump to ask his followers on Twitter « are we living in Nazi Germany? » The comparison rankled many in the intelligence community just days before Trump was set to be inaugurated.

The latest scandal engulfing the White House is the ouster of national security adviser Michael Flynn, who was asked to resign after it became public that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence and others about his pre-inauguration phone call with the Russian ambassador, in which the two discussed U.S. sanctions against Russia. The furor intensified after reports, including from The New York Times, that members of Trump’s campaign and other allies had multiple contacts with senior Russian intelligence officials during the election season.

The revelations of potentially inappropriate contact with Russian officials is not only creating negative headlines but also pushing some Republicans to call for investigations into Trump’s White House.

Several Republican senators are pressing for a deeper look into Flynn’s actions, suggesting Congress could call him to testify as well as examine the transcripts of his calls with the Russian ambassador to the U.S.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday morning continued to resist the idea of creating a special committee to investigate allegations of Russia election meddling, but continued to say the Senate intelligence committee would examine the issue, which could also explore other Russia issues connected to Trump’s White House.

“We know they were messing around with it. We don’t think they have any impact on the outcome but, obviously, we are not going to ignore something like that,” McConnell said in an interview for MSNBC’s “Morning Joe » that aired Wednesday but was taped on Tuesday.

Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, was even more emphatic than McConnell, telling POLITICO on Wednesday that « there is absolutely not going to be » a select committee to investigate any communication between Trump’s presidential campaign and the Russian government. He said Democrats are welcome to « play their politics all they want » but the House Intelligence Committee’s activities will continue as they have under GOP leadership.

« As far as I’m concerned, we will continue to investigate the Russian activity like we’ve done for many years, » Nunes said. « I am not going to be lectured by people who are speaking out of both sides of their mouths. »

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), one of Trump’s most vocal GOP critics on issues of foreign policy, was more open to the idea of a special committee during his own interview on ABC’s « Good Morning America. » Graham said he and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) have begun a preliminary investigation into any communication between officials from Trump’s campaign and the Kremlin. Should they discover any such communication, Graham said it would be appropriate to create a joint select committee to investigate further.

« Any Trump person who was working with the Russians in an unacceptable way also needs to pay a price, » Graham said. “There are real members of Congress up here, Republicans and Democrats, who love our country and are going to make sure that checks and balances that have been in place for 200 years work, even when the president is in your own party.”

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, who said this week that Flynn might be asked to testify before lawmakers, on Wednesday said the controversies plaguing the White House need to be dealt with quickly, especially because they’re distracting from Republicans’ legislative agenda.

“There’s an issue of, is the White House going to have the ability to stabilize itself,” Corker said in a separate interview on “Morning Joe.” “The American people are counting on us to do big things this year.”

But Trump is not just battling crises related to his team’s Russia contacts. He also is facing increased concern about the off-the-cuff style of his top adviser Kellyanne Conway, who has been a chief presidential surrogate.

Cable networks have become more reluctant to book her, citing credibility issues, and on Tuesday, news emerged that the Office of Government Ethics has recommended that she be disciplined for aggressively promoting Ivanka Trump’s fashion line on Fox News after the president lashed out at luxury retailer Nordstrom for dropping her brand.

In another blow to the administration, House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz is pressing the White House for details on why Trump conducted some of his response to a North Korean missile test in a public dining room at Mar-a-Lago last weekend.

There are also incessant reports of infighting among Trump’s aides. Chief of staff Reince Priebus and press secretary Sean Spicer have appeared particularly embattled, with some willing to openly question whether they have a long future in the West Wing. The position of Pence, too, has come under scrutiny since it became clear that Trump and other top aides were aware that Flynn had misled him but did not brief the vice president until it was reported in The Washington Post.

With the appearance of a White House under siege, Trump is going on the attack after the leaks that have streamed out about his administration and insisted that he will be tougher than President Barack Obama on Russia.

“Crimea was TAKEN by Russia during the Obama Administration. Was Obama too soft on Russia?” Trump also tweeted Wednesday morning.

Karey Van Hall contributed to this report.