One of the most difficult jobs of producing a video is keeping your audience in mind. The production can involve filming, editing, sound, lighting, and sometimes staging. A large number of tasks can involve many people making it a very fast paced and stressful process. When performing any of these jobs it's easy to find ourselves devoted to the process while forgetting the purpose or audience. When this happens we may as well hang it up.
The audience is the reason we spend the effort. When we forget they even exist as part of the project, then we sacrifice the largest element effecting the result. We can have the greatest sound, lighting, cameras, editors, and expertise, but if we fail to put ourselves in the seat of the viewer then it is a wasted effort.
Film doesn't shoot the same for different age demographics or content. We would not have the same lighting or effects elements between a HGTV project and a MTV project. Understanding that a teenager's attention span is much shorter than that of someone in their 50's would change cut sequences in editing or live switching. There are many different audience factors that can effect your video. Therefore, start with the audience and never forget them in the entire process.
Showing posts with label media. Show all posts
Showing posts with label media. Show all posts
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Effects in Video Production
In dealing with new and aspiring young video producers I find there is a desire to be competent in the hardware and software needed to produce the project. They want to know everything about the hardware used in the video production. They become fascinated with the editing software and all of the features found within. They go to great lengths to use as much effects in their videos because it looks "cool". It is here they experience their failure.
Software like Adobe's Premiere Pro and Apple's Final Cut Pro offer a rich tool-set of features. Among these features are loads of special effects such as transitions, movements, A/V effects, etc. The desire is to try each of the effects out and see what they can do. It is not bad to understand the tools you have in your arsenal, however it does not mean that you need to use all or any of them. There are times that you need to do something to add "interest" to the video, but that is all. I once had a video professor tell me to make sure I found every effects the software had to offer. Once I had memorized every effect available, then I was to forget they existed. I believe this was the best advice I had received in editing video.
We have to remember the most important objective is how to best communicate to our audience. We can understand every feature in the hardware and software we own, but that does not mean that we have to use it in our projects. The goal is to communicate. Our objective is to place the viewer in the center of the action. Most of the post-editing effects in your toolbox will distract from the message you are trying to send. A simple spin transition or page peel can frustrate your audience and should be used only in situations that demand it.
My advice to people getting into video production is to understand your equipment and use it to place your audience at the center of the action. Like my professor said, memorize every effect available and forget they exist.
Go and tell the story!
Software like Adobe's Premiere Pro and Apple's Final Cut Pro offer a rich tool-set of features. Among these features are loads of special effects such as transitions, movements, A/V effects, etc. The desire is to try each of the effects out and see what they can do. It is not bad to understand the tools you have in your arsenal, however it does not mean that you need to use all or any of them. There are times that you need to do something to add "interest" to the video, but that is all. I once had a video professor tell me to make sure I found every effects the software had to offer. Once I had memorized every effect available, then I was to forget they existed. I believe this was the best advice I had received in editing video.
We have to remember the most important objective is how to best communicate to our audience. We can understand every feature in the hardware and software we own, but that does not mean that we have to use it in our projects. The goal is to communicate. Our objective is to place the viewer in the center of the action. Most of the post-editing effects in your toolbox will distract from the message you are trying to send. A simple spin transition or page peel can frustrate your audience and should be used only in situations that demand it.
My advice to people getting into video production is to understand your equipment and use it to place your audience at the center of the action. Like my professor said, memorize every effect available and forget they exist.
Go and tell the story!
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Shooting the Action
Most video producers (professional or amateur) watch what others do. They get ideas and see how new techniques look on film. Sometimes they even try to incorporate these ideas into their own work. As I look at both professional and amateur video I see a lot of differences. One of the largest differences I see in the amateur world is the "live-to-tape" shooting method. "Live-to-tape" is continuous shooting of everything that happens. The majority of YouTube videos seem to be shot in this method with very little post-editing taking place. Is there anything wrong with this method? Absolutely not! However, it has its time and place. If you are shooting a "LIVE" event and only have one camera, there are no other options. You have to record directly to film/disk with little or no opportunity to divide the action into sequences.
Is there a better way to shoot the action if you are shooting a controlled content piece? Absolutely! You can take your film to the next level by planning your shoot. Spend some time mapping out the event and make a script if possible. Once you have a good idea of the objective, the subject(s), and the flow, then you need to divide the entire action into smaller sequences. These sequences sometimes are termed as "acts" or "scenes". In a sequence you can record separate shots utilizing different viewpoints and supporting material. Producing more film with better angles and additional supporting subject matter makes a better overall production. This means that anyone involved may have to follow a production schedule and script.
Moving your video production into a series of sequences means that more post-editing will be involved. It will take more time and energy, however the results will be worth it. So the next time you want to pickup a camera and make a YouTube video, do everything you can make it the best video possible!
Keep Shooting!
Is there a better way to shoot the action if you are shooting a controlled content piece? Absolutely! You can take your film to the next level by planning your shoot. Spend some time mapping out the event and make a script if possible. Once you have a good idea of the objective, the subject(s), and the flow, then you need to divide the entire action into smaller sequences. These sequences sometimes are termed as "acts" or "scenes". In a sequence you can record separate shots utilizing different viewpoints and supporting material. Producing more film with better angles and additional supporting subject matter makes a better overall production. This means that anyone involved may have to follow a production schedule and script.
Moving your video production into a series of sequences means that more post-editing will be involved. It will take more time and energy, however the results will be worth it. So the next time you want to pickup a camera and make a YouTube video, do everything you can make it the best video possible!
Keep Shooting!
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
People; The Difference Between a Good Video Shoot and Bad Video Shoot
Sometimes people ask "how can I make my videos better?" My immediate answer is "you are on the right track". No, I am not the solution, however the question poses the solution. Multiple people make video shoots better. When a person realizes that his video production is in need of some help and is willing to reach out to others then the project will increase in quality.
One person can do a lot in making a video, however a team can do a lot more. No one person is the expert in everything. You will find technical people who know cameras. These individuals can make recommendations on purchases, on camera setup, and advise when you are asking more than the camera can do.
You can find technical people who know sound. These individuals can be experts in their field and drastically improve a critical element to your video production. Likewise, there are people who know video editing and can help out in that area. There are lighting experts, field production experts, directors, producers, and the list goes on. You do not have to have an expert in every field available when you do a video production. If you do, you may as well be working in a movie production house in Hollywood.
The key, however, is having others identify problems in your work. This will begin the process of improving your final product. Having people look at your projects can reveal things that you may not see when putting it all together. So it is advisable to bring others into the mix.
I know I mentioned earlier when you realize you need help you need to reach out. However, let me add one more piece of advice. Even if you don't think you need help, reach out. Always get others to review your projects. Everyone could use improvement!
One person can do a lot in making a video, however a team can do a lot more. No one person is the expert in everything. You will find technical people who know cameras. These individuals can make recommendations on purchases, on camera setup, and advise when you are asking more than the camera can do.
You can find technical people who know sound. These individuals can be experts in their field and drastically improve a critical element to your video production. Likewise, there are people who know video editing and can help out in that area. There are lighting experts, field production experts, directors, producers, and the list goes on. You do not have to have an expert in every field available when you do a video production. If you do, you may as well be working in a movie production house in Hollywood.
The key, however, is having others identify problems in your work. This will begin the process of improving your final product. Having people look at your projects can reveal things that you may not see when putting it all together. So it is advisable to bring others into the mix.
I know I mentioned earlier when you realize you need help you need to reach out. However, let me add one more piece of advice. Even if you don't think you need help, reach out. Always get others to review your projects. Everyone could use improvement!
Monday, February 25, 2013
Streaming; Solution for Quality Across Multiple Bandwidths
We have had the discussion of optimizing your video streaming by trying to determine the optimal video quality for the bandwidth of the majority of your viewers. You can read about that discussion here. You don't have to settle for a reduced video quality stream because you have a few viewers that can only watch your streams over cellular data. There is a solution.
Utilizing the Adobe Flash Live Media Encoder you can assign multiple output streams to be sent to the multicasting service or server. Look at the following image.
On the lower left hand corner you will see three different Bit Rates all selected. These Bit Rates each produce a video stream sent to the multicaster. In this case you will have three streams being sent from your computer. Depending on your audio settings the audio content will be added to each stream. As you can see in the picture Adobe calculates the stream sizes and tells you to total upload bandwidth needed for your setup. Just make sure you have enough "upload" bandwidth to handle your configuration. You can test your upload/download bandwidth by running a speed test here. Choose the closest server and run the test.
This is the easy part of the configuration. The other half of the setup depends on the multicaster and the software you are using for the player in your browser. First, the multicaster may charge you for each stream you send to them. If this is the case your setup could incur some higher fees. Second, if you have a multicasting service that allows multiple feeds, then you need to configure the player in your browser to test the bandwidth of the client and provide the appropriate stream with the greatest quality.
Many players are very different in design and setup. You need to refer to the documentation or product forums of the player you use. If you have not decided on a player and the multicaster does not provide there are plenty to choose from. Just do some research to see the capabilities of each of the products on the market before making a decision.
As always, start with one stream and work your way up. Taking one step at a time will be easier in the long run.
Utilizing the Adobe Flash Live Media Encoder you can assign multiple output streams to be sent to the multicasting service or server. Look at the following image.
On the lower left hand corner you will see three different Bit Rates all selected. These Bit Rates each produce a video stream sent to the multicaster. In this case you will have three streams being sent from your computer. Depending on your audio settings the audio content will be added to each stream. As you can see in the picture Adobe calculates the stream sizes and tells you to total upload bandwidth needed for your setup. Just make sure you have enough "upload" bandwidth to handle your configuration. You can test your upload/download bandwidth by running a speed test here. Choose the closest server and run the test.
This is the easy part of the configuration. The other half of the setup depends on the multicaster and the software you are using for the player in your browser. First, the multicaster may charge you for each stream you send to them. If this is the case your setup could incur some higher fees. Second, if you have a multicasting service that allows multiple feeds, then you need to configure the player in your browser to test the bandwidth of the client and provide the appropriate stream with the greatest quality.
Many players are very different in design and setup. You need to refer to the documentation or product forums of the player you use. If you have not decided on a player and the multicaster does not provide there are plenty to choose from. Just do some research to see the capabilities of each of the products on the market before making a decision.
As always, start with one stream and work your way up. Taking one step at a time will be easier in the long run.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Streaming; Optimize Stream Settings
The number one complaint I get from people viewing my streams is their video is buffering or the video drops out. Every complaint I hear I take seriously because it could be a sign I have problems on my setup. 99% of the time the problem is on the viewer's end. I always ask them to give me a speed test result as the first step and then I will try to work out the problem. Actually the last complaint had a download speed of 22kbps. I am sorry, but you are not going to watch video at that speed no matter what I do.
Streaming quality is based on a compromise. To the end user quality is usually referred to as the ability to view the stream without any interruption. Some users are concerned about the resolution of the video because they want to view the stream full-screen on a computer, or send it to their TV screen. Therefore, when designing your setup, you must set your quality goal and design your output to achieve that goal.
The compromise as mentioned is better quality requires more bandwidth. If you want to run your videos in high definition at a resolution that would be suitable for full-screen or television, then you limit your audience to higher quality broadband service. If your goal is to reach every user no matter if they are on cellular data service then you have to cut the quality of your stream. There are options to output multiple quality streams but we will not get to that level in this discussion. We will hold that for another day.
If you are using Adobe's Flash Live Media Encoder then you have a screen that looks like the following:
Notice on the lower left section of the screen. You have input size and Bit Rate. The input size needs to be the input size of the video you are trying to stream. Make sure you select the maintain aspect ratio box so your video does not look distorted when it is on your website or video player. The Bit Rate section is very important. It is here that you can maintain or reduce quality. Notice that I have three listed in my setup. I am letting the player decide on the bandwidth quality to determine which stream to send to the client. In today's discussion we will only look at one of the settings.
My first line has the lowest video quality I am sending. My recommendation is that you start testing with only one stream and get it functioning at your highest quality and then work from there.
The drop-down list under the Bit Rate section will show you all of the options available for your to stream. Choose your desired Bit Rate and allow the output size to be automatically selected. If it is not automatically determined when you choose your Bit Rate then you may not have the "Maintain Aspect Ratio" box selected. If you want a decent quality feed my recommendation would be to start with a 500Kbps feed in the Bit Rate selection and begin your testing.
Video Bit Rate alone does not determine total output bandwidth. There is one other factor that adds to the equation and that is the Bit Rate of your audio feed. This section looks like the following:
My recommendation is to choose Mp3 as your format and Bit Rate of 128 Kbps. The application will display your upload bandwidth (which in most cases is the same as the client streaming download bandwidth needed) requirement. The addition of the two Bit Rate amounts (audio and video) gives you the total.
On the right hand side of the screen you will find the address and file name needed by the multicasting service. They will provide you the information needed for these sections. One additional feature found in Adobe's Flash Live Media Encoder is the option to save your stream to a file. This is useful in case you want to use a service like YouTube or Vimeo to host archives of your streams.
Get started streaming and enjoy your new avenue of sharing your ideas!
Streaming quality is based on a compromise. To the end user quality is usually referred to as the ability to view the stream without any interruption. Some users are concerned about the resolution of the video because they want to view the stream full-screen on a computer, or send it to their TV screen. Therefore, when designing your setup, you must set your quality goal and design your output to achieve that goal.
The compromise as mentioned is better quality requires more bandwidth. If you want to run your videos in high definition at a resolution that would be suitable for full-screen or television, then you limit your audience to higher quality broadband service. If your goal is to reach every user no matter if they are on cellular data service then you have to cut the quality of your stream. There are options to output multiple quality streams but we will not get to that level in this discussion. We will hold that for another day.
If you are using Adobe's Flash Live Media Encoder then you have a screen that looks like the following:
Notice on the lower left section of the screen. You have input size and Bit Rate. The input size needs to be the input size of the video you are trying to stream. Make sure you select the maintain aspect ratio box so your video does not look distorted when it is on your website or video player. The Bit Rate section is very important. It is here that you can maintain or reduce quality. Notice that I have three listed in my setup. I am letting the player decide on the bandwidth quality to determine which stream to send to the client. In today's discussion we will only look at one of the settings.
My first line has the lowest video quality I am sending. My recommendation is that you start testing with only one stream and get it functioning at your highest quality and then work from there.
The drop-down list under the Bit Rate section will show you all of the options available for your to stream. Choose your desired Bit Rate and allow the output size to be automatically selected. If it is not automatically determined when you choose your Bit Rate then you may not have the "Maintain Aspect Ratio" box selected. If you want a decent quality feed my recommendation would be to start with a 500Kbps feed in the Bit Rate selection and begin your testing.
Video Bit Rate alone does not determine total output bandwidth. There is one other factor that adds to the equation and that is the Bit Rate of your audio feed. This section looks like the following:
My recommendation is to choose Mp3 as your format and Bit Rate of 128 Kbps. The application will display your upload bandwidth (which in most cases is the same as the client streaming download bandwidth needed) requirement. The addition of the two Bit Rate amounts (audio and video) gives you the total.
On the right hand side of the screen you will find the address and file name needed by the multicasting service. They will provide you the information needed for these sections. One additional feature found in Adobe's Flash Live Media Encoder is the option to save your stream to a file. This is useful in case you want to use a service like YouTube or Vimeo to host archives of your streams.
Get started streaming and enjoy your new avenue of sharing your ideas!
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Streaming; Software to Multicaster
Streaming requires utilizing a multicasting server or a multicasting service. Most people opt to use the service because of the expense and knowledge of the technology involved in setting up your own server. Setting up your own server requires a fairly beefy machine, however most of the expense can be found in the bandwidth necessary to provide feeds for everyone who wants to see your live content. For every outbound feed to a viewer you need upload bandwidth comparable to your stream settings. For example, if you stream your content at 512 Kbps and 100 people simultaneously view your feed, then your upload bandwidth requirement is 512,000 Kbps.
512 Kbps X 100 = 51.2 Mbps (upload bandwidth needed)
Finding an Internet Service Provider to offer you a 52 Mbps upload speed is almost impossible unless you are using asynchronus data connection in fiber optics which can be extremely expensive. Therefore, the best bet is to use an outside multicasting service that has the needed bandwidth to provide streams to your viewers.
Once you have decided on a multicasting service and you have your video and audio feeds coming into your computer then you need to send your programming out. To do this you need a piece of software that connects your feed to the multicaster. There are plenty to choose from, but if you are on a budget I would recommend Adobe Flash Media Live Encoder.
Adobe Information can be found HERE.
This software is very configurable taking your media stream and connecting it to a multicasting server. It gives you flexibility to configure the parameters of your stream quality and bandwidth. It also has the ability to save your stream to a file for editing or uploading to your favorite video archive and playback service like Vimeo.
The Flash Media Encoder is a fairly simple software to configure and use. Spend some time testing your settings to assure you have the best streams for your viewers. Too much bandwidth restricts your viewers to broadband and too small bandwidth reduces video quality. There are compromises so you have to test to see what works best for you.
The best thing about Adobe Flash Media Live Encoder is that the software is a free download from Adobe. Have fun streaming!
512 Kbps X 100 = 51.2 Mbps (upload bandwidth needed)
Finding an Internet Service Provider to offer you a 52 Mbps upload speed is almost impossible unless you are using asynchronus data connection in fiber optics which can be extremely expensive. Therefore, the best bet is to use an outside multicasting service that has the needed bandwidth to provide streams to your viewers.
Once you have decided on a multicasting service and you have your video and audio feeds coming into your computer then you need to send your programming out. To do this you need a piece of software that connects your feed to the multicaster. There are plenty to choose from, but if you are on a budget I would recommend Adobe Flash Media Live Encoder.
Adobe Information can be found HERE.
This software is very configurable taking your media stream and connecting it to a multicasting server. It gives you flexibility to configure the parameters of your stream quality and bandwidth. It also has the ability to save your stream to a file for editing or uploading to your favorite video archive and playback service like Vimeo.
The Flash Media Encoder is a fairly simple software to configure and use. Spend some time testing your settings to assure you have the best streams for your viewers. Too much bandwidth restricts your viewers to broadband and too small bandwidth reduces video quality. There are compromises so you have to test to see what works best for you.
The best thing about Adobe Flash Media Live Encoder is that the software is a free download from Adobe. Have fun streaming!
Friday, January 11, 2013
What is Pinterest?
Pinterest calls itself a virtual pinboard. The following is a quote from their website:
Upon this realization, I had to find out how many people are using this service. Utilizing the Nielsen 2012 Social Media Report I found the following quote.
Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes.
Best of all, you can browse pinboards created by other people. Browsing pinboards is a fun way to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests.I signed up for Pinterest the other day and spent some time playing around with it. Before I knew it I found myself engulfed in areas that interested me. I began to follow others who had interests that were like mine and re-pinned many of their items. At first I did not think I was interested in finding recipes or new shoe styles, however after spending some time browsing through the magnitude of pictures and information I found what I consider to be an advertiser's dream. There are incredible opportunities for an organization's products to be connected to people who like items like they provide.
Upon this realization, I had to find out how many people are using this service. Utilizing the Nielsen 2012 Social Media Report I found the following quote.
Pinterest had the largest year-over-year increase in audience and time spent of any social network across PC, mobile, and web apps.In the U.S. Market alone Pinterest surpassed over 46 million unique visitors. This is something that any producer of a product should be intently aware of. So if you have not checked out Pinterest, you may want to spend some time fining your interests.
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Top Social Media of 2012
There are so many different ways a person can share their insights with the world that one often wonders which one to use. The yearly Social Media Report from the Nielsens is usually a great avenue to determine where the most activity and users are. Advertisers must also watch this information to make sure they are spending their money in front of the greatest audience.
The 2012 Social Media Report gives us some insight on the trending of the top Social Media Networks of the year. Facebook has been a hard hitter in the social media realm but this year seems to be a year of change. Still reporting in with over 152 million unique visitors in the PC access demographic, but they are down 4%. However, the way people access Facebook is drastically changing to the mobile device market. There has been an increase of over 85% of visitors in the mobile web and mobile app department accommodating for slightly more unique visitors than those accessing by PC.
Twitter was accessed on cellphones and other mobile devices through the web and Twitter apps by almost 67 million unique users which illustrated around 140% increase over the previous year. The PC market for Twitter topped slightly over 37 million unique visitors and reported an increase of 13%. Other statistics can be found on the Nielson website.
Some people have mentioned that Facebook is on its way out and that may be true from the PC market, however as an advertiser I would not recommend bailing on that service yet. Twitter is still running strong and is something organizations need to pay attention to. Social media networks change very frequently and how we use them to promote our products and services should change along with them.
Keep up the work and reap the benefits!
The 2012 Social Media Report gives us some insight on the trending of the top Social Media Networks of the year. Facebook has been a hard hitter in the social media realm but this year seems to be a year of change. Still reporting in with over 152 million unique visitors in the PC access demographic, but they are down 4%. However, the way people access Facebook is drastically changing to the mobile device market. There has been an increase of over 85% of visitors in the mobile web and mobile app department accommodating for slightly more unique visitors than those accessing by PC.
Twitter was accessed on cellphones and other mobile devices through the web and Twitter apps by almost 67 million unique users which illustrated around 140% increase over the previous year. The PC market for Twitter topped slightly over 37 million unique visitors and reported an increase of 13%. Other statistics can be found on the Nielson website.
Some people have mentioned that Facebook is on its way out and that may be true from the PC market, however as an advertiser I would not recommend bailing on that service yet. Twitter is still running strong and is something organizations need to pay attention to. Social media networks change very frequently and how we use them to promote our products and services should change along with them.
Keep up the work and reap the benefits!
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Looking Back to 2012 with Social Media
I don't know if you are looking for any good reading material, but I found myself scanning through the Nielsen's Social Media Report for 2012 over Christmas and New Year's. Sounds like good reading doesn't it? I would not recommend it to you for the latest top 10 novels on the bookshelf but it is very interesting to see what people are doing with social media. Lets take a look at a few of the stats found in the report.
First of all, mobile web access (access to Internet sites) is up 82% in 2012. This is an incredible statistic! What does this mean to me? Well, if you are a website owner you need to make sure that your site is mobile friendly. In July 2012 over 95 million people were accessing websites by their cellphones or mobile devices. On top of that, the number of mobile apps increased by 85% to over 101 million apps on the market.
Some people may argue that Internet usage is up overall but that is not the case for the type of devices that people are using. For instance, PC access to the Internet has begun to drop (4%). It is true that people are spending more time on the Internet overall, however they are using their cell phones and mobile devices to do so.
If you think about the time you spend on the Internet, ask yourself how and when do you access your favorite pages. I know in my life, outside of work I access the Internet by mobile device almost 10 to 1 over using a PC. These statistics should make the advertiser realize he or she needs to be aware of how people are accessing their ads. Are they mobile friendly? I hope so, because your organization needs to make sure your products and services are accessible by the largest market.
First of all, mobile web access (access to Internet sites) is up 82% in 2012. This is an incredible statistic! What does this mean to me? Well, if you are a website owner you need to make sure that your site is mobile friendly. In July 2012 over 95 million people were accessing websites by their cellphones or mobile devices. On top of that, the number of mobile apps increased by 85% to over 101 million apps on the market.
Some people may argue that Internet usage is up overall but that is not the case for the type of devices that people are using. For instance, PC access to the Internet has begun to drop (4%). It is true that people are spending more time on the Internet overall, however they are using their cell phones and mobile devices to do so.
If you think about the time you spend on the Internet, ask yourself how and when do you access your favorite pages. I know in my life, outside of work I access the Internet by mobile device almost 10 to 1 over using a PC. These statistics should make the advertiser realize he or she needs to be aware of how people are accessing their ads. Are they mobile friendly? I hope so, because your organization needs to make sure your products and services are accessible by the largest market.
Monday, November 26, 2012
Rapidly Determining Online Ad performance
Determining advertising performance is a huge deal. With traditional advertising such as newspaper, billboards, radio, and television, one has to wait for the campaign to run to determine if his or her advertising money was well spent. This is not the case with Internet advertising. Internet advertising offers the ability to see almost immediate results. Lets take a look at the process.
We will use Google AdWords for an example. Google AdWords allows you to create Internet advertisements that will display alongside of search results in a Google.com search. Google Adwords also allows your ads to be displayed on the webpages of people who want to reap advertising returns by allowing Google to post relevant ads on their site. In either case, Google AdWords connects the advertiser with his target demographic by product interest.
Here is how it works. Google AdWords allows the advertiser to create ad campaigns that connects a product to a potential buyer by connecting search and content terms to your ad. You are given the opportunity to create an ad in its entirety including header, content, and link. You choose the word connection, how much you want to spend (bidding), and the times you want your ad to run. Google will then match your ad with search terms and website content to display your ads. Your ads can, and probably will, be placed along side of other relevant ads.
When your ad is clicked, the potential buyer is taken to your site, and you are charged for the click (unless you are paying by impression). Seems simple enough right? Here is where the beauty comes in. Using Internet advertising on places like Google AdWords and Facebook ads, you can immediately see the results. Being able to quickly see what is happening allows you to do some creative strategies. The largest advantage to this is where you can produce more than one ad per campaign and balance the frequency of their appearance. Each ad should be slightly different while still advertising the same thing.
After starting your campaign with two different ads for the same product, you should begin to see which ad is getting the most clicks. After a small amount of time, drop the poor performer and develop another ad to take its place. You will begin competing the two against each other. Every so often continue to drop the poorest performer and replace it with a new ad. This will allow you to develop an ad that performs well and achieves your goals.
This has just been an overview. Think about the possibilities of competing ads to develop the ultimate ad campaign. The Internet allows you to adjust your ad in a matter of hours rather than waiting to see what is happening in one or two months. Besides, the Internet has a much larger audience base than your typical billboard or newspaper run.
We will use Google AdWords for an example. Google AdWords allows you to create Internet advertisements that will display alongside of search results in a Google.com search. Google Adwords also allows your ads to be displayed on the webpages of people who want to reap advertising returns by allowing Google to post relevant ads on their site. In either case, Google AdWords connects the advertiser with his target demographic by product interest.
Here is how it works. Google AdWords allows the advertiser to create ad campaigns that connects a product to a potential buyer by connecting search and content terms to your ad. You are given the opportunity to create an ad in its entirety including header, content, and link. You choose the word connection, how much you want to spend (bidding), and the times you want your ad to run. Google will then match your ad with search terms and website content to display your ads. Your ads can, and probably will, be placed along side of other relevant ads.
When your ad is clicked, the potential buyer is taken to your site, and you are charged for the click (unless you are paying by impression). Seems simple enough right? Here is where the beauty comes in. Using Internet advertising on places like Google AdWords and Facebook ads, you can immediately see the results. Being able to quickly see what is happening allows you to do some creative strategies. The largest advantage to this is where you can produce more than one ad per campaign and balance the frequency of their appearance. Each ad should be slightly different while still advertising the same thing.
After starting your campaign with two different ads for the same product, you should begin to see which ad is getting the most clicks. After a small amount of time, drop the poor performer and develop another ad to take its place. You will begin competing the two against each other. Every so often continue to drop the poorest performer and replace it with a new ad. This will allow you to develop an ad that performs well and achieves your goals.
This has just been an overview. Think about the possibilities of competing ads to develop the ultimate ad campaign. The Internet allows you to adjust your ad in a matter of hours rather than waiting to see what is happening in one or two months. Besides, the Internet has a much larger audience base than your typical billboard or newspaper run.
Monday, November 19, 2012
Is Social Media a Viable Option for Advertising?
The advertising purists have recently questioned whether or not social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.) is actually a viable option to spend advertising money. I believe it is! Social media makes up much of what I write about on the Realize Media site, and for very good reason. The social media networks are changing the way organizations advertise and do business. If you don't believe me, I want to show you this video. It is a little over a year old, however the message is still there.
Think about the way you do business, is it time for a change?
Think about the way you do business, is it time for a change?
Monday, November 12, 2012
Facebook Notes vs. External Blog links on Facebook
People ask all of the time if it is not better to have your thoughts or comments about your interests and organizations placed in the notes section of Facebook rather than having a blog? My answer to that is yes and no. It is a good idea to always use the native format of the social medium you choose, however, there are pitfalls. Facebook in its infant life had the ability to import an external blog or RSS feed directly into notes. Not too long ago Facebook had a message when you logged into your account that says notes will no longer be
automatically created from outside sources such as blogs. This had been the ideal way to
create Facebook notes from an outside resource.
So, if you had been using that method to import outside information into your notes section, then you had to find a different route. This created a problem for bloggers. Now they have to find a different way of connecting their messages to people on Facebook. Is this a catastrophe?
Over the past few years my instruction to college groups is to find the best route to update your Facebook notes without suffering a Social Media catastrophe. What happens to all of your work that you created exclusively on a social site when a new one comes along? It dies with the old site. Remember what happened to MySpace? (sorry, I didn't mean to bring up bad memories)
If you create your important thoughts on a blog or website then you don't have to worry about the new fad that comes along. Just link the old info to the new site. The Facebook notes import function used to be a decent way to do that. So, what do we do now?
There are third party Facebook apps that accomplish the same thing. Just spend some time to research and test. The easiest way (and best way) is just share a link to your new post on your favorite social media sites. This drives people to your site or blog and offers plenty of opportunity for others to see your previous work. Always keep in mind your "web presence" is the ideal place for your comments and the social media sites are just avenues to drive people to your site.
Keep connecting!
So, if you had been using that method to import outside information into your notes section, then you had to find a different route. This created a problem for bloggers. Now they have to find a different way of connecting their messages to people on Facebook. Is this a catastrophe?
Over the past few years my instruction to college groups is to find the best route to update your Facebook notes without suffering a Social Media catastrophe. What happens to all of your work that you created exclusively on a social site when a new one comes along? It dies with the old site. Remember what happened to MySpace? (sorry, I didn't mean to bring up bad memories)
If you create your important thoughts on a blog or website then you don't have to worry about the new fad that comes along. Just link the old info to the new site. The Facebook notes import function used to be a decent way to do that. So, what do we do now?
There are third party Facebook apps that accomplish the same thing. Just spend some time to research and test. The easiest way (and best way) is just share a link to your new post on your favorite social media sites. This drives people to your site or blog and offers plenty of opportunity for others to see your previous work. Always keep in mind your "web presence" is the ideal place for your comments and the social media sites are just avenues to drive people to your site.
Keep connecting!
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Advertsing for Churches - Overview
Far too often I see the media sales representatives target churches
to sell them advertisement. It is difficult to say no to the experienced
sales representatives making their living on selling in a highly
competitive arena during tough economic times. The responses of many
churches is to give in and follow the lead of the sales rep. The problem
arises when the sales rep queries the church on the amount they have in
their budget designated for advertising. If given, the sales rep will
design an ad campaign to use the entire amount with their company. Is
that the best use of the church's money? Absolutely not.
The key to advertising is to put your product or service in front of the people you want to see it. For instance, if you have an event that is specifically designed for teenagers, then you would not want to advertise it on Fox News. Your target audience does not spend it's time watching the news.
Whatever needs be advertised must be researched to find the best connecting point for the ad. You must know your product and know which people would be interested in that product. Second, you must know the habits of your target audience. Third, you must use that information and place your ad in front of the habits of your target audience. Finally you must keep in mind two words, diversity and repetition. Over the next few days we will cover the following steps in detail:
The key to advertising is to put your product or service in front of the people you want to see it. For instance, if you have an event that is specifically designed for teenagers, then you would not want to advertise it on Fox News. Your target audience does not spend it's time watching the news.
Whatever needs be advertised must be researched to find the best connecting point for the ad. You must know your product and know which people would be interested in that product. Second, you must know the habits of your target audience. Third, you must use that information and place your ad in front of the habits of your target audience. Finally you must keep in mind two words, diversity and repetition. Over the next few days we will cover the following steps in detail:
- How to determine the habits of your target audience.
- How to connect your ad to your target audience.
- What is diversity and and repetition and why is it important to a successful ad campaign.
Don't
let one particular advertising sales representative take all of your
budget funds for their media product. It is not the best use of your
funds.
Monday, November 5, 2012
Realizing Facebook for Advertising
We just spent some time talking about using Twitter to advertise and connect with a target audience. If you did not see it, you can read it here. Facebook offers the same opportunity to connect to an audience, however some options are limited due to user profile setup options. Facebook also has a few other tools that you can and should use to connect to your desired group.
First, there is the "pay per click" or "pay per impression" way of reaching your target demographic. This is a very unique way of advertising a product or service. You can design your advertising campaign to reach a very narrow audience defined by gender, occupation, location, and various other defining factors. If you have ever used Google advertisement you will find this works in a similar way but with a social media flavor. This type of advertising works outside your scope of friends and includes anyone who has an account of Facebook. In another post I expressed some trouble using Facebook for paid advertising that is not found using the same methods of other companies. You can read about it here.
Another way to advertise on Facebook is the Group Page. You can setup a Group Page and allow others to become member of the group. You can share ideas, product information, and anything else you want others in the group to know. Facebook Group Pages are also an excellent feedback resource of your audience as they can post against the group. Some organizations use this for offering product support. Group Pages are a more closely connected group of people and may not suit your goals.
Facebook also offers what is called the Fan Page. It is here that others can become "fans" of your product or organization. It is easy to use this method to create branding and advertise your products or services. As you post against your page, theoretically others should be able to see your posts. This option is more loosely defined and people usually connect to a Fan Page because they like your organization or products.
With Fan and Group Pages organizations are seeing great opportunities to share their messages. There is an element of concern. Many businesses and organizations are seeing a decline in how their posts are reaching their audiences. Facebook in its ever changing design scheme is attempting only show relevant information to their customer base. Through this process there has been concern over the diminishing effect of posting through Groups, Fan Pages, and even your Individual Page.
The concern is still very new, however it is something you need to keep an eye on. You don't want to spend a lot of effort trying to increase your traffic only to find that Facebook is not showing everything to those connected to your pages.
Have fun but monitor your results!
First, there is the "pay per click" or "pay per impression" way of reaching your target demographic. This is a very unique way of advertising a product or service. You can design your advertising campaign to reach a very narrow audience defined by gender, occupation, location, and various other defining factors. If you have ever used Google advertisement you will find this works in a similar way but with a social media flavor. This type of advertising works outside your scope of friends and includes anyone who has an account of Facebook. In another post I expressed some trouble using Facebook for paid advertising that is not found using the same methods of other companies. You can read about it here.
Another way to advertise on Facebook is the Group Page. You can setup a Group Page and allow others to become member of the group. You can share ideas, product information, and anything else you want others in the group to know. Facebook Group Pages are also an excellent feedback resource of your audience as they can post against the group. Some organizations use this for offering product support. Group Pages are a more closely connected group of people and may not suit your goals.
Facebook also offers what is called the Fan Page. It is here that others can become "fans" of your product or organization. It is easy to use this method to create branding and advertise your products or services. As you post against your page, theoretically others should be able to see your posts. This option is more loosely defined and people usually connect to a Fan Page because they like your organization or products.
With Fan and Group Pages organizations are seeing great opportunities to share their messages. There is an element of concern. Many businesses and organizations are seeing a decline in how their posts are reaching their audiences. Facebook in its ever changing design scheme is attempting only show relevant information to their customer base. Through this process there has been concern over the diminishing effect of posting through Groups, Fan Pages, and even your Individual Page.
The concern is still very new, however it is something you need to keep an eye on. You don't want to spend a lot of effort trying to increase your traffic only to find that Facebook is not showing everything to those connected to your pages.
Have fun but monitor your results!
Friday, November 2, 2012
Realizing Twitter
Twitter has been a fascinating mode of social media. Developed in 2006 as a companion to text messaging, it has evolved to what is called micro-blogging. Limited to 140 characters this mode of media is being used to help police do their job as well as politicians gain an advantage in the political race. The largest use by far is social networking. With a user base approaching 500 million any organization would be foolish to ignore this as a means of reaching a target audience.
Twitter is being used by various organizations to promote products and services.
Imagine having a new product on the market and designing an advertising campaign that will allow others to help you spread the word. That would be almost as good as having people buy a tee-shirt with your logo printed on the front. Believe it or not, that is happening every day through the services of Twitter.
Companies create a text style of message, no more than one or two sentences, and post it on the Twitter network. Anyone following or searching for you or your products can see your latest report and can share it with others. You can send your message virtually as many times a day as you want.
Companies who have seen success utilizing this method of communication do more than just post a message about their product. They also share pictures of their products, videos of their products in action, and encourage people who use their products to do the same. It makes the consumer feel as if they are part of the "club" so to speak.
Very few modes of communication allow organizations to monitor the feedback of others. Twitter is an exception to this rule. By using a hash tag, a word preceded by the # sign, you can create a topic or group of messages concerning that subject identified by that word. For instance, if I wanted to categorize everything I mentioned against the subject of Realize Media, then I would create the hash tag #realizemedia.
Everything I said would be followed by the hash tag. People replying or knowing the Realize Media product would reply using the hash tag or add the hash tag to their tweet.
Twitter makes it easy to monitor hash tags. Therefore, anyone using that hash tag I could see what they said. Does this mean that Twitter is not a private form of social networking? Not necessarily. Your personal information can be set to private, however, any message you post publicly will be viewable by all. By following words or hash tags one can glean valuable information concerning problems or trends.
So if you are really excited about your product or service and want to tell everyone you know, sign up on Twitter and share your passion!
#realizemedia
Twitter is being used by various organizations to promote products and services.
Imagine having a new product on the market and designing an advertising campaign that will allow others to help you spread the word. That would be almost as good as having people buy a tee-shirt with your logo printed on the front. Believe it or not, that is happening every day through the services of Twitter.
Companies create a text style of message, no more than one or two sentences, and post it on the Twitter network. Anyone following or searching for you or your products can see your latest report and can share it with others. You can send your message virtually as many times a day as you want.
Companies who have seen success utilizing this method of communication do more than just post a message about their product. They also share pictures of their products, videos of their products in action, and encourage people who use their products to do the same. It makes the consumer feel as if they are part of the "club" so to speak.
Very few modes of communication allow organizations to monitor the feedback of others. Twitter is an exception to this rule. By using a hash tag, a word preceded by the # sign, you can create a topic or group of messages concerning that subject identified by that word. For instance, if I wanted to categorize everything I mentioned against the subject of Realize Media, then I would create the hash tag #realizemedia.
Everything I said would be followed by the hash tag. People replying or knowing the Realize Media product would reply using the hash tag or add the hash tag to their tweet.
Twitter makes it easy to monitor hash tags. Therefore, anyone using that hash tag I could see what they said. Does this mean that Twitter is not a private form of social networking? Not necessarily. Your personal information can be set to private, however, any message you post publicly will be viewable by all. By following words or hash tags one can glean valuable information concerning problems or trends.
So if you are really excited about your product or service and want to tell everyone you know, sign up on Twitter and share your passion!
#realizemedia
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Is Social Media Something I Need to Use to Advertise?
Is social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, something that needs consideration when advertising an organization? The quick and easy answer is yes! However, that is not all I want to leave you with. Advertising your organization, product, or service can be tricky utilizing social media. For example, Facebook has the option to advertise by using their paid advertising product. This method is a very effective way of advertising because you can target your demographic and narrow it down to focused interests. You can even specify what regions your ad displays. Facebook advertising utilizes a similar concept as the Google adwords model, however, it seems to be a little more greedy than that of Google. For example, if you do your homework with Google you can actually get significant returns for your advertisement campaign without costing a fortune (that is if you do your homework). Facebook advertisers, on the other hand, frequently experience the problem of ads ceasing to run due to low bid amount. You can actually increase the amount on a daily basis and still frequently experience the same situation. There seems to be no logical cause for this. I have even applied the principles of re-focusing content words with demographic targets and still experience the same frustrations. On the other hand, performing similar actions with Google has produced satisfying results. This problem has caused many advertisers to quit using Facebook paid advertising as a means to pawn their products.
Remember the old saying "word of mouth is the best means of advertisement"? This is very true in social media. You do not have to spend a fortune to drive someone to your organization, product, or service. Keep in mind, however, people don't want you to bombard them with frequent blurbs of your product. If you are creative you can actually drive people to a website, blog, or article about your service without it looking like an advertisement. Groups and Fan Pages are actually a good way to accomplish this task. People also have an interest in you as a person rather than your product, so keep the personal pictures and thoughts active.
Twitter has been around a while but it still is increasing in popularity. Many companies are using this form of social media, also called a Micro-blog, to create an active presence in the Internet community. The old advertising technique of placing your name frequently in front of your audience is where Twitter shines. Political Candidates, Utility Companies, Banks, and authors place their comments and thoughts frequently to keep their names fresh in people's minds. They use Twitter to announce product releases and even offer technical support.
Twitter is also a great way to see what people say about your products and services through monitoring of #hashtags. I will try to cover Twitter and other elements of social media in detail in future posts so I won't go into it now.
There are many different forms of social media and if well planned they can be a benefit to your organization.
- Doug
Remember the old saying "word of mouth is the best means of advertisement"? This is very true in social media. You do not have to spend a fortune to drive someone to your organization, product, or service. Keep in mind, however, people don't want you to bombard them with frequent blurbs of your product. If you are creative you can actually drive people to a website, blog, or article about your service without it looking like an advertisement. Groups and Fan Pages are actually a good way to accomplish this task. People also have an interest in you as a person rather than your product, so keep the personal pictures and thoughts active.
Twitter has been around a while but it still is increasing in popularity. Many companies are using this form of social media, also called a Micro-blog, to create an active presence in the Internet community. The old advertising technique of placing your name frequently in front of your audience is where Twitter shines. Political Candidates, Utility Companies, Banks, and authors place their comments and thoughts frequently to keep their names fresh in people's minds. They use Twitter to announce product releases and even offer technical support.
Twitter is also a great way to see what people say about your products and services through monitoring of #hashtags. I will try to cover Twitter and other elements of social media in detail in future posts so I won't go into it now.
There are many different forms of social media and if well planned they can be a benefit to your organization.
- Doug
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