Leverage Videos & Virtual Events to Increase Your Reach.

“Show the readers everything, tell them nothing!” - Ernest Hemingway

Yes, show and don’t tell. It is a powerful storytelling technique that can help us gain attention from our audience. It becomes more important in this day and age when businesses are driven by technology, and videos and social media are also quickly becoming more important in our marketing strategies. Every business is competing for “eye balls” and “face time” so the question is, what do we do to increase our reach in less time?

1.     Videos

Video is the perfect format for quickly grabbing busy audience’s attention. Remember, facts tell, stories sell and here are 3 reasons why marketers use videos:

·         To put emphasis on showing (not telling)

·         A video becomes memorable due to the storytelling process.

·         Videos can be used to measure success using video analytics.

“A picture says 10,000 words and a video says 50,000 words!”

This year, in 2015, video marketing and the play button will take center stage. More marketers will realize the importance of video as part of their digital marketing strategies.

As our devices get smarter, so should we! More than 50% of viewers watch more than three quarters or a given video, and more than 70% of marketing professionals report that video converts better than any other medium. Take YouTube for example. It is a great channel for distributing videos because it can help us increase and expand our reach, and most importantly, attract new audiences.

Almost everyone I know, and especially business folks, either owns a computer, a smartphone, a tablet, or all three. So the fact that many are spending less time watching the TV and migrating to their favorite devices in search of “on demand content”, it is almost essential that every business leverage videos to reach their audience faster. At the touch of a “play” button, we are able to access the information and/or content, and the best thing is, we can do it on our time

2. Virtual Events

Virtual events are very valuable because they have the ability to increase and expand the reach of our events to an unlimited number of people who can attend from anywhere in the world. The best thing about it is, they don’t even need to leave their desks! Many companies are trying to serve a global marketplace and virtual events are the perfect tool to amplify the power and reach of events.

When Are Virtual Events Right for Your Business?

1.     If you want to expand the reach of your target audience beyond a specific region.

o    They help dramatically increase participation especially when in-person marketing tools like live seminars and large physical events are limited in scale by demography and behavior. This is why many companies and organizations that run large physical events are now adding a virtual component, enabling anyone to attend, from anywhere.

2.     Budget

o    Virtual events can be significantly more cost effective than traditional in-person events and they often deliver increased value for our investment.

o    Removing the challenges and expenditures required to deliver a brick and mortar event allows us to focus on more important content.

3.     Virtual events are savvy and cool because they help build and connect online communities!

o    In many post event surveys, virtual event participants say that they really enjoy the virtual experience. They are able to easily participate without disrupting their work and personal lives.

ABOUT ZEF ZAN

Zef Zan is an entrepreneur and the President and Founder of Entrepreneurs That SOAR!, a New Media Marketing company where she is known for being a “High Tech, High Touch Marketing Strategist” who helps entrepreneurs and business folks leverage videos, webcasts, and virtual events via Hangouts to increase reach and humanize your brand. She also aces at helping individuals and teams harness the power and reach of social media to build connectivity and communities globally.

Zef is also an inspirational speaker, and the creator, producer, and host of two web shows, Creative Chat Cafe, The Business Talk Show Hangouts, aired every Wednesday at 12:30 pm ET on www.EntrepreneursThatSOAR.com , and Zef’s Zest TV on YouTube.