Brand Websites-Most Important Digital Marketing Tool

Not so surprising information posted by David Moth on econsultancy reports:

• Brand websites, social media and online advertising are regarded as the three most effective components of digital marketing by executives in the US, according to a survey by Gartner.
• When asked what activities contribute to marketing success some 45% cited the brand website as one of their top three responses, while 43% pointed to marketing on social networks and the same proportion opted for online advertising.
• Overall, digital marketing budgets were found to average 2.5% of revenue, with a prediction they will increase by 9% in 2013.

We note the 2.5% marketing budget as a good (conservative) guide when determining your digital marketing budget. Don't forget to include production costs which will vary by your content needs.

How Video Improves Ecommerce Results

This is from a recent post on econsultancy.com

Posted 21 March 2013 15:22pm by Melody King

Videos are a powerful way to showcase products on an ecommerce website, and savvy online retailers are discovering ways to get the best return on their investment in video.
For example, videos can help improve SEO campaign results, and user-generated videos can help boost conversion rates.
Almost every type of website you visit these days  features video prominently, since website visitors and shoppers have a growing appetite for video.
It’s more engaging for website visitors, and tells a brand or product story in a more immersive way than text and images do.
For ecommerce businesses, video has provided a powerful new way to showcase products and online merchants are creating increasingly sophisticated videos to take advantage of viewer engagement.
Initially, videos were treated more like glorified photos, but today, they’re seen as valuable marketing tools for SEO and social media programs, as well as hugely beneficial for mobile commerce. Here’s how forward-thinking online retailers are using video to benefit their businesses right now.

Videos drive “curated commerce”

The popularity of websites such as Pinterest, which allow users to gather images and videos based on their interests, is causing savvy ecommerce companies to consider how video can impact these communities.
As these sites open up their functionality for video “pinning” – that is, allowing members to attach videos as well as images to their virtual “walls” – ecommerce businesses should be ready with creative videos that these users will eagerly share.
When it first debuted, Pinterest limited membership to individuals. However, in late 2012, the site opened up membership to businesses as well. This means now is the perfect time for online merchants to create Pinterest pinboards for their brands and businesses.

Video helps improve SEO campaigns

Adding product videos to websites can help boost search rankings. Google in particular favors video in its search results. Additionally, a rise in your rankings can also be expected.
Google and YouTube are continually changing their search algorithms for video in order to determine how to present results that their users find most relevant.
In October, for example, YouTube announced that it would rank videos based on “watch time,” giving preference to videos that are watched for longer periods of time instead of only watched for a few seconds. It’s clear that sites like Google and YouTube will continue to change their search algorithms to refine video-related results.
Become a regular reader of the Google and YouTube blogs to stay current on search changes.

Video plays a role in digital marketing

When you’ve invested time and money to create ecommerce videos, you want to realize a proper return on that investment.
Smart marketers use videos beyond website product pages. For instance, they embed videos in email newsletters, post them onto social networks, and create channels on YouTube or Vimeo. All of this helps increase their visibility, and their impact on the bottom line.

What Exactly Is Content Marketing?

It seems to go by many names depending who you ask: "branded media, branded content,...etc.
The truth is that Content Marketing really says it best.
So, Content Marketing Institute probably defines it in the most straightforward way:

Content Marketing is a marketing technique of creating and distributing relevant and valuable content to attract, acquire and engage a clearly defined and understood target audience with the objective of driving profitable customer action.

Basically content marketing is the art of communicating with your customers and prospects without directly selling. In other words it is non interruption oriented. Instead of pitching your product or service you are providing information that will make your buyer more intelligent. The result of this, as we now know, is the belief that if we consistently deliver valuable information to buyers they in turn will reward us with their business and loyalty.
And they do! Content Marketing is being used by most of the major businesses in the world, including P&G, Cisco Systems and even John Deere.
The wonderful thing about it is that it also empowers small and one-persons businesses with equal impact.
The reason is because IT WORKS!