Here at Look Media + PR, we have been predicting video will keep brands engaged with their consumers or users
 
We could fill a book with statistics about the growth of the medium. We’ll keep it brief here
and tell you video is becoming quickest way to reach and engage, North American’s are the heaviest users of the Internet on earth. And the thing we do the most while we’re there is watch video. Add to that our client Facebook’s metric that people share nearly three times more video today than they did in 2015, and the implication for marketers is clear: Any organization or company who desires to grow its brand online must embrace video. That said, to how do you do it?  We chatted with our in-house creators need to understand why video is so compelling, and how to create videos that compel.
 
Why video is rising

1. It’s appealing and memorable
   Compared to photos or print, video has greater power to create an emotional connection between the viewer and the brand. Think of WestJet’s popular holiday series. That kind of personal connection only comes when you see and hear the people in the story. Video has the added advantage of being the most memorable of the media. People retain more of what they see than what they hear or read.
2. It’s quick
   In a society that’s information rich but attention poor, video can convey in seconds what the printed word takes minutes to do.
3. It’s ideal for sharing 
   Video is inherently shareable because it’s personal and easy to absorb. Engage viewers with a video, and they’ll not only spend more time interacting with your brand, but, if they are moved by what they see, they’ll share it.
4. It’s persuasive
   Video has the power to change people’s thinking. According to UK digital ad agency Unruly, videos double the level of brand association, which means that people who see your video are more likely to respond to your product or service the next time they bump into it. Its powers of persuasion are not lost on Google either; a variety of studies have shown that embedding YouTube videos in your web site (remember, Google owns YouTube) will push it up in Google’s rankings.
5. It’s become affordable
   Until a few years ago, video was accessible only to big brands with big budgets. But that’s changed. First, prices for production gear and editing software have fallen, bringing project budgets down with them. Second, most of us carry an HD video camera around in our back pockets. And with a few clicks, we can share our creations on Facebook Live, Instagram, Periscope, and more.

 
How to make videos that ignite and gain traction?
Even in a world of inexpensive gear and live streaming, creating an engaging video takes time, energy and budget. Once you’ve decided to create one, follow these rules to make it popular:

1. Give people something useful
   You, of course, have your own goals in mind for your video. Know, though, that you’re only going to get people’s attention if you give them something that’s meaningful or useful to them in their busy lives.
2. Front end load & keep it short
   Grab your viewer’s attention right off the top create to publicize broadly.  Remember you have just seconds to hook people, and a couple of minutes to say your piece. After that, drop-off is steep. This isn’t to say that you should cut a six-minute video down to two minutes — some content warrants more time. But it does suggest that, if in doubt, cut it.
3. Get emotional
   The most shareable videos evoke strong emotions. Tell a story that’s positive or useful, and share ability rises.
4. Think social — and silent
   Even if your video is for an internal audience, consider leveraging what you film on social media. Perhaps you’ve recorded behind-the-scenes footage that your audience would like to see. And, while you have a busy expert or thought leader on set, think about other brand messages that would be useful on your social channels. Since there’s a good chance your video will land on Facebook or Instagram, remember your videos will play without sound until a user clicks on it or “thumb-stops” it. Make sure your video has accurate subtitles or captions built in.
5. Give it lift!
   Save some of your muscle, and your budget, to get your new video in front of your audience. Use every social channel at your disposal, maximize SEO, and consider the value of paying for promotion. Once the video is launched, be sure to track performance. The big platforms – YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook – come with built in tools that tell you how people are responding, measuring viewer numbers, play time, where traffic is coming from, and more.

 
Whoever your audience is, and whatever you want to say to them, video is one of the best tools in the kit. Rounding out our robust suite of video services, Look Media has a new mobile video studio a one-stop-shop for filming and editing professional quality, quick-turnaround, budget-friendly video content, specifically designed for executives to address the camera. And best of all, we’ll come to you.
 
It’s clear that video is soaring as a channel to build reputations and brands. And if you follow the simple rules above — with the help of video professionals — your videos can soar, too.

Social media influencers are all the rage right now, with marketers and businesses clamoring to utilize influencers to promote their products or services in order to reach a larger audience. However, what happens if you are a small brand? Many small brands are sensitive to marketing spends, and it can be difficult to get those big names to help support you – and that is where micro-influencers come in.

What are micro-influencers? Micro-influencers are influencers with a smaller audience - generally of under 100k, but over 10k followers. They can be anything from bloggers to just a regular person that's built a loyal following on social media.However, it is not just the number of followers that makes a micro-influencer. Just like with regular influencers, the number of engaged users is far more important. This is what shows that their audience is genuinely interested in this person, that they care about their point of view and opinion and that they listen to them.

Why use influencers and who are they for? If you are thinking about using influencer marketing to promote your business, micro-influencers are a great place to start; particularly if you have a small business, or if you are just starting out. The key is, even if an influencer has a much smaller audience, that does not mean necessarily that micro-influencers will not be able to make a huge impact on your success. However, let's face it less is more! A smaller audience can sometimes even be a good thing - in many cases, the smaller the audience of an influencer, the more targeted and engaged they are, in large part because they’re following out of genuine interest (while a bigger influencer might get lots of new followers simply because they already have many followers). Micro-influencers also have more capacity to engage with their connections actively, while a huge influencer would never be able to interact with every member of their audience. 

What to look out for when researching micro-influencers.
There are a few different things that you should keep an eye out for a few key points. As I mentioned earlier, it is important to look beyond the number of followers - in fact, in some cases, an influencer with 10,000 followers can hold a lot more power than one with 100,000 – so, don’t be blinded by numbers when researching influencers.
Instead, focus more of your attention on how they are engaging with their audience and how their audience is engaging in return. Don’t just check their stats (i.e. how many likes they get on average), but take the time to look at the conversations they are having. The more there are, and the more genuine they are, the better.
What is their niche? Another key element to look for is what they are posting on their social media profiles.Is it relevant to your business? Is it targeted at the same target audience your business is? When researching influencers, you need to examine their follower base. Do you two share the same target audience? This is where knowing your consumer is key in promoting your product or service. Hiring a beauty influencer to promote a product that maybe more healthcare driven will do nothing but drive your audience away with confused messaging. (Nothing will sink a promotion or a campaign then the wrong fit for your brand!) 

Where to find influencers? The first step in looking for micro-influencers is to take a look at your consumers and who is engaging on your social platforms? We have often reached out to those followers who interact with our client's brands to help promote if they are key influencers within the market we are seeking to promote. Often they are eager to promote a product that they already love. 

How do I measure engagement? Here are a few CRM tools that are not going to break the bank for even small businesses. 

1) Agorapulse, Agrorapulse automatically ranks any influencers and even brand ambassadors (i.e. users who have shared and helped promote your content) to your list of fans and followers.

2) Buzzsumo. BuzzSumo enables you to search for influencers by using relevant keywords - but the best part is that you can filter them in various ways.If you only want influencers from certain locations, you can filter them by country, or even the city. You can also filter them by the type of influencer you are looking for, such as bloggers, companies, journalists, social influencers and even regular people. Bonus, you can sort them by relevancy, their website’s domain authority, their number of followers, as well as their average reply ratio to see how often they engage with their fans.

3) LaunchMentrics. LaunchMentrics enables a Publisher tool that is designed to track online interactions. You can configure it so that you receive email updates of the matches the tool finds online with the interaction you want, on the Internet, on blogs and social media.

Takeaways.

• Influencer marketing is one of the most active forms of promoting your business online. Remember to look for the stats that matter, such as their engagement ratio, the relevancy of their followers, as well as how much they are engaging with the influencers.The most important thing to look for is not the number of their followers, but rather, how engaged these fans are.
• Don’t underestimate the power of an influencer, or even a regular person, just because they only have a few thousand followers on social media; if these followers are actively engaging and clearly interested in what these influencers have to say, then getting them on your side will help you grow audience and your business. 

Are you using micro-influencers to help promote your business? What are your favorite tools for researching micro-influencers and what methods are you using? 


Ping us or share below, we do want to know. 
Ping us or share below, we really do want to know.