Jack Simpson says, “It’s no secret that appealing to people’s emotions is one of the best ways to get them to engage with your content, and one of the best ways to create an emotional experience is through videos. As it’s Friday, and sunny, and I’m nervously wondering whether I’m going to make it out the other side of my impending stag weekend with a single shred of dignity intact, let’s take a look at some lovely emotional video content. I’ll try and steer clear of charities for this one, partly because I recently wrote about them, but also because they’re too much of an... [...]

Martin Beck says, “Facebook is turning up the heat on YouTube. Starting this fall, Facebook will offer selected video creators — including the NBA, Fox Sports and Funny or Die — a cut of advertising revenue that appears with their content on the social network. That type of revenue-sharing arrangement has long been the province of YouTube, a platform that has cultivated a large network for creators who can make a living from publishing video on YouTube. Facebook, on the other hand, has built video momentum by promising people the ability to get their videos in front of large audiences;... [...]

Patrick Kulp says, “Video ads on Facebook are right around the corner. Facebook will be giving video publishers an extra push to publish video directly onto its platform as it shores up its massive video platform, it announced on Wednesday. SEE ALSO: Think Facebook is a media powerhouse? Just wait til its video player takes over The social network is starting to run ads between videos for a small group of publishers including Fox Sports, the NBA and Funny or Die. Those companies will receive 55% share of ad revenues that run against their videos — the same split offered by YouTube. Facebook... [...]

Vebeka Guess says, “Shoppable video has not gained widespread adoption. In this post I’ll look at the reasons for this failure and suggest ways to make this a more routinely used tool. Today’s shoppers are keenly aware of advertisements and sales pitches, and they do their best to avoid them. Yet they actively seek out informative, lifestyle-related video content and choose to spend their free time consuming it. This content is an important marketing channel. For example, just this year alone over more than 100 million hours of how-to videos were watched and one in three millennials... [...]

Michael Litt says, “As much as we’d like to create videos just to entertain people and make them laugh, at some point, your boss is going to ask what your videos are doing to help the company. You do work in the marketing department, after all, and your sales team has an insatiable appetite for leads. Fortunately, you shouldn’t have to search too hard for an answer because video offers amazing opportunities to engage audiences and generate new and better leads. The data you can collect about how each individual person watches your videos will help you prioritize your follow-up. For example,... [...]

Jason Abbruzzese says, “Welcome to the slightly obnoxious future. Autoplay video is going to find you. Chances are it already has, unless you live a cloistered existence and manage to avoid Facebook or Twitter or any number of media websites. When you scroll through Twitter, videos and GIFs will automatically start blaring from your computer, Twitter’s announced this week that it had introduced video and GIF autoplay to its service follows on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat (in its Discover section) and various media sites that have begun rolling clips whether or not users want to see... [...]

Wanie Mokhtar says, “Creating content, such as emails, is a great way to connect with a mass audience. But there’s a lot more to it than simply writing an email and hitting send. While you may have a dozen, hundreds or even thousands of subscribers, it’s important to remember that among that list exists a variety of individuals with different needs, motivations and experiences. As a result, this means that, sadly, not every piece of content you create will be a perfect fit for everyone. So how can you nurture your diverse audience with content that’s relevant to every individual?”. 5-Minute... [...]

Anna Johansson says, “The topic of “viral” content is one of the most intriguing in the world of social media and content marketing, but it’s also one of the most elusive. Producing content is a valuable and necessary part of any online branding or visibility strategy, but only a tiny percentage of all produced content actually “go viral,” the digital marketing equivalent of winning the lottery. Seemingly on a whim, these rare pieces of content capture the interest of millions of people, first getting shared by the select few who saw it first, then getting shared by the next generation... [...]

Kristen Dunleavy says, “Got a big idea? The Draw Shop can help. The team of 20, led by co-founders Erik Kerr and Summer Felix, create attention-grabbing whiteboard videos designed to boost sales and marketing success for companies large and small. The Draw Shop works with everyone from independent authors to huge corporations like Google, collaborating with them each step of the way to create the perfect video. But when your customer base varies as much as The Draw Shop’s, how do you maintain a steady flow of highly-qualified leads? According to The Draw Shop co-founder Erik Kerr, email... [...]

Mimi An says, “Over the years, I’ve seen my fair share of bad surveys. Those tend to be easier to identify than good ones. You’ve probably taken some yourself — they often have poorly worded questions and tend to drag on forever. Good surveys, on the other hand, are forgettable. The best experience you can aim for is for the respondent to finish and think, “Well, that was tolerable.” Want to learn how to create good surveys? There are some basic guidelines to make sure people walk away without feeling frustrated from an overly complicated survey design. Here are a... [...]