JSB Talks Digital is a weekly digital marketing and social media podcast hosted by author, strategist, consultant, speaker and trainer Joanne Sweeney-Burke. Each Friday Joanne shares her digital marketing and social media insights from her work as CEO of Digital Training Institute. 

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In this episode I share my top tips for effective mobile video marketing. The field of video marketing has changed dramatically over the past few years. Put simply, we no longer have to purchase a professional video camera in order to share relevant and engaging visual content with your audience. Thanks to today’s smartphones, we can engage in successful mobile video marketing with the touch of a button.

Coming up in this podcast:

• In social media news, another social network bites the dust; Facebook is testing video for cover images and are social media companies putting profit before safety?
• I interview Maire Clare Byard, founder of NOW Media about mobile and social video and the value of real-time content. We caught up at Mojo Con in Galway;
• In shout-outs: Three social media marketers using mobile video to great effect;
• My listeners Ask JSB and I answer their questions on air;
• In JSB’s column – How to use your smartphone for more effective mobile marketing; and
• Find out what video tool saved my working week.

Social Media News

Another social network bites the dust!

Yik Yak, the anonymous mobile app popular among college students has closed down. Writing on their blog, co-founders Tyler Droll and Brooks Buffington said:

We’ll begin winding down the Yik Yak app over as we start tinkering around with what’s ahead for our brand, our technology, and ourselves.

Yik Yak, started in 2013 as a way to connect students on campus. At one stage it was one of the top 10 most-downloaded apps in the app charts and grew to $400 million in market value.

However the feature of being anonymous, an initial selling point, created lots of issues for the company— mainly complaints about bullying, harassment and threats.

Yik Yak was banned at several schools, while some schools were forced to shut down for days because of anonymous threats made against students on the app.

Last year, Yik Yak had dropped out of the top-1,000 apps downloaded in the App Store, and now well, it’s old news.

Facebook is testing video for cover images

Facebook can’t get enough of video! Many users noticed this week that the social network is testing video cover images on some Pages.

The short video loops, looks like a GIF. It plays without sound, however there is a volume slider which appears at the right when you hover over the image.

Bored Of Static Facebook Covers? Now You Can Use Video! | https://t.co/qohR3IQ8d2 via @wersm

— Geoff Desreumaux ? (@Geoffdx) April 26, 2017

Facebook confirmed they are testing this new feature, and in a statement said:

We recently started testing the ability on desktop to upload a video as the Page cover. Once a cover video has been created, video will render when people visit the Page. By making cover video available, we want to help you create more engaging interactions and drive more rich experience for your audience by letting you spotlight your creative content in one of the most prominent spaces: your Page cover.

While the feature is still in early testing, it’s expected it to roll out more widely soon.

Are social media companies putting profit before safety?

An inquiry by the UK’s House of Commons Home Affairs Committee has condemned social networks for failing to tackle hate speech.

The inquiry was launched following the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox last year by a far-right gunman.

The Guardian who covered the Inquiry’s proceedings reports MPs as saying that:

Social media companies are putting profit before safety and should face fines of tens of millions of pounds for failing to remove extremist and hate crime material promptly from their websites.

The report also states that rich technology firms are “shamefully far” from taking action to tackle illegal and dangerous content. This issue is not isolated to Britain, in fact most of those companies referred to in the report have their European Headquarters in Ireland and it’s an issue our politicians should also be addressing.

The UK inquiry concludes that social media multinationals are more concerned with commercial risks than public protection, with an example of swift action being taken to remove content found to infringe copyright rules rather than hateful or illegal content. This is a very valid point.

Referring to Google’s failure to prevent paid advertising from reputable companies appearing next to YouTube videos posted by extremists, the committee’s report said:

One of the world’s largest companies has profited from hatred and has allowed itself to be a platform from which extremists have generated revenue.

In Germany, the report points out, the justice ministry has proposed imposing financial penalties of up to €50m on social media companies that are slow to remove illegal content.  In the UK Social media companies currently face few penalties for failing to remove illegal content but MPs are recommending “the government consult on a system of escalating sanctions, to include meaningful fines for social media companies which fail to remove illegal content within a strict timeframe.

Read the full report here.

Interview | Marie Clare Byard, Founder of NOW Media

In today’s show I speak to Marie Claire Byard, Founder of NOW Media Live and a super partner of mine for social and live video projects.

We discuss why mobile video is vital in online marketing and how easy it is to get started.

Ask JSB

Ask JSB brings the voices of my listeners onto the show. So you now have an opportunity to ask me a question, have it aired on the podcast and I will respond.

Simply log onto www.digitaltraininginstitute.ie/askjsb and submit your question which arrives into my inbox as an mp3 audio file.

If you are on mobile, download the app, if using desktop simply record, listen back and send.

In this week’s show I’ve questions from Suzie, Sophie and I re-answer Muiriosa’s question from episode #45 because I answered it wrong!

• Suzie asks for Twitter tips for newbies to the platform
• Sophie asks what my favourite productivity app is
• Muiriosa wants to know how to add the PM button in a Tweet

Here’s how to do it!

Do you want to ask JSB a question?

I want to give you a voice on JSB Talks Digital. Simply log on to www.digitaltraining.ie/askjsb and you might find yourself and your question on air!

Shout-Outs

In this part of the show I give shout-outs to brands, organisations and individuals whose work online is remarkable and worth talking about.

In today’s show I’m giving shout-outs to three social media marketing friends using mobile video to great effect across multiple platforms.

• Marie Clare Byard founder of NOW Media who you heard from earlier uses mobile extremely well. A talented photographer and live vlogger Marie Clare has really tapped into the ever evolving world of social media.

I follow her updates across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat and watch how she brings us with her at digital and tech events.

Her company specialises in storytelling and generating content LIVE at events.

I’ve worked with Marie Clare and she ensures that my social media channels are topped up in real-time with high-quality photos, videos and vlogs.

She’s also great at capturing the behind the scenes atmosphere and capturing the essence of an event and shoots videos for Irish Tech News.

• Add Marie Claire on Snapchat – it’s Marie-Clare Byard
• On Twitter you can follower at @NOWMediaLive
• And on Facebook her Page is NOW Media Live
• On Instagram now_media

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Steve McDonagh founder of Vivify Multi-media is a video evangelist. He’s also the editor of my vlogs.

Steve has a long background in multi-media and his Facebook updates are worth following as he shares tips, tricks and tactics about video for brand communications.

He also shoots bigger digital projects and has invested significantly in his equipment from a drone to a 360-degree camera.

• Check Steve out at his website http://www.vivifymultimedia.com/
• Twitter @vivifymedia
• Facebook Facebook.com/vivifymultimedia

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Anne Marie Behan, founder of GoMarketing.ie has some of the most engaging mobile video updates around. A creative and talented digital marketer, Anne Marie is consistent across all social networks.

She combines graphics, text and video really well in our content.

Go follow her!

• Twitter: @gomarketinghub
  Instagram: @gomarketing.ie
• Facebook: Facebook.com/gomarketing.ie
• Snapchat: GoMarketing.ie

JSB’s Column | My Top 5 Tips for Success in Mobile Video Marketing

In today’s column, I’m going to tell you how to effectively use your smartphone for mobile marketing.  

Video might just be the most effective marketing tool available to us today.

Including a video in a marketing email doubles your click-through rates, while simply embedding it on your landing page increases lead conversions by an average of 80 percent.

At the same time, the field of video marketing has changed dramatically over the past few years. Put simply, you no longer have to purchase a professional video camera in order to share relevant and engaging visual content with your audience. Thanks to today’s smartphones, you can engage in successful mobile video marketing with the touch of a button.

So here are JSB’s Top 5 Tips for Success in Mobile Video Marketing

1. Follow Basic Platform Best Practices

Anytime you engage in marketing on a digital platform, a number of basic best practices exist that are worth implementing in your own efforts. Some of these are common sense, while others are a bit more in-depth.

The types of videos that you can use on each social media network and digital platform tend to differ. Twitter video, for example, should be quick, entertaining, and personal. Facebook video, on the other hand, succeeds with emotion, while successful visuals on Instagram tend to be inspiring.

The key to success, in other words, is not to create a single video and hope it succeeds on every digital platform. Instead, account for your audience, and their expectations on the specific platform where they’ll encounter your video.

2. Leverage the Rise of Vertical Video

Just a few years ago, using vertical video in your marketing was considered bad practice. We’re far removed from that stage now, as smartphones have made this format not just acceptable, but in many cases expected.

On Snapchat, for example, vertical video ads actually perform better than their horizontal counterparts. Meanwhile, the advertising thought leaders of Ogilvy point out that smartphone users simply don’t want to turn their phone around just to watch a video, accounting for the continued rise of vertical video.

Your video doesn’t have to be vertical to succeed. But if keeping this format allows you to better capture the content, don’t be afraid to stay away from horizontal formats.

3. Adjust for Mobile Preferences

A vertical format is not the only example of changing user preferences when it comes to viewing mobile video. For instance, thanks to its autoplay feature, 85 percent of Facebook users now watch videos without sound. If you plan on posting your marketing video on the world’s largest social media platform, you need to account for that fact by creating content in which sound is not necessary or adding closed captions.

4. Make Simple Settings Adjustments

Shooting video on a mobile device comes with some limitations, such as an inability to zoom without losing picture quality. That said, you can take advantage of both your environment and some of your phone’s setting to create more beautiful and engaging content.

Find a scene that is evenly lit, and don’t be afraid to change positions and angles to make it work better. In addition, most iOS and Android smartphones allow you to manually set your exposure and focus ahead of the video. This will prevent your phone from making automatic adjustments as you shoot, creating a more consistent image as a result.

5. Engage in Simple Editing as Needed

Not all mobile videos will require editing. In fact, some of the most authentic marketing videos today consist of single shots that get to the point without external editing help. For some projects, however, you will appreciate an easy ability to cut together multiple short videos, along with adding sound or effects such as filters.

In that case, it makes sense to find a mobile video editing app that works for you. A number of apps can work in that regard, such as iMovie for iOS or PowerDirector for Android. Each allows you to improve the look and flow of your mobile video without comprehensive editing expertise.

I wrote a blog post on 6 video tools to ignite your social media marketing for Social Media Examiner and it went viral with over 9,400 social shares!

Social Media Tool of the Week

The social media tool that saved my working week is Animoto  

Animoto allows you to create professional-quality videos with pictures and video clips. There are both free and paid versions of Animoto.

Choose your images

Animoto syncs with Facebook, Flickr, Picasa, Photobucket, and SmugMug to get your images in a snap. Add text and emphasize specific images with the touch of a button.

Choose music

Music is at the heart of an Animoto video — upload your own mp3 or choose from their collection of tunes from several different genres. 

Watch and share

Watch your video in HD on Animoto.com or share it on Facebook, YouTube, your blog, or a DVD. It’s fast and easy to post to websites or download.

Pricing plans range from $8 a month for personal use to $34 a month for businesses.

Start your free trial at https://animoto.com. You can create your free account with your Facebook profile or with your email address.

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I love feedback

I’d love to know what you think about this episode. So please get in touch by commenting below or tweet me @tweetsbyJSB or send me a snap to jsbsnaps.

Listen: JSB Talks Digital | Episode #46

I would like to thank Eoghan Murphy aka The Galway Gamer for producing my podcast series and to Flirt FM on the campus of NUI, Galway where I am based for the use of their studio.