Okay, so let's talk about gifts. Let's talk about your sales team. What is the greatest gift that you can give your sales team? Now to a guy like me, the answer is going to be video production, testimonial video production, because we're establishing trust by showing other people trusting us. For other people, it's geo-fencing because we put a lot of time, effort, and energy into our events and that's where the value is. So we're going to geo-fence those events.
With other people, it's CRM advertising because we put a lot of value and stock in our email campaigns, and we want to augment those. But no matter what the tactic is, the best gift that you can give your sales team is branding, because branding helps establish who you are and what you stand for and what you do and what you're great at before the conversation ever happens.
So when your sales team has that initial conversation, the prospect already knows you and they already want to work with you. Then it's just a matter of details. So it's Q4, right? You're heading into 2020. It's time to establish what you want to do for 2020 in terms of your branding. What tactics do you want to use to give your sales team that gift? [email protected]
Video Production
Okay. So have you gotten a letter at your house that is addressed "Dear Occupant"? There's a new one they're using recently that it's, "to our very good friends at" your address. Those things feel awful. It feels like a machine sent us a letter. And it's not to us, it's to a million people, and they're just playing a percentages game. And you look at it, and you're like, that's not for me. Stop this. And you throw it away.
Personalization goes a long way. And you can't talk to everybody individually, but there are some things you can do to personalize your message a little bit, so it feels like you're speaking to them. Example. So with video production, there's a very easy way to do this, especially in B2B, which is you get done with your video series and you've got the stuff that you're going to post on your website.
But for your email campaigns you put together videos that are specific to each vertical. So you do one for education, you do one for medical, you do one for government, you do one for technology, you do one for whatever your verticals are. You put one individually together. And it doesn't have to be hard and it doesn't have to be expensive. All you need to do is change a little bit of the copy and change one or two of the graphics, and all of a sudden you're talking to medical. And now you are an expert in their field, and now they want to talk to you, because it feels specific, because it feels personal.
So thanks very much to Kelly DeWald for reaching out. And if you've got questions, email me at [email protected]
Testimonial Video Production
Okay. So a lot of you already know that I worked with Quentin Tarantino for two years during the Pulp Fiction era, and I actually wanted to use one of those quotes to talk about a testimonial video production. There's a scene in Reservoir Dogs where they're on the rooftop and he says, "To do this job, you've got to be a great actor. You've got to be naturalistic. You've got to be naturalistic as hell because if you ain't a great actor, you're a bad actor and a bad actors are bull**** in this job."
Is your client a great actor? (No!) And they're not going to be, unless they keep saying it and saying it and saying it, saying it and saying it. And they're not going to do that because they're not going to prep before you come. That's not their job. So you will get there. And the worst way to get a naturalistic performance out of somebody is just stick a bunch of lights right in front of him and stick a microphone down here and then come in with a film crew and go, okay, great, be naturalistic. Go. Yay. Train wreck. It's awful.
We have a better way to do it. So if you're considering doing testimonial videos, please give us a call because we can give you great actors and not bad actors. Because the last thing you want to do after going through the process of making a testimonial video is wind up with some bull****.
I had to bleep these because my mom's watching, so thanks to Melissa Simon for reaching out. If you got questions, email me at [email protected].
Video Production
Okay, so if you work in video production long enough, whether it's signature video production or testimonial video production, eventually you get asked, can I have a viral video? I'd like one too.
Now, viral videos aren't something that you can control. These things happen on their own. However, commercial videos that have become viral share a couple of different traits, and I want to break those down for you so you can see what they are.
Number one is, it needs to be a subject of mass interest. A lot of people need to be interested in what it is. People like to share things with people that they think their friends are going to be interested in. It can't be too specific, it needs to have a broad appeal.
Number two, it needs to have an insane hook right off the bat. Think about the Old Spice commercial. I'm on a horse. The thing was completely gonzo. You had no idea what you were watching from the moment that you started, and you couldn't stop watching it because it was insane. Keep in mind, it takes a lot of creativity and also a lot of testicular fortitude to allow yourself to look absolutely gonzo in front of your potential clients. But it works. It captures their attention. So stand up, man up, and make that part of your campaign.
Number three, you need a quick description of the problem. You need to keep it short, you need to keep it pithy because you need to move on to number four. Because number four is alternating between the product and the emotion. Think back to Dollar Shave Club. They did a great job of going product, joke, product, joke, product, joke, product, joke, and it kept you interested so you kept hearing more about the product while they were busy telling you jokes.
Number five is, you need an aggressive paid distribution platform on the first week that the video is released. You need to get it in front of enough people so that they can start sharing it so that you can get some momentum behind the video. Do that in week one and push it as hard as you can.
Those are the five steps of putting yourself in the position where your video might go viral.
Thanks to Scott Pollard, just for being a heck of a great guy. And if you've got questions, email me at [email protected].
AdTech
Today is Numbers Day, which means we get to go through the numbers for everybody's campaigns and see how many impressions and how many clicks, and we review it several times during the course of the month, but this is the day that we actually report on and what the results were and use those to move forward for the next month.
One of the questions that I got asked this weekend was, "Andy, you're a creative guy. You've always been a creative guy. What's the deal with the ad tech? Why did you get into this?" I got to say, as a creative person, it makes me happy to be able to see numbers and be able to go, "Oh, people responded this way, or people responded this way, or the results of this were," because instead of operating the creative in a vacuum, you get to see what the results were every month.
Inevitably, you get to, as a creative person, go, "Well, how can I make this better this month? Well, what could we do to increase the click-through rate? What can we do to increase the conversion rate? What can we do to tell a better story?" Instead of doing creative in a vacuum, you're doing creative to a purpose. I love that. I completely get off on that because it makes it fun and it makes it challenging.
So that's the reason why, and thanks to Jonathan Dana so much for reaching out to me. That was a nice moment for me. If you've got questions, email me at [email protected].
Video Production
Okay so I have a confession to make, which is I don't like doing these videos. It doesn't mean I don't love you. I do love you, but these take a lot of time, effort, and energy to put together, and I need you to understand something. This all came out of a challenge from a very good friend of mine at Sony, and it's not about SEO, it's not about social media, it's about discipline. It's about doing it every day and shipping it, whether it's ready or not. And shipping it as a Seth Godin thing that I actually believe in, whether it's 85%, or 95%, or 105% you've got to ship it.
And this all comes from the idea of artists, and a lot of us are perfectionists, which just means that we like to keep fiddling with something, and keep fiddling, and fiddling, and fiddling, and fiddling with it long past the point where it matters to anybody else. It just matters to us. So at a certain point you have to let something go. Art is never finished. It's abandoned. So getting something to a point where it's ready to ship is the whole point, and shipping something every day is the goal.
Now, I've discovered a lot of things about this going through this process, and if you struggle with the same thing, if you struggle with perfectionism a little bit, you might want to set up a similar challenge for yourself. Whether that means video or not, I don't know. Seth Godin posts a blog famously every single day. But something where you need to get it done every single day, whether you feel like it or not, is a great exercise in discipline, in getting something done and getting it out into the world even when it's not absolutely perfect.
So thanks to Ivana Pandurovic, and if you've got questions, email me at [email protected], and have a great weekend.
Video Production
Okay. So let me tell you a story you might find familiar. You're with a company and they decide that they are going to commit to video as part of their marketing strategy. So you're going to hire somebody, you're going to bring them on, you're going to pay their salary, you're going to pay their insurance, or you're going to pay their benefits and you're going to commit to this video thing.
Wait, here's the problem:
Shooting is a different skill from lighting. Lighting is a different skill from audio. Editing is a different skill than producing. Writing is a different skill from music, color correction, animation, all of these things need to get done. And I have never met anybody who has all of those skills.
That's why I've got such a deep bench. I can call on people to bring in the one piece of the puzzle that we need to get it done and get it done right. So don't hire one person, hire a team, outsource it. That way you can get more done and get it done right.
So thanks to Phil Yunker for reaching out. And if you've got questions, email me at [email protected].
Testimonial Video Production Okay, so let's talk about your sales team. All right? These guys and girls are out there every single day busting their butts, not only trying to maintain the relationships you have with your existing clients, but also to build new relationships with new people for new business.
Do not send them out there naked. Trust is a huge component of sales. Give them the tools that they need. Think about yourself. If you're deciding on a product or a service and you're looking at different vendors, and one of them has a dozen testimonial videos on their site and the other one doesn't, you are more likely to choose the one that has the testimonial videos because those are statements of trust.
Those are happy clients.
Not only are they just happy clients, these are clients who have actually gone and made a video talking about how great you are. That's a very happy client and that's what your prospects want to be. So give your sales team the tools that they need to succeed. Don't send them out there naked.
Thanks very much to Max again for doing double duty today. And if you've got questions for me, email me at [email protected].
Okay, so I wanted to share something that has been on my board for the last couple of years and has helped me out a lot and there go the cops, thank God they're not after me.
S-Y-S-T-E-M, save yourself time, effort, and money. The reason it's up on the board is because it's true. It remains true and it doesn't matter what my feelings are about it. My people, the creative people, are the worst offenders at this because we rely on inspiration to come to us in order to get things done. Well that's great if you're in your living room making a drawing, but it's no good if you've got a Tuesday deadline.
And the way that you get things done is by having a system in place so that even if there are 15 other fires going on at the time, it still gets done. You're not relying on inspiration or feelings to make it happen. So take a look at the things that are in your work life right now and say, "This is really difficult for me to get done. I'd like to develop a system to get it done more efficiently." You'll be amazed at how well it works. So thanks to Max, last name redacted for now, for a great conversation yesterday, and if you've got questions, email me at [email protected].
Okay, back to the three elements of persuasive argument which are logos, pathos, and ethos. Logos being logic, ethos being character, and pathos being emotion. Okay, when you put together your script for your client's story, your video, your testimonial video (and oh by the way, please have a script for your client's story video, your testimonial video). Do not walk into somebody's office with a camera crew and a bunch of questions, and expect them to be brilliant. That's unfair. It doesn't work. Don't put them in that spot. *Short rant.*
So when you put together your script, make sure you leave room for emotion. We're all busy trying to jam in the facts when we should be working on adding the emotion. Can you add funny? Can you add anger, resentment? Can you talk about what the person was feeling at the beginning that was frustrating, that gives them a reason to move forward? Because the person who's watching the video needs that emotion, and they need to see that reflected in them.
If you don't spend a little bit of time doing that upfront, you're crippled before you begin.
So, thanks to Anne Marie Farrell for reaching out and if you've got questions for me, email me at [email protected]