List Building Part 6: Podcasts, Videos, Viral Campaigns and Press Releases/Social Media Releases

Rick Henkin

In part 6 of this series, we'll examine the following list building methods: podcasts, videos, viral campaigns and press releases/social media releases.

Podcasts

Podcast is a combination of the words "broadcast" and "iPod." According to The Free Dictionary, it's an "audio broadcast that has been converted to an MP3 file or other audio file for playback in a digital music player. Although many podcasts are played in a regular computer, the original idea was to listen on a portable device, hence the "pod" name from "iPod." They can also be burned to CDs.

It's a medium that allows you to decide what you want to listen to, when you want to listen to it and how you want to listen to it. Most podcasts are commercial free and you only receive the ones you subscribe to.

All it takes to create a podcast is a computer, a microphone and an Internet connection. You then upload the file to your website, blog or other web host server.

You can use a podcast to conduct interviews, position yourself as an expert in your field or describe your products or services (although you don't want it to be perceived as a commercial). You can also design your podcast to be an audio version of an ebook or material made to compliment an eCourse, a product in and of itself or as a free inducement in return for a name and email address in your opt-in box.

Videos

These days you don't need high-end cameras and expensive video editing software to make a professional looking video. All you need is a simple video camera, inexpensive video editing software (see some 2009 reviews here) and a microphone. If you want to create instructional type videos, all you need is screen recording software like Camtasia Studio from TechSmith to record your PowerPoint presentations or your actual screen.

Your completed videos can be posed to free video sharing websites such as YouTube (where you can create your own channel so all of your videos are accessible in one place), Google Video, Yahoo Video and a whole host of other video sharing sites. There are even websites that will post your videos to the other video sharing websites so you don't have to.

Just like your podcasts, your videos should be informative, give good value and help establish you as the expert in your field. Make your videos short (attention span on the Internet is limited).

You might consider a series on topics of concern or special interest to those in your niche. All of your videos should contain a link back to your website, landing page or blog and of course, all of your articles, website and blogs can have a link to your videos. If you belong to any groups or discussion forums, place a link to the video or videos in your resource box (your signature). The potential audience can be massive.

Viral Campaigns

Viral advertising or marketing refers to a technique, similar to "word of mouth" in the offline world, in which customers help promote a product or service via "word of mouse" in the online world. The hope is that by this method, your message will be delivered in an exponential fashion to thousands or millions of web users.

Dr Ralph F. Wilson, publisher and editor of Web Marketing Today, described the following 6 principles of viral marketing:

Give away products or services- offer something valuable for free in exchange for the visitor's name and email address

Provide for effortless transfer to others- In our 77 Great Tips Checklist on the top of page 2, Karl and I grant the reader this right: "You may distribute this checklist freely. You can give it away, post it to your website, or even include it as part of a package you sell, as long as it is left completely intact, unchanged and delivered via this PDF file. You may also republish excerpts as long as they are accompanied by an attribution link back to http://www.increaseonlineprofits.com."Feel free to use this wording for your own give-aways

Scale easily from small to very large- if your message does go viral and quickly, you must have the capability to keep up with the demand for your product or service. If you can't keep up, you might not receive a 2nd chance

Exploit common motivations and behaviors- determine what motivates your "people" and then use those triggers in your viral marketing campaign. Other articles on this site have discussed Persuasion and Influence

Utilize existing communication networks- social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and others represent fantastic locations to place your message and hope it spreads virally. This is especially the case with Twitter with its easy capability to retweet and forward your message

Take advantage of other's resources- another name for this is "integration marketing." It basically means that your offer (whether product, service or just brand) are displayed on another website at the point that a transaction (monetary or otherwise)is taking place between that website and it's customers. This often occurs on the "Thank You page" as an up-sell where that customer is psychologically primed to spend more because he already has his wallet out

Press releases/Social media releases

A press release is an announcement of a newsworthy item, whether online or offline. The release usually contains information about new product releases, new services or noteworthy things happening in your industry. It's not an advertisement, although online press releases contain information about your company with links back to your website.

Online press releases not only reach news journalists, but can directly reach consumers as well, even before they're written about. Compared to paid advertising, consumers view news reports based on press releases as having been chosen for their relevancy and usefulness. This is because the editors who choose to report on these items are viewed as disinterested 3rd parties.

There are several online press release services to choose from, both free and paid. Free services usually limit the number of images or the anchor text links or may only allow basic text with no clickable items. Paid services usually include the above, as well as inclusion in various RSS and search engine news feeds. In addition, paid services usually help to optimize the press release for search engines as well as allowing pull quotes (quotes pulled out of the text and displayed in a larger font).

Social media releases are very new compared to traditional press releases. They combine video, images, powerpoints and more into a hosted microsite (the social media release) that can then be shared with the social websites like Facebook. MySpace and Twitter. Social media releases can even be edited after they've gone live.

ARTICLE DATE: 2009-05-04
REVISED DATE:

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· List Building Part 7: Joint Ventures, Word of Mouth Marketing, Offline Media Marketing and Direct Mail
· List Building Part 5: Social Media, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and blogs
· List Building Part 4: Online media marketing, CPA networks, ad networks, co-registration and affiliates
· List Building Part 3: Search engine marketing, Search engine optimization, article marketing, forums & groups, teleseminars and webinars
· List Building Part 2: Google AdWords, Yahoo! Sponsored Search, Microsoft adCenter, placement targeting and Pay Per Click
· List Building Part 1: Why Build a List and How Do I Do It?

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List Building Part 6: Podcasts, Videos, Viral Campaigns and Press Releases/Social Media Releases ">