Conquer 2021 with Video & Digital Marketing

This last year was rough for many of us, but we can all adapt, grow, and become more successful than before, by being positive on a daily basis, reconnecting with our communities, and using technology to our advantage.

1. Connect with people using IG

Search for people and businesses over Instagram using the appropriate hashtag search of your interest or business. Direct IG messaging is a great way to cold call/message people.

2. Look into starting a TikTok account

The app isn't just for fun dance challenges anymore, it has continued growth. You can repost your videos from there on Instagram Stories and Facebook. Videos are 15 seconds long, or the app allows four 15 second videos to combine into a 1-minute video if they are recorded on the app.

3. Make videos!

From Dave Sutton, business2community.com

"Video is getting a lot of attention right now, and for good reason. But most companies still aren’t using it. The large social media companies discovered that users really love interacting with the video, but that there aren’t many organizations creating it. So they changed their algorithms to favor video content over any other type. Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are all giving extra visibility to video content right now. And of course, YouTube, Snapchat, and TikTok are all video-based platforms. A survey by video marketing agency Wyzowl found that 72% of businesses say video has improved their conversion rate. According to research

at Google, 70% of B2B (business to business) buyers are watching videos when deciding to make a purchase. So if video works so well, why aren’t more companies using it? Most marketing executives think that it will cost too much. Many video agencies charge a minimum of $10,000 per video, and the prices go up steeply from there."

#DerekEasleyEntertainment strives to make high-quality content for an affordable price so businesses can interact better with their consumers. We offer all forms of marketing, not just video content! We think your brand deserves the best and we are prepared to give that to you without breaking your bank.

4. Double down on your social media presence and content creation

From Dabrian Marketing: "Organizations should be prepared to dedicate more resources to social media marketing in 2021. Social media budgets accounted for 24% of total US marketing budgets during Q2 (2nd quarter) of 2020, up from 13% last winter. During the COVID-19 pandemic, marketers are increasingly making customer retention a priority. This will continue well into 2021. The pandemic has dramatically increased the amount of time people spend online which includes how they research products, brands, and organizations."

5. Create Interactive Content with your brand

Interactive videos, games, quizzes, contests, surveys, etc. can improve engagement on your website! Then, use some info attained from interactive media to aid with your customer analytics to improve & grow your business!

(Graph from woorank.com)

From Dabrian Marketing: "The fastest way to get your brand in front of lots of new prospects, cheaply, is to have your current customers share a Facebook post of a contest. Many of our clients take it a step further and make it a referral contest, often promising an attractive reward to the client who helps bring in the most new business. "

6. Make sure your TEXT content online is specifically optimized for voice search

Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Apple Siri, and others will change how people find your business in the future.

76% of consumers ages 18 to 34 used voice search to find information for a local business last year.

Marketing Expert Michael Sanders says regarding your online text content, "It needs to be more direct and conversational so that it will accurately sync with search queries. This will help boost traffic by staying relevant and more visible to consumers."

(Graph from HubSpot)

7. Utilize Business Directory

A growing percentage of B2B (business to business) sales in 2020 were attained through business directories. Yes, this is most likely a symptom of the lockdowns, but better to prepare your business to be seen (and we suggest having a VIDEO w/ your business directory info!).

----Excerpt below from Jamie Pitman of Bright Local:

What is a business directory?

A business directory is an online list of businesses within a particular niche, location, or category. One way local businesses can get found by online searchers is through inclusion in business directories.

Today, Google is inserting itself between consumer and local business websites much more often.

So it makes sense to get your local business information into the places people are already going to find businesses like yours, rather than simply hoping they'll find you in search results.

Getting your local business' NAP (Name, Address, Phone number) information listed on directories, online business listing sites, and citation sites helps to improve visibility, but backlinks from these sites can also have a benefit to SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Here are a few things to make sure your company listing has in it once you add it to a directory:

• Consistent NAP. If you add or update your business on multiple business listing sites, make sure you're providing the same company information across each directory.

• A link to your website. Backlinks -- also known as inbound links -- are crucial to your company website's domain authority. Consider adding a tracking link at the end of this URL as well, so you can see how much traffic your website specifically gets from the business directories that are linking to it.

• A company description. Make sure you have a detailed description of your business that reflects your organization's mission, culture, and values.

• Multimedia. Give company searchers a visual taste of your business with PICTURES or VIDEO of your office, your employees, or your daily business operations.

There are plenty of location-specific directories and industry-specific business listing sites to which you can submit your data, but local businesses should start with the big guns and work their way toward the more niche directories.

Free Business Listings

• Facebook

• Apple Maps

• Google My Business

• LinkedIn Company Directory

• Bing

• Yelp

• MapQuest

• HubSpot

• Super Pages

• Yellow Book

• Thumbtack

Local Business Listings & Directories for Small Business Marketing

• Facebook (Domain Authority = 100)

• Apple Maps (Domain Authority = 100)

• Google My Business (Domain Authority = 100)

• LinkedIn Company Directory (Domain Authority = 98)

• Bing (Domain Authority = 94)

• Yelp (Domain Authority = 94)

• Better Business Bureau (Domain Authority = 93)

• Foursquare (Domain Authority = 92)

• MapQuest (Domain Authority = 92)

• HubSpot (Domain Authority = 91)

• Yellow Pages (Domain Authority = 91)

• Angies List (Domain Authority = 91)

• Yahoo! Local (Domain Authority = 91)

• Manta (Domain Authority = 87)

• Merchant Circle (Domain Authority = 86)

• Super Pages (Domain Authority = 84)

• Yellow Book (Domain Authority = 83)

• Thumbtack (Domain Authority = 82)

• Local.com (Domain Authority = 77)

• Kudzu.com (Domain Authority = 76)

• Hot Frog (Domain Authority = 76)

• Communitywalk.com (Domain Authority = 75)

• Brownbook.net (Domain Authority = 73)

• Tupalo.com (Domain Authority = 72)

• La Cartes (Domain Authority = 68)

• 2findlocal.com (Domain Authority = 67)

• ezlocal.com (Domain Authority = 67)

• ebusinesspages.com (Domain Authority = 67)

• Spoke (Domain Authority = 66)

• Chamberofcommerce.com (Domain Authority = 66)

• City Squares (Domain Authority = 66)

• Cylex USA (Domain Authority = 66)

• yelloyello.com (Domain Authority = 66)

• BOTW (Domain Authority = 65)

• worldweb.com (Domain Authority = 65)

• ibegin.com (Domain Authority = 63)

• Get Fave (Domain Authority = 63)

• Fyple.com (Domain Authority = 63)

• Company.com (Domain Authority = 60)

• Call Up Contact (Domain Authority = 60)

• Finduslocal.com (Domain Authority = 60)

• My Huckleberry (Domain Authority = 59)

• Hub.biz (Domain Authority = 59)

• where2go.com (Domain Authority = 58)

• City Insider (Domain Authority = 58)

• n49.com (Domain Authority = 58)

• My Sheriff (Domain Authority = 57)

• opendi.us (Domain Authority = 56)

• Bizhwy.com (Domain Authority = 55)

• Smartguy.com (Domain Authority = 55)

• Wherezit.com (Domain Authority = 55)

• DiscoverOurTown.com (Domain Authority = 54)

• Nexport.com (Domain Authority = 52)

• USdirectory.com (Domain Authority = 50)

• Wowcity.com (Domain Authority = 49)

• Bizadee (Domain Authority = 48)

• Wand.com (Domain Authority = 47)

Now go out there and kick 2021 in the butt! Derek Easley Entertainment believes in you!