How to differentiate yourself successfully from the competition in COVID-21?

The webinar about how to differentiate yourself successfully from the competition. It is hosted by Dominique HANS, Sales Trainer, and Consultant at Perform’ Hans and Managing Partner at Value Selling Associates.

N.B: Avis aux français, les diapositives sont en français, puisque ce webinaire a été créé pour le marché français, mais est valade pour tous types de pays en temps de covid.

Webinar Agenda:

• Current context
• What needs to be changed?
• How: Draw your client’s attention.
• Create a need for a differentiator.
• Find out the value of this difference.
• Differentiate proactively.

Differentiation FAILURES and impacts:

Current context:

• Most markets are saturated:
  • Flooded with a low-priced competition.
  • Competitors look alike.

•  The purchasing cycle becomes more complicated:
  • Power changes
  • Budget arbitration
  • What is the value?

The purchasing cycle has very much changed. Now, customers have the power and make their own choices. For budget reasons, companies often decide to internalise their solutions. Consequently, to sell, we need to start off and establish a dialogue around value unlike the example below.

Up to now 71 % of salespeople only talk about their product. This way of selling no longer works.

What does it mean for sales professionals?

• Fewer opportunities.
• Behaviour/Competencies/Expertise.
• The differentiation must go beyond the product and its abilities.
• The dialogue around value must be significant and relevant.

Different or differentiated:

Different:

It refers to the list of your unique abilities. We mean here by unique abilities, the functionalities, and differentiating elements of the products.

Differentiation:

Successfully link your unique abilities with your potential customers’ issues. In other terms, sell unique abilities that are relevant and valuable to your customers.

Let me give you an example:

If I have a business based in France and only working with customers, trying to sell our international services and expertise will not interest them at all.

Furthermore, it is the salesperson’s role to discover additional problems to resolve, which will create further needs.

Going even further/beyond…:

Widen/Research your customer requests to put forward your unique solution abilities compared to the competition.

How to successfully differentiate yourself from your competitors?

• Success rests on the knowledge of companies and their business.
• Our competitive advantage is in the way we sell our products and services, and not based on our product or technical knowledge.
• Become an expert in problems by asking questions to find a solution for our clients.

The reversed approach:

• Understand what urges your potential client to listen to you.
• Switch your dialogue to draw the attention of your conversation partners.
• Link your solution to your potential client’s problems.
• Put into practice the differentiation method to all your clients’ messages: introductions, proposals, customised communications. Repeat 2-3 times throughout your negotiation the differentiating points.

5 differentiating sectors:

• Abilities
• Reduction of risk/brand
• General Terms and Conditions
• Client experience
• Price.

Terms and conditions: small and mid-sized companies can allow themselves to be a little more flexible with their terms and conditions.

Customer experience: the stakes are to figure out the client’s priorities and challenges.

Position your differentiation:

1- The client recognises the need: his problems.

2. The client searches for a solution.

3. Discovery of additional problems: reducing the competition.

The salesperson must look for additional problems to create the need.

The challenge of value fulfilment:

The customers’ stakes are the centre of this challenge and are composed of:

• Stakes
• Problems
• Solutions
• Achieved value.

Develop the value for the client:

VB or BV = Business Value

The tangible value is measured by calculating the Return On Investment (ROI) and the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), while the intangible value can be achieved with a sound sales pitch.

For example, the price can be determined by measuring the key performance indicators (KPIs) such as the trading ability.

VP or PV = Personal Value

Personal value is of an inestimable value. It answers the question: What will I earn from it?

For example, for the customer experience, the salesperson must find out what are the client’s personal values, e.g., self-sufficiency, innovation.

For that, they can ask the client: ‘What is important to you personally?’ The salesperson can also help the customer delve further into their decisions since customers often do not take the time to work on this. The salesperson can ask: ‘How do you perceive this solution?’

However, the absence of differentiation rarely indicates that a product or a service is of bad quality. It generally means that we have not succeeded in discovering what was important for the company and for the client.

In the current context where everything goes fast, the client rarely notices this. That is why it is important to ask them more questions to discover their needs.

How do you differentiate yourself?

1. Follow-up customer’s needs to put forward your unique abilities compared to the competition.
2. Develop the value of your differentiators in your potential clients’ and clients’ minds.
3. Bring concrete answers to your clients’ key stakes by becoming their personal trusted adviser.

Action Plan TO differentiate yourself from your competitors:

• Choose an ongoing opportunity:
  • Step 1: Determine where you are different or better than the competing alternative choices.
  • Step 2: Are these differences linked to problems by your client?
  • Step 3: Create specific questions to discover new needs linked to these differentiators.

• Discover the Personal and Business Values linked to your main differentiators.

Before moving to the conclusion, please find answers to the asked questions:

Question 1: Can you please talk about the case of an invitation to public tender/procurement?

Answer: The invitation to tender/the call for bids is a list of the client’s solutions and problems. You need to answer that list and ask your client what are their priorities.

Question 2: What is the human factor in the differentiation?

Answer: Distance selling implies more importance on the content rather than the human interaction.

Question 3: How can I identify the personal value without appearing intrusive?

Answer: The personal value can only be identified in one-to-one meetings with each decision-maker. One needs to identify all alternatives. For example, for a service, you can consider as important the client’s time, money, and human resources.  Traditionally, you can only ask these questions at the second or third meeting. If the client doesn’t answer, you shouldn’t insist and take time to build the relationship.

Question 4: What can I do when a potential client requests a demonstration before even negotiating?

Answer: We highly recommend you leave the demonstration at the very end of the negotiation process, as it often lacks interactions with clients when doing so. If you do go ahead with a demo, make sure to ask for the client’s feedbacks and initiate the demo with the following questions: Your time is precious. I do not want to waste your time. Can I ask you further questions to present you with the most appropriate information/demonstration?

Finally, ‘clients do not buy what you do, but why you do it.’ Quote by Simon Sinek, ‘Start with why’ author.

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What is a content upgrade and how can it impact your conversion rates?

What is a content upgrade and why does it help you increase your conversion rates more than a lead magnet? Kevin McGrath from Beacon will explain you this and how you can create it with Beacon tips and tricks.

But before delving into the topic, let me start introducing you, Kevin McGrath.

About Kevin McGrath

Kevin is from Belfast, Northern Ireland. He is the Co-Founder and CEO of Beacon, a plugin that can be used with WordPress to help you generate more leads.

He has a background in Design and initially ran a web design agency called Starfish for about 6 years. But he is now more focused on Marketing and Growth.

Through his webinar, he talks about:

• Lead Generation
• Landing Page
• Lead Magnet
• Content Upgrade
• Time-Saving Tips and Tricks with Beacon
• Exclusive Bonuses from Beacon

Lead Generation

• Every marketer looks for more leads to gain more clients. However, most people don’t buy on their first interaction.

Indeed, people like to do research before they make a purchase (web price comparisons, shipping rates..). If people spend a big budget, they will want to make sure they get it right. When you do your research, you want to find out things like: How does this company work like another business like mine? Can this company offer a solution to the problem that I’m facing?

• As marketers, we want to help you with your research and also available and stay in touch with you through the course of that research.

We want leads and email addresses from people who are likely to buy from us in the future.

• Better Leads.

Avoid having an email list of poor leads not interested in your products. This will be a waste of your time to target these people.

So, in order to get email addresses, marketers have been doing this for decades. If you give somebody something of value in exchange for their email address, they are more likely to give it to you. We can give something like an eBook in exchange for an email address.

Generally, when people offer eBooks, they do so on a dedicated landing page to offer the prospect a lead magnet. A lead magnet is essentially a downloadable piece of content like an eBook, or a whitepaper or something that is basically information-based that you are giving your prospects to help nurture to become your customer.

Now, there are two points in this strategy:

1. Landing Page

2. Lead Magnet.

The Problem with lead magnet strategy

The strategy is flawed. Basically, if you are putting a lead magnet up on a landing page, you are going to have to spend a lot of time preparing the content for that lead magnet.

• Large lead magnet.

The lead magnet will have to be impressive and well package (100 pages long).

• Another page to drive traffic to.

That’s a new page in your website. You are not having the benefit of, say, a blog post, that is already gaining lots of organic traffic. You are going to have to come up with a new traffic acquisition strategy, in order to drive customers to the page.

• Visitors need to be ‘warmed up’.

Once your visitors get to the page, you are going to have to warm them up to get them to download an eBook and see its benefits. You are essentially starting from scratch.

• Trying to appeal to everyone is another issue with this lead magnet strategy.

I’m sure, guys, to have familiar with various customers’ personas, various stages in the buying cycle. Say, you have 2 or 3 personas with their individual needs and problems that they want to resolve, each may be at a different stage of the buying cycle. Some may not know you at all and others may know you well and just need a gentle reminder note.

• eBooks aren’t anymore the new kids on the block.

They have been around for a while and as marketers tend to overdo these strategies with this as soon as we see some success with that. People have become jaded with the overall eBook strategy and do not take the time reading a lengthy book.

But don’t worry, there is a solution to that.

the SOLUTION WITH content upgrade system strategy

A content upgrade is a targeted resource for individual blog posts.

So, instead of having a dedicated landing page for a big eBook type of resource, it’s just a bonus offered as part of a blog post. You will place this free bonus just after the introduction of the blog post in a centred embedded box for better results. If you click on the box, you will get a pop-up asking for your details. It will bring you to a checklist or short 1-3 pages long content.

• So, a content upgrade is a short actionable download like a checklist or resource guide.
• It will build on the subject of the blog post.

So, the blog post is the theory and the free bonus is the practical application of that theory. So, you are educating people with the blog post. They are already interested in and read it and you are helping them to implement the advice in the blog post with your download.

• It’s just a simple strategy and that’s why it’s so effective. You basically capitalise on that existing blog traffic.
• It is also very targeted as related to a blog post for a specific persona at a specific stage in the buying cycle.

After anyone downloaded that targeted content, you can segment them as, for example, ‘a copyrighter who is interested in SEO’ if that’s the blog topic.

• When you have that extra information, you are more likely to sell and market to them more appropriately in the future.

So, they are more likely to purchase his premium products from him.

• But most importantly, this content upgrade system strategy results in high conversion rates.

Your conversion rate is essentially the percentage of people that come to your blog post and give you their email address. For eg, if you have 100 people visiting your page and 10 people downloading your content, you have a conversion rate of 10 %, The higher conversion rate is, the more efficiently you are using your traffic. It means the fewer resources, i.e time and money, you will have to spend driving traffic to your blog posts. So optimising for conversion rates is important. You can generate between 5 and 16 times more leads for your business. It’s a life-long evergreen strategy.

So, why is it working? You are offering something is short.

• It’s a short article. Most people are more likely to download something short as they have a short attention span.
• It’s useful. It is directly related to the blog post to help implement tactical and practical advice. It helps reader getting closer to the goals they want to achieve.
• Because this is part of a blog post, readers are already engaged. The next part is to convince them that you can help them further by doing the content upgrade. People are more likely to opt-in when they are already engaged.

People tend to ignore pop-ups when they scroll down the page. So, if you can include your call-to-action within the main flow of the blog post, you will see better results. I would say to use the in-line forms.

Actually, LeadPages did some research into the number of clicks required to opt-in. They said that the two-staged call-to-action is more effective/ than the single stage one and perform better in terms of conversions. So, if you show an email box with an input form straightaway, people will try to avoid it.

So, before we move on, I’d like to recap.

What is the difference between a content upgrade and a lead magnet?

Content Upgrade	Lead Magnet
Embedded within a blog post Builds on the content of a blog post Is short Is actionable Uses existing traffic Prospect is nurtured by the blog post (more qualified traffic) Has high conversion rates	Has a dedicated landing page Lies on a standalone content Is long Is educational Has new traffic required Prospect needs to be convinced by the landing page Has lower conversion rates

Content upgrades should be part of your blogging routine and go along with it.

So, your blogging strategy probably looks like this:

What I’m proposing is that you add an extra step to that process:

I want to show you how you can create these content upgrades.

Beacon can help to speed up the content upgrade strategy for you. I want to show you time-saving tips to implement these content upgrades into your blog posts quickly.

Beacon Time-Saving Tips and Tricks

• Set up brand colours. This is quickest overly most overlooked feature within Beacon.
• Create a re-usable content library, so that you can drop in any pieces of content into any content upgrades you create in the future.
• Create a re-usable template so that you can create your branding and keep re-using it, instead of having to work from scratch every time.

So, in Beacon’s normal interface, I create a workbook with one of our standard templates. The template contains a cover page, a short introduction, a worksheet with some questions to answer. This kind of school-like exercise helps people think about strategic things by working through the process on their own. The content upgrade finishes with a call-to-action.

• If you choose that template, go through each page to see what you can customise for your business. First thing, you are going to have to change that logo. You will need to pick your brand colour on all pages to get the colour scheme in line with my brand. I would advise a more sullen kind of colour but there is no colour to avoid.

Obviously, that’s not ideal. So I want to show you this trick. It is buried a little bit under the document settings (4^th icon down the left-hand side). Once you click on it, it will open this ‘default styles’ panel. You will notice that the colour template is set up for you. This means that if you set up your template colours, this will be updated throughout the document.

• What you are going to find in content upgrades is that you may be re-using certain types of content in every single content upgrade that you make.

One example of that would be an ‘about the author’ page to give readers context about who prepared the content upgrade. Why should they trust you? The purpose is to nurture prospects into qualified leads.

Let’s create an ‘about the author page’. Underneath the first ‘pages’ tab, I’m going to click on the ‘Add New Page’ button. I’ll look for a text focused page template. I’ll filter that. I’m going to choose the two columns layout. I’ll include an image. It’s always good to add an image of the author. I’ll also add some information from social media in a headline box/card at the bottom.

Every time I make a content upgrade, I don’t want to go through all those steps each time. Instead, I’m going to go to ‘Pages’ tab, then click on the 3^rd button down ‘Page settings’. Then I’ll click on the ‘Convert’ button under ‘Convert this page into a template’. I’ll save that template and refresh the page. So, next time you click on ‘Add New Page’, you will have your template saved if you scroll down the templates.

• How to convert an entire publication into a reusable template. I want to show you how to convert a document into a template.

Let’s create a re-usable template as a starting point. We are not going to have a worksheet in each template, so let’s delete that. You can your logo/image. You will be able in a week time to save image library as well.

To convert this into a reusable template, I’m going to click on ‘Document Settings’ tab on the left-hand side and click on the ‘Convert’ button. I’ll give this template a name and save it. Then I’ll leave the editor, go back to the ‘Dashboard’. When you go and click on the ‘Create New’ button, then ‘New Editor’. This will lead you to the ‘Pick your Magnet’ screen to choose a template. Let’s say we create a ‘Checklist’, select ‘No’ to import content. Then, on the next screen for ‘Choose a theme’, scroll down to the bottom and you’ll find your re-usable template. Then, you’ll click on ‘Add New Page’, filter for the checklist and add what you saved.

Note: Some of the features that I did show you are Premium Features. The part where I showed you the convert templates (page and document), you need a paid account to use that feature. However, the brands and colours are available for free. To justify going for a paid account, you will get exclusive bonuses.

EXCLUSIVE BONUSES

These will be available to you if you upgrade to a paid account after this webinar (Kevin will be notified once you do so). For that, just shoot an email to Kevin so that he can send them to you.

1. Lead Magnet Learning Pack is a swipe file of 13 content upgrades used on our blog to help Beacon grow to 25000 users. This is a good source of inspiration for a content upgrade to make. They are all different in design.
2. Expert Audio Interview with Laura Roader, founder of MeetEdgar. Laura has grown to 7 figures business. She developed a software product that uses content marketing, content upgrades and lead magnets to grow her business. I’ll be sharing with you some of the strategies she uses.
3. Free Beacon Template Design that I will personally design for to your business worth $1000. I’ll have a consultation with you to understand your needs (2-3 days work).

If you have any questions, drop an email to Kevin@beacon.by and he will be more than happy to follow-up with you individually.

To finish off with this talk, you want to watch its demo and presentation:

Finally, if you are interested in, you may explore these 30 Content Upgrade Ideas to Grow Your Email List (Updated).

Personalised customer experience through Artificial Intelligence

LET’S START WITH THE FIRST Presentation by Paul Sweeny from Webio, An ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE VOICE BOT APP company

1. Conversational Interfaces have started to shift

• First of all, people live inside their Messaging Apps. Can you prove it? I surely can!
  • 2 billion messages a month are exchanged between customers and businesses
  • 60 billion businesses are on Facebook Messenger
  • Children are on: Snapchat, Kik, Telegram, Instagram
  • And Apple Business Chat just launched!

Yet, why is the Artificial Intelligence getting so popular?

That’s because Artificial Intelligence picks up customers/users’ moods. Some places like Melbourne, Australia have already developed a strong Chatbot community.

However, can you provide me with a relevant example of Artificial Intelligence use and success?

Moreover, Artifical Intelligence tools (AI) such as Alexa, the smart speaker, enable companies to increase their sales.

Indeed, in the USA alone, 57% of the population has ordered an item through their Smart Speaker.

Additionally, 37% say that they spend more money on Amazon and Google since getting their Smart Speaker.

On top of that, it also creates opportunities for technology-driven services such as Alexa programmes designed for children costing $2 a month that can be embedded into the TV.

2. SO, WHAT ARE The top 3 categories of items ordered most through Alexa?

They are:

• Smart Home
• Games, Trivia and Accessories
• Music and Audio.

3. THEN, The REcepTionist/Triage Bot will determine if the issue can be processed by the bot or BY HUMAN BEING

The bot will follow these 3 stages:

1. HLP (Help) = What is the intent of the sentence?
2. Triage = Who/what division is it for?
3. Rules = Best Route… Human, Bot or both.

Besides Alexa, are there any other current applications of bots?

Of course! Some other examples of Bot usage are:

• the ‘Uber’ taxi app linking drivers directly with customers
• hotel booking sites allowing smarter offers for customers searching for accommodation on the sites…

4. CONSEQUENTLY, WHAT MUST A Today’s Check-out DO?

It must:

• understand and manage customer intents
• hold context
• reinvent a new dynamic when it comes to SEO, Words, Sentences’ choices
• create continuous conversations without interruptions
• enable direct digital conversations. Why not have platforms for these?
• Finally, it must cater for markets and conversations. Indeed, markets are conversations and conversations are about markets.

NOW, LET’S MOVE ON TO THE SECOND Presentation by Niamh Parkless (on the right) from Shopless.ie, AN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE SHOPPING AND DELIVERY APP company

1. FIRST OF ALL, WHAT IS Shopless.ie? IT is A new commitment personal shopping and delivery app DESIGNED for:

• Fashion
• Health and Beauty
• Groceries

Secondly, what is the aim of this app?

Its goal is to attract local brands to deliver within 2-3 hours to your home. If you are a non-local brand, the aim is to reduce the shopping and delivery times. In other terms, it is a one-stop personalised application working with Artificial Intelligence to assist you with your shopping needs.

But, why do you think it will help my brand/business?

2. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE and Personalisation

• According to a recent report from Accenture, 75% of consumers are more likely to buy from a retailer that:
  • recognises them by name
  • recommends options based on past purchases
  • or knows their preferences.
• Research suggests that brands with strong omnichannel engagement have an average retention rate of 89% versus 33% for brands with weak engagement.

However, what are your recommendations for a successful implementation of Artificial Intelligence?

3. THERE ARE TO FOLLOW THESE Five Easy Steps for Better Personalisation via Artificial intelligence:

1. Don’t involve third-party software, just start small. Just amend a small part of your site to show customers’ location
2. Personalise your shoppers’ mass marketing campaigns as your customers’ questions. You can ask simple questions like age, gender and brand interest
3. Use on-site development to automate personalisation
4. Real-Time marketing personalisation. This involves customising ad content based on individual users
5. Last but not least, focus on achieving a seamless personalisation across web and marketing channels. That is to say that your Marketing messages must be created for your clients based on what you already know about the person’s integrations with your company.

4. Finally, how is it going to meet my business goals?

• Well, when it comes down to it, personalisation comes back to improving the customer journey and their experience
• In conclusion, it’s a way for stores to:
  • differentiate their service,
  • reward loyal customers
  • build a more sustainable business.

FINALLY, LET’S FINISH UP WITH THE THIRD Presentation BY Emma Boylan from outside the box

At last, Emma talked about branding and personal branding to market yourself effectively. For this purpose, I will refer you to this previous article for more information.

 

How to use videos and hashtags to market your business on Instagram

As you may know, Instagram has become a strong social media network player with up to today the highest reach and engagement rate. Video marketing is also getting bigger and bigger and also shows a  high level of engagement.

So, let’s start with the different video formats and features within the application.

Instagram story

An Instagram story is an ephemeral video you share with your followers live or for a 24 hours period. Although it’s temporary, you can save your video in the app or in your mobile phone photo library to share it as a post later.

Why do Instagram stories work?

Your followers crave for new content and most importantly want to get them right away, live! So, want to give it a try and publish your live recording into your story?

To do so, let’s start setting up your story settings so that you can keep or delete them once published.

How can you set up your Instagram story, in order to save your video(s)?

1. You need to log into Instagram and go to your profile page.
2. Then click on the 3 little dots (…) at the top right-hand corner of your profile.

3. In the ‘Options’ menu, click on ‘Story settings‘ under ‘Account’.

4. You will get these options as per below screenshot. To activate an option, swipe the button next to it to right. It will create a blue button indicating you activated that option.

You will have to decide whether you want people to comment on your video(s) or disable comments. For that, you will need to tap into your chosen option to activate it. This will create a rounded-framed tick as the example below.

You may share your story on your personal Facebook account timeline as well. If you select that option, it will redirect you to log into your Facebook account app to authorise this.

Wondering where the Instagram posts are archived?

It will be archived on the app. To access these, you will need to click on the anti-clockwise quadrant at the top right-hand corner of your Instagram profile next to your profile account name.

Are there any of your archived pictures or videos you would like to save as (semi-) permanent posts in your ‘Highlights’ section of your Instagram profile?

If so, all you need to do is:

• click on the 3 little dots (…) at the top right-hand corner
• tap the image or video you want to highlight. It will create a tick at the bottom of it.
• Then click on ‘Next‘ at the top right-hand corner of the page.

• After that, click on ‘Create Highlight‘.

• Create a name for your highlight (not mandatory. Then, click on ‘Add‘ at the top right-hand corner to have it added to your profile.

Don’t like anymore your highlight?

Don’t worry, you can remove it. Just go to your profile, tap on the highlight you want to remove, click on ‘More‘ at the bottom of the screen.

Then you will have these options pop up. Click on ‘Remove Highlight‘. Et voilà!

Now that we reviewed the Story settings, let me explain to you how to create stories.

1. Click on your profile picture to open the story option to film or take pictures.

2. You will be then presented with these options.

• Live: if you click on this option, it will create a live video that will disappear once you end the ‘live’, unless otherwise set. Live videos can be as long as you want them to be!
• Normal: it will create a story post which will be available to view for 24 hours. These posts will not last more than 30 seconds
• Type: you will create a textual post viewable for 24 hours
• Boomerang is a fast-forwarded video but will require you to download an additional application

Now, what are symbols related to?

• The picture on the far left is representing whatever picture or video you have saved in your mobile phone photo library. If you select a video, it will only show 15 seconds of it.
• The left-hand side flash symbol next to the rounded button is to switch on the flash
• The arrows in a circle shape right next to the rounded button are here to decide where your camera will be pointed towards, ie either yourself or something/someone else.
• The far-right picture of a face is to set up any embellishments, add masks, emojis or the likes
• The big rounded button is the one you will click on to take a picture and hold onto to record a video when you select a ‘Normal’ story.

once you have recorded your picture or video in ‘NORMAL Story’, you will get these options.

At the top:

• Sticker: you can add funny stickers to your video
• Loudspeaker: you can adjust the volume of your video
• Highlighting pen: you can highlight a text you added in the picture or video
• ‘Aa’ letters: you can add text to your video or picture.

At the bottom:

• Save: if you want to save the picture or video in your mobile phone photo library (also called camera roll) to re-post it later on Instagram or another social media site
• Your Story: you can send your picture or video to your story to be viewed for 24 hours
• Send to>: you can send your recording individually to any of your followers you will select

If you select ‘Live‘ story, you will get this next screen. To start your ‘live’ story, click on ‘Start Live Video’. For embellishments, you may click on the face symbol before you start your video. You also have again this setting for where to point your camera.

Once your ‘live’ story has started, you may invite someone to be part of the video by clicking on the ‘two faces’ symbol.

You can also invite one or several specific followers to watch your ‘live’ by clicking on the ‘paper plane’ symbol. Once you have finished, click on ‘End‘ at the top right-hand corner.

When your video has ended, you will be prompted to select one of these options:

• Save: to save in your mobile phone photo library
• Share: you can share your live video for the next 24 hours. For this, please activate the sharing option by swiping the button towards the right until it gets blue. Then click on the ‘Share‘ button.

Not happy with your live video? don’t want to share or keep it?

No problem, you can discard it! You only need to disable the sharing option by swiping the button onto the left until it is greyed out. Then click on the ‘Discard‘ button.

That’s it for the ‘live’ stories!

Instagram posts

Now, let’s move on to sharing videos and pictures as ordinary posts.

1. To create a post, go again to your profile page and click on the rectangular framed ‘+’ button at the very bottom of your screen (centre button).

2. Then, select the photo(s) or video(s) from your camera roll (mobile phone library). Click on the relevant option. You will see other options below the preview image.

What are these optional symbols for?

• The far left symbol representing ‘two opposite arrows’ is to select how you want the video(s) or photo(s) to appear, ie in square/portrait mode or in a landscape mode. To activate the landscape option, click on that symbol.

Normal square/portrait mode:

Landscape mode:

• The far right symbol ‘Select Multiples’  can be used if you want to share several videos or photos in one post.
• The other two symbols require you to download other applications. You will then tap on the videos or photos you want to share.

When you share normal posts, you need to:

1. add a description 
2. add hashtags in ‘caption‘ for your videos or pictures to be found by other users.

Note: you can add stickers and a hashtag to a ‘normal story’ as well.

To add a description, you just have to type your text in the ‘caption‘ area of the post. It should describe what is in the picture(s) or video(s). Keep the most important part of your description in the two first rows. The rest of the text will only appear if your reader clicks on ‘more‘.

To mention someone in the video(s) or picture(s) and this person is on Instagram, you simply type their account name in your ‘caption‘ and add a ‘@‘ sign before it.

Instagram hashtags

1. Then in that ‘caption‘ area, type hash ‘#‘ and whatever hashtags you want your post to be found and ranked for.
2. Unlike on Twitter, with Instagram, you can have up to 30 hashtags. The more hashtags you select, the more your posts will be viewed. However, you must ensure that you select relevant hashtags for your post. Otherwise, you will get the wrong kind of followers
3. Keep in mind that some hashtags are banned by Instagram community guidelines, so don’t select these ones. It is often because they violate Instagram policies. Selecting them will result in your posts getting removed or worse your account suspended.
4. When you start typing your hashtag, you will get a list of tags and the number of time the hashtags have been used. I recommend you to choose both relevant highly popular and moderately popular tags for your posts to get found. You may also create branded hashtags.

Both your description and hashtags will appear under the video(s) or image(s) you have shared. You will also see the number of views on your videos right below your video/picture.

I hope all these tips will be useful for you. Would you like to share further tips on this topic?

 

 

 

How to use YouTube videos and non-profit programme to fundraise

For those of you who are only uploading basic videos on YouTube but have not thought about their YouTube channel trailer nor about using YouTube to raise funds, it’s time to review your strategy!

As you may know, videos are a great way to sell your idea, service or product, so why not using YouTube to its fullest potential by creating a compelling message for your brand or charity? Don’t you know how or where to start? These below articles should guide you through the essential steps to go through, in order to create successful video campaigns.

http://www.reelseo.com/video-nonprofit-tips/

http://mashable.com/2010/03/26/non-profits-youtube/

If you aren’t quite sure which video format or style would suit best your organisation, this article should give you few hints:

8 great examples of nonprofit storytelling

http://thedeependdesign.com/creating-compelling-video-content-youtube/

Also, as it is suggested in the above Mashable article, you may opt to join the YouTube Non-Profit Program to receive donations but note this isn’t available in all countries.

To find out more about it, check the following link:

https://www.youtube.com/nonprofits

Finally, here are few tips on how to gain attention from other YouTube users and get more likes or subscriptions to your channel:

https://courtlandconsulting.com/using-youtube-as-a-fundraising-tool-for-your-non-profit/

Do you have further tips to share on how to use YouTube for fundraising purposes?