خرید محصولات جدید 2018



 

Transcript: Creating Topic Clusters and Pillar Pages

Video 1: Why are topic clusters important?

Hi, I’m Justin with HubSpot Academy.

Content marketing has seen a lot of changes over the past several years. Many of these changes can be attributed to the rapidly evolving search landscape, as well as a shift in the way people search, discover, and consume content online.

All that said, many marketers still experience the same pain points that were common 5 to 10 years ago. I struggle to measure the return on investment of the content I create.” We know the content we’re creating provides value, but we still don’t seem to rank high on Google for our target keywords.” And, I’ve done my keyword research. Now what?”

Let me start by telling you that creating more content in the hopes of having your website show up on Google is not the answer. In fact, adding more content to an outdated existing site architecture can make it harder for Google to find and rank your content. That’s not a situation any marketer wants to find themselves in.

The answer to these problems spans way beyond the amount of content your business publishes per week or month; the real problem lies in the way that most content strategies are being developed and organized.

 

SEO is evolving, and marketers need to adapt.

Today, we live in a digitally informed world, one where there’s millions of people searching for content every minute as well as millions of pieces of content being published online every minute. This makes the job of a search engine like Google increasingly difficult to serve you the most relevant, high authoritative content possible. To remain a relevant and helpful search engine, Google released a series of algorithm changes over the past several years.

The first notable update, which really shook things up, was Google’s Hummingbird” algorithm update in 2013. This update focused on parsing out phrases rather than focusing on specific search queries. Many search engine optimizers and content marketers viewed this as an initial shift from a keyword to topic focus.

The next major update happened in 2015—Google’s RankBrain algorithm update. RankBrain is Google’s machinelearning artificial intelligence system that interprets people’s searches to find pages that might not have the exact words they searched for. Google is able to do this by associating past search history with similar themes and pulling together keywords and phrases to provide a better context-driven search engine results page.

For more information on the evolution of SEO, check out the resources section below.

All this change brings opportunity to be found by your ideal audience. That’s a key facet to creating successful content in today’s online environment. Most forget it’s not just about creating content for the search engine. Search engines aren’t the ones filling out the forms on your website. Search engines aren’t the ones sharing your content on social media. Search engines aren’t your customers—humans are.

If you want to create effective content that converts visitors into leads and eventually customers, you need to create a helpful, positive user experience that solves for both the searcher and the search engine, not just one or the other.

Here’s how you can solve for both: Create targeted clusters of relevant content that each cover a specific topic in depth. These targeted clusters then need to lead to a centralized hub, known as a pillar page.

 

Transcript: Creating Topic Clusters and Pillar Pages

A pillar page (also known as a content pillar or power page) is a website page that covers a specific topic in depth and is linked to a cluster of related content.

The topic cluster model, at its very essence, is a way of organizing a site’s content pages using a cleaner and more deliberate site architecture. Topic clusters rearrange the architecture to clusters of related content that link to a central pillar page. Each pillar page should provide a comprehensive overview of the topic you’re writing about. By linking all internal content within that topic to a pillar page, search engines such as Google can easily scan all the content and understand that there is a semantic relationship between the pages' content. The cluster setup also signals to search engines that there is real breadth and depth in the content, which gives the pillar page more authority on the topic. Algorithms like Google’s RankBrain reward this orderly linking with higher search placement.

So whether you’re new to creating content or just getting started, consider mapping out the topics your business wants to be known for and build authority around. Then map and organize your site architecture to support it.

 

Video 2: How do you create an effective topic cluster

So you're looking to create a topic cluster for your site's content.

First, you need to identify a broad topic that you want to be known for and build authority around. Instead of thinking about specific keywords you want to rank for, focus on terms with high monthly search volume, usually 2–3 words in length.

For example, let’s say you’re a marketing agency who does inbound marketing for your clients. In this case, inbound marketing” would be a great example of a broad topic that you might want to be known for and build authority around.

However, actually trying to rank for broad topics like inbound marketing could seem impossible. Not to mention, broad topics like this don’t offer context as to what you’re specifically talking, making it difficult to solve for searcher intent.

If your goal is to rank for a broad topic like inbound marketing, then you need to be specific as to what you’re talking about by bringing context to the equation. Let’s say your marketing agency offers a service to build personas for your business. After all, knowing who you’re trying to reach is an important facet to a successful inbound marketing strategy. In this case, inbound marketing personas” would be a great example of bringing context to the broad topic, inbound marketing. The trick to doing this effectively is finding specific terms in support of your broad topic that have adequate search volume to justify the content creation time. This is because you will be creating a pillar page around this specified topic with the intention of getting that page to rank on the first page of search engines like Google. And while I’d love to provide you with a magic monthly search volume number as a baseline to go by, it really will depend on your industry and location.

Here’s a pro tip: When doing keyword research, identify a list of keywords you could use to bring context to your broad topic. Keep in mind, the higher the monthly search volume, the more difficult it will be to rank for. On that note, choosing keywords that have lower monthly search volume can still make a big impact on your search engine visibility. You may think that 250 monthly searches for a specific keyword is low, but ranking for a keyword with this monthly search volume can pay off in the long run. That’s because the average first-page ranking will also rank well for about a thousand other relevant keywords. Remember, search engines are much smarter nowadays. Their main goal is to solve for searcher intent. Yes, keywords are still important, but if search engines think your content solves for the intent of a search query, even if that search query doesn’t have the specific keywords you used to optimize your content, then chances are they’ll choose to rank it anyways. That’s why it’s important to think in terms of topics over keywords.

 

Once you determine how you intend to rank for a term that’s specific to the broad topic you’re going to write about, you’ll want to identify your topic cluster, which will be made up of relevant subtopics. A subtopic should be strong enough to be published on its own — in the form of something like a blog post or video — but when combined with other like-themed subtopics, it should be relevant to and support the specific topic you’re writing about.

In this case, What are negative marketing personas?,” How do you build a persona?,” and What content does my persona want?” are examples of strong subtopics that provide value on their own, but when put together, support the specific topic inbound marketing personas.”

Here’s a pro tip: If you’re looking for a place to start when identifying subtopics, consider the questions your audience has around the specific topic you chose to write about. If your audience uses search engines to do research, then chances are they’re doing their research in the form of a question. And if you’re the one who’s offering the answers to their questions, then you’re off to a good start with creating an effective topic cluster.

And to complete the topic cluster, and solve for both the searcher and the search engine, connect the pillar page and subtopics together through a series of hyperlinks.

At a minimum, make sure all subtopics link to your pillar page. By linking all relevant subtopics to the pillar page, you’re funneling all your traffic to the main resource hub on this topic.

Let’s see this in action.

If you performed a Google search for inbound marketing personas, this is what the first-page listing would look like.

At the top, you’ll see Google generated a featured snippet, which is the search engine’s way of answering your search query without you having to click through to the page. In this case, Google chose to feature a snippet about what an inbound marketing persona is — information that’s pulled from a comprehensive resource published by an inbound marketing agency called SmartBug Media.

Below the featured snippet, you’ll see SmartBug also claims the number one listing for inbound marketing personas” with the same resource, The Ultimate Guide to Inbound Marketing Personas.”

In a world of trying to build authority and awareness for a broad topic that’s relevant to your business, this is what you’re striving for: the featured snippet as well as the number one listing for a term that’s aligned with your broad topic.

Let’s say you’re a company looking to create your business’s personas, so you click the link in the search result to learn more. You’re taken to this page:

Near the top, you’re greeted with a video as well as an overview of what you’re going to learn. Below that is a form to access a guide with a bonus template to use for applying what you learn to your business. But let’s say you’re not sure you’re ready to give your information just yet in exchange for the offer. Maybe you need more information to make sure that this offer is right for you.

SmartBug understands this might be the case, which is why they offer the majority of the content in the guide on the actual pillar page. This way, visitors can check out the content first to make sure it’s what they’re looking for.

 

And for people who do find value in SmartBug’s content and want access to the downloadable guide and bonus getting started template, SmartBug makes it easy to access it by offering a sticky form at the top of the page that follows visitors as they scroll. This way they’re being helpful without disrupting the visitor's experience.

One last thing before moving on, SmartBug includes helpful links throughout their pillar page. These links connect to other websites as well as content on their site, including subtopics a part of their topic cluster. For example, notice how this hyperlink, getting the answers to some basic questions,” connects to a blog post on SmartBug’s site. This way the visitor can continue consuming content around this topic. And at the top of the blog post, there’s a link that takes you back to the pillar page.

Something important to note: Not every subtopic you have will be referenced on your pillar page (and that’s okay). That’s because you may have dozens, even hundreds, of subtopics that make up your topic clusters. Instead, you can strategically link to relevant subtopics throughout your pillar page when it makes sense and when it provides value to the website visitor. Just make sure all important subtopics connect to the pillar page. Remember, keep the user experience and the story you’re trying to tell in mind.

So that’s how this page solved for the searcher by offering a positive user experience, but how did this page solve for search engines in terms of traffic and visibility?

In the first 3 months after publishing their pillar page and linking their topic cluster together, SmartBug’s pillar page received over 4,800 views and 1,000 downloads.

With results like this, SmartBug started to rethink their overall content strategy and structure of their website. Remember, search engines want to connect people with the best content possible based on their intent. Focusing on user experience is a strong and sustainable way to search engine optimize your content.

 


Video 3: Examples of commonly used pillar page types

Let’s cover three of the most widely used pillar page formats, starting with the resource pillar page.

The resource pillar page focuses on internal and external links. The goal of this pillar page is to be a helpful resource in connecting the reader with the most relevant sources on a broad topic (even if it means sending people off your site).

Let’s take a look at the pillar page Colgate, an oral hygiene company, created on gum disease.”

This resource pillar page is composed of multiple sections that are specific to their broad topic, gum disease, like gum disease prevention” or gum disease signs and symptoms.” Notice how this section offers an overview of the specific topic using a bullet point list. Additionally, there’s a list of helpful links that connect the reader with various, like-themed resources to continue reading like common warning signs of gingivitis.” When clicked, Colgate takes you to one of their helpful blog articles that explains this subtopic in depth.

Here’s a pro tip: If you have a lot of subtopics related to your broad topic, let’s say over 75, then consider only promoting your top-performing subtopics on your resource pillar page. Colgate’s resource pillar page on gum disease links to fewer than 60 Colgate resources related to gum disease. However, they have over 2,400 pieces of content related to gum disease published on their site.

 

Remember, keep the user’s experience in mind. Too much information might be overwhelming. And if users are overwhelmed, then chances are they’ll leave your site.

Now, let’s say you want to create a resource pillar page that’s made up of the best resources that exist on the subject, not just what your brand has to offer.

Let’s see an example of this in action from Help Scout, a customer service software company, with their resource pillar on the broad topic customer acquisition.”

This resource pillar page is made up of multiple sections related to customer acquisition, like search engine optimization, conversion rate optimization, and content marketing. Notice how each section offers a short blurb on the broad topic, a list of specific topics that bring value to the broad topic, like content marketing tools,” and a list of links to resources the learner might want to check out. For example, Help Scout includes a link to BuzzSumo, a research and monitor tool, which sends the visitor off their website.

Generally, you wouldn’t want to send people away from your website, but this approach is solving for the visitor, not your business.

The biggest advantage of a pillar page format like this is you have the opportunity to generate inbound links from sources you include on the page. This page has hundreds of inbound links pointing to it, most of which are sources mentioned on the page.

Here’s a pro tip: If you decide to create a resource pillar page like this, then you’ll want to develop an outreach plan to let the sources you include on the page know it exists. Letting others know that you’re linking to their content could lead to that source linking back to your page if they find value in promoting it to their audience, further expanding your topic cluster’s authority.

Next up, which is the most commonly used pillar page type, the 10x content pillar page.

The goal of this type of pillar page is similar to the resource pillar page: to provide a comprehensive overview of a specific topic. But the 10x pillar page is generally made up of your owned media. Owned media is content you own and can control, like social media channels, your website, and so on. The format of this page is similar to that of an ungated ebook or a guide. Ungated means the content is not gated behind a form.

Ungating educational content in the awareness stage solves for both the search engine and the website visitor, not one or the other. It solves for search engines because they’re able to recognize the clustering of like-themed content pointing to a comprehensive website page or blog post. It solves for your website visitors because it gives them the opportunity to view your content before deciding to commit to downloading it.

The trick is making the 10x content pillar page a conversion-focused asset by packaging the page’s content into a downloadable resource.

You may be asking yourself, why would someone share their email address just to view the same content in a downloadable format?”

Well, HubSpot did a study, and we found that 90% of website visitors prefer to read lengthy content in the form of a PDF as opposed to a website page. But this preference is not limited to HubSpot’s content. It’s human nature to want to take something with you if you find value in it.

 

Think of it this way: Let’s say you go to a bookstore looking for a new book. You’d probably wander up and down the aisles, flipping through pages of various books until you find one that meets your needs. Once you find a book you enjoy, you’ll probably go to the checkout counter and buy it to take it with you, as opposed to staying in the bookstore hour after hour and day after day, reading this piece of content.

This is the experience you’re trying to replicate, but it can only be done if your content provides value to the reader. We’ve reached this age where everyone seems to have an ebook or guide, but the quality of that content is a different story. Sure, you may be getting leads, but what if people don’t find value in your content? They most likely won’t continue building a relationship with you. So that lead you captured won’t be as valuable as you think.

In contrast, the people who can view your content before downloading it and who then choose to fill out your form will be more qualified because they’re willingly giving you their information even though they’ve already seen part or most of what your content has to offer.

For example, take a look at this 10x content pillar page on email outreach created by Mailshake, a helpful email outreach tool.

This 10x content pillar page covers a comprehensive approach to email outreach with sectioned content.

Let’s say you wanted to learn more about what an effective outreach email looks like. Click section 3 at the top of this page, examples of good (and great) outreach emails and what we can learn from them,” and the link will direct you to that specific section on the page to learn more about it.

Let’s assume this is the content you’re looking for, and you stay on Mailshake’s website for more than 20 seconds to read it. In this case, Mailshake generates a pop-up form and offers the content as a packaged downloadable resource. This way, you can take the content with you and consume it on your own time.

How well is this page performing? Well, in less than one year, this page has been viewed over 43,000 times, shared on social media 398 times, attracted 372 inbound links, acquired 5,321 email opt-ins, and acquired 402 customers.

Now those are some serious results for a piece of content that’s less than a year old.

And lastly, we have the product or service pillar page. This type is best used when creating pillar pages for products or services your business offers.

With this type of pillar page, the aim is not necessarily quantity and breadth of content. You probably don’t need to write a long overview about how your dentist office performs root canals or your legal practice litigates divorce. But the content should be informative and clear.

A good example is Vital’s page on their PPC Management Services. As a digital marketing agency, their prospects regularly ask them about their team’s PPC capabilities. This page does a great job at describing what type of services they offer, what’s included in monthly management, their step-by-step approach, their step-by-step account setup process, and a little bit about their pricing. It’s descriptive but not overly so. And not only is it optimized well for search, it’s clearly written for an audience who’s looking for paid media services.

Lastly, and something important to note, this pillar page type is best suited for the decision stage — notice the decision stage offering to get in touch with sales to get a PPC management proposal.

 

One more thing: A pillar page can either be a page on your website or a blog post on your blog. It depends on how you organize your overall site structure.

HubSpot uses our blog for educational pillar pages that span the awareness and consideration stages. For example, let’s say you wanted to learn more about the topic, customer feedback.” HubSpot offers a 10x content pillar page on our blog that teaches people the specific topic, customer feedback strategy.”

Now if you’re someone who’s looking to implement a customer feedback strategy for your business, then we offer a product pillar page for our customer feedback software. This pillar page is a page on our website that’s organized under our product offerings.

There’s not a right or wrong way to go about this. But whatever way you choose to organize and map your site architecture, stick to it. Your audience as well as search engines will appreciate it.

These 3 types of pillar pages are by no means exclusive or fixed. Feel free to take elements from each type and build something custom. But hopefully they give you enough guidance to create something truly amazing.

 

Video 4: How do you create an effective pillar page?

Let’s cover how a company called Etuma created their business’ first 10x content pillar page. Etuma is a company that helps businesses transform unstructured text data into decision-making information.

Before diving in, keep in mind there’s more than one way to create an effective topic cluster and pillar page. For example, if bandwidth is not an issue for you and your team, then you can create your pillar page in as little as a week. However, if your business is strapped for time, then you may need to create a plan to construct your pillar page over time. That’s exactly what Etuma did. Let’s review a 7-step process Etuma used to create their first topic cluster and pillar page with limited resources.

First, identify a specific topic you want to be known for and rank for online.

Here’s how Etuma did this.

To start, Etuma performed research on keywords their primary persona, Customer Experience Manager Maggie, might use when looking for information online. They identified the broad topic text analysis” and decided this would be a helpful starting point.

Next, Etuma brought focus to their broad topic by being specific as to what Maggie might be looking for when doing research. They know Maggie is trying to make sense of a lot of text data and is actively looking for step-by-step guidance with possible solutions or tools she can recommend to her team. Keeping this in mind, Etuma decided to focus their pillar page around the specific topic, text analysis guide.” This way Etuma can provide a comprehensive overview to becoming a text analysis expert as well as a list of solutions and tools to consider, including their text analysis tool.

Here’s a pro tip: If you’re going to take the time to create content that educates your audience, make sure it connects to, and supports, at least one of your products or services. If it doesn’t, ask why you’re creating it in the first place.

Second, identify your topic cluster.

 

You may already have content created in support of the topic you’re intending to rank for. Instead of re-inventing the wheel, identify current owned media that’s relevant to the specific topic you’re planning to write about.

In this case, Etuma already had 4 pages of text analysis-themed blog content and a series of YouTube videos.

And while having existing content is great, don't sell your business short Brainstorm a list of as many subtopics as possible that bring value to your topic that have yet to be published.

Once Etuma made a comprehensive list of subtopics, they narrowed it down to 6 of the strongest subtopics to repurpose and expand upon to create their pillar page. Remember, you can continue growing and improving the authority of your topic cluster and experience of your pillar page over time, so having a list of subtopics already identified will make that process easier. That comprehensive list you made is the content gift that keeps on giving.

Third, create blog posts for needed subtopics.

Etuma needed content for their subtopic text analysis categorization systems,” so they created a blog post titled How to Create a Customer Feedback Taxonomy.”

Once Etuma created this article, they had a blog post for each one of their 6 subtopics.

Fourth, repurpose your subtopic content into a downloadable content offer.

I recommend you create the content offer before the pillar page. This way, you can include a form on your pillar page as soon as it’s published to start generating leads immediately.

Once you have all the content you need to create your pillar page, repurpose and expand the subtopic content into a downloadable content offer. And repurpose doesn’t mean copy and paste. Etuma used the content from their blog post as inspiration and repackaged it to bring new value and meaning as a downloadable content offer. Remember, the goal here is to use the content you already have to put together a helpful story for the reader, which explains the topic in depth.

Fifth, deconstruct your downloadable content offer into a 10x content pillar page.

Etuma took the same content offered in their guide and formatted it to fit on a website page.

You may have heard the phrase content is king.” Matt Cutts, formerly with Google, coined this phrase many years ago. However, design is sometimes forgotten, even though it’s just as important as the content. You want people to have a positive experience when they’re reading your content.

Think about it: If you walked into a restaurant with fantastic food but a poor design—dark, cramped, noisy, cluttered— would you stay? No way! Design is just as important as what you offer—whether that be food or site content.

To make sure your 10x content pillar page provides a positive experience, check out these 13 layout tips outlined on Etuma’s example.

Let’s review each layout tip in more detail.

 

Starting at the top-left of the example, with tips one, two, and three: Apply consistent on-page SEO best practices, referencing the specific topic you’re intending to rank for in your page title, URL, and H1 tag.

Moving down to tip 4, include conversion-focused landing page elements. Really, this is what a standard landing page looks like: text to the left with bullet points to describe the offer’s value, an image of the offer’s cover in the middle, and a form to fill out and access the offer to the right.

Insert the form directly on the 10x content pillar page. Doing so reduces the amount of conversion actions a reader needs to take to download the resource. That being said, if you’re more comfortable with a dedicated landing page with a form to access the offer, insert a call-to-action that links to it on the pillar page to send readers there.

Moving down to tip 5, add an anchor-linked table of contents below the conversion point with the line Click the link to go directly to a specific section.” An anchor link is a web link that allows users to jump to a specific point on a website page. This makes it easier for people to navigate your content and see what it has to offer.

Additionally, adding an anchor-linked table of contents near the top of the page helps Google understand what this page is about and what it has to offer in a condensed fashion. This is a great way to optimize your page’s content for Google’s featured snippet.

Moving up to the top-right of the example and layout tip 6, you’ll notice there’s website navigation. The goal of this page is to create a positive experience for the visitor, not force them to convert as a landing page would.

Moving on to tip 7, use relevant images throughout the page, with the specific topic referenced in the alt text. This optimizes the images used on the page for image search results.

Moving down to tips 8 and 9, use H2 tags for sub-headers and H3 tags for list items. A proper HTML structure provides a clean user experience and makes it simpler to update the page. Not to mention, taking time to do this the right way is another opportunity for your website to be chosen as the lisitcal featured snippet.

Moving down to tips 10 and 11, use relevant internal and external links to dig deeper into resources. That’s right: external. External links validate your claims. Just use them strategically, like to support a claim or data point you need to reinforce. If you don’t want to drive people off your site, then consider having the links that point to external websites open in a new window.

Moving down to tip 12, reference the keyword of your specific topic throughout the page. But don’t just repeat the exact phrase — search engines are smart enough to understand synonyms of what you’re talking about.

And lastly, tip 13, have a back-to-top button. This way, when people click a section they want to learn more about, they can easily jump back to the top. People probably won’t read your entire page, but they may find one section interesting enough and want to download it and take it with them. You want to make this process as easy as possible for the visitor. Forgetting this step would require the reader to scroll endlessly, or it might feel like it, which could lead to frustration, which could lead to them leaving your page and going elsewhere.

Here’s a pro tip: If you want to make it easy for people to access your packaged downloadable content offer, then consider inserting a pop-up form on your pillar page.

 

The average top-performing pop-up forms convert at 9.28%, with some instances as high as 50.2%. To put that into perspective, if you get even 150 visitors per day to your site, you’d have 418 sign-ups in a month.

Moving on to step 6, link your relevant owned media to your 10x content pillar page.

Once you complete your 10x pillar page, you need to hyperlink your subtopics to it, forming your topic cluster.

The goal here is to connect all owned media that’s relevant to the pillar page using a hyperlink. The more content associated with your topic cluster and pillar page, the better.

And don’t just add any old link text. Take the time to update the anchor text to something descriptive to let the visitor know where they’re going.

Etuma linked over 20 relevant pieces of content to their 10x content pillar page. And you’ll notice they took the time to create descriptive anchor text to let the searcher and search engine know where they’re going.

And 7, create a conversion path for people to access your 10x content pillar page.

The goal here is to let people know this content is available. If you don’t, you run the risk of a large portion of your website visitors never finding it. Forgetting this step would be similar to building a new addition on your house without a door. No matter how great that room is, no one would be able to get in, so what’s the point?

Consider calling out your pillar page in the top navigation through a 1- or 2-click process: 1 click if you offer it directly in the dropdown menu, 2 clicks if you have a resources page with multiple assets to organize and call out.

Etuma calls out their 10x content pillar page as a one-click option in their Resources tab.

Another place to consider is the top of the home page with a call-to-action, with an image and descriptive supplemental text.

This doesn’t mean it always needs to stay here on this page. You can promote the pillar page for a limited time, possibly for 2 weeks or a month, to support its publishing launch.

And there you have it: 7 steps to creating an effective 10x content pillar page for your business.

Etuma has been creating content consistently for years, but this 7-step process helped them make more sense of how to create, grow, and connect content effectively.

But how well is it performing?

After 2 months, their VP of Marketing and Sales said, We are receiving about 4 times the leads (if you measure by quality) compared to before the text analysis pillar page.”

And why do you think Etuma’s quality of leads went up? Because their content provides so much value that interested visitors are willing to give up their information to take a packaged download with them.

 

If you’re looking for a place to start with creating topic clusters and pillar pages, consider deconstructing your existing awareness- or consideration-stage offers into 10x content pillar pages. For example, in an effort to solve for website visitors as well as search engine web crawlers, I deconstructed a do-it-yourself truck camper guide I created for my alternative lifestyle website into a 10x content pillar page.

The result? In 4 months, our non-paid, organic traffic coming from search engines increased 329%.

Remember, if you have something valuable to say to your audience and the world, don’t keep it gated behind a form. Get it out there for all to see. Just make sure to package it in a way that makes it easy for people to take with them and enjoy elsewhere.

 

Video 5: How to optimize and grow your pillar pages over time

Your pillar page should always be under construction. You might need to make updates to keep it relevant or add new, fresh content to keep it performing at a high level. You need to maintain it. Otherwise, you’re leaving yourself vulnerable for someone else to come in and outperform you — it happens all the time.

Let’s check out a company that’s taken the time to grow their topic clusters and pillar pages into the backbone of their content strategy. That company is Townsend Security. They’re a full-service data security provider.

Townsend started 2016 with a positive lift in organic, non-paid visits coming from search engines due to their content efforts. They worked hard in 2015 with regular blogging, webinars, podcasts, white papers, and ebooks. The result: Their traffic held steady in 2015, and in the first quarter of 2016, they had a 27% rise in organic search visitors.

But all that changed in the second quarter of 2016. Competition for their narrow band of keywords increased as new competitors entered the marketplace, and their larger rivals outspent them on online marketing. After a record high in March and April, they saw a 38% decrease in organic search visitors during the next 3 months (with a 28% decrease in one month alone). Their hard work from the previous year evaporated. While they fought back and did recoup some of that traffic, they still struggled to regain their high ground in the organic section of the search engine results page.

In late September of 2016, Townsend’s HubSpot Inbound Consultant, Erin Sliney, introduced them to the concept of creating a pillar page and supporting it with a relevant topic cluster. They took this advice and ran with it. The Townsend team’s goal was to become thought leaders on encryption key management.” And that’s exactly what they did.

During the editing process, Townsend wrote 20 social media updates and scheduled them to be published to their Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn accounts once the pillar page published. They mixed their publishing dates with their regularly scheduled updates during the following 8 weeks. Coupled with an email campaign promoting the pillar page to their active lead community, they were able to get the word out to those already familiar with them.

To reach the wider community who might not yet know them, Townsend inserted links to their pillar page by thoughtfully answering questions on Quora, adding insights to other websites by visiting their blog and commenting on relevant blog posts, and contributing thought leadership guest blog posts on other websites that shared a similar audience.

And lastly, since Townsend had been blogging on encryption key management for years, it was easy for them to identify a topic cluster through a few dozen subtopic blog posts that were contextually similar. They could place internal links with descriptive anchor text on these posts pointing back to their pillar page. The links enhanced the reader’s experience, since they were providing additional, relevant content for them to binge (as well as being a clear signal for search engines to understand what the pillar page was all about).

This is how Townsend created and promoted their initial 10x content pillar page. But how did they continue growing it to become the authoritative source on encryption key management?

Let’s review 3 ways to improve the on-page experience of your pillar pages based on learnings from Townsend’s encryption key management pillar page.

To start, offer various forms of media per section for the reader to engage with.

First, Townsend created graphics and optimized them for Google search results. To take it a step further, Townsend turned their images into interactive infographics with pop-up text using HTML5, which search engines can also read.

Next, Townsend repurposed various data points into infographic-like images.

And lastly, Townsend repurposed content on the page into a short descriptive video, providing a quick overview of encryption key management. The video led to a 20% increase in average time on page.

Second, Sprinkle in relevant content offers that progress your buyer personas through their buyer’s journey

Townsend offered additional content offers throughout the page based on relevancy, like an ebook and a whitepaper.

This is an effective way to guide your visitors through the buyer’s journey — showing them what other content you have to offer when it makes sense.

Nowadays, people love to binge content. Platforms like Netflix promote this by releasing full seasons of a show at once. People want content now, and as much of it as they can consume until they’re ready to make a decision, whatever that may be. The best thing you can do is find a way to keep people coming back to your content. Continue to either educate or entertain them (or both). If you don’t, someone else will.

Now back to Townsend. 10 months after first publishing and promoting their 10x content pillar page, Townsend's organic search engine traffic increased over 150%.

10 months after first publishing their 10x content pillar page and continually promoting it, Townsend’s non-paid, organic search engine traffic increased over 150%.

On top of that, 63% of people who visited the encryption key management pillar page decided to download the content and take it with them.

What about visibility on search engines? In August 2017, Townsend’s 10x content pillar page claimed the number one position on Google for encryption key management,” the specific topic they intended to rank for on Google. And it’s remained at the #1 position for close to 2 years.

Something else interesting to note, Townsend has built so much authority to their pillar page over the past few years that they’re actually ranking at the third position on Google and claim the image featured snippet for their broad topic, encryption key.” No surprise here, as Townsend is constantly looking for ways to improve and optimize their pillar page to keep it performing at a high level. Remember, if Google deems your content as a relevant, authoritative resource, then chances are your average first-page ranking will also rank well for about a thousand other relevant keywords, even ones that are more broad with higher monthly search volume.

And third, Insert a heatmap on your pillar page to better understand performance and optimization next steps.

Townsend’s pillar page offers a lot of valuable content with multiple conversion actions. And because they want to ensure their visitors are receiving the best content experience possible, they used a heatmap to see the engagement patterns on the page using Hotjar.

Hotjar offers a fast and visual way to understand your user’s on-page website experience.

After placing a Hotjar heatmap on their pillar page, Townsend learned that people who visit the page are more interested in learning about what encryption key management is before downloading the content as a packaged resource. Here’s a screenshot of Townsend’s heatmap at the top of their pillar page. Notice how all the engagement is happening around the call-to-action.

But once visitors start clicking around to learn more about encryption key management, they’re more interested and willing to give their information in exchange for a packaged download of the content. Interestingly enough, the call-to action for the guide three-quarters of the way down the page led to the most conversions.

This information helped Townsend understand which sections people found the most value in that lead to conversions. It also showed them that people prefer to peruse through their content before giving their email address to download it and take it with them — another effective data point to support Townsend’s choice to ungate their content and offer it as a packaged download.

This experiment sparked a lot of interest at Townsend. News traveled up to the CEO, who was so delighted by their results that he decided to create Townsend’s next pillar page for the specific topic SQL server encryption.” Townsend created this page using the same template and learnings from their first pillar page. There’s information about what this page is about at the top of the page, followed by an anchor-linked table of contents, a call-to-action to access a packaged download of the page’s content, as well as a relevant short video.

Currently, this pillar page ranks at the fifth position on Google and claims the featured snippet. And just like Townsend’s encryption key management pillar page, they know if they constantly look for ways to improve and optimize this pillar page, they’re giving themselves the best chance at claiming the #1 position for the specific topic, SQL server encryption.” And once they achieve that, chances are this page will also rank well for about a thousand other relevant keywords. It’s an on-going cycle, one that can be repeated.


 

Video Production 101: Creating Effective

Videos for Your Business

Video 1: How to get over your fear of creating videos

Hi, I’m Justin with HubSpot Academy.

Let’s get real for a moment: Creating your first video can be a scary task that intimidates most marketers. But it doesn’t have to be if you approach it with the right mindset and intention. Take me for example. I’ve been a digital marketer for over a decade, and for years I’ve wanted to develop a skill set for creating memorable video content. Coming up with ideas wasn’t the problem; it was building the confidence and skills to do so that held me back.

If you’re new or just getting started with creating video content, it can be a real challenge to create something you’re proud of, especially if you’re comparing yourself to others who have been doing it for years. If you feel the same way as me, know that you’re not alone. There’s a lot of us out there.

But today, you’re here because you want to cast that fear aside. Your intention is to overcome your doubt and start creating meaningful videos that attract, engage, and delight your audience. Yes, learning this new skill will challenge you, but the trick to creating effective videos is getting started and constantly looking for ways to grow and improve your skill set and process. The more you practice something, the more it becomes a habit. Be positive and continuously look for ways to motivate yourself.

I believe you can do it, and so does HubSpot’s video team. They’re the ones who have encouraged and empowered me to transform. If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be confidently recording this training video right now from my Airstream in Asheville, North Carolina.

Now it’s your turn to transform. In the next series of videos, you’re going to learn how to produce a video for your business. And to help you see what this looks like in action, we’re going to pick apart the production process for a short educational how-to video that I produced with the help of Jesse from the video team.

There’s a lot to cover when it comes to producing effective videos, so I’m going to provide an overview of the production process as a whole, which is split into three different stages:

• Pre-production: things to do before you create your video, like writing a script;

• Production: how to actually create and edit your video;

• And post-production: things to do after you create your video, like distributing it.

If at any point you find yourself wanting more in-depth education on specific portions of the video production process, then check out the resources section of this lesson. I’ve included a link the Beginner’s Guide to Video Production created by Wistia, a video software company. Using this resource, you can choose your own adventure on what content you need most without getting overwhelmed in the process.

Before getting started, let’s watch the video we’re going to dissect throughout this lesson. The video is for my alternative lifestyle brand, Wild We Wander, titled 12 tips on how to become a digital nomad.”

Enjoy.

 

[EXAMPLE]

Welcome back. A video like this can seem overwhelming to create, but not if you have the right training and mindset, which you’re going to learn more about in this lesson.

 

Video 2: Pre-production: What should you do before producing a video?

Pre-production is a crucial part of making an effective and efficient video. During pre-production the focus is on planning and coordination. Without proper planning, you may overlook something you need to produce a memorable video, or you could find yourself missing content you need to finish during post-production.

Let’s review a list of steps you can use to build a pre-production process for creating videos for your business.

To start, determine the intention of the video.

Why are you producing this video? What are you looking to get out of it? These are questions you should be asking yourself to help you identify which video type to go with.

When creating goals, you want them to be SMART: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely. You can do this by creating objectives and key results (or OKRs). OKRs is a framework for setting goals over a specified time period for an organization and teams. OKRs should be aggressive, a stretch to achieve, but within reach if you put forth enough effort.

Let’s review Wild We Wander's OKRs for the digital nomad tips video we created.

Our primary objective was to create a more engaging experience for people visiting our digital nomad website page. Our key result was to have the average time on an educational website page where video is featured be at least six minutes by the end of 2019. For context, that’s a 100% year-over-year increase. A stretch to achieve, yes, but not impossible if we put forth the effort.

Next, determine the video type.

The goals you set will help influence which video type to go with. If your goal is to attract people to your site, then an educational how-to video can help with that. If your goal is to close leads into customers, then a case study video from one of your customers or a series of personalized videos from a sales rep could work well.

In my case, the video I produced was meant to support an educational page on my website, so it makes sense to pair it with an educational how-to video. Plus, I already had a wealth of educational content that I could repurpose from that page to create the script. Keep that in mind when creating video content — always look for opportunities to make your process more efficient.

This brings me to my next point: Create a video production project schedule.

When creating a project schedule, you want to be specific and realistic. This can be as simple or robust as you want. I like to keep things simple by creating a deadline for all tasks in a project and record who’s accountable for each task. This way everyone’s aligned correctly.

If you’re looking for a template to help you organize and manage your tasks, then check out the Video Production Project Schedule link in the resources section of this lesson.

Moving on, determine your budget to produce the video.

Start by identifying your capabilities. In other words, what resources and assets do you have in-house that you can leverage for this project? This will help keep costs low and expectations aligned with the rest of the team.

When creating a budget, there’s a lot of things to consider. Luckily, Wipster created a helpful guide on budgeting video production projects. The guide even comes with a free calculator template. I’ve included a link to this content in the resources section of this lesson in case you want to check it out.

When it comes to budgeting, if you’re just getting started, then it’s possible you’ll incur some upfront costs for equipment and a recording space.

Here’s a pro tip: Once you have the equipment you need and a space to record, make it a best practice to come up with video ideas that can be more easily produced. Maybe it’s a series video for YouTube; maybe it’s an educational how-to video to pair with one of your blog posts; or maybe it’s a case study of a customer who wants to rave about your products and services. The easier you make it to produce videos, the better. This way you can focus on creating memorable video content as opposed to trying to reinvent the wheel each time you record.

For example, I recorded the digital nomad tips video in a studio with a simple paper backdrop with props from my house.

Next, determine where you’re going to distribute your video.

Don’t wait until after you’ve created your video to determine where you’re going to promote and distribute it online. This is because each place you host your video will likely have different requirements, especially when it comes to social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and so on.

If you’re looking for a video spec breakdown by social channel, then check out the resources section. Sprout Social created a helpful article that provides video specs for a list of popular social media channels. This might be an article you want to bookmark. Social media is constantly changing, and this resource stays on top of it.

The primary goal for the video we produced was in support of increasing Wild We Wander’s search engine visibility for the term how to become a digital nomad.” Keeping this in mind, we hosted the video on YouTube, a search engine-friendly channel that generally gets visibility above the #1 text-based search result listing. If you optimize a YouTube video for a topic you want to be known for and build authority around and it performs well, then you’ll likely be featured high up on a search engine result page.

And to help that YouTube video perform well, we embedded the video near the top of one of our relevant educational website pages as well as various guest blog posts by using the embed code provided by YouTube. This way we can greet our website visitors with an engaging video that explains what they’re about to learn. And every time someone coming to the page watches that video, it counts as a view on YouTube.

This is the tactic I used to get my do-it-yourself truck camper video featured above the #1 text-based search engine result listing, which I also claim.

Here’s a pro tip: Don’t set your video to autoplay when the page loads. Let the visitor make the decision on whether or not to watch your video. This provides a better experience for the visitor, and it won’t impact the recording of your YouTube view.

And lastly, put your production crew together. Here’s a list of people you’ll want to include:

To start, who’s going to be on camera? I recommend recruiting a few people from your business who are comfortable with being on camera. They don’t need any experience, just an interest to learn and a willingness to be coached.

Next, who’s going to record the video? This person will also be in charge of other things like audio and lighting. I recommend appointing one person for this from your business. If they already have a skill set, great. If not, that’s okay, too. Just make sure you find someone who’s interested and curious to learn more. Wistia’s Beginners Guide to Video Production in the resources section can help ramp up a member of your team so that they feel supported about the new skill they’re going to develop.

And lastly, who’s going to edit and finalize the video? If you’re just starting out, then this could be the same person who records the video.

And that’s it: a checklist of items to help you create a pre-production process for your business.

 

Video 3: Production: How to write a script for a video

Once you’re finished with your pre-production tasks and feel confident about the planning and coordination for creating your video, you’re ready to move on to the scripting stage.

There’s a time and place for videos to be off the cuff and completely unscripted. You have inspiring documentaries, video series rants, and so on.

However, most videos you’re going to record for your business should have a script.

If you skip this step, you’ll find yourself editing more than you need to, releasing a video longer than it should be, and probably losing your audience along the way.

Start writing your script the way you would begin a blog post — with an outline. List out your key points and order them logically.

Do all of your drafting in Google Docs to promote collaboration and real-time commenting with collaborators. Use the Insert > Table” function to adopt one of television’s traditional script writing practices: the two-column script. Write your audio (also known as your script) in the left column and insert matching visual ideas (also known as your shot list) in the right column.

Here’s what script looks like that I created for the digital nomad tips video. Notice how I have a column for my script and a column for the shot list with links to examples.

Here’s a list of tips when it comes to scripting your video:

To start, don’t make the viewer wait too long to understand the purpose of the video. You’ll bore them, and they’ll probably leave. Similar to a piece of journalistic writing, include a hook near the beginning that states the purpose of the video.

In the first 10 seconds of my video, I tell them:

• My name;

• The name of the brand;

• And what they’re going to learn.

Simple, clear, and to the point.

Next, script writing is different from writing a blog post, especially in the language you use.

Video language should be relaxed, clear, and conversational. Avoid using complex sentence structures and eloquent clauses. Instead, connect with your audience by writing in first person and using visual language. Keep the language concise and avoid jargon and buzzwords.

Here’s a pro tip: Repurpose content from your website or downloadable offers to help you create your script. Now I don’t mean copy and paste. Use the content you already have to influence something fresh and new.

For example, tip number one from the digital nomad tips video script, create a flex schedule that works for you, was repurposed from this paragraph on my educational website page. It’s essentially the same thing, but it’s said from a different perspective and it gets to the point quicker, then moves on.

Next, do a table read.

Words on paper sound a lot different than they do when read out loud.

Here’s a pro tip: Read your script out loud before you start filming. The point of a table read is to smooth out the kinks of the script and nail down inflection points. I do this with every video I record, whether it be the digital nomad tips video, or this video you’re watching right now.

Next, end with a call-to-action.

It’s always a good idea to recommend a helpful next step. This way, if the viewer enjoyed what they just watched, they have a recommendation on how to continue consuming your content and engaging with you.

Keep this short and to the point, just like the beginning of your video.

 

And lastly, get feedback from others.

Send your script to a few people to get feedback. If people are busy and you don’t want to let this step fall to the side, then make sure to get buy-in from a few people during the planning and coordination portion of preproduction. Create a deadline in your production project schedule for them to review your script and provide feedback.

If you use a Google Doc for your script, then you can just have your reviewers highlight text and add a comment where needed.

The Google Doc script I created for the digital nomad tips video I produced was four pages long. But because I repurposed the majority of the content from my website assets, I was able to complete the script and shot list in less than two hours.

And that’s it, everything you need to know about writing a script for your video.

 

Video 4: Production: Equipment and space needed to produce a high-quality video content

Hi, I’m Jesse with HubSpot’s video team.

Once you have your script and shot list complete for the pre-production of your video, then you can move on to production.

Production is when you create and gather the assets needed to produce the video you scripted during preproduction.

Before recording, you need to determine the equipment and space needed to produce high- quality video content.

There’s a lot to consider here, so I’m going to provide an overview to help you get started. For more details, check out Wistia’s Beginners Guide to Video Production in the resources section.

Too often the fear and uncertainty of equipment keeps businesses from creating video content. But learning to shoot video doesn’t have to be overwhelming.

Let’s review the equipment you’ll need first.

To start, you need to have a camera.

It’s likely you have a great, easy-to-use camera right in your pocket: your smartphone. Most smartphones made in the last couple of years are at least capable of shooting high-definition video (or HD for short), with more premium models frequently capable of 4K video shooting. Videos shot in 4K have a very sharp image quality, with a horizontal screen resolution of around 4,000 pixels. For context, 4K video is a picture with about 8.3 million pixels, or about four times as many as a standard HDTV. Either of these options will work if you’re just getting started.

Recording with your smartphone is great for filming on the fly or becoming acclimated with video, but at some point you may feel ready to graduate to something more professional: a digital camera that records video.

You may think working with a professional digital camera is intimidating, but really, it’s not. There are four things to keep in mind when it comes to recording videos like the one you’re watching now.

The first thing you’ll want to set is your frame rate.

Frame rate is the frequency at which frames in a video sequence are displayed — in this case, frames per second. The most basic customization option when it comes to frame rate is shooting your video at 24 frames per second or 30 frames per second. Frames per second is also known as fps” or frames” for short.

Video experts often credit 24 frames with a more cinematic” look, while 30 frames is more common, especially for videos that need to be projected or broadcasted. For the majority of the video you’ll be creating for your business, I recommend shooting in 30 frames.

Once you’ve set your frame rate in your camera’s settings, it’s time to determine your aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. Be sure to turn your camera to manual mode to control these settings.

We’re going to define each of these individually but know that these three variables are meant to work in tandem with each other.

Start with adjusting your shutter speed.

Shutter speed refers to the length of time the camera’s sensor is exposed to light. Think of it as how quickly or slowly the camera blinks.

We won’t go too deep into the science of shutter speed, but to pick the adequate setting for recording, you’ll have to do a little math. First, multiply your frame rate by 2. So, if you’re shooting in 30 frames, your shutter speed would be 60.

Next, adjust your aperture.

Aperture refers to the size of the opening in the lens. Like a human eye, a len opens and closes to control the amount of light reaching the sensor. Aperture is measured in what’s called an f-stop. The smaller the f-stop number, the more open the lens is, while a larger number means the lens is more closed.

What does aperture mean for your video? When a lot of light comes into the camera (with a low f-stop number), you get a brighter image and a shallow depth of field. This is great for when you want your subject to stand out against a background, like this video. When less light comes into the camera (with a high f-stop number), you get what’s called deep depth of field and are able to maintain focus across a larger portion of your frame.

Here’s a pro tip: Let as much natural light in as possible by setting the aperture to its lowest setting.

This way, which brings me to my last step, you can adjust your ISO to brighten up your shot.

ISO simply stands for the International Organization of Standardization, which is the main governing body that standardizes sensitivity ratings for camera sensors (among many other things). ISO measures the camera sensor’s sensitivity to light. In settings you’ll see the numbers referred to with numbers in the hundreds or thousands, like 200, 400, 800, and so on.

The higher the number, the more sensitive your camera is to light … the lower the number, the less sensitive. ISO also affects the graininess of the image. Low ISOs produce a crisp shot, while high ISOs create a more noisy, grainy shot.

When choosing an ISO, consider the lighting. If your subject is well-lit (for example, if you were outside or using a lighting system), you can get by with a lower ISO, ideally around 100 or 200. If you’re indoors in a low-light situation, you’ll need to bump up the ISO — just be careful of how grainy it makes your shot. If possible, make it a best practice to keep your ISO below 400. Otherwise your footage will appear grainy.

As a reminder, shutter speed, aperture, and ISO work together in tandem. For example, the digital nomad tips video Justin and I produced was shot in 30 frames. And because I have to double the frames to get my shutter speed, I recorded with a shutter speed of 60; I had the aperture as low as it would go at 4.5 to get a brighter image with a shallow depth of field, which is why the background is out of focus. Also, we recorded with a lighting kit so I could keep the ISO low at 300 so that Justin came in clear and crisp. If he was a blurry, that wouldn’t provide an ideal learning experience for you.

Once you have your camera situation figured out, you’ll want to figure out the rest of the equipment you’ll need to get started.

Let’s review a list of equipment you’ll need to record high-quality video content as well as some best practices on how to set up a space to record.

First, use a tripod to stabilize your camera. It should go without saying, but the handheld method you use for your Instagram story isn’t going to cut it. Tripods will ensure you maintain a steady shot and not break any expensive equipment in the process.

Second, get a lighting kit. The traditional setup of video lights is known as three-point lighting. As you might guess, it involves three lights placed strategically around the subject, wrapping them in light and creating appealing shadows on their face.

To start, you’ll need a key light. Place this at a 45-degree angle to the left or right of the subject. Lift the light above their head and aim it downwards. As the name suggests, this is the key light and should be bright enough that it could be the only light in the scene if it had to be.

Next, place the fill light at a 45-degree angle on the other side and lift it close to or just above eye level. The purpose of the fill is to soften the shadows created by the key, but without getting rid of them completely. Therefore, the fill should be dimmer than the key light. If you have to use the same type of light for both, scoot the fill back and diffuse it by clipping a clear shower curtain onto the clamp light with clothes pins.

Finally, the backlight will add a third layer of dimension. Scoot your subject away from the background. Lift a light above the subject’s head and place it behind them and off to the side so that it’s out of the frame. The light should be aimed at the back of their head, creating a subtle rim of light and separating them from the background.

Third, record audio with a separate device. Once you begin testing out your camera’s video capabilities, you’ll notice that it has an internal microphone to record audio… don’t use it.

If you set up your camera at a reasonable distance from your subject, you’ll quickly learn that the internal microphone isn’t powerful enough to adequately record audio. Instead, you should begin investing in a few pieces of quality sound equipment. Audio is just as important, if not more important, than the actual footage, so make it a priority.

And fourth, set up your in-office studio.

Now that you have all your equipment, you’re finally ready to build your office studio. While you could always use a closet to store your equipment in, try and find a dedicated space to set everything up.

By having a designated studio, you’ll save a lot of prep time for each shoot. Just make sure the room isn’t too empty. If you have to, bring in a couch, chairs, or blankets to minimize the echos in the room.

Speaking of sound, pay special attention to the hum of the air conditioning. Find a room with minimal noise or turn down the fan during recording. Consider purchasing photography paper to create a background that’s a little more appealing than a white conference room wall.

When it comes time to recording, clear out unnecessary people from the room and turn off the overhead lights. With your three-point lighting setup, there will be no need for those harsh fluorescents. When — and only when — everything is set up, call in your talent. There’s nothing worse than being nervous and then having to anxiously watch as lights are turned on and the camera is tested.

And that’s it, an introduction to equipment and space needed to produce high-quality video content.

 

Video 5: How to prep your talent for recording

Hi, I’m Lindsay with HubSpot’s marketing team.

Once you have an understanding of the equipment and space needed for a high-quality video, it’s time to focus on a key part of your production: Your talent. Let’s talk about prepping your talent for recording.

If you have experienced talent already in your company, then you’re lucky. Video talent can be hard to come by. But with a little bit of coaching (and a fair share of awkward moments), you can help your teammates thrive in front of the camera.

No matter if it’s your first video or your hundredth, remember that getting in front of the camera can feel uncomfortable. Schedule plenty of time and give your talent the script early — and make it clear they don’t need to memorize it.

Place a laptop below the eye-line of the camera. Break the script into short paragraphs and record it section by section until you capture a great take of each. If you plan in advance when the final video will show b-roll, you can have your talent read those lines directly off the laptop like a voice over. B-roll is supplemental or alternative footage intercut with the main shot.

During the shoot, your job goes beyond pressing record. First and foremost, you need to be a coach. Balance critical feedback with support and be quick to give encouragement after each take. This is why conducting a table read during the scripting process is so important: It’s easier to give feedback when there’s not a camera in the room. Remember, be a little silly during the shoot, or your talent will be on edge and uncomfortable — and it will show in the footage.

But while you’re maintaining the fun level on set, remain vigilant. It’s your job to pay attention to the little things, like making sure all the mics are on or noticing if the lighting changes.

Finally, circle back to the beginning of the script at the end of your recording. Chances are your subject got more comfortable throughout the shoot. Since the beginning is often the most crucial part of the video, record that section again when they’re feeling the most confident.

And that’s it. Now you know how to prep a talent for recording. Remember, to capture the best shot possible, take the time to make the person on camera feel comfortable.

 

Video 6: Introduction to composition

There are some films that are simply beautiful. It’s not the story or even the picturesque setting, but somehow each shot just feels right.

That’s the power of composition. When objects appear where they should in the frame, the quality of your video increases exponentially.

To achieve this in video, consider the rule of thirds — the idea that you can create a sense of balance by imagining the canvas with two horizontal lines and two vertical lines. Key elements should occur at the intersection of these lines.

For example, if you’re recording a case study or how-to educational video, like the one you’re watching, the subject’s eyes should align with the top horizontal line around one of the two intersections. Additionally, you can improve your composition by leaving enough head room at the top of the shot. This is the empty space above the person’s head.

One of the best ways to improve the look of your video is to include b-roll. This might include shots of a customer service rep talking on a phone, a designer editing your website, or visuals of your office. The key with b-roll is to make sure each and every piece enhances the story.

When you’re collecting b-roll, include a variety of shots from varying angles and distances.

Let’s review a sample b-roll series from the digital nomad tips video, starting with establishing shots. These are wide shots that allow the viewer to see the entire scene. These are great to use when introducing the scene at the beginning of a video.

Next, medium shots. These are tighter shots that focus on the subject or a portion of the scene.

And lastly, close-up shots. These are tightly cropped shots zoomed in to show detail. These might feature someone’s hands typing on a keyboard.

As practice, try telling a story with your b-roll and planning out a shot sequence ahead of time.

Here’s a pro tip to consider: The more you record, the more opportunities you give yourself for b-roll in the future. For example, the b-roll used in the digital nomad tips video was a hodgepodge of footage from other projects I’ve worked on over the years. Some of the footage was shot on a professional digital camera and some of it was shot on my smartphone. Honestly, it’s hard to tell the difference which footage was shot with which device because my smartphone records in 4k.

Before moving on, if you’re unable to include b-roll, then you can use an image still. An image still is just like it sounds — a single static image, as distinguished from a moving image. It’s not as engaging as b-roll, but it can still be useful.

For example, there were a few places we used image stills throughout the digital nomad tips video. And while they weren’t as engaging as the b-roll we included, they helped us cover up a few video edits as well as provided a visual to pair with what I talked about.

Here’s where the final lesson of composition comes in: continuity. Continuity is the process of combining shots into a sequence so that they appear to have happened at the same time and place. A key part of con

 

Transcript: How to Create an Optimized YouTube Channel

VIDEO 1: Optimizing your channel and videos for best results

● So, you have your YouTube channel set up and ready to go. Perhaps you’ve uploaded a few videos. But how can you make sure that your channel and your videos are really going to be successful? And if you haven’t set up your YouTube channel yet, make sure you check out the HubSpot Academy guide on Creating your YouTube Channel.”

● Let’s talk about how you can optimize your channel for the best results.

● First, your channel art—the banner that sits at the top of your channel. Getting the sizing right isn’t always easy, so check the resources section for a handy guide on sizes.

● Your channel art should be simple and compelling. A simple name or slogan can be great, such as in these examples from HubSpot, MKBHD and Moz. British pop star Emma Blackery even goes for the ultimate minimalist style.

● But you can also use your channel art as a call out for a product or sometimes even a call to action, such as in this example from Pixar, or this one from Tasty.

● If you have a spokesperson to highlight, featuring a person in your banner can also be eye catching.

● Next is the trailer. A trailer helps people understand what your channel is about. You can use it to give a general overview of what to expect on the channel, or you can choose to use it to highlight a specific product or initiative. You should change these up somewhat regularly.

● Definitely have two trailer videos—one for people new to the channel who have not yet subscribed, and one for returning subscribers.

● Channel trailers are typically 30–60 seconds in length and should tell viewers what they’ll see on your channel. Be succinct. Ask people to subscribe, both vocally and visually.

● Next think about how to use the About Us page. Know that the first 48 characters that you use in the description on this page show up in the YouTube search results, so filling out this section is important for YouTube to serve up the best snippet of content in search. Use keywords here that will help aid in search. It’s also an important place to tell people about your company and give a quick overview of your products.

● OK, now let’s really dive into some things that will make a big difference for your organic YouTube strategy, namely optimizing your videos to best rank in search.

● Just like with on-page SEO, it’s important to optimize your video’s title and description. Titles are what people first read when scrolling through a list of videos, so make sure yours is clear and compelling — it should make searchers curious about your content or make obvious that your video will help them solve a problem.

● Do some keyword research to better understand what viewers are searching for.

  • Include the most important information and keywords in the beginning of your title.
  • Keep titles to around 60 characters to prevent text from being cut off in results pages.

● Next, Description. YouTube will only show the first 2–3 lines (about 100 characters) of your video’s description. To read beyond that, viewers will need to click Show more” to see the rest.

  • For that reason, always include important links or CTAs in the beginning of your description and write the copy so that it drives views and engagement.
  • Use the description to include links for products discussed in the video and to help your audience reach other links on your site that might be relevant.

● I asked YouTube vlogger Amy Landino what advice she had regarding the description:

● Amy Landino: For the YouTube description, there's a few things to consider here. First of all, again, second largest search engine of the world, only to adopted mommy, Google. With the description, you get a meta description as well on Google. YouTube is going to look at the entire description when they're trying to figure out, what is this video about and how can we categorize it? Google is only going to look at the first two or three lines.

 

When you're looking at, what's the title of the video, what's in the description, what's in the tags? If there's a major key word that you're hoping people will find your video when they're looking for something in that area, you really want to make sure that keyword is at the very top of the description somewhere.

● We're not just listing keywords in the description, it needs to be copy like you're talking to somebody and they're reading it, but you really want to make sure that those keywords that matter are at the top.”

● Tags are the next thing to talk about. Make sure that you’re highlighting your main keywords in your tags. Tags associate your video with similar videos, which broadens its reach. When tagging videos, tag your most important keywords first and try to include a good mix of more common keywords and long-tail keywords.

● Then, pay attention to the category the video belongs to. After you upload a video to YouTube, you can choose a video category under Advanced settings.” Video categories group your video with related content on the platform.

  • On YouTube, you can sort your video into categories such as Film & Animation, Autos & Vehicles, Music, Pets & Animals, and more.

● Next is the thumbnail. When I talked to the person who overhauled the HubSpot Academy YouTube channel, she said that one of her biggest surprises was the uptick in watch time after she revitalized the thumbnails for visual consistency.

● In fact, YouTube reports that 90% of the best performing videos on YouTube have custom thumbnails." When filming, think of high-quality shots that accurately represent your video.

  • YouTube recommends using a 1280 x 720 px image to ensure that your thumbnail looks great on all screen sizes.

● The thumbnail is super important. Hear what YouTube expert Nick Nimmin says about them.

  • Having the right thumbnail is extremely important on YouTube because one way to think about it is on YouTube, the very first point of contact that people have with your content is your thumbnail and your title. If you are not winning those clicks, then you are going to lose. YouTube gives us the click-through rate impression data now, which is amazing because what that does is that tells us exactly how people are responding to our thumbnails. So, you can look at your thumbnail and you can say, "Hey. My data inside of my analytics says that people aren't clicking on my thumbnails as much as I would like them to. So, I need to figure out what I need to do to my thumbnails in order to make my audience respond to it."

● Here are a few more examples of what a YouTube thumbnail could look like:

● Note: You must verify your YouTube account to upload a custom thumbnail image. You can do this by visiting youtube.com/verify and entering the verification code YouTube sends you.

● Another important way to optimize your videos is by adding subtitles and closed captions. They help viewers, but they also help optimize your video for search by giving you another opportunity to highlight important keywords.

  • You can add subtitles or closed captions by uploading a supported text transcript or timed subtitles file. This is called a Subrip Subtitle file or SRT. Check the resources section for more information on how to create a custom SRT file.
  • You can also provide a full transcript of the video and have YouTube time the subtitles automatically, type the subtitles or translation as you watch the video, or use a service such as Rev.com to transcribe the video, which might be more accurate and will save you time.

● To add subtitles or closed captions, head to your video manager and find the video you want to add subtitles or closed captioning to. Then choose how you’d like to add those. Note that your view may differ than that shown on the depending on if you’re using Creator Studio or the older YouTube video manager.

● The last thing to consider is translation.

  • Translated metadata may increase a video’s reach and discoverability. Translated video titles and descriptions can show up in YouTube search results for viewers who speak those other languages.
  • Viewers who speak other languages can also find and watch any of your videos with subtitles.
  • Same language captions make your videos available for hard-of-hearing or deaf viewers, non-native speakers, and viewers in loud environments.

● There are three ways you can translate videos, either by uploading your own translations, asking the community to help you by adding their own translations, or turning on the feature to use speech recognition technology to have captions automatically added for the video's original language. Note that these may not always be accurate, so that should be something you consider.

● Optimizing your channel and videos should be a major part of your YouTube strategy. Doing so will help you be found in search and can help you increase interest in your videos.

 

VIDEO 2: The YouTube Analytics That Really Matter

● Understanding YouTube Analytics is crucial for any business that wants to understand how to make the most of their channel. Using analytics, you can decide what content is resonating with your audience, see which videos don’t receive full watch time, and gain deep insight on how people are reaching your channel.

● Before I talk much about the analytics, I want to reiterate that in order to really make the most use out of all the metrics available to you, you need to determine what your goals are up front. Are you hoping to drive awareness, create engaged viewers, or perhaps monetize your channel? Your goals will determine which metrics matter the most to you and enable you to better pivot in the right direction to meet your goal.

● Understanding your analytics will also help you make specific decisions about your content and how to make it better.

● Nick Nimmin: On YouTube, the most important analytics to care about are essentially all of them. But outside of that, when you're just getting started, because the analytics can be a little bit overwhelming trying to understand what's going on, the very first things that you should get really tuned into is the clickthrough rate on your thumbnail because, like we talked about before, if people aren't clicking on that thumbnail, then you're losing right out of the gate. Then once they actually do click on your thumbnail, then they land on your video, so the next part of the process is the audience retention that you're getting on your video.

So, clickthrough rate, audience retention. Then once they're actually watching your video, then you have to consider the engagement because YouTube is also measuring the amount of engagement that you can drive in each video that you upload as well. So, those three things are the main analytics that I would focus on to start. But above all, clickthrough rate, audience retention, and then everything else can be built on.”

● When just starting out, clickthrough rate and audience retention are important, but ultimately, the biggest metric that matters on YouTube is Watch Time.

● Watch time is the total amount of minutes viewers have spent watching your videos and how long within a session that they spent watching related videos. It’s a key metric because YouTube boosts videos and channels with higher watch times in their search results and recommendations section. The more watch time a video has, the more engaging their algorithm presumes it is.

  • In the watch time report, you can see the amount of watch time your videos have accumulated. You can also rank each of your videos by watch time, views, average view duration, geography, and more.

● Related to that, you’ll need to care about Average Percentage Viewed:

  • Average percentage viewed is the percent of each video the average viewer watched. It measures your video’s ability to hold viewers’ attention for its entirety. And when YouTube realizes your videos can hold people’s attention, they’ll reward it with higher search and recommendation rankings. You can find this metric in your watch time report.

● Next, Average View Duration:

  • Average view duration is the total watch time of your video divided by the total number of video plays, including replays. This metric measures your video’s ability to engage viewers. If your video can’t engage viewers, they’ll bounce from your video quickly, leaving you with an unimpressive average view duration. But if your video can engage viewers, your average view duration and total watch time will increase at the same time, boosting your search and recommendations rankings. You can also find this metric in your watch time report.

● And, as Nick was saying, Audience Retention:

  • Audience retention shows you the percentage of viewers who watch and leave your video at every moment of the video. YouTube elevates videos with high audience retention in their search rankings and suggestions because these videos can effectively capture viewers' attention.

● Understanding audience retention can also inform your future video strategy. The most engaging parts of your video could be your next best video topics. And watching your video during steep dips of engagement will tell you what might be boring your viewers—so you’ll know to scrap those elements from current and future videos.

● Understanding your traffic sources is also a great way to figure out how to do more of the same or pivot to make changes. You can see channel sources and sources for each video. Use this information to determine how to optimize videos.

  • For example, if you discover that not many people are finding you through search, then you can start implementing better SEO with refined keywords in your titles and descriptions.

● Demographics are also important. If the audience is different for your videos than what you might expect, you can shift and decide to embrace the new audience or adjust the content of your videos to attract the people you believe are your buyers.

● And finally, check the comments section to see the engagement you have with fans. They won’t be afraid to tell you what they like and don’t like. Don’t have many comments? Ask for feedback in your videos. Ask questions and have people answer in the comments. Whatever you do, keep an eye on your comments—it’s the best way to have a pulse on what your audience is thinking about your content.

There’s a lot more to YouTube analytics, but these metrics should represent the core of what will matter most to you when it comes to understanding how to optimize your channel and determine the best mix of content.


 

Transcript: Lesson One

What is Fanocracy and Why Does it Matter?

 

Video 1: The power of fandom

David Meerman Scott: Brian.

Brian Halligan: David.

David: We met each other 12 years ago and I remember it like it was yesterday.

Brian: I do too.

David: You guys invited me to come and meet you, here in Cambridge, although not in this building and the email I got, it's a memorable email because the subject line is so awesome. It said, "We have based our company on the ideas in your book."

Brian: Okay, let me go back even further than that.

David: Please.

Brian: I remember that email because we had a marketing guy and he was going away on his honeymoon. And he was going away for two weeks to Bora Bora, a long trip, and he had a stack of books at his desk this high.

David: Pre-Kindle.

Brian: Way pre-Kindle, and he knew I liked to read, and I was like, whoa looks like a romantic honeymoon you're going on.” And so, he goes away and comes back and he leaves one book on my chair with a little sticky and it said, "Brian, read this one" and that was your book.

David: Nice.

Brian: And then we looked you up, and I was like wait, he lives right around the corner from us. Let's see if we can engage him, that's how I saw you were going.

David: And this email came, of course I’ve got to take that meeting--a company that says they based their company on my book. Which wasn't entirely true, but it got me into the meeting. And I walked into the meeting and I had, it was an older generation MacBook Pro, but it was a MacBook Pro, and I opened up my Mac book Pro, and we started to chat. Now we have known each other for one minute, literally one minute, and you go, Hang on, hang on, hang on. We can't start this meeting until you tell me about these stickers.” And I had three of the stickers that are on this one right now, that you pointed out. Like what's that Nantucket sticker?” So, I said, "Hey I've been to Nantucket many times and a house in Nantucket, it's fabulous,” and you said…

Brian: I'm hanging out there all the time, and then I was like, Oh the Japan sticker. Why do you have a Japan sticker?”

David: Japan what's that about? I said my wife is Japanese. I lived in Japan for seven years, Japan is incredibly important in my life.

Brian: And I lived in Japan for two years and we lived there at the same time!

David: The same time, and then I'm like, wait a minute, we're both saw the future of marketing, you started a company based on this idea of inbound marketing, and I wrote a book about what I called "The New Rules of Marketing", which is essentially the same thing. And we both have this Japan fascination, and we both love Nantucket. It's like we're long lost brothers, and you're like what about the Grateful Dead steely going on here, and I said Grateful Dead's my favorite band. The Grateful Dead I've seen over 50 times, and you're like…

Brian: I was like, it's my favorite band too, I've seen them over 100 times, and I remember that conversation led to you're reaching into your briefcase at the time, you said I got two extra tickets to Phil and friends basic Grateful Dead Redux, you want 'em?”

David: Yeah.

Brian: And you gave me those tickets that night and we ended up going.

David: We ended up going together. And what's so cool about this is that simply a couple of stickers on a computer led to us having an instant connection in the first minute we met one another. Which is something that fandom can do, it's something that, having, sharing, something with somebody in a personal way, can lead to something that is incredibly powerful, and in 12 years we've probably seen The Grateful Dead together 50 times. Something like six times this year so far!

Brian: A lot.

David: Six, six times this year so far. When you opened your HubSpot office in Tokyo, I was there.

Brian: Yes!

David: So we've been in Japan the same time--Brian: Yes, I had to for your daughter’s wedding.

David: We had beers together at Cisco brewery in Nantucket, so the whole idea of fandom is you share things with like-minded people and the personal stuff can lead to business.

Brian: I agree with that.

 

Video 2: What is Fanocracyand why does it matter?

David Meerman Scott: So where did this idea of fandom and Fanocracycome from? The whole idea started because we were thinking about social media and the promise of social media. And I've been talking about social media and how to use it in marketing now for way more than ten years. And social media has incredible promise at this point. It was all about how you can communicate with people and how you can grow your business, and how you can engage with people, and that is sometimes happening. But what we both noticed and in talking with hundreds of people around the world, everyone is saying to me is that there's digital chaos out there. There's cries of fake news, there's yet more spam, and more spam. And then sometimes you don't even know if you're communicating on Twitter or Facebook with a robot. It's just incessant when people are doubling down on yet another social media post. We believe, that the pendulum has swung too far in the direction of superficial online communication, when people are hungry for a true human connection. And so, we came up with this concept of fandom.

Reiko Scott: Yeah.

David: The concept of true human connection to reach people as an antidote to this digital chaos. A Fanocracy, as we describe it and define it, is an organization that inspires extreme passion for product, brand, or idea by putting customers' needs and wishes at the center of everything it does.

Reiko Scott: It's a force critical for massive success.

David: And this idea of Fanocracy, of growing fans, is how you take and create human connections. True human connections to move that pendulum back from superficial online communications to an organization that truly meets the needs of customers. So to think about this idea of fandom, it's important to be thinking about what you're a fan of. So what are your fandoms?

Reiko: So when I was six years old, the same time that you brought me to my first rock concert, you also started reading Harry Potter to me. It was about a few years after the first book came out. And then you kept reading them to me as nighttime stories. We enjoyed our time together like that.

David: Yeah we did it was great.

Reiko: And then till theDavid: We were sitting close to each other like we are now.

Reiko: Until the fourth book, where I couldn't wait for you anymore because you thought it was too long.

And I…

David: It was long.

Reiko: …just wanted to finish it. So that was my fandom growing up. And the last movie came out when I was a freshmen in college. So, my whole grade school life was Harry Potter.

David: So, I've been to 788 live concerts, since the first oneReiko: I know.

David: when I was age 15, and I'm such a geek, I actually have a spreadsheet that lists the concerts that I've been to. And I'm so, so, so into live music, the most shows I've ever seen of one band is 75 of the Grateful Dead, which is kind of nutty I know, I get it, but I love it, I love going to live music. So, what's interesting about this idea of fandom, this idea as we call it, Fanocracy, is that those things are great, live music is great, Harry Potter is great, but what's really powerful is the relationship that we have with our friends who do the same thing. And it's incredibly powerful, the shared emotions. We humans biologically are hardwired for sharing things with like-minded people, and that's the idea of why growing fans of your business is so, so, so powerful. Because that human emotion of sharing is something you can actually develop within your core group of people. So, we have a definition of Fanocracy, there's five things that are part of this definition.

 

(1) It's something you're incredibly passionate about.

Reiko: (2) It's something that makes you extremely happy.

David: (3) You're eager to replicate it again and again and again.

Reiko: (4) You have friends or family who do the same thing.

David: (5)And you devote significant time and/or money to that activity.

You're always looking for something that you can do to celebrate that fandom with the people that you're close to. I have three, already mentioned live music, huge fan of live music. I'm a huge fan of the Apollo

Lunar Program, it's a really obscure fandom, and I love to surf.

Reiko: I have, I actually tried to count, and it got up to 25.

David: Wow.

Reiko: And then I was like, " I don't think I can really put them into boxes." So infinite.

David: Infinite number of fandoms, but what's interesting is for you to be thinking about as you're going through this course to be thinking about, what it is that you're a fan of, why you're so passionate about that, and how important that is to your life because that can help you to better understand how to grow fans for your business. We've identified, by asking thousands and thousands of people, that unlike you Reiko, the average person has 2.5 fandoms, I have three, average person has 2.5. And interestingly, the average person's most passionate fandom, they started when they were age 12. So, fandom, a Fanocracy, it's a fabulous way to grow a business. The more you think about your own fandom, the better you are equipped to be able to use this idea in your business.

 

Video 3: Any business can develop fans: Hagerty Insurance case study

Do you love to buy auto insurance? I've asked that question of thousands of people, and there's no one who answers yes that they love to buy auto insurance. I had someone say to me, "insurance sucks."

Nobody likes to buy insurance, it's not fun, and that was McKeel Hagerty. He's the CEO of an insurance company.

So when you have a business that everybody hates, you can't market in the same way that everybody's marketing. McKeel Hagerty knew he had to do something completely different. He knew he had to do something different, and what he did was he said "We're going to go out and build fans. We're going to go out and create a culture that has fans." McKeel Hagerty said "everyone hates the product I sell, I can't sell in the same way." So they specifically went out and cultivated fandom. So, Hagerty sells insurance for classic cars. What they did was they went to classic car shows, and they still do this, hundreds of classic car shows each year, and they do education. They have a booth, they share great information physically with their customers about classic cars. They have a magazine, the Hagerty Magazine, which is all about classic cars, that they send out to people. They have a fabulous YouTube channel and that YouTube channel has many many people who are watching them. I'm going to share with you one of those YouTube videos right now.

Hagerty Insurance Video Clip

This channel has 780,000 subscribers. May I remind you this is an insurance company, with 780,000 subscribers of their YouTube channel. They have a valuation report, where you can go on and learn about the values of classic cars. They have a driver's club with 600,000 members of their driver's club.

They did something really clever for people who love classic cars and go to the auctions. There’s a series of auctions every year in January in Scottsdale, Arizona. And, the challenge with this particular auction week is there's multiple auctions going on at one time. Sothebys, Goodings, Bonhams, Barrett-Jackson, they're happening at the same time. The problem, as a collector, is you can't be at four auctions at once. So what Hagerty did—they're an insurance company, they're not in the auction business—they created a free app, Hagerty Insider, where you can actually see each of the cars at each of the auctions in real time, as they're being sold, and what the selling price is. So that if you happen to be at one auction, you're able to virtually see what's going on at those other auctions.

I'm a fan of Hagerty. Yes, I am a fan of my insurance company. I own a 1973 Land Rover. It's insured by Hagerty. I love my insurance company. The idea that you can grow fans of any business, you can grow fans even in a business that everybody hates, means that this is an incredible opportunity for you. Here's what McKeel Hagerty told me. He said "We went out and expressly challenged ourselves: How can we build fans? We discovered we're pretty good at it, we have fun doing it, and it matters because that's our wordof-mouth growth engine."

Here are the results of Hagerty. They are the largest classic car insurance company which they've become because of this focus on fandom. They've had double digit compound growth every single year that they've been in business. And this year, they expect 200,000 new customers. This is the idea of fandom.

This is the idea that can be implemented in any business. This is an idea that can be implemented in your business: how to grow by growing fans.

 

Video 4: Building a fan base: NASA case study

David Meerman Scott: When we were looking around for examples of fandom, one of the things that was just massive is NASA. NASA, oh my gosh. You see people walking down the street with NASA T-shirts all the time. Everyone knows about NASA. By the way, they're a government agency that has 32 million Twitter followers, that has 48 million Instagram followers. How crazy is that? We had an opportunity to interview Jim Bridenstine. He's the director of NASA. He runs the entire place out of Washington, D.C. And we spoke with him about how he and NASA builds fans.

Jim Bridenstine: I think it starts with the Apollo program, with the idea that we sent people to the Moon.

And that legacy lives on today in really significant ways, to the point where, I mean, even today people are wearing NASA shirts. We've got professional athletes that have their own branded shoes with the NASA logo. So I would say it seems like the brand is coming back in a big way right now, and I think a lot of it stems from social media, and Facebook, and Twitter, and YouTube, and so many other ways that we reach the public as an agency. But it also stems from, and this is I think the most important thing, it stems from stunning achievements. So, for example, back in November of 2018, we landed Insight on Mars. Well that was the eighth time in human history that we've landed a spacecraft on Mars, softly, in a way that the spacecraft can actually operate as a robot or a rover. In this case, Insight was just a lander. But the important thing is that's only been done eight times in human history. It's always been done by NASA.

Nobody else has been able to achieve it. It's really, I think, it's a tool of national power that helps change the perception of young people all over the world towards the United States of America. And I think it's recognized. It is, it's absolutely recognized all over the world.

Davi: Oh, it absolutely is. And just the outward manifestations of, what I call, Fanocracy, people wearing Tshirts with the logo on it and the fact that National Air and Space Museum is one of the most popular museums on the planet. Tell me, how would you advise the CEO of any kind of organization, could be a nonprofit, it could be a company, to use the tools of social media to project an image and a message to grow fans in the way that NASA has done such a terrific job doing that?

Jim: So I think you have to have two things. Number one, you have to have a group of people that is starting with, that are interested in what you're trying to achieve. And then you have to achieve something significant. In fact, in the case of NASA, something magnificent. So I would say NASA is quite frankly unique in the sense that we are constantly doing very stunning things that captures the imagination of a very enthusiastic fan base. But it all comes back to, look, we can do really amazing things, if we're not communicating about it, nobody cares. But yet you have to constantly be sharing your victories, and NASA is really good at sharing its victories. It just so happens that our victories are quite magnificent.

David: They're amazing. My final question, when you were in Congress, before you became administrator, were you a fan of NASA?

Jim: Absolutely. I've been a big fan of just space exploration and space activities for a long time.

David: So you have the ideal job in the whole world now?

Jim: Without question. I do think that this probably the best job in the world.

David: Thank you so much, Jim.

Jim: Thank you.

Crystal King: You've heard a lot about Fanocracy so far, and hopefully you've learned that one of the best things about Fanocracy is that any business can tap into the power of its audience. It doesn't matter if you're NASA and have obviously magnificent achievements to share or if you're Hagerty Insurance in an industry everyone hates. At the beginning of the course, I told you we'd be exploring three themes from David and Reiko’s book "Fanocracy", how you can get closer than usual to your audience, how to let go of your creations and give your fans control, and how to develop employees who are fans. Exploring these

themes will help you start thinking about a strategy to build your own fandom, whether you're a B2B company or a B2C company, whether you sell tangible goods or services, or if your industry is easily understood and well loved, or if it isn't. The point is, with a little creativity and with a focus on who your customers are and what they want, any business can enjoy the same fandom as Hagerty Insurance. And, yes, even NASA.


 

Transcript: Lesson Two

The Neuroscience of Fandom

 

Video 1: The power of fandom

David Meerman Scott: The idea of fanocracy is about shared emotions. And what's important about this is it's biologically hardwired into our brains. This idea is non-negotiable for we humans. We are naturally attracted to other humans that we like, we're attracted to other humans that we feel safe with, we're attracted to other humans who are like us. And if you know this concept, you can use it to grow fans in your business, specifically through something called proximity.

 

The concept of proximity is really interesting, and it was totally at work when I was at a show, of course it was another rock concert, this was at Outside Lands in San Francisco, and it's a big festival, lots of people, tens of thousands of people, and I was really excited to see St. Vincent. So I got there early, went down, it was an hour ahead of this particular show, so I went down way in front of the stage, and I was looking directly at St. Vincent, and she was probably about 20 feet away, because I was right in the front, and then the stage, and then up on the stage, this is a big show. But then something remarkable happened. What happened was that at that moment, she was playing her concert. And she did something that I've almost never seen before. She actually came down the steps, and went into the audience.

Reiko Scott: Right in front of you?

David: Right in front of me. It was right in front of me, and I could touch her, that's how close it was. And so she went from being on a stage far away, untouchable, something that was almost movie-like because it was far away, to being a human that was in close proximity with me. And I mean, you know, I've been to 788 live shows, you've been to probably over 100. This idea of coming into the audience.

 

Reiko Scott: Right, it almost never happens, we try as audiences to get as close as we can, trying to get up against the rails, reach out, touch those people, but the fact that she came down to meet you is .

 

David: Really, really, really interesting. And I got a fabulous photo, that photo I put out on my social media feeds. My photo is from a way better angle than the professional photographers, who were shootingReiko: Because she was facing you.

 

David: She was facing me, and the photographers were all behind me. It turns out when Rolling Stone magazine wrote about Outside Lands of that show, that was pointed out as the stand-out moment, not just St. Vincent's set, but the entire festival. And in fact, if you look at the picture that went with the Rolling Stone article, well, yep, there's the geek, right there, you can see me, and every photograph that was taken of that moment, you can see me. And this was perfectly illustrative of this idea, comes from neuroscience, that the closer you get to someone, the more powerful the shared emotions. The closer you get to someone, the more powerful the shared emotions. And this concept comes from a neuroscientist called Edward T. Hall. And it was a long time ago that he came up with this concept of proximity and the four zones of proximity that we humans experience.

 

Reiko: More than 12 feet away is the public space, they're people that are maybe in the same room as you, but you're not interacting with. Social space is four to twelve feet, it's people who you are aware of, people around you, you're not talking immediately to them however. Personal space is 1.5 feet to four feet, it's  your cocktail party, you're talking to somebody, you're really getting to know them that close. And then intimate space is less than 1.5 feet, reserved for close friends and family.

 

David: Right, so we've done the research in looking at this idea of proximity at all kinds of different cultures, and it turns out that the ideal proximity is absolutely valid over all humans. The actual distances might vary slightly, and in some cultures when you're at a cocktail party, people are a little bit closer than in other cultures where they're a little bit more further away, but the idea of the neuroscience behind the closer you get to someone, the more powerful the emotions, and the idea that the closer you get, if you trust someone, the better that is for growing fans, is valid throughout cultures.

 

Reiko: The concept of the four zones is the same between all cultures, what may change is the actual distance between personal space, social space, it may be more or less than four feet depending on where you go in the world. However, the neuroscience between proximity and getting close or getting trust between humans is the same no matter where you go.

 

David: So there's no question that these ideas work, no matter where you are. And so, most of the time when you're at a rock concert, it's public space. What St. Vincent did that was remarkable is she came down into the audience, and was nearby a number of us in our social space, four to 12 feet, and our personal space, and in my case, within four feet, between a foot and a half to four feet.

 

So this idea of proximity is really important, because when we trust somebody, when we're with friends, when we're with people that we know well, or when we're in a cocktail party when you know everyone was invited so you can trust them, the closer you get to someone, the more powerful the shared emotions are. The converse is, if you don't trust someone, or you feel threatened, for example in a crowded elevator, you don't know people, you feel really uncomfortable, it's the same reason. The closer you get to someone, the more powerful the shared emotions, either positive or negative. So, where this becomes important is how can you do what St. Vincent did, how can you, in your business, get closer physically to your customers. How in your business are you able to get into the social space or the personal space of your customers, because it's so powerful that it will drive fans into your business.

 

Video 2: Proximity in action

One of the best ways to build fans is to have personal connections with your potential and existing customers. Are you able to get into the personal space and social space of your customers? This idea of proximity and the four zones of human interaction are really important for this concept. You might remember that public space is 12 feet or further away, so that's people who are far away from you. Then you've got social space, people who are within four feet of you to 12 feet. That's typically people in the same room, but that you're not having a conversation with. Then there's personal space, which is a foot and 1/2 to four feet away. That's cocktail party distance when you're having a conversation with someone.

 

There's also intimate space, but that's not important for us because that's reserved exclusively for intimate friends, for family members. So can you get within a foot and 1/2 to four feet, which is personal space, of your customers? This is incredibly powerful to us humans because when we trust someone and they're in our personal or social space, then we have true human connections. Our bodies are hardwired for this.

 

That's what Josh did. Josh runs an egg business in Melbourne, Australia. It's called Josh's Rainbow Eggs which he started when he was nine years old. Living on a farm outside of Melbourne, his parents said to him, "Hey, if you'd like to make a little bit of extra money, "why not go door to door and sell eggs to the neighbors?" Josh said he thought that was a good idea, and he started to sell eggs, knocking on doors.

 

People would open the door, and there's cute little Josh selling eggs, and people were naturally in his personal space, within four feet of Josh. He was building human connections with the people that he was selling to. He started to sell quite a few eggs.

 

Soon, by age 11, he was selling at farmers markets, and the same thing was happening. Because he was hand-selling his eggs at farmers markets, he was able to get within the personal space and the social space of his customers, and he did well in farmers markets, selling even more eggs. Then he went to the manager of his local supermarket, Coles, and he said, "Hey, I'd like to sell my eggs in your store," and they had a meeting at the headquarters. They agreed, Josh is now 13 years old, that he can sell his eggs in the supermarket. And he went after school many days and he went on Saturdays to hand-sell his eggs to customers to answer their questions. He was again in their personal space, within four feet of his customers. He started to sell really well, and then he was in more supermarkets. He couldn't go to all of them, of course, but he did go on a regular basis to the supermarkets to have conversations with his customers.

 

Remarkably, at age 17 when we interviewed Josh, he was selling 9,000 dozen eggs per week, and he employs his parents in his business. And it's because he developed close, personal connections with hiscustomers by being in their social space, by being in their personal space.

 

And this is exactly what you can do. You can figure out how can I physically connect with my customers?

 

How can I physically be in the same room with them, have conversations with them? That's terribly important for this idea of building a Fanocracy.

 

I've always thought it was interesting that Starbucks does so well. You know how they're always packed?

 

What is it with that? I mean, you have to wait in line. That's no fun to get your Starbucks. It's expensive. I think it's because at a Starbucks, you can spend a little bit of time in the social space of people who are just like you, and you feel comfortable in that social space. And for people who work at home or people who just have time to kill, it's much nicer to be together with other like-minded people.

 

The idea of close proximity to people is one reason why INBOUND is such a fabulous event. We can learn many of the ideas that you can learn at INBOUND virtually. You can go to HubSpot Academy. You can see webinars. There's all sorts of different ways to learn the ideas. But you can't have physical connections with other like-minded people, other marketers, other salespeople, other customer support people. You can't have physical connections and meet people in person, in their personal space and social space, with HubSpot employees or even HubSpot Academy professors, unless you're physically at INBOUND.

 

We did a whole bunch of research on organizations that have used this technique, and one of the ones that's a standout is the RV industry, recreational vehicle industry, campers. We spoke with a number of different people in this industry, and it's remarkable how the industry as a whole came together in order to showcase how people can interact in a close, personal way by being in the personal space of another while they're camping and use that in their advertising, in their photographs, and in the ways that they talk and market the entire recreational vehicle industry. In 2007, 385,000 RVS were sold in the United States, but during the economic crisis in 2008, sales plunged. The industry was in a terrible situation. Actually, many companies went bankrupt. They were scared at what was going on. And they started to do research about how people camp, and it turns out that the research suggests that people love to camp. Yeah, the outdoors is great. Fishing is cool. Going into nature is kinda neat. Being by the lake is great. But what it's really about is the close human connections with other like-minded people in the great outdoors.

 

Now, it turns out that most campgrounds and most RV companies had been focused on camping as family units. And traditionally, most people had been camping in family units, mom and dad and a couple of kids, or maybe a retired couple who go camping. That's what all the photographs show. That's what videos show. That's what campgrounds showcased. Well, it turns out that for millennials, for younger people, that's not how they camp. They camp in big groups, 20 people, 30 people. It's completely different. And so when the entire RV industry came together, they created an initiative called Go RVing. It's got a website.

 

It's got a whole bunch of content around it. There's data that you can draw from. And what we found interesting.

 

We spoke with one of the head people at the RV Industry Association. We spoke to the president of the largest campground organization in United States, Campgrounds of America. We spoke to manufacturers of RVs. We spoke to people who sell RVs. It turns out that because millennials are camping in large groups, they needed to showcase that in the RV industry. They needed to showcase that you can camp with your friends and have a fabulous time. So it meant pictures need to be of millennials in one space.

 

Campgrounds needed to completely change the way that their campground was organized. Instead of individual campsites for family units, and those are still there, they're not going away, they now make campground spaces for millennial groups where there's five or six or seven camping spaces around a communal fire pit. And having photographs of those people became incredibly important.

 

It turns out that this focus on the personal space, the proximity of how millennials camp, the idea of building fans of millennials around camping has been fabulously successful. In fact, 51% of millennials say that they want to camp, and they have an increased desire to go camping. So what are the results? The results have been amazing. In 2017, there were 504,000 new RVs sold in the United States, which is more than twice the number of 2008. So it has been fabulous for what the RV industry has been able to do, and it's all around the idea of camping and how millennials camp. This is a quote from Bob Zagami. He is the executive director of the New England RV Association. "The growth has been staggering. "We can't deliver RVs fast enough. "There is a six to nine-month backorder of RVs "and 'Help Wanted' signs at many manufacturers."

 

So those are just a couple of examples of organizations that have used this idea of proximity, this idea of people coming together, this idea of close connections. And these are things that you can do in your business too. You can think about how you can get in the close physical space, the personal space or the social space, of your customers to help build fans.

 

Video 3: Mirror neurons and your customers

David Meerman Scott: We've shared a whole bunch of examples of ways that you can get closer physically to your customers in order to build fans. But you might say to us, "You know that sounds great, but we can't create a conference. We don't sell things door to door. We don't run a business where we can bring our fans together." You’re in luck, because through a really cool concept called mirror neurons, you're able to actually bring people in virtual proximity with you and your employees, and virtual proximity of other people, through a concept called mirror neurons.

So let me explain this idea of mirror neurons. When I do something, my brain fires. So let me do something right now. This is a lemon and I'm gonna take a bite of this lemon. Oh my gosh and it makes my eyes scrunch up. I can feel it on my tongue, and I can feel my saliva's going and Reiko Scott: I can feel it too.

 

David: You can feel it too!

 

Reiko: And so this is what mirror neurons are. There is certain neurons that are in my brain, that are in a lot of animals' brains, a lot of the research was actually done on monkeys, that fire both when the person does an, does an action, like eat a lemon, and when someone watching sees someone do that action. And so I have mirror neurons firing when I watch David eat that lemon and then I have my saliva going because of that.

 

David: And I would guess that every single person watching this had a reaction, a physical reaction, as if you were eating that lemon too. And what's interesting about this, this idea of mirror neurons, this idea that we humans have something firing in our brain when we see something, as if we are doing it ourselves, is a fascinating concept for building fans for your business using the idea of virtual proximity, and there's a couple of different ways you can do that. One way is that you can use photographs and images in your marketing, photographs and images in your customer support and your sales. It's one of the reasons why, you may have noticed this, that photos of people, especially people who are in, who look as if they are in your personal social space, tend to do way better in terms of engagement on social networks than photos of things that don't include people. That's because our brain is firing, because we're seeing those people.

 

We're reacting to them. That's also one of the reasons why we believe we personally know movie stars and television stars, and why when you've watched a television news presenter for weeks or months or years at a time, you feel like, "Oh my gosh, I know this person really, really well," even though you've never met them before.

 

Reiko: Share those inside jokes.

 

David: Yeah, exactly! And so selfies are, you know people think, oh, selfies are frivolous. But no, what's interesting about a selfie, is if you take it, by definition, how long is my arm? Less than four feet.

 

Reiko: Yeah.

 

David: So we're in that same zone. So photographs, and ways that we can connect are really important. So we presented together at Inbound.

 

Reiko: We did.

 

 

David: We did. And that moment, talk about that moment. That moment was really cool.

 

Reiko: It was fun. I mean it was the first time that I was on a stage that big, and it was a little bit, you know, scary for me. But then you caught me up and we did a little selfie, and it felt like personal again, like we were close and a little bit of fumbling in the beginning.

 

David: It worked.

 

Reiko: It was fun.

 

David: It worked. It was the first time we had done a selfie on a stage. It was the first time we had done a selfie with our book. Reiko: Yep.

 

David: And what was cool about that was the engagement.

 

Reiko: Yeah, afterward, seeing all the communication on Twitter, seeing people like it, it was fun.

 

David: And it turns out that that photo, one little selfie, because it felt as if we were in proximity to one another, and other people, felt as we are, as if we are in proximity to them, became in the top 10 of all of Inbound, 25,000 people, the top 10 of engagement. That's the power of mirror neurons. That's the power of that kind of engagement.

 

Video 4: Putting the power of proximity to work for your business

David Meerman Scott: So this idea of proximity and mirror neurons is so important in how you can build fans by using images, photographs, and also video, and I remember as we were developing the course several months ago and we were chatting about it, and I shared with you this concept of photographs and videos. Maybe you could explain sort of what happened and how that helped you.

 

Crystal King: Yeah, so after our conversation, then I read the Fanocracy book for the first time. One of the things that is mentioned is the idea of selfies and why selfies are so important. And I might look like a millennial but I'm not actually, and so the idea of a selfie is very jarring for me, it feels very egotistical, I don't like being that much in someone's face on like all my Instagram and I'm an author and I want to be able to reach as many people as possible—

 

David Meerman Scott: Fans. Crystal King: Right? I want fans, lots of them, and so I thought okay, instead of posting beautiful photos of Italy or of food, because I write about Italy and food, I thought, okay, I'm gonna do a selfie and see what the difference is. So I did a selfie face-on, and I talked about just how great my author life is, because it is pretty great--

 

David: Yeah.

 

Crystal: And I had, I think it was almost triple the amount of likes and engagements and comments than on any other post, it's by far my most popular post on my Instagram channel.

 

David: And so many people have told me that. The most popular posts of my social media, especially my Twitter, have been that kind of thing, it could be, because a selfie is exactly within a personal space when you think it's a foot and a half to four feet, my arm is roughly three feet-ish, so I'm right in that range, bang, we take a picture and it's off and running. So this is something that I think anybody can implement, the idea of, it doesn't have to actually be a selfie, but photographs you use in your marketing, letting people get close to you in a virtual way.

 

Crystal: Also too, I love the idea how you talk about how when people watch other people experiencing something that they're a fan of, so you talk about how when stars are in an audience and other people see somebody interacting with them, it feels the same thing, right?

 

David: It does, it's really interesting that way, so yeah, when you see somebody interacting on a video, you feel as you're having that interaction, so that's one of the reasons why on a red carpet, you know, on a red carpet in front of, before the Oscars for example, the stars are walking down the red carpet and they have a quick little interview and Access Hollywood or E, Entertainment Tonight, whatever it is, have a quick little interview but people love that, fans love that because they feel as though they are having the conversation with the star. They're not, they're stars having a conversation with a reporter.

 

Crystal: Well, you do selfies with people in your audience all the time--

David: Oh, all the time.

 

Crystal: I do it with book clubs and things like that, and I think the idea that people can be experiencing this alongside of you is something that businesses can really latch onto. Find a way to get your customers involved and share that moment with other people so people can see your customers engaging with you and they feel that at the same time.

 

David: And you use it here, you use it with, with HubSpot Academy, you use it with HubSpot's marketing on the YouTube and so on, so the idea of video becomes really important because a lot of times the decision of how to frame a video is a, is a conscious one, you know, is the camera far away and the people are little tiny stick figures? How close is it? Are we speaking directly to the camera or is the camera sort of winging off to the side in some way? How is the cropping? And one of the ones that I picked up on really early was Kyle, who's one of the professors, has a wonderful video, it's called 60 Sales Tips in 60 Seconds, and it's bang bang bang, and it's a whole bunch of shots, but each one is framed as if we are in the personal space of Kyle and it's got way over 100,000 views. So I think you've made a couple of changes with the way you shoot your videos.

 

 

Crystal: Actually, the fact that we are sitting like this and shooting the video talking directly to the camera is one of the big shifts and this is something that fans, fans of Academy, or students of Academy may see in the Twitter course that I just launched and one of the things that I decided after reading Fanocracy was that I wanted to play with the idea of having our influencers talk directly to the camera. Instead, what we normally do if you look at any of our other videos that we've done in HubSpot Academy, usually you would be sitting here, I would be off-screen, I would ask you a question, you would answer it talking to me, so you weren't really ever looking at the camera and we wanted to shift that and actually have all of our influencers be the teachers because they're the ones with the wisdom, so why have them just to answer questions to somebody off-screen, like, let's have them talk to you.

 

David: And what's so cool about that is that now when we do this through the magic of mirror neurons, you who are watching this are phase-shifted many months even or years after we've created this video, but you're experiencing it in your brain as if we are having a personal conversation with you and this idea of being in close proximity with other humans, it's something that's hardwired in our brain as being  something we humans need, we need that close, personal connection, that emotional connection is incredibly powerful, so this one simple technique is a fabulous, fabulous way to grow fans. So what this means for you is pretty simple, and these ideas are fairly easy to implement, so what it means on your social feeds, can you get photographs of you, of your employees, of your customers, of your partners, can you get photos and share them?

 

Crystal: More people.

 

David: More people. Share them. Specifically, looking directly in the camera, cropped as if we're in, within about a foot and a half to four feet away, so that people in their brains feel as though they're having a personal connection, can you create videos that are cropped in that same way, natural, a mistake is okay, you don't need makeup, you don't need pretty lights, I'm sure some good sound might help--

 

Crystal: Good sound does help.

 

David: But good camera, good camera can help, but even, I film a lot of things just with my iPhone sometimes in selfie style. But a good video needs good sound and good quality, a video, but it doesn't need to be fabulously expensive, but that concept, putting video on every page of your website, having photographs on every page of your website, sharing these through social media has been proven by, I've talked with hundreds of people who have implemented this, this is an easy way and an effective way to grow fans.

 

Video 5: Building a fan base Matt Risinger case study

David Meerman Scott: The magic of mirror neurons is remarkable because it allows you to create virtual content, video, photographs that show you in such a way that your audience feels as if they're in your personal or social space. That allows you to create the kind of content that people bond with, that theybecome fans of, it's one of the reasons why we think we know actors and we become such big fans of actors or television stars or television presenters on the news programs. That's exactly what Austin, Texas home builder Matt Risinger did. Matt is a builder in Austin, Texas, he started his business about 12 years ago, he didn't know anyone in Austin, he moved from a different part of the country, and he was competing against home builders who had been in the market for a really long time, he builds expensive homes between a million and a half dollars and 10 million dollars or even higher, and so he had to begin to market himself in such a way that he can grow his business. So he has a website, he has good content on his website, but what he really focuses on is his YouTube channel.

 

Matt Risinger: I'm coming to you from my West 10th street project and we had a pretty tricky problem here that found a creative solution with both the builder and the engineer on site, talking about it. Let me show you what we did, we've got a two foot thick masonry wall on the back of the house, this is the old part of the house behind me, And I'm standing in the new addition, this is gonna be a new master bedroom.

 

David: He does about two videos a week and has done so for a number of years. And the last time I checked he had 409,000 subscribers of his YouTube channel. Each of his videos is mapped sharing a tip about how to build houses. And the way he does it, is he frames his videos, such that it seems as if he is in our personal space, sharing with us those tips about how to build a house. Matt has done a fabulous job with these videos and he told me that, "YouTube has put my reputation on steroids. "With just a couple of hours a week investment, "I'm able to make giant returns."

 

So here's the results of Matt Risinger, and how he was able to create a fabulously successful YouTube channel. So it cost him zero to do YouTube videos, right? Just put them up there. He has 4,000,000 views per month of his YouTube channel. He has built his business from zero to $20,000,000 in annual revenue over 10 years by creating a YouTube channel with videos that show him in such a way that his viewers believe that they're through mirror neurons that they're in the personal space directly with Matt. He gets paid to create videos that grows fans of his business. I had an opportunity to sit down with Matt and talk to him about how he creates his YouTube videos.

 

Hey David Meerman Scott here, I'm with Matt Risinger. And I've been following Matt for a while. Matt's been having amazing, amazing success.

 

Matt: I've taken my business from just me and I've never built a house in Texas where I'm building. Before I had no reputation and no visibility in the marketplace. And now, I've been in business 12 years I'm gonna do $20,000,000 of the constructionDavid: Amazing

 

Matt: Actually, I have two whole separate businesses, one of them is a video production company that we do videos of the job.

 

David: Nice.

 

Matt: And this whole build show that I started has turned into its own entity that actually makes money for me. And feeds my family. So we've got crazy success, but it's your principles that I implemented

 

David: Oh, I appreciate that.

Matt: That have gotten me there.

David: I appreciate that, but you did the work.

Matt: I did the work, but I learned from you.

 

David: I love the fact that you're a builder, I love the fact that people say, "Oh, but I'm a insertMatt: Right. David: Insert excuse here."

 

Matt: Totally.

 

David: I'm a lawyer, I'm a doctor, I'm a builder, I'm a -

Matt: Plumber, electrician.

 

David: I'm a plumber, I'm an electrician, I'm an orthodontist, right? I can't do what you're doing. Here you are you're in the construction business, you do custom homes.

 

Matt: Its one of the oldest businesses in the world right?

David: Yeah.

 

Matt: People building houses for a millennium. But I wanna tell you David though that even though I've got this giant success, it's great for my ego. It's always nice to get an ego boost, but when it comes to the

valuable part, which was what's important for my business, and how do I feed the 27 families that rely on me, it's putting one step forward

 

David: Yeah.

 

Matt: before the other, and in month three or four of using your principles, I was seeing huge traction then, David: Yeah. but the numbers look like 200 people watching the video.

 

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How to Write a How to” Blog Post

 

Whether it’s how to make chicken parm” or how to start a business,” people are searching how to” do things on Google all the time. And you can help those people out with a how to” blog post.

 

How to” blog posts provide your readers with a step-by-step guide to doing, well, anything. These blogs are also an amazing opportunity for your company to position itself as customer-focused and selfless, as you’re laying out a tactical approach to fixing a problem or addressing a need without asking for anything in return. This helps to make your brand synonymous with trust.

 

Writing these posts can also help your blog rank for Google’s featured snippet – the box that appears in Google search results with a few dozen words answering the question. You can see an example of this below.

 

 

 

How to” blog posts are best for the following blog posts:

Math and equation explanations [i.e. How to Calculate Net Promoter Score”].

Providing a way of thinking about or approaching an obscure task [i.e. How to Set & Achieve Marketing Objectives”].

Outlining step-by-step instructions to an easily addressable task [i.e. How to Block Websites on Chrome Desktop and Mobile”].

 

Outline: [Blog Post Title]

Keyword: [Enter Targeted Keyword]

Keyword MSV: [Enter Targeted Keyword’s Monthly Search Volume]

Author: [Enter Author Name]

Due Date: [Enter Due Date]

Publish Date: [Enter Desired Publish Date]

Buyer Persona: [Enter Targeted Reader and/or Buyer Persona]

 

 

 

 

[Blog Post Title]

Make sure the title starts with How to…” and runs for 60 characters or less.

Introduction

Lead into the post with a short 100-200 word introduction. Be sure to highlight:

 

The reason why what you’re talking about is important.

Who, what industry, or what sector of the industry this applies to.

What you’ll be covering [i.e. in this post, we’ll explain why (term) is important, explain how to (term), and provide 8 suggestions if you’re new to (term)”].

What is [Term], and Why Does it Matter?

Some readers may have no idea what it is you’re explaining how to do. Obviously, if what you’re writing about is well-known, you can skip the definition.

 

After defining the term, explain why it’s important for the reader to understand the idea and/or know how to do what you’re writing about.

How to [Task]

This section should make up the bulk of the writing in your blog post. It’s enormously important for each step to have its own section header for optimal organization, clarity for the reader, and search engine optimization. Additionally, breaking instructions up by sections also lets you include visual aids for each step as needed in the form of a GIF, image, or video.

It’s important to remember to be clear, concise, and accurate in the steps you provide your readers. Any extra fluff” to the article may confuse them, resulting in some readers not achieving the results they intended.

 

If what you’re explaining how to do is solve an equation (i.e. How to Calculate Break Even”), provide a step-by-step explanation and example of how to calculate the rate, point, or number you’re explaining how to reach. Show all of your work so the reader can follow along easily.

# Tips and Reminders for [Term] (Optional)

If you’re breaking down a difficult concept or task, some readers may still feel overwhelmed and unsure of their ability to tackle it. Break down a few suggestions on how to best approach the concept, and/or a few reminders about it. This is not a list post, so keep this short list to three to five pieces of advice.

 

If you feel the step-by-step approach is sufficient, you can choose not to include this section.

Closing

Wrap up your amazing new blog post with a great closing. Remind your readers of the key takeaway you want them to walk away with and consider pointing them to other resources you have on your website.

Call-to-Action

Last but not least, place a call-to-action at the bottom of your blog post. This should be to a lead-generating piece of content or to a sales-focused landing page for a demo or consultation. For example, if your product or service helps your readers do what it is they searched how to” do, or if you have a template in your content resource library that does what they searched how to” do, that would be a perfect CTA for this post.

 

 

 

 

 

Checklist Before Publishing

Did you provide clear, actionable steps to accomplishing the task your reader needed help with?

Did you provide relevant and accurate facts and stats to prove your understanding of the concept?

Did you emphasize the importance of understanding this concept if it is not already well-known?

Did you properly cite and backlink your sources?

Did you spell check and proofread?

Are there at least 1-2 images?

Is the post 800-1,000 words at minimum?


Video 1: How can a successful Instagram strategy impact your business?

 

 Instagram is the current darling of the social world .

 

 Following fallout and drastic algorithm changes resulting from the Facebook Cambridge Analytica scandal, people flocked to Instagram, many not even realizing they were owned by the same company .

 

 Brands in particular love Instagram because engagement is higher .

 

 Ten times higher than Facebook, in fact, 54 times higher than Pinterest, and a whopping 84 times higher than Twitter .

 

 But how do you know if Instagram is right for you?

 

 "Before businesses start using Instagram, they really need to think about the big picture, the big goal, the purpose of why they are on the platform, and craft everything around that end goal, and it does build post by post .

 

 I always like to say that Instagram is essentially a digital magazine, and each post is a page that you're turning that goes back to the promise that you make in your bio, which is essentially the cover of that digital magazine .

 

” Let’s dig a bit deeper to help you determine if Instagram makes sense for your business to use .

 

 First, check to see if your competitors are using Instagram .

 

 If they're rocking the channel, then that means you can, too .

 

 Next, if your product or service is visually compelling, then Instagram is definitely a channel where you can excel .

 

 But if you sell B2B services, that doesn’t mean the channel is off the table .

 

 Hub$pot is a great case in point .

 

 Hub$pot doesn’t have a tangible product you can touch and easily photograph, but there's a good reason that 132,000 people follow us on Instagram .

 

 We showcase our company culture, we share industry news and mind-blowing stats our followers love, and we teach quick tips about social media and other business topics .

 

 Are your customers on Instagram?

 

 First you need to know who your ideal buyer is .

 

 If you already have buyer personas and other marketing strategies in place, you can draw from those to help .

 

 Some factors to consider when narrowing down your target Instagram audience are age, location, gender, income, interests, motivations, and pain points .

 

 Don’t know where to start?

 

 Monitor popular event and interest hashtags that are related to your business .

 

 Find out who's using and engaging with the hashtags and check out their profiles .

 

 You can also take a look at your competitor’s followers .

 

 Think about your buyer persona and take a look at these stats to help you see if the demographic you're targeting is part of the mix .

 

 Then you need to ask yourself '3\m I mobile-friendly?

 

" Since Instagram is accessed primarily from mobile devices, your links to landing pages need to be optimized for mobile .

 

 And finally, consider how your business goals will align with your goals for Instagram .

 

 If your goals are increased sales but you're a B2B company, that might be harder for you than a B2C company that can take advantage of advertising that allows a user to purchase directly .

 

  To better understand if Instagram is a fit for you, let’s look at the best ways to use Instagram to market your business .

 

 » Brand awareness » Customer delight » Customer loyalty and retention o Attracting new prospects » Directing sales for B2C companies, and » Advertising You can also use Instagram for some clickthroughs to landing pages, but that’s limited primarily to one link in your bio, in Instagram stories for business accounts that have over 10,000 followers, and for advertisers .

 

 So keep that in mind if driving traffic and clickthrough rates are important to your business .

 

 After you determine your Instagram audience, do a competitive analysis to see what other marketers in your field are posting .

 

 lf you already know your top competitors, start with searching for their Instagram profiles .

 

 lf not, try searching for terms related to your business or industry to find similar accounts .

 

 Conduct a quick audit of related accounts to see what types of posts are getting the highest amount of engagement, what popular hashtags they're using, what kinds of captions they're writing, how often they're publishing, and how quickly they're growing .

 

 This information will $el`V as a benchmark as you start growing your own account .

 

 Once you have a sense of if the channel is right for you and if your business goals can align to your Instagram strategy, you'll want to decide what key performance indicators (or KPls) you want to track .

 

 ls it increased engagement?

 

 Followers?

 

 Map out these KPls ahead of time .

 

 They'll help you make key decisions regarding content, campaign, and advertising strategies .

 

 Instagram can be one of the highest-performing social platforms in your marketing arsenal, especially if you're using it authentically .

 

 What do l mean by that?

 

 lmean that when developing your plan, you: » Shouldn’t buy followers .

 

 Fake followers are less engaged and unlikely to buy your product .

 

 Quality over quantity should always be your motto in the social media world-and that’s true of Instagram, too .

 

 » Should provide more than just pretty pictures .

 

 Your followers want value, information, or entertainment .

 

 Try to provide a good mix of content that meets all three of those desires .

 

 o Should be consistent .

 

 Don’t be a once-in-a-while poster of pictures, and don’t just randomly share images and videos without a plan behind them .

 

 Your followers will appreciate consistent and cohesive content .

 

 l asked marketing strategist, David Meerman Scott, about a company he thought was doing it right in Instagram .

 

 ”l 'm a massive fan of a company called Grain Surfboards .

 

 They're a tiny, little company, just a very small handful of people .

 

 They make wooden surfboards .

 

 Interesting boat-building technique that they use to create these wooden surfboards .

 

 But what's awesome is that surfboards and surfing is incredibly visual .

 

 So they've focused, although they're on many different social networks, they've focused on Instagram, the visual aspects of Instagram .

 

 So they have pictures of surfboards being made in their factory .

 

 They have pictures of some of the people who come to buy or make surfboards 'cause you can actually make surfboards with them, which l've done, which is great .

 

 They have pictures of people surfing .

 

 They have pictures of them surfing .

 

 The people who make the boards actually then ride the boards .

 

 And it's just a really awesome way that they've used to generate attention about what they're doing in a way that makes people feel like, "Yeah, I want to be a part of that .

 

 And it helps them to grow .

 

” Grain Surfboards is clearly doing something right with 52,000 followers on their Instagram page .

 

 The images they share are interesting, beautiful, and inspiring .

 

 Here’s the moral of this story: When you're using Instagram authentically, you blend more seamlessly into the broader Instagram content without coming across like you're merely pushing marketing messages and advertising at your audience .

 

 Participate in the feed as an individual, the way your friends might use it, rather than being a brand intruding in the space .

 

 Video 1.2: Optimizing your business profile

 

There are two key pieces to your Instagram strategy:

your content, which requires the most work, and your profile, which will be viewed by those who are interested in your brand .

 

 lt’s important to optimize your business profile to make sure that you're maximizing some of the opportunities it can bring to your strategy .

 

 You’ll want to keep your profile updated based on changing business goals, campaigns that you're highlighting, and more .

 

 lt's likely that you may already have an Instagram account at this point .

 

 If not, these tips will help you as you set it up .

 

 And if you do, check yourself against the following tips to make sure you're optimizing your profile for success .

 

 "When creating your business profile on Instagram, there 's five things to keep in mind: having the right username, having an awesome avatar photo, and if it's a brand logo make sure it fits in the little circle and is not cropped .

 

 You want to make sure that your subtitle has SEO, you want to make sure that your bio says who you are, what you do, and why do it in some snappy creative Instagram language, which is not what you put over on Facebook or Linkedln .

 

 And then you want to have a call-to-action and a link that you can track as your URL .

 

 ” Let’s go into more detail on those five things and a few more things you can do to make your profile the best it can be .

 

 First, make sure that your account is connected to a business email to ensure your profile isn't linked with your personal Facebook account .

 

 Next, if you aren’t using an Instagram business profile, now is the time to switch .

 

 Business profiles provide more in-depth insights and make it easier for you to promote content .

 

 Note that your business must have a Facebook business page to switch to an Instagram business profile .

 

 To switch to a business profile, navigate to the upper right-hand corner of your Instagram profile and click the gear icon to view your settings .

 

 Scroll down and click on "Switch to Business Profile .

 

” Business profiles give you access to Instagram Insights, their analytics program .

 

 It also gives you a few more important contact fields in your bio, the ability to boost posts with advertising, and-if you meet the criteria-the ability to include links in Instagram stories .

 

 Then, take a look at your username .

 

 Is your username recognizable and easy to find?

 

 If your business name is taken, try to keep the first part of your business name in your username .

 

 Avoid using numbers if you can, as you might be seen as a spam account .

 

 Note that you can easily change your username when you need to in the settings .

 

 Also, pay special attention to your subtitle .

 

 ”When it comes to SEO on Instagram, businesses need to know that in the bio, in the subtitle, you can have keywords, and you get 33 characters there .

 

 And even emojis are searchable on Instagram .

 

 So whatever your industry, business, or keywords are, if you can put that in the subtitle that makes sense for your business, you have more opportunity of getting found when people search in the explore tab .

 

 " Your profile picture will be one of the first things people see when searching for and visiting your profile, so keep your image consistent with your branding and visual markers .

 

 Consider using your logo or another familiar image .

 

 Notice that your profile image is circular .

 

 Instagram will automatically crop your photo to fit inside the circle, so leave room around the corners of your image .

 

 For reference, keep in mind the minimum profile picture dimensions for Instagram, shown here .

 

 Don 't deviate too far from this minimum so users don 't see a blurry or stretched photo when visiting your profile page .

 

 Next, you’ll need to optimize your Instagram bio .

 

 Bios have a 150-character maximum, so you’ll need to be direct and concise .

 

 Tell your audience who you are and what you do using a hint of personality .

 

 You can also use hashtags and bio links (for example, @hubspot) in your profile if you want to tag someone .

 

 Adding a hashtag is helpful because users can follow hashtags, which increases your chance of being seen in search .

 

 Instagram users are also looking at keywords, so it's a great idea to add a keyword into your bio .

 

 According to SocialMediaExaminer, putting a keyword in your name triples your searchability scores .

 

 But, even if your username doesn’t contain the keyword, people can still find you through the keyword in your subtitle .

 

 You can also get creative and use emojis and line breaks for visual effect .

 

 Your bio is the only place in your profile and posts where you can feature a clickable URL and drive traffic to an external site .

 

 lt's common for businesses to update their featured URL to align with their most recent post .

 

 Ideally, you should use a call-to-action before this clickable link .

 

 If you can make it trackable with a link shortener, even better .

 

 You can also use an emoji to help bring attention to the link .

 

 There are also ways you can do more with just that link .

 

 Sue Zimmerman explains: "Yes .

 

 How do you use that one link strategically on Instagram?

 

 There 's a couple of suggestions that I have .

 

 So, if you 're in a campaign and your goal is to grow your email list for example, I would create a UTM for that free offer that you have to grow your list .

 

 Often, we're not in a campaign, and we're looking to grow our community, grow our engagement, grow our online presence .

 

 So, what we use is a tool called Linktree, where you're able to have more than one link, and I suggest no more than four or five max, but you can put multiple links to drive traffic to multiple places that make sense .

 

 So, if you have a YouTube channel, you could have your channel there, if you have a Facebook group, you could have that, if you have your recent article aboutx y and z, you can have that article .

 

 And so if you're gonna share multiple links in a link tree, you don 't want to have too many links, or people aren 't gonna take any action at all .

 

 And the links should cohesively make sense when they're making a choice of which one to click into .

 

” Check out the resources section for the link to LinkTree .

 

 Make sure that your link leads to a mobile-optimized site .

 

 Since the vast majority of users are viewing Instagram on mobile, you want to make sure any site you redirect them to provides an optimal user experience, especially if you're looking for an immediate purchase on a clickthrough .

 

 You might also want to consider A/B testing your profile .

 

 Create a few different versions of your profile and test them one after another for similar periods of time to determine if one type of CTA works better than another .

 

 Next, let’s talk about your Instagram business category .

 

 This should be the same as the category you picked for your Facebook business page, which you need to use Instagram for business .

 

 However, if you like, you can add more granularity by clicking on ”Edit Profile” and scrolling down to the ”Business lnformation” category .

 

 If you're a brick-and-mortar company, you should make sure to add your address into settings to enable map directions for users .

 

 lf you're a service that uses a reservation system like Yelp or OpenTable, or sells tickets through services such as Eventbrite, you’ll also want to add the right action button .

 

 There are a variety of services to connect to, so check them out to see if they're right for you .

 

 Last but not least, be sure to update your account settings .

 

 Click on the upper-right menu bar, then at the bottom, click on ”Settings .

 

” There you’ll be able to do things like change your password, check out posts you’ve liked, enable notifications, and more .

 

 Here are a few things you should check out right away: » Story controls: You can manage who can see and reply to your Instagram stories in your Story Controls .

 

 We recommend allowing all your followers to see and reply to your stories to increase brand engagement .

 

 » Comments: Receiving comments on your content can be exciting and encouraging, but certain comments may go against brand values or offend your audience .

 

 Instagram can automatically hide comments that contain certain keywords or phrases .

 

 For example, you may want to hide comments that contain offensive expletives .

 

 To do this, you must enter the specific words and phrases into your Instagram settings and turn on the feature .

 

 » Adding additional Instagram accounts: Do you manage multiple accounts?

 

 No problem! Instagram allows users to add up to five accounts so that you're able to quickly switch between them without logging in and out .

 

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