Category: Strategies

When it comes to promoting your business, it seems like everyone has the same few things to suggest: get on social media and create content that people like, optimize it for search engines, and then release it on a regular schedule that is both oppressive and exhausting so that you don’t have any time to actually work on your business. Marketing doesn’t have to be all-encompassing, and it doesn’t have to take three years to start providing results. The following will explore just one valuable marketing technique that can have a massive positive effect on the impression people have of your brand and the amount of product you move or services you book: testimonial videos.

What Is A Testimonial Video?

A testimonial video is a video in which a client or customer who has used your product or service shares their positive experience. These videos can be put on your website and social accounts as well as on review sites. Several testimonial videos can also be put together to create a fantastic advertisement that you use for Facebook or Instagram ads.

Why Do Video Testimonials Work?

Video testimonials have fantastic conversion rates for several reasons. Foremost, they build trust. It’s far easier to gauge someone’s vibe and level of honesty when you see their face as they’re speaking. Written reviews can be faked or paid for far more easily than video testimonials, and that’s because humans are really good at reading subtle cues in body language and facial expressions. Video testimonials are considered far more credible, engaging, and authentic for these reasons.

Secondly, the video holds people’s attention far more than written content or photographic content. There is a whole discussion that needs to be had about dwindling attention spans, but regardless of how we culturally approach that problem, you still need to advertise in the interim. Video content has a much higher retention rate than other forms of content. People are more likely to watch a full video and far more likely to remember what was said in it (95% of a video message is easily retained, whereas 10% of a written message is retained on average).

Thirdly, videos are more often sought than other forms of content and far more likely to be shared. YouTube is the world’s second-largest search engine with over two billion users. Beyond this, videos are more commonly shared than articles, text posts, or images.

Finally, video testimonials have high conversion rates. When someone has to make a buying decision, they’re usually on the hunt for someone whose advice they can trust. Because video testimonials are viewed as so much more trustworthy than other kinds of reviews, they are excellent at conversion.

Tips For Making Video Testimonials

Whenever you have a customer who is pleased with your services or product, ask them if they’d like to speak about it on video. If they say no, that’s okay, not everyone is comfortable being on camera (and those that aren’t tend to struggle to speak clearly and openly in front of the camera anyway). Keep asking and set up video shoots with those who are interested. You’d be surprised how many people are willing to be part of a video shoot; many find the process exciting and interesting. Be sure to ask as soon as the product or service has been completed because this way, people’s impressions, and ideas are fresh in their minds. They’re more likely to recall interesting and humanizing details if you record the testimonial soon after they’ve interacted with your company.

If you have the skills yourself, you can set up the shoot, but you can also reach out to a local video production company. Because many companies charge a day rate for a shoot, you might want to schedule several customers’ videos for the same day so that you spend a little less money on the filming.

If you’re shooting them yourself, make sure the audio quality is good (listen to a trial recording first) and aim for bright, natural lighting. Most YouTubers without expensive lighting setups face a window while they talk to their camera to have nice, even lighting.

Avoid Scripting

Most people don’t do well with script memorization. It’s a skill that causes a lot of stress and pressure, and even if people can do it, it often results in a robotic delivery as they’re focused on getting the lines right rather than speaking from the heart. It’s usually better to give direction and ask questions than to create a script. Think of it as having a conversation on camera and avoid yes or no questions as these tend not to start expanded conversations.

To create a fantastic advertisement video, try to keep the conversation focused on a few key points. People should introduce themselves and discuss the problem that led them to your product or service. This will allow viewers who have the same or similar problems to relate. Ask them to share why they chose your product or service over other possibilities and to describe the results of their interaction with you. When you’re creating amazing video testimonials, you want to emphasize feelings of naturalness and comfort. You want viewers to feel like they’re listening to a friend talk about something that benefitted them.

Keep It Trim

Shorter video testimonials tend to be ideal compared with longer ones. Again, there’s an attention span crisis ongoing, and this means that people aren’t going to watch a twenty-minute video. Keep it short and sweet—you’re probably looking at 90 seconds to 120 seconds long.

The above tips should help you better understand what video testimonials are, how they can benefit your business, and how you can go about crafting them. Digital marketing has, in many ways, taken over the lives of business owners, but it doesn’t have to be a difficult, never-ending project. Video testimonials are an easy and effective marketing method that can draw genuine customers to your business without costing you an absurd amount of time and energy. If you’re unsure how to go about the filming aspect, many highly skilled professionals can help you with the videography and editing process. Quite often, video production specialists also have access to royalty-free music and graphics, which can take your videos to the next level.

A good leaflet distribution campaign requires more than you might think. It takes a lot of planning to appeal to your prospective customers with leaflets. They should be kept small and to the point and handed out in areas where your target audience can be found. While being professional and polite is key to any leaflet campaign, you should also be aware that people might receive a lot of leaflets, so making sure that yours stand out is key. Here are some of the main steps involved in designing effective leaflets and planning your leaflet distribution campaign.

Determine Your Target Audience

The first thing to do when planning your leaflet campaign is determine your target audience. Who you are sending the leaflets to will have a large impact on how they look. Whether it’s different age groups, careers, or other demographics, various groups have different interests and may be more likely to be found in certain areas compared to others.

Keep Leaflets Small

Smaller leaflets are usually the best option as they are less costly and also less likely to be thrown away when received, since they are more convenient to read. A small leaflet allows you to give your audience the information that they need about your business without any unnecessary extras. Larger leaflets are not only more expensive but also harder for you to distribute, so keep in mind that bigger is not always better.

Create an Interesting Design

To be effective, leaflets should have a clear headline accompanied by an eye-catching design including a logo or image. Using bright colors and bold texts can be a useful strategy to get your leaflets to grab the attention of the people that you are sending them to. You could come up with phrases or mottos that not only cause people to remember the leaflet after receiving it, but also make it clear what the leaflet is about.

Include Your Contact Info

Make sure to leave room in the leaflet design for your business contact information. Along with your business address, including an address, email address, website, and telephone number along with your opening hours can be useful. Make sure that your audience are aware of how to reach your business and take the actions you want them to as a result of receiving the leaflet.

Decide Where to Distribute

Determine where you are going to distribute your leaflet. You can do this by finding out more about where your target audience lives, works, and takes part in activities so that you know how best to reach them. You can do this by looking at the data that you already hold on your customers; you may find that there are more customers living in one area compared to others. Once you have a list of addresses, you can use Lob’s letter printing service to verify the addresses, remove duplicates, and send leaflets on demand. Lob offers a range of handy automation tools to help you get more from your print marketing campaigns.

How to Distribute

There are several ways to distribute your leaflets. You can post them into mailboxes in-person, send them through the mail, or hand them out in a public area. Bear in mind that you may need to get permission from the local authority if you are heading to a public area to distribute leaflets.

Consider the Right Time to Send

It’s important to think about when is the best time to distribute the leaflets to customers. For example, if you are setting up a leaflet campaign to advertise an upcoming sale, you should make sure that customers receive the leaflets at least a couple of weeks in advance to give them time to prepare. It’s also worth bearing in mind that people tend to be more or less receptive to any kind of advertising at certain times. If they are getting your leaflets just as they are rushing out of the door to work, for example, then you may not see as good a result compared to the leaflets being received once people have returned from work and have more time to read them.

Repeat the Distribution

Once you have distributed your first set of leaflets, it’s a good idea to repeat it a few weeks later. Repeat advertisements tend to be easier to remember, and this also gives you a chance to expand on your message. For example, if you are advertising an upcoming sale with your leaflet campaign, you can wait until closer to the time that the sale is about to start to send out reminders to potential customers that you have already made aware.

A leaflet campaign can be an effective and simple way to spread the word about your business, a product, sale, or store. However, it’s important to keep several strategies in mind when planning your campaign to ensure that it works well.

The current boom in the e-commerce scene has attracted many entrepreneurs making the competition to win consumers’ attention pretty stiff.

One of the most effective ways of ensuring you stand out in the crowded e-commerce space is using high-quality digital assets, such as images, videos, and graphics.

Managing your digital assets in the fast-paced scene can be a challenge, and you do not want to make an error that could hurt your audience’s perception of your brand.

Given the risks, your best bet at organizing your digital assets lies with investing in a reliable digital asset management system.

So, What Is Digital Asset Management?

Digital asset management (DAM) system is a set of practices and tools that enable marketing teams to manage and optimize their organization’s digital assets. A reliable DAM should help your organization store, catalog, and share its digital assets easily and efficiently. 

A reliable DAM also helps control who uses the digital asset, tracks its use, and maintains a searchable asset library. If you are on the sidelines and unsure if to invest in a DAM system or not, this resource on why you need digital asset management for e-commerce can help answer the questions you may be having.

Importance of DAM in E-Commerce

1. Helps Achieve Brand Consistency

The audience judges a brand by what they see. With your digital assets being the face of your brand, consistency must be a priority.

This calls for creating assets according to consistent brand standards in terms of colors, fonts, graphics, and any other aspect that your audience identifies you by. 

Using a DAM also helps ensure consistency in restricting who can use an asset, where they use it and how it is used. For example, an asset to be used in a blog post is not to be used on social media and vice versa.

With a DAM, it is also possible to keep track of assets and retire assets that have passed their usefulness to ensure that there can never be a chance where an outdated asset appears in a campaign.

2. Increased Efficiency in Marketing

Marketing departments take the most significant portion of any organization’s budget and involve a lot of work. A DAM helps cut back on the amount of work needed to locate assets, which allows marketing teams to reduce their workforce without losing the speed of delivery.

Additionally, a DAM enables marketing teams to track asset’s effectiveness in how the audience interacts with it. This kind of information ensures that the marketing decisions are based on facts and are guaranteed to yield the best results.

3. Boosts Collaboration

Creating winning assets may require input from several team members and, at times, persons outside your organization.

Traditionally, creators could only achieve such collaboration by sending assets to contributors via email, resulting in a back and forth exchange of emails before reaching the desired result. 

With a DAM tool, several contributors or users can access an asset simultaneously, allowing them to make or suggest changes in real-time irrespective of their geographical location. This ensures that everyone works with the most recent version of an asset at all stages of the creation process. 

4. Enhances the Security of Your Digital Assets

Creating quality digital assets can involve a lot of time and money. Therefore, you must ensure that your assets do not leak. A reliable DAM helps restrict access for in-house and third-party contributors by narrowing down on permissions within your digital assets library.

Some DAMs go as far as restricting asset downloads through the entire process of creation and restricting the number of contributors and users that can download the asset once the creation process is complete. This ensures the chances of an asset leakage are minimal.

Whether your company employs an on-staff marketer or hires a marketing firm, it is important to understand just what marketing is and what you want marketers to do for you. In essence, a marketer is responsible for building a relationship between consumers and the businesses they represent. A marketer needs to be an expert in reputation management, management of demand, and finding ways to face off with the competition in your niche. To sum it up, marketers sell products and brands. So how does blogging enter into this equation and what are the benefits?

Blogging Brings Inbound Traffic

The first benefit of blogging for marketers would be in bringing inbound traffic to a website. Most companies today have both a physical location as well as an online presence. Whether or not a company has a blog on their website, the surest way to bring traffic to their business site is through links on blogs scattered around the web.

How they do this can be best explained by reading a few of the blogging guides on the YourTopBlog website. This particular site is dedicated to the art and science of blogging and how it can be used to grow businesses within any niche. Since growing a business is the chief aim of marketers, this is where you’ll find everything you want or need to know about how they use blogging as a key tool.

Blogging Builds Brand Awareness

Another thing marketers seek to accomplish is to use blogging as a key way to build brand awareness for businesses they represent. Again, whether you have an in-house marketing team or employ an outsourced marketing firm, building brand awareness is a top priority.

Today’s consumer wants to know more about the brands they deal with, especially in the area of sustainability. Marketers will always seek to create a positive image for the businesses they represent and the main way in which they do this is with brand awareness strategies in blogging. That’s a fact.

Blogging Builds Relationships

Another very important thing to be aware of is that today’s consumer is looking to deal with brands they can build a relationship with. Believe it or not, blogging is the best way to accomplish this. Blog posts can be repurposed for social media, and this will, in turn, open up conversations between brands and their customer base. Social media is one of the most effective ways of creating dialogue and repurposed blogs give the impetus needed to open those conversations.

Summing it up, blogging is perhaps the most important tool a marketer has when facilitating brand awareness and growth for the companies they represent. It’s the foundation of any effective SEO strategy and surely the best way to achieve a positive reputation for those brands they represent. Yes, it is a marketer’s job to do all of this, but it is your job as a company owner or director to know what it is they do and whether or not they are performing optimally. If you have any questions, refer to those blogging guides mentioned above, and you will have the information you need to choose the right marketers for your business.

Offline Marketing In An Online World

Back in the day, businesses relied heavily on newspaper and tv ads to advertise their businesses. Back in the day, though, most businesses required someone to have a physical location and readily-available inventory for customers to purchase in-store.

In today’s work climate, folks are finding more and more innovative ways to conduct their business from home. Sure, big-box stores and shopping plazas still exist, but what if your business is managed completely online? How do you use good old-fashioned offline marketing strategies to promote your fully online business?

Tools

●     Vendor Fairs

Vendor fairs are a tried and true method for advertising your business. If your online business promotes physical products, have some of the best-selling items available for purchase. Vendor fairs include craft markets, farmer’s markets, but they also include indoor events and are often sponsored by a non-profit business. Schools are a great example of vendor fair hosts!

●     Coupon Mailers

Everybody loves to save money. Sending a coupon mailer not only gets your business name in front of more faces but, if there’s a coupon attached, potential customers are more likely to visit your company website to see what you’re all about

●     TV, Radio, or Newspaper ads

Don’t forget about good old-fashioned advertisements in the newspaper or your local tv and radio stations. The internet is heavily saturated with advertisements but folks still watch tv and listen to the radio.

●     Send Free Samples

Who doesn’t love free things? Sending out free skincare, food, and beverage samples is a fantastic way to market your company’s product. There’s no better way to attract customers than to offer them a sample of your goodies.

●     Host A Pop-up Event

Is there a big event coming to your town? Take this opportunity to host a pop-up shop to market your business or product. Do you sell clothing items? Set up shop at a street fair or farmer’s market on a weekly basis. Do you grow flowers? A corner stand can operate all summer long!

●     Networking

According to The Huffington Post, “your network is your net worth”. Networking is a tried and true business marketing strategy. Getting together with other business professionals can help get your brand out there and increase profits by joining a solid group of like-minded individuals who are interested in helping everyone succeed.

●     Offer Free Workshops

If feasible, offer a free workshop in your community. Are you an artist? Do a paint and sip night. Do you sell wood crafts? Teach a class at the local library. Are you a professional organizer? Offer to showcase some of your skills to a group of moms.

●     Business Cards

Don’t forget about business cards. They’re easy to carry around and pass out wherever and whenever the opportunity arises. Make sure your business card is easy on the eyes. It should include your company name, contact information, and a little blurb about what your company offers. A bonus to using business cards is that you can also print a coupon on them!

●     Promotional Products

Setting up a booth at a vendor or job fair? Have a stack of stickers, magnets, or pens available with your company’s name and website or phone number on them. Again, EVERYONE loves free stuff.

●     Job Fairs

Speaking of booths, take advantage of community job fairs. You can find these opportunities at libraries or colleges, and they offer prime real estate to market your business as an entrepreneur. Job fairs also offer a platform to network.

●     Cross-Promote

Cross-promoting is the art of joining forces to benefit two or more businesses. Know someone who has a business that offers a product that is aligned with yours? For example, if you are a personal trainer and have a friend who sells workout performance drinks or snacks, why not join forces and promote each other’s products?

●     Word Of Mouth

If all else fails, nothing spreads faster than gossip. Talk your business up to anyone who will listen and eventually, someone will hear from their great Aunt Sally, whose best friend’s son-in-law said they heard about this great product for such and such. That someone is your next potential customer and such and such product is YOUR product and now, you’ve got yourself a fan base.

When promoting an online business, it’s often difficult to see the opportunities that exist outside the realm of the internet. Use these tried and true offline marketing strategies to your advantage and start growing your customer base today!

In order to understand what web application penetration testing is and why it is relevant, we first need to understand the basics of information security. Information security (infosec) is the process of ensuring that your data is secure from unwanted access, use, or disclosure. There are numerous forms of information security, but penetration testing is among the most essential.

Hacking is unauthorized access to a computer system or network in order to discover security flaws. It’s also known as “penetration testing” and “pen testing.” A web application penetration test goes one step further and specifically tests websites and web applications for vulnerabilities. In this post, we will discuss the different methodologies used in web application penetration testing and who should be using them.

Why Is Web Application Penetration Testing Relevant?

Web application penetration testing is relevant because it can help find vulnerabilities before an attacker does. A vulnerability is a weakness in software or hardware that allows someone with access to exploit it and gain unauthorized access to sensitive information or data. By finding these vulnerabilities before they are exploited, you can fix them so they never get used against your organization.

Who Needs Web Application Penetration Testing?

Everyone! No matter who you are and what industry you work in, web applications and websites play important roles both inside and outside of the office. Even if you personally don’t use many web apps at work, your employees probably do every day without even realizing it (emailing coworkers on Gmail or logging into Salesforce). If any one of those sites has a vulnerability, then it could be exploited by someone who wants to steal confidential information from your company.

What Are the Different Web Application Penetration Testing Methodologies?

There are three main web application penetration testing methodologies: OWASP Top Ten, NIST SP 800-53, and Open SAMM. Each of these methodologies is used in different ways to test vulnerabilities on websites or web applications (such as Gmail). The one that you use will depend on what type of organization you work for and how much risk they’re willing to take with their data security needs but all three can be useful when evaluating your company’s needs.

OWASP Top Ten

This approach, created by the Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP), is meant to identify the most prevalent web application vulnerabilities. It’s a good place to start for firms that have little or no experience with penetration testing. Advantages of OWASP top ten include-

• Covers the most common vulnerabilities
• Easy to use
• Focuses on security awareness
• Free to download and use
• The most common web application security standard

While the disadvantages are-

• It only covers the top ten vulnerabilities, so it may not be comprehensive enough for your organization’s needs.
• There is no official process to follow when using this methodology; you’ll have to create your own testing plan based on its recommendations.

NIST SP 800-53

The Risk Management Framework (RMF) is a federal program that establishes specific minimum data-loss requirements for the implementation of risk management processes in all key information systems. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) developed the Risk Management Framework as part of its Risk Management Framework (RMF). It is more comprehensive than OWASP Top Ten and covers a wider range of vulnerabilities, but can be more complicated to use. The advantage of NIST is-

• Includes both security testing and vulnerability management processes, making it a good choice for organizations that want to improve their overall data security.

While the disadvantages of NIST SP 800-53 are-

• It may not be comprehensive enough for your organization’s needs; you’ll have to create your own testing plan based on its recommendations.
• There is no official process to follow when using this methodology; you’ll have to create your own testing plan based on its recommendations.

Open SAMM

This methodology was created by the Software Assurance Marketplace (SAMM) and is designed for organizations that want to improve their software development processes. Open SAMM includes both security testing and vulnerability management processes, making it a good choice for organizations that want to improve their overall data security. The Advantages Of Open SAMM are-

• It’s an open-source initiative, which makes it free to use.
• The Framework outlines best practices for secure software development, making it a good choice for organizations that want to improve their overall data security.

The Disadvantages Of Open SAMM include-

• The Framework is only a guide; you’ll still need to create your own testing plan based on its recommendations.
• There is no official process to follow when using this methodology; you’ll have to create your own testing plan based on its recommendations.

Which Methodology Should You Use?

The methodology that you use will depend on your organization’s needs and risk tolerance. If you are just starting out with penetration testing, then OWASP Top Ten is a good place to start. The most prevalent web application security flaws are addressed by this training kit. It’s simple to understand, and it includes everything you need to assess the vulnerability of your website.

If you want a more thorough method, NIST SP 800-53 is an option. It includes both security testing and vulnerability management processes, making it a good choice for organizations that want to improve their overall data security. Finally, if you are looking for a methodology that focuses specifically on web application security, then Open SAMM may be the best option. It includes both security testing and vulnerability management processes, making it a good choice for organizations that want to improve their overall data security.

Features Of Web Application Penetration Testing

• Vulnerability scanning – A vulnerability scanner is a tool that scans your network and/or websites for vulnerabilities. It can scan for things like open ports, unpatched software, and weak passwords. A vulnerability scanning tool is a program that checks for potential security flaws. It can be used to discover potential vulnerabilities before they are exploited.
• Network mapping- The objective of network mapping is to create a map of your current network. This includes information on devices, servers, and applications. By understanding how your network works, you can identify potential areas where attackers could gain access to sensitive data.
• Threat modeling- Threat modeling is a method for security teams to find vulnerabilities in their technology. It involves analyzing data from multiple sources and determining what types of attacks could be successful against them based on those findings. The goal is to find the most likely attack vectors before they happen so that you can prepare defenses accordingly.
• Source code review- A source code review is an evaluation of software’s quality assurance (QA) practices, which includes examining all parts of an application for defects or errors. Bugs are identified during development, fixed before deployment, and then verified after release into production environments.

Conclusion

Penetration testing is an important part of data security, and there are a number of different methodologies that you can use to conduct your tests. Your selection of strategy will be determined by your organization’s needs and risk tolerance. If you are just starting out with penetration testing, then OWASP Top Ten, NIST SP 800-53, or Open SAMM are excellent options to follow through while making a good choice for your organization with regards to its holistic data.