Are Your Business Promotions Set-Up For Entertainment or Action?

Yesterday I was talking with a marketer who is very skilled at creating videos.  As a beginner in the video making  I listened intently to her every word.

She told me about many of the videos she had produced and submitted to the various video sharing sites.  Many of her videos had gone viral producing lots of views and considerable traffic to her websites.

I asked how the traffic, website visitors that came as a result of the videos, converted or changed into buying customers.  She looked at me funny. You know those looks. The ones that say, “You have no clue and don’t understand.”

Persisting I said, “So what’s the conversion rate?” “What’s the call to action?” Again the Look.  She slowly told me, “It’s about driving traffic.”

I backed off.  It was a gorgeous day and we were eating outside at a great restaurant on the Riverwalk. We chatted some more and then went our separate ways after lunch.

As I walked to the parking garage to get my car I started thinking. What value is more traffic if it doesn’t convert to a prospect or a buyer?

    OK, traffic might help the search rankings for a little bit.  One of those blips that causes the Alexa ranking to spike way up and then drop like a rock.

    It might be fun to be a popular site or video of the day. One could pick up media attention as a result of the video.

But then, practicality set in. Whether it’s a video, a news release or an article, you want qualified visitors to come to your website.  Ones that are potentially interested in you, your product or service.

You spend time producing a video. Why not go for those visitors interested in your product?  Once they see your video, smile, laugh or whatever– what do you ask or want them to do?  In other words, what is your call to action?

A call to action is the response you want people to take after reading, listening or viewing your marketing materials.  You may want someone to:

• Sign up for your email list
• Buy your book
• Subscribe to your RSS feed
• Sign up for your teleseminar or e course
• Come to your store
• Get a white paper or report

Calls to action need to be specific. How else will your prospect know what you want them to do?  They also need to be actionable. There must be an action or a response to take.

So my questions for videos:  What are some calls to action you can include in your videos?  Entertainment is nice, but business success comes from people taking action to buy your product or service.

My call for action to you?  Have you signed up for email notification or RSS feed notification of BuzzforBusiness blog updates? Take the time now to subscribe to the RSS feed or email notification. 

It’s all about using Word of Mouse to promote your message,

Alysan