Marketing Ideas From Cheri Cowell

Cheri Cowell

Today we not only have our written words with which to connect to new readers and build fans, we have the opportunity to connect via audio and video technology. Here are a few tips to help you take advantage of connecting to your audience with the personal touch.

Whether you give a warm greeting to your website or use a humorous video to demonstrate your lighthearted side, a video is a great way to become more than a two-dimensional character. Through video you actually become real to readers and those looking for a speaker. So begin by thinking about your greatest strengths. Are you warm, happy, joyful, well-spoken, compassionate, tender-hearted, or confident? Next, craft a video that highlights that strength. For instance, I’m a good teacher and I am joyful. When my Bible study on the parables came out, I recorded a video with live sheep surrounding me so I could talk about the benefits of the study. The video demonstrates my strengths and gives a personal side to the strong bio on my website. Other authors have recorded a short “Welcome to my website” message, while others have added a humorous bloopers piece on theirs that shows just how relatable and real they are.

Now that you have a short (1-2 minutes) video on your website, you want to capitalize on the marketing potential. Here are some tips:

1. Add your video to YouTube. Remember to tag your video with keywords that it show up in relevant searches. Don’t forget to post it on Facebook with a link back to the original YouTube video.

2. Add a call to action to your video to convert each view into highly targeted traffic–ask them to visit your website, buy your new book, sign up for your newsletter, ask for your speaker packet. Don’t forget to add your domain name (with the “http://”) at the beginning of your description. It is simply another place people can click to go directly to your website.

3. Head on over to Fiverr.com to write out a complete transcription of your video and save it as a .txt file. Then, upload the transcript to YouTube by clicking the “Edit Captions” button directly above your video and follow YouTube’s instructions for uploading. Using magical software, YouTube will now index every single word of your transcript and incorporate it into its search algorithms.

4. Embed your video on your blog and share the blog post with your email subscribers and social media followers. Ask your friends and fans to share the video with their friends. This is the easiest step, but if you want more views, sometimes you’ve just got to ask!

5. Finally, don’t rash the bloopers. If you have several outtakes where you get tongue tied, a fire engine drives by, or as was the case with mine–the sheep drown you out–post the bloopers on YouTube. They just might be the thing that goes viral.

Cheri Cowell is the author of several books including Parables and Word Pictures in the AMG Following God Bible study series and Living the Story: Reaching Outside the Church Walls. Her new devotional book, 365 Devotions for Peace, releases in December.

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