Can you give an overview of Animoto and what it does? Where do I find it, and how much does it cost?

Animoto is a video creation software platform that allows you to make very simple videos to share on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, and/or your website.

They have a lot of tutorials to help you get started. They also have pre-made templates, so all you need to do is edit text, select different pictures, and download the video to share.

There is a free trial version, but you will need a paid account to publish a video. The cheapest account, which is $5 per month, forces you to have the Animoto logo in the corner and you cannot add your own logo. This may be an OK way to get started and learn how to create a video.

We use the Professional version, which costs $33 a month.

Both versions give you full access to their photo library, which allows you to use the photos in accordance with Animoto’s terms of service.

For more information, please visit their website at www.animoto.com.

What are all the marketing tools that Acuity uses?

Here at Acuity, we have a variety of marketing tools. Some are for content creation like we showed in the Content Marketing 101 video, while others are for content planning, social media, and beyond.

Here is a breakdown of our content marketing toolbox:

• Hootsuite – social media management and social listening • Percolate – social media/content marketing planning, strategy, and publishing • Animoto – slideshow video creation • Piktochart – infograph creation • Photoshop – image editing and creation • Adobe video software – create in-house videos

What type of videos are best? How long should videos be?

The type of video that works best may depend on your audience! It isn’t necessarily a one-size fits all. The great news is you can test different kinds of videos and see what works best for you.

A few ideas are:

• Slideshow videos like seen in the training video • Personal vlog style videos that are just you on camera talking about a relevant topic • Scripted videos that educate and entertain • Man-on-the-street style videos to educate customers

Get creative! You can film most of these on a smartphone or laptop camera.

Also, we do recommend keeping the videos short in nature. Usually we try to have our videos between 30 and 90 seconds to keep people’s interest.

Here is a nice guide on how to get started with creating your own videos: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/make-a-marketing-video

What CTAs do you recommend? Can they be different for each post?

It is important to have a call to action (CTA) for all content. There should be something at the end you want the consumer to do. A few ideas could be:

• Set up a calendar appointment • Call you • Email you • Fill out a form • Visit a website

We recommend one CTA per piece of content to keep it simple. But you can ask for different actions to be taken on different pieces of content. If you ask viewers to call in your first video, you don’t need to always ask them to call.

Do you share content via email? If so, how important are subject lines?

As part of our overall content strategy, we email our personal lines customers an insurance-related blog monthly. We are also beginning to use this strategy on the commercial lines side as well with quarterly newsletters geared to each major industry.

One important part of these emails are the subject lines. Test different messages while being true to what the email is about. A creative subject line is a great way to stand out in a cluttered inbox.

Here are some potential tools to help you test subject lines: https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/subject-line-tester

What is the difference between SEO and SEM?

This is a tricky topic that comes up often.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is how relevant your website pages are in relation to terms people search for within a search engine such as Google. SEO refers to the search engine results your page earns – your page rank – based on the content of the page, without paying for it. It is best to rank on the first page of search results (e.g., Google results page) as most people do not look at results after the first page. SEO is technically free. It just requires work to ensure your site is properly set up and your content aligns with terminology and questions your audience may be asking via search engines.

Search engine marketing (SEM) are the paid search results that show up as ads, often on the top and bottom of Google search results. These paid ads can run through Google Ads to help increase visibility of your website or landing page. You only pay for SEM ads if someone clicks on your ad, which is why this is sometimes referred to as pay-per-click (ppc) or cost-per-click (cpc).

For more information, check out this article: https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/en- us/blog/how-do-seo-and-sem-work-together-in-2018

How do you come up with content ideas?

Coming up with content ideas is not always easy, but it can be a fun process. Brainstorming is key to any good content planning meeting. Creativity and being open to new ideas are good places to start.

Here at Acuity, we have a planning meeting every month, where we plan content 2 months out. So, for example, in April we will be planning the June content.

To plan this content, we take the following into account:

• What content has been successful in the past? Can we create similar content? • Do we have any content gaps we need to fill (e.g., insurance 101, DIY)? • What season is it? Can we create content that will fit that time period? • What do the Google Trends look like? Are there any spikes in search terms that we can take advantage of?

Also, there are some online tools to help you brainstorm content that you can find here: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/content-brainstorming-ht

What does KPI mean? What is social ROI?

KPIs are your key performance indicators. These are the metrics you want to track as you start your social media and content marketing plan. You come up with these from the start so you can evaluate your performance.

Your social ROI could depend on your overall social marketing goals. If you want new business, then you would look at how much you spent on social ads and content creation, and divide that by the number of new accounts you were able to secure.

For more information on KPIs and ROI, please visit this site: https://www.pardot.com/blog/14-content-marketing-kpis-tracking/

Where do you start with social media? What platforms is Acuity on?

You can choose how large or small you want to start your social media efforts, but in most cases starting with one or two platforms is best to get off the ground. The two most popular for businesses tend to be Facebook and Twitter. After that, you may want to expand to Instagram, LinkedIn, and others as relevant. Much of this is dependent on the time and personnel you have available to dedicate to social media. In many cases, it makes sense to set aside a certain amount of time each day to form posts and to respond to any interactions on your page(s). Acuity has Facebook pages for Agents, General/Brand, Construction, Trucking, Business (Services), Retail, and Manufacturing. We also have Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn pages.

Reference: https://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-tips-for-small-business-owners/

How important are copyrights and disclaimers on your content?

Just like any other medium, it is important to credit sources within your digital content. This generally is not an issue when sharing links from other sources, but also keep in mind to credit pictures, quotes, etc. As far as your own content, you will want to add your logo to images to be sure you are also properly credited upon sharing.

Reference: https://www.termsfeed.com/blog/social-media-disclaimers/

I have a Facebook page, but how do I increase engagement?

“Pay to play” is king on Facebook, but not the end-all. When you are boosting posts, you want to spend your money wisely and efficiently. Target your audience by location, interests, age, and other available factors.

Make sure your posts are eye-catching, interesting, and use high-res images. Use short, easy-to-read, and engaging copy that makes people want to read more. Make your posts “thumb-stopping” for people scrolling through FB on their phone.

When referencing other companies, people, orgs, or city events, always try to tag their Facebook page. That way they are more likely to share the content as well, getting you more free and organic reach for your posts. Encourage you employees to like and share posts as appropriate.

Reference: https://sproutsocial.com/insights/facebook-engagement/

Does Acuity offer content for agencies to share? Does Acuity offer co-branding?

We do! You can co-brand a variety of social media images in our Social Image Center, which can be found on the Acuity website. In the Agent Center, under Resources, click the link for Social Images. We are actively working on rolling out a more extensive content platform for our agents to use. Keep an eye out for updates to follow.

How do you determine your audience?

Your main audience will depend on the people you most want to see your content. This may be existing customers as well as potential customers. Each post may need its own audience. For instance, a post may be about new car owners, and you would want to target as such. Another post may be for business customers, and you would want to specifically target that audience. When boosting posts, you can narrow down your audience to best spend your money.

Reference: https://neilpatel.com/blog/find-high-roi-facebook-interest-audiences/

Can you target older generations on Facebook?

Absolutely. You can target by age, as well as interests that may be relevant to the generation.

Reference: https://medium.com/aginginbeauty/3-three-strategies-to-target-seniors-on- facebook-83f8cab903d1

Where do I find other Acuity how-to videos on social media marketing?

All of the previous social media marketing trainings are available at https://www.acuity.com/social-training at the bottom of the page. You can watch them on the site or, if you want a bigger screen, follow the link and watch on YouTube.