20. Multimedia on your website: Enhancing storytelling and impact on SEO

Introduction

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Episode Transcript

You've seen how powerful multimedia can be in capturing the attention of your website visitors. It's not just about plain text anymore. Incorporating multimedia takes your storytelling to a whole new level, making your website more engaging, more memorable, and more findable. In this episode, we'll explore the benefits of using multimedia in your website, and we'll show you how it can enhance... both your storytelling efforts and search engine optimization. Multimedia brings your content to life. It allows you to convey your message in a visually appealing and interactive way, whether it's through captivating images, informative videos, or compelling audio. Multimedia helps you create a rich and immersive experience for your visitors. So, let's embrace the power of visuals, video and interactive content and start telling your story in more than just the written word. Let's get started. Hi there and welcome to the Authentic Marketing Podcast in association with Demodia, where we give you actionable advice and help that you can use to create marketing that works. I'm your host Simon Harvey and I'm joined today by my co host Daniel Klaber. Hi there Daniel.

Hi Simon. Hello

listeners. So Daniel, I don't know what you got up to over the weekend, but, um, I actually stumbled across a really interesting video that surprisingly enough was recommended to me by YouTube. You know that I'm into NLP. I don't know that before. Neuro linguistic, I can't even say it. Neuro linguistic programming. That's the word I was trying to get out there. And this video that was recommended that came up was all about psychology. Sounds

interesting. What did it have to

say? Uh, yeah, I mean, it was talking about communications, actually. I mean, and that's basically what NLP is all about inside there. And it was more specifically talking about how we communicate with one another. And there was some really quite interesting bits in there, actually.

Well, sounds interesting. Tell me more about

it. You sound absolutely thrilled, I can tell. Anyway, the guy in the video was talking all about different ways that we communicate with each other. And evidently there's three primary ways. Did you know that?

Um, I've come across it during my studies. Yeah,

there you go. So you know a bit about this sort of stuff already, then I should be testing you later. Yeah, a little bit. So, the first one of these we all know about, so verbal communication, that was the main one that was talking about inside there, and it's probably the main way that we communicate and express ourselves. But did you know there's also non verbal and indirect verbal communications, hey? And that they're almost as important as verbal communication.

So by verbal communication you mean normal talking, right? Yeah, that's

exactly it, just regular communications like we're talking

now. All right, so what about the other two ways that you

mentioned? Well, non verbal communication, that basically describes all the other ways of communicating that don't involve the use of words. So, an example would be, if I go and get on the train, and a stranger comes up and points at an empty seat next to me, and he's looking straight at me while he's doing that, you know, you understand what he means, yeah? What's he trying to tell you?

Yeah, I guess that he wants to sit down next to me and is asking if the seat is free or

not. Yeah, that would be exactly my interpretation of that as well. So that's an example of nonverbal communication. So that means

that your gestures are also a way of nonverbal communication,

right? Yeah, I would say exactly that sort of thing. And I think the other thing is studies have shown in here, he says that non verbal communication is actually these days as important as verbal communication. And what

about the third one you mentioned, indirect verbal, what does that

mean? So that one's actually the most complex way and, you know, probably something, I don't know whether it's just something we do as humans, but definitely you need a bit more intelligence on this one. The thing with indirect communications is that there's more than one way to interpret basically something that somebody's saying. So when we say something, there's always an explicit and an implicit meaning that we can extract from that. Sounds

interesting. What do you mean by explicit and implicit?

Yeah, I was asked exactly the same question as I was watching this video. I was thinking, what the heck does it mean? So this is how it described it. So there's two meanings for any message, basically. So the example for this one could be, you know, a couple living together. You've got a husband that's watching TV and then maybe his wife's preparing dinner or something like that in the kitchen. And then suddenly the wife shouts out, Hey, Joe, the dishwasher's finished. Now what she explicitly said in this case was That the dishwasher has finished its washing cycle, but underneath that there was this hidden implicit message and that was that basically she wants Joe to get up and come into the kitchen and put the dishes back in the cupboard. All right, I think

I understand. So the explicit message is always what you say. And the implicit message is the hidden message beneath

what you said. Yeah, exactly right, exactly that. And the other one that I found really interesting there, did you know it's impossible not to communicate when you can see someone? What do you mean by that now? Well, if two individuals meet, there's no possibility for them not to have some sort of communication taking place.

But... If I sit in front of somebody in the bus, I can choose not to

say something. Yeah, but the thing is, that's already saying something in its own way. You know, by not saying anything and maybe trying to avoid eye contact, you know, you're actually communicating that you don't want to interact with that person that's sitting next to you.

Okay, you're right. So no matter what you do, you're always communicating, even if you don't want to.

Yep, I think you've hit the nail on the head there, Daniel. So, you listeners out there by now are probably asking yourself, what the heck has all this got to do with this episode? Well, today, we're talking all about using multimedia on your website, and your website's no different from a human being when it comes to communication. You know, there's verbal communications and this is represented on your website by the text content, you know, the stuff you actually write and the videos that you show on your website. And then, on the other hand, there's non verbal communication. And this can be represented by the pictures or the other static elements of your website. So now I hear you saying, Simon, what about the indirect verbal communications that you talked about in earlier? Where does that come into your website? And I think the answer to this one is simple. Nowhere. You should never use indirect communications or indirect verbal communications on your website. The trouble with indirect communications is they rely too much on the interpretation of the receiver and how they take that message. You know, they need to effectively guess what you're trying to say and ultimately, that's not good marketing. Yes, that

is true. I don't think we can repeat often enough how important it is to have clear and easily understandable messages on your website. If that isn't the case, your user-friendliness won't be on point and people will exit your

site. Yep, so true. But let's think about the ultimate goal of what you want to reach with your website communication. And to me, that's capturing leads and turning them into customers.

Capturing leads becomes an easier task when all the various communications are aligned on your website, verbal and non verbal. You can write a lot of text content, but if you're only using that, your website will seem boring and not engaging. Using multimedia like images, videos, and other elements makes your website look a lot better. It also gives your visitors a better experience because they can receive the message through a variety of different means of

communication. And it's not just that, you know, it's proven that some people take in information better if they have it in various different forms. Some people prefer visual formats like video and they remember that sort of stuff better. Other people take in information better when they can hear it. And I guess there's other groups in there that are better at memorizing written text.

So if you convey your message to your website visitors using all those methods, the chance of them understanding exactly what you're saying and getting your message across increases significantly. It will also make it easier for visitors to remember your brand and the solutions you

provide. Yeah, so using multimedia on your site is a definite must. But it's worth taking care about how you implement those elements on your site. That's

true. If you use multimedia and optimize it for your SEO, you can improve your website's visibility in search engine results and drive organic traffic. However, if you just load a large video into the middle of your webpage, it can also have the opposite effect as Google is looking at signals like page load

time. Yeah, this is really important to keep in mind when implementing multimedia; you need to think about things like image sizes. So keep images small and use streaming platforms to help manage your videos more effectively. The more important question though, that I wanted to ask you Daniel, how can I use multimedia to capture attention and engage visitors more effectively? How does multimedia actually help there?

That is where the storytelling approach can be used very effectively. You need to use your multimedia elements to create and support a compelling narrative. Specifically, you should use pictures and videos that add to the story you're telling. For example, if you're selling gardening services, you could include a video that shows your customer having a hard time because their garden looks messy and doesn't grow the way they would like. It should show the problems the mess causes. For example, the video could show how uncomfortable the customer feels when guests come over to his house. Then you, as the guide, come to provide your solution. For example, you could show how your team tidies up and does the weeding so that within a couple of hours it looks like a well-tended garden. Yeah, that's

exactly right. Using multimedia to add to your story definitely makes your website more memorable for potential customers. So we talked a lot about using different content to support the various stages of the biojourney during a previous episode. You remember R2 D2, Obi Wan and Yoda? If not, you'll have got to go back and listen to the previous episode again. So, on that one though, you can use different media at different stages. Podcasts, for example, are really good at setting the scene and explaining problems and solutions. Videos and webinars are really good for quick intros or for providing deeper knowledge. Then finally you could use something like assessments or perhaps demonstrations when you're in the final stages of your buyer journey.

So keep in mind that you will maximize the benefits that you get from using multimedia within your website if you use it to support the telling of your story throughout the buyer journey.

Exactly. So there you go. That's a short intro to multimedia. There's definitely a lot more stuff that I think we could cover here in the future, and we definitely will. But for the moment, I think, Daniel, thank you very much. We've probably covered everything we need. No worries. Thanks for your input once again. And, um, I look forward to catching up with you again next time.

Thank you, Simon.

So here's the thing. We all communicate and absorb information differently. Some of us prefer to read, some to watch, some to listen. And the problem is that if we don't find the information that we're seeking in a format that works for us, ultimately we tune out. You know, you've been there before.

Much as those of us creating content might like to wish for it, there is no one size fits all when it comes to communications. So this is where multimedia is really going to help you. So I want to simplify things for you a little bit and break things down based on some common stages of the buyer's journey.

So awareness, consideration, and decision. And I want to look at what sorts of different media we can use to support those sections very well. So we looked a little bit at this last week when we talked about general content within your website, but let's look at how media fits into there. The awareness stage we've got, this is the first stage in the typical sales funnel and prospects have got a problem and they're looking for a solution. So there are a few types of media that work really well here because they're easy to consume and readily shareable.

The first of those I'd say is infographics. For those of you that aren't familiar with infographics, they're visual representations of maybe processes, information, statistics, something like that and they're usually great for people that consume information through pictures or you know visually generally. So they usually have few words and tend to be very, very visual in their nature. Next, I'm going to add explainer videos. We looked in detail at those back in episode 11.

So obviously these are going to be a great fit for people that consume information visually, you know, people that like to just sit back and listen and watch and not have to read or think too much about things. Another great early stage thing that I definitely recommend is what you're listening to now. Yeah, podcasts, you know, just like this one.

Podcasts often tend to feature industry experts discussing challenges, trends, you know, potential solutions. And I tend to think of them these days as being very much like an audio blog. You know, it's like posts for people that like to listen. So you can think about using a podcast wherever you would typically think about using a blog post in your marketing process. So that's it for the early stages.

Um, next we move on to consideration here. Prospects are looking to narrow down their options. You know, they want to be able to evaluate the different products or services. They're going to be able to address their needs. So these folk are likely going to be interested in your offering, but they're looking around evaluating the solution and other people as well. This is the time where we talked about earlier product demos. These fit really nicely into this sort of middle stage here.

Yeah, we talked a lot about those in episode 12 of the podcast again, a few weeks ago. Similarly to demos, another really common choice here that I see all over the place and something I see working really effectively is webinars. So these can be live. But they don't have to be. Recorded webinars or recorded presentations that delve deeper into a problem, provide insights or showcase how your solution addresses it. You know, those sort of things work really, really well. I just think of TED talks, for example, here. In the latter stage, we're at the decision point.

Now, you know, prospects have shortlisted a few options and they're ready to make a decision. So this is where the prospect wants details. Basically, they want to know exactly how you're going to help them solve the problem. This is where I'd recommend using things like videos of customers. So customer testimonials work really, really well. Everyone loves to hear a satisfied customer talking about their experiences, don't they? Um, another late stage media asset that I would suggest that really often gets overlooked but can be really effective Are things like interactive assets.

So calculators, for example, where someone can go in and enter some values related to a function within their business, and it will calculate a return on investment, for example, um, assessments that tell them how to move forward or the next steps that they need to make, or even just simple quizzes inside there, you know, they use help buyers to really understand the values that they can derive from your product or service, and that's exactly what they want at this point in time. So there you've got it, you've got a great arsenal of multimedia assets that's really going to help you improve and tell your story no matter what communications media your prospects prefer.

So if you're having problems setting up and optimizing your website then you can hire an authentic engagement coach. Just go to demodia. com to hire a coach that will show you how to increase the effectiveness of your website and give you an easier way to grow your business.

So we're at the point of the show again where I like to give you a set of concrete actions that you can take to help improve your website and drive business through your sales pipeline.

For your action today I want you to go to your website home page and ask yourself this, is my story Being told using more than just the words on this page. So in other words, if you look at your web page, what do you see in there? Is it just words and a few sort of random pictures? Or are you using other ways of actually telling your story?

If the answer is no, then what I want you to do is this. It's very quick and it's very simple. I want you to set up a webcam and I want you to create a short two minute video of you telling the story of your business. You know, you may hate being on film. But as a leader in your organization, your customers want to see you. You know, they don't want to see some AI simulation. They want to be able to react and they want to be able to feel that they know you as part of the leadership team inside there.

So people hate doing this sort of thing, but think about it these days. It's just like being on a Zoom call. You know, we all do that every day. It's going to take you about 10 to 15 minutes to get set up and another few minutes to record this. But what I want you to do is to create a short video. that goes through and explains your story. It tells what you're looking at on the web page, explains what the problem is that your customers have, explains how you understand that problem, how you solve that problem, and what you want them to do next.

So take them through your brand script and describe those key elements to save them having to read that information off your web page. The first version of this video, I guarantee it's going to suck. It won't be perfect the first time, but don't worry about that. You know, the great thing about websites and the great thing about videos, you know, you can edit those so you can cut out any big mistakes straight away. And then as you get better and better at this and your communication and your presentation skills improve, you can update and change the video again.

It's quick and easy to do. It's relatively cheap and cost-effective when you provide the right type of multimedia. at the right place in the sales process, you're going to give your customers the connection that they're looking for and that's going to mean that you're going to close sales faster.

So that's all for today's episode of the Authentic Marketing Podcast. Thanks for listening and don't forget to bookmark the podcast and share it with your friends and colleagues. We love to share our knowledge so that we can make your business succeed.

See you next time.