Ongoing+Optimization


 * Tracking, analyzing and optimizing**:

eMarketing makes use of hyperlinks that are easily tracked and analyzed for results. It is important for us to finance strategies that are affordable and efficient in marketing CBM. “Ad Servers and Ad Networks provide trafficking, tracking and reporting solutions to both advertisers and publishers. They allow advertisers to target display adverts based on parameters.” (Stokes, 216) These include user profiling which will help Cassandra locate potential customers in the GTA. Since this is an At-home service provision company, physical proximity to the client is very important. However, subscription services are available but not limited to clientele in a certain geographic location. To access these videos, the customer’s operating system, browser and connection type will then enhance tracking. This will determine how fast customers are able to view and purchase Cassandra's services.

Since one of CB’s unique selling points is the access to video subscriptions, it is important to make sure that these videos, particularly those uploaded via youtube are optimized.
 * Video Search Optimization**:

According to Stoke, “Online video is not just about creating content, it’s about getting viewers to that content.” (318) CB’s market share is also dependent on how many people actually subscribe to the content that she is uploading. After uploading tutorials, how-to’s and personalized responses, it is important that clientele and potential customers are able to find these videos with ease.

Optimizing Video searches can be done using various techniques to improve ranking. The title, descriptions, tags, playlist additions and Inbound links of the videos are important as they are associated with keyword search engine spiders. We will ensure that each How-to video title is catchy and has the same level of consistency between videos. Stoke writes that, “Longer descriptive titles are better than short, concise and obscure ones”(322) A sample title for a tutorial video would be “CBM Artistry: Longer and Fuller Lashes in 3 easy steps”. Descriptions that are very informative and can help both the customer and user determine exactly what the video is about. It is here that a link to CB’s make-up Youtube channel, website and relevant links will be included in order direct viewers and customers to the other content such as her At-home, wedding and anniversary booking service. Tags such as #Make-up #Artistry #CB #CBM #At-home #Make-up Service #Cassandra #Weddings #Anniversary’s #Make-up #Lashes #Longer lashes #Full Lashes by CB are all important keywords that will optimize video search. We will also be including comments by CB encouraging others to like and share the video posts. Asking question within the actual video can spark responses and lead to more shares. Thumbnails that capture interesting moments within the video can also help to attract more attention. In addition, annotations leading to other content by CB can also be embedded in the video. This keeps viewers interested and still within CB’s online space. To ensure that videos are uploaded regularly, CB can make personalized video responses to comments, to make it interesting. These responses do not all have to be about make-up. Sometimes CBM will share personal information by answering customer questions such as "What inspired you to start the business?" can be answered in a video response. These questions can be generated from the comments section and response videos personalized to the username associated with a question.

In order to optimize the hosted video, we will ensure that the name of the Video file embedded is consistent with the title. For instance the file name of the above mentioned example would be “CBM Lashes”.

Depending on the budget, CB can also look into paying for placement on sites like google as well as enroll in the 'Promoted Video Programme' on youtube which allows bidding for Cb’s How-to videos to be displayed alongside the search results of other videos. This is effective as it will allow for CB’s videos to be placed along side any competitors videos. This also has the potential of winning over competitor's markets. This programme offered by youtube is cost effective as it is available to all youtube account holders.

Tracking the success of youtube videos will be easy as youtube affords a programme with this capability. 'Youtube insight' can be used to gain information about video view counts and improve popularity peaks”(325) For instance, we might discover that make-up videos are popular during the weekends as this is when most people are getting ready to attend social events such weddings or anniversaries. This information will help Cassandra to promote fresh videos around the ‘peak period’.

This process will help CB monitor, measure and manage the conversations that are happening about the company. By listening to conversation carried about by customers, we can adequately respond and manage market situations. It will provide information about the current strength of CB’s brand promise as she continues to operate the business. An effective ORM tool would include several steps. The first step is to listen. By searching Keywords such as the company name, CBM, we will be able to keep track of any ongoing conversation about the company. These comments and insights gained from ORM will then influence future marketing and service providing decisions that CB will make. Other keywords would include “At-home make up service, ‘CB waxing’, ‘CB facials’ etc. Effective ORM tool can assist a company in engaging with customers where relevant and providing better service by responding to queries and complaints. According to Stokes, there are a number of tools that are available to effectively carry out ORM. Google alerts will send an email about the company when it’s name is mentioned in a credible news item or a blog post. Since our focus is mainly subscription videos we will be paying attention to Google video searches where “the video search relies on data that has been added to describe a video, and will return results based on keyword matches” (Stoke’s 423). Another way of improving ORM will be to note that some customers maintain blogs where they comment on product use. It will be effective to monitor these blogs and the comments associated with CB’s service. 'Blogpulse' is en effective way of doing this. It supplies an RSS feed for updates. 'Technorati' also “tracks bogs and tagged social media.” (Stokes 424). 'Co.mments' is also an effective way of keeping track of comments and keywords. Monitoring online platforms is an effective way of ensuring that CB is not affiliated with anything that the company doesn’t stand for or support. The second step would be to measure, learn, understand and evolve. By monitoring what is being said about the brand, we can ensure that customers are satisfied and if not, we can once again adapt/reinvent our strategy. Monitoring highlights the effectiveness of the current strategy. This also gives insight to what what the competition is doing in order for CB to improve and stay current. According to Stokes, it is helpful to aggregate the information into a spreadsheet or database. This helps in managing reputation over time. Although most ORM tools have databases that manage this information it is helpful, Stokes writes, to have one by default. To help CB with the step the database might look something like this:
 * Online reputation management**:

**Figure 17.3 A graph illustrating how a reputation crisis can impact your bottom line. (Stokes 426)**
 * URL of mention || Praise, complaint, neutral || Source || Credibility || Influence || Action ||
 * www.joesoapblog. com/ihatethisbrand || Complain || Blog post || Very credible, well- respected author. || Widely read || Post public comment acknowledging mistake and proposing rectification. ||
 * www.ryanthewriter. wordpress.com || Praise || Video blog || Not credible or trusted, first blog post on website. || Blog recently created, unlikely to have wide readership. || Promote blog, thank the user for praise, or ignore the post. ||

The table headlines are explanatory of the kind of analysis that will help marketing decisions, service improvement and a relationship with the customer. The third step would be to manage and deal with opportunities and threats. Comments sections on videos and review comments on websites provide opportunities to show that the company is listening to its customers. If nice things are being said about CB in a comments section, it will provide an opportunity for the company to exceed customer expectations. Freebies and a personal visit from Cassandra to, for instance, the 100th commenter in the free or subscription videos, is a way of not only engaging customers but exceeding their expectations as well. This will be a powerful marketing tool for CB as this increases brand loyalty and a positive online reputation. In a neutral situation, more should be done to engage customers such as asking what their favorite services from CB is, a personalized response video can be made to the first 5 commenters. In a situation where negative things are being said, this will be a good time for the company to improve on brand promise. According to Stokes’ “If a complaint is online, the resolution should be there as well”(428) If someone did not like a certain aspect such as waxing by CB for example, posting a personalized response, a phone call an email will be sent to pacify the costumer. Depending on how powerful the negative comment is, CB might have to evaluate market strategy in service production. Lastly, ORM would include evolving CBM by using the data from the above mentioned steps to make “statistically supported decisions about the future”(430) of CB. If for instance more and more customers are opting for subscription videos about make up artistry instead of At-home services, CB will have to make a strategic decision to improve the quality of the online videos or make them very engaging. An example of this would be the same online video strategy used by the creatives at old spice. According to Stokes, “Between July 12 and 14 2010, the Old Spice guy engaged directly with fans and consumers, sending out almost 200 response videos!” (328) In this scenario, we would need to improve on our video search engine optimization to ensure that the videos by CB are being watched by the widest possible audience.

ORM mainly deals with the customers and responding to their needs through careful observations. Responding to CB’s customers, whether online or by phone, will be quick with information that is factual and concise.

As the company grows, we will employ the services of BRANDSEYE – which according to Stokes, “scours the Internet in near real-time for mentions of specific keywords before calculating a reputation score based on the gathered data” (57) Right now, we are able monitor the mentions on the already existing platforms of youtube, facebook, google and twitter platforms. When the company expands and people begin mentioning it in other sites/platforms, we would need this ORM tool to keep track of the conversations about CBM.
 * BRANDSEYE.COM: **