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Tag: SEO

How to Use Infographics for Marketing Your Painting Business

If you’re looking for ways to stand out online and build your painting company’s brand, infographics are a great way to do it. 

A powerful tool for communicating, Infographics provide complex information in a visually pleasing way that’s also easy to understand. When used the right way, they can be very effective at bringing people to your website and getting them to interact with you on social media, and they don’t have to be expensive or take a lot of time. And because they are so easily shared on social media, they’re a great way to boost your SEO.

So, what is an infographic anyway?

As a small business owner, you wear a lot of hats. You’re the CEO, the estimator, the team lead, and the marketing team all rolled into one. And while you might be good at a lot of things, there’s only so much time in the day to get your message out. 

Enter – infographics!

An infographic is a picture that shows information or data. They usually have both images and words and are used to show complicated facts in a short, easy-to-understand way. 

Plan to use infographics instead of spending hours poring over spreadsheets, making newsletters, or writing long blog posts. And the best part is, they’re fun to make! 

In this post, we’ll show you the best ways to use and make infographics for your painting business, but feel free to apply these tips to other markets, as well!

Make infographics about your painting services or products.

When creating an infographic about your product or service, be sure to focus on one key point that you want to communicate. 

This should be something that will interest your customers and help them understand what you do. Most of the time, less is more because too much information can turn people off.

Explain how your product or service helps solve a specific problem or shows off an interesting process you use at work. Use clear, concise language and make sure the visuals support the text.

For example, an infographic that points out the areas of a house that should be painted for the best return on investment is a great way to help potential clients decide which walls to paint when they are getting ready to sell their home. 

Or, do you have a favorite way to prepare a surface or a favorite type of paint that you use for different projects? Creating an infographic to share your tips and tricks about this topic, provides a new way for your audience to rely on your years of experience for their painting needs.

Create infographics about your company's history and personality.

An infographic is a great way to share the history of your business. 

Use it to talk about important people, important events, and even interesting facts about how your business got started. This is a great way to get potential customers interested in your business and show them what it’s all about. 

People LOVE stories! If people know and like your story, it builds trust, making them more likely to want to work with you in the future. 

Another example is an infographic timeline that shows the different kinds of work your business has done over the years. Again, this shows that you have experience and makes your business stand out as unique and likable to potential customers and employees. 

How to make an infographic.

Now you can start making your infographics! 

First, think about your values and your brand’s style. 

What is your mission statement? 

Check out this article on creating a brand style guide for more ideas, and take some time to brainstorm and write down everything that you can think of.

When you really understand your company’s values and style, you’ll be able to communicate with your audience consistently. Which makes sense and builds that trust again!

Also, be sure to think about your customers’ age, gender, location, and income level. 

What are they passionate about? 

What do they like to do in their free time? 

What are their buying habits? 

Answering these questions will help you create content that really speaks to your target market.

Once you have all of this information, you can start designing your infographics. Be sure to use visuals, such as charts and graphs, to make your infographic more engaging and fun to look at. 

Canva is a great, easy-to-use app that you can always turn to. It has infographic templates that you can use to get started quickly, and you can format them for many different social media sites.

Share your infographics.

Now, if you’re happy with your infographic, it’s time to share it with the world! Post it on your website, social media, and anywhere else your target audience is likely to see it.

If you need more ideas on where you should be posting your infographic, learn more about the social media platforms we recommend for your painting business here. 

By using these tips, you can create informative and visually appealing infographics about your company. This will help you attract new customers and employees and build a strong online presence for your business—and there’s no need to hire a professional designer to create them (although you certainly can if you want to)!

So what are you waiting for? 

Get started making infographics for your small business today!

If you need more help in this area, give IFTS, Inc. a call at 412.715.6266 for a FREE consultation!

Top 5 Tips for Turning Your YouTube Podcast Video into Two Weeks of Social Media Posts

It can be a struggle to come up with fresh ideas for your social media campaigns, but if you have a great podcast that you’re passionate about, why not use your discussions and turn them into social media content?

With a little bit of work, you can easily turn your podcast into two weeks of social media posts that will help you grow your audience and build your brand.

In this blog, we’ll give you tips on how to turn your audio into text and graphic posts, and even short video clips for sites like Youtube, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. We’ll also tell you how to promote your videos so that more people watch them.

So if you’re ready to learn how to turn your podcast into social media gold, read on!

#1-Make a daily plan for the next two weeks for your social media.

Having an outline of the types of posts you want to share each day and the format you want to use, such as text, image, video, or a combination of the three, is helpful.

For example,

Monday: Upload your podcast video to YouTube (we talked about how to do this in our last blog) and share the link on your other social media sites.

Tuesday: Take a fun fact or quote and turn it into text with a picture that goes with it.

Wednesday: Post a short clip from the whole video.

Thursday: Find an inspirational quote and make a graphic related to your topic.

Friday: Create a blog link post.

Saturday: Post a fun fact or a funny clip.

Sunday: Reminder to check out the Youtube video.

Week 2

Monday: Combine text and a visual image using another useful fact or statistic from your podcast.

Tuesday: Make another inspirational quote post.

Wednesday: Create a list post or promote free consultations, subscriptions, newsletters, or other lead magnets.

Thursday: Provide another guest quote or topic quote, either in the form of a short video clip or an image and text post.

Friday: Post a reminder to check out your podcast with a link included.

Saturday: Share interesting facts or comparisons as an infographic.

Sunday: Show a screenshot of the podcast video or image with a teaser that says “keep tuned for our upcoming episode.” 

#2-Pull out the most interesting parts of your podcast to create your social media posts.

You can do this the old fashioned way by listening to your audio and writing down at least 8 to 10 points you’d like to highlight, or you can easily transcribe your entire podcast with apps like otter.ai, which saves the entire text from your audio, making it easy to read over and copy all of the quotes and information you’ll use when making your daily posts.

#3-Create your text and graphic posts.

Let’s dive in!

Feel free to be as creative as you’d like, but we like to follow these simple rules.

  • Get the reader’s attention with a topic line that stands out.
  • Explain why this content is important to them.
  • Tell them what they will learn.
  • Tell them how to listen to the episode.

Remember to add colors, your logo, and a font style consistent with your brand’s personality and the topic you’re covering.

Using photos, art, and other graphics can give your social posts a unique touch and help you get the attention of your audience.

It may take a little longer in the beginning to create posts from scratch, but once you have a theme, it will take less time in the future.

There are many design apps out there with free-to-use features, and one of the easiest and most intuitive to work with is Canva. With pre-made graphic templates you can change for your specific needs and a way to save all of your creations, you don’t have to worry about starting with a completely blank slate the next time.

#4-Create your video posts.

Creating video clips and posts of your podcast episodes is a great way to repurpose your content and get more bang for your buck.

You can share two types of video: an actual video clip, if your podcast story or interview is videotaped, or an audio clip transformed into video format (mp3 to mp4), which is a lot easier than it sounds.

Read on to learn how to convert audio files to YouTube-friendly videos:

  • Go to Headliner.app or Canva.com and register for free.
  • Click “create audiograms” or choose one of the many video templates on Canva.
  • Upload your podcast audio, or you can upload a video file of your episode if using Canva.
  • Choose the length of video you will create, or for more advanced options, Canva allows you to cut your video and save it as a new project where you can add custom graphics and elements, including page animations, transitions, and background music!
  • Headliner allows you to Include transcription, but only up to 10 minutes in length. In Canva, you can add text to each frame of your video, which is time consuming for an hour long podcast, so save that for shorter clips. As we covered in our last blog, Youtube allows you to add subtitles automatically and is by far the easiest way to add captions to an entire podcast video.
  • Follow these steps to design, and your video clips will be ready to share on social media.

If you’re posting just audio, try to keep it under one minute, and remember, sites like Instagram only allow video posts that are one minute or less.

And make sure you include a great opening line, so that listeners will want to hear more!

#5-Plan and schedule your posts.

The last step is to publish your content. You can do this manually, but if you use lots of different social media platforms, use an automatic scheduling program like socialpilot.co, which will allow you to plan multiple posts in advance.

These sites often provide analytics which tell you how your posts are performing on each platform. Be sure to try it out and don’t worry about being perfect!

Finally, be sure to include links to subscribe to your podcast on iTunes or other sites and add relevant hashtags so that people can easily find and follow you. And remember to promote your videos by sharing with your friends and followers and encouraging everyone to share them, too.

You can also use paid advertising on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram to boost your videos. When creating your ads, be sure to target people who are likely to be interested in your content. For example, if your podcast is about business, target people who work in businesses or are interested in entrepreneurship.

By following these steps, you can easily turn your podcast into two weeks of social media content. 

So what are you waiting for? 

Start creating and promoting your videos today!

Need some help in this area? Call our social media experts at IFTS and learn more about our services at 412-715-6266.

The Ultimate Guide to Turning Your Podcast into a Youtube Video

If you want to take your podcast to the next level, you might be wondering if you should start putting videos on YouTube. 

Video is one of the most popular types of content on the internet, and it can be a great way to reach more people. But before you start filming yourself talking into a microphone, there are a few things you should know. 

In this article, we’ll show you how to turn your podcast into a professional-looking YouTube video that keeps people interested and helps you grow your audience. We’ll also tell you how to choose pictures that go with your audio and how to make your video work best on YouTube. 

So, if you want more people to listen to your podcast, keep reading to find out how to turn it into a YouTube video.

Why turn your podcast into a YouTube video?

You might think that YouTube is just for watching videos, but more people listen to audio on YouTube than anywhere else! 

According to the Music Consumer Insight Report, 47 percent of the time people spend streaming music around the world is on YouTube. In fact, YouTube even beat Spotify to become the biggest platform for listening to podcasts in the US. 

People don’t seem to mind staring at a screen that doesn’t change while they listen to something they like. So yes, you can be successful even without a video on YouTube! Many are happy to just sit there and listen without watching while they go for a walk, work out, or fold some laundry. 

Adding some visual interest, though, will grab viewers’ attention and keep them interested when they aren’t just listening. It also lets you add more information that might not be possible in an audio-only format.

Your podcast’s online presence could be more than doubled if you upload it to YouTube! It potentially gets you in front of billions of Youtube users every day, and it’s a great way to make your content available to your audience no matter where they are.  

So before you record that next episode, it’s worth brainstorming ideas about how you can turn your podcast into a YouTube video.

Steps to Getting Started with Youtube

Step 1: Decide what type of video you want to create

There are a few different ways you can go about creating a video version of your podcast. The first is to simply take a video of yourself while recording your podcast. This is the easiest way to create a video, but it can be a little boring for your audience if they’re just watching you sit and talk.

You could also record your podcast on your webcam. You don’t need to buy any fancy equipment to do this. Simply plug your microphone into your computer, use the built-in camera, and use Zoom or QuickTime to record yourself while you speak. Make sure that your podcast microphone is being used instead of the computer’s built-in microphone in your audio settings.

 If you decide not to film yourself, add pictures and short video clips to your audio for visual interest. This is a great way to keep people watching, and it lets you easily add extra information that might not be possible with just sound. 

It’s important to choose high-quality images that fit your brand’s style and aren’t a distraction, so make sure they relate to your topic and add value

Step 2: Record your audio 

Once you’ve decided what type of video you want to create, it’s time to start recording. When recording your audio, it’s important to speak clearly and at a consistent volume. You also want to avoid any background noise that might be distracting to viewers. 

Your sound file alone is an MP3 type of file, which can’t be uploaded to Youtube. Because the video site requires MP4 video files, you will have to have some type of video to go along with your podcast, even if it’s just one image, so that it “plays” and uploads to the site like a video would.

 Step 3: Converting your audio file into a video

If you want to spend even less time uploading your podcast to YouTube, keep reading. 

Create a background image first by using free graphic design software such as Canva or Envato Elements. Both already have YouTube video templates, so you’re not starting from scratch. Adding your logo and changing the colors is pretty simple, and there are thousands of graphics available to really customize your video. 

What should be included in that graphic? 

Your company’s logo, name or host, website URL, and any other relevant information. YouTube recommends images with a resolution of 2560x2240px for the best results on all devices. When you upload the MP3 audio file of your podcast to a software app like Canva, you can easily add and switch from one image to another with a wide range of customizable effects to go along with the sound.

Be sure to include a call to action page at the end so that people know what to do next. 

You can also add links to your website or other social media and encourage people to like, share, and subscribe to your channel.

Finally, you now have an MP4 file to upload to YouTube!

Step 4: Optimize your video for YouTube

 After you’ve added your designs and recorded the sound, you need to make sure your podcast is ready for YouTube. It’s important to use keywords that are related to the content when optimizing it. You should also think about adding captions and/or subtitles. 

YouTube says that videos with closed captions get 12 percent more views than videos that don’t. Some polls even show that people are more likely to finish watching videos until the end if there are captions. This is perfect for those times when people might find it easier to watch video content without the sound on. 

Don’t worry, YouTube has its own built-in AI that captions your videos for free once they are uploaded. It may not always be 100% accurate, so remember that the higher the audio quality you provide, the better the AI-generated transcription will be. 

Once you have your Youtube channel with your uploaded videos, you can access and edit the closed captions. Click on the Subtitles section and select the icon below.

You can either edit your subtitles directly within YouTube or upload your audio subtitles using a site like https://otter.ai/home, which will ensure your audio text is indexed and searchable on the internet. This will help your videos rank higher in search engines by turning every word that is captioned into metadata and making it more likely that your videos will show up in Google searches.

Shorter Podcast Clips, Are They Still Worth it?

As we covered in our last blog post, video marketing is definitely worth your time. 

Because YouTube has such a large audience, it’s one of the best places to put podcasts and other types of content. People enjoy YouTube because it’s popular and it’s what they know. 

But what if you don’t have the time right now to post full episodes of your podcast on YouTube? 

That’s okay! You can still promote it by posting shorter clips from each episode. 

This is great for several reasons. Listeners are more likely to download the whole episode on their favorite podcast app, which could mean more endorsements. Also, people are more likely to share a short video than an entire episode that lasts 45 minutes. And finally, they are perfect for sharing on social media.

With a little effort, you too can turn your podcast into a YouTube full length video or short video clip that will help you reach a wider audience! 

If you are looking for help in this area, our team at IFTS is here for you. We are committed to your success and will take the stress out of creating marketing content! Contact us today for a free one hour consultation at 412-715-6266.