Jeremy Corner, md of Blue Eyed Sun set himself a challenge to not only send more greeting cards this year, but to make weekly videos (and upload them online) all about his personal card sending, all with a view of seeing the impact it made on himself and others. The videos also involve showcasing the shops he buys the cards in as well as mentioning the publishers who produced them.
Now, at the halfway point of his challenge, he reveals the highs and the lows.
How would you sum it up the challenge so far: “It’s been an amazing experience doing The Greeting Card Project.”
Considering that one reason for undertaking the Project, what kind of engagement from the ‘outer world’ have you tracked?: “To date, the channel [where all weekly videos of The Greeting Card Project are hosted] has had over 7,000 views. The total watch time by viewers is over 250 hours, with an average view duration of 2:06 minutes. Some 135 people have subscribed and the videos have been shared 242 times, with 333 likes and 15 dislikes.”
Above: The very first video Jeremy made which explains about The Greeting Card Project.
What have been your top scorers?: “January was my top month for views, with my first video being the most popular to date. My Cards for Men video will probably overtake that soon as it’s growing in popularity (I think because it’s ranking high on search for the same topic).”
How do people find the videos?: “Despite Facebook being my ‘Top Referrer’ to the Channel, I decided to start posting the videos natively in Facebook in June at www.Facebook.com/TheGreetingCardProject instead of just posting YouTube links on Facebook. So far I’ve posted seven videos natively on the page and had over 746 views in addition to my YouTube views. The videos are watched for a shorter time, but the reach is high and gives great exposure to the retailers and publishers I feature in the videos (especially when they have Facebook pages that I can tag). I’m also sharing the videos via Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook and on my Blue Eyed Sun blog each month.”
Above: The Cards for Women video involves Jeremy going to House of Elliott in Hemel Hempstead. At the end of the video there is video message from Karen from Cavania, who now lives in Australia.
How many retailers and publishers’ cards have been involved in the videos?: “I have filmed 35 videos in as many shops and have visited a good range of independents, small chains and multiples so far. I have shot in shops as far afield as Atlanta and at a variety of cities and towns in the UK. In the coming weeks I plan to visit Wales, Devon, Scotland and Switzerland. I’ve purchased well over 100 different cards from almost as many publishers.”
Above: Jeremy visited Vinegar Hill in Stratford-Upon-Avon to buy his Get Well Soon cards.
How much time and money have you spent so far on the Project?: “I have spent over £1,000 on travel, greeting cards and postage so far. The videos take about eight hours of my time each week to plan, shoot, edit and share (so I’ve spent over 250 hours on the project to date).”
Above: Jeremy visited Daisy Taylors in York to buy cards for parents to be.
What feedback have you had?: “Anecdotally, I have had feedback from several people who say that The Greeting Card Project has inspired them to send more cards this year. Several friends have started YouTube channels in other industries after seeing mine and retailers and publishers involved have enjoyed the support. Not everyone, comments or tells you this though, so the real impact may be greater.”
How would you like to further develop the Project in the second half of the year?: “The biggest challenge is to get more publishers, retailers and those connected to the industry to engage with the content – to comment, like and share on social media. My goal was to get 0.5% of the 100,000 people connected to the card industry engaging every week. It’s currently around 0.01%. If I can get more card industry folk to subscribe on YouTube, to ‘like’ the page on Facebook and to share in specialist groups, then it will continue to grow. I have less than 20 weeks left on the project, so it will be interesting to see if we can make this happen.”
Above: Jeremy explains that while they are the most difficult cards to write that sympathy cards are so very important.
How do you feel about it all personally?: “I’m really enjoying the project, I’m really pleased with my consistency and proud to be sticking to this New Year’s Resolution. Sending more cards makes me feel closer to those that I send my cards to, even if I don’t hear back from them. Although, more people are sending video response to the cards – which I now add in at the end of the videos. Finally, I hope that it helps the card industry in some small way, especially if it gets more people talking about cards and sending more cards.
Jeremy has also recently starred in a US business podcast. He was recently interviewed on American Podcast: The Marketing Disenchanted. The hour long discussion included insights on marketing, competing with larger companies online and greeting cards. “I really enjoyed my first podcast interview and loved Temi Osinubi‘s great questions,” enthused Jeremy. “It was a privilege to be on the podcast which has held interviews with awesome digital marketing thought leaders such as Scott Monty, Mark Schaefer and Brian Fanzo.” Listen to the podcast by clicking here: http://marketingdisenchanted.com/ep-041/
