December 22nd, 2009
Video Marketing is exploding!
Traditional marketing just can’t reach the size of targeted audience that digital can. More and more marketers are pulling away from these methods and investing into digital. For 2010, expect an accelerated move of ad dollars from traditional media to digital media.
Forrester Research says that 59% of US marketers plan to increase their budgets towards digital by pulling funds from traditional outlets. eMarketer currently is forecasting 5.5% growth with banner ads and online video. Geoff Ramsey, CEO of eMarketer states: “media dollars have imploded, media consumption will continue to explode. Due to increasingly empowered consumers and further advances in technology”.
With this being a consumer’s market that can skip or fast-forward through commercials, block out emails they don’t want, use cell phones to tweet, text, bank, shop, get directions…using ratings and reviews to make smart purchases…you can bettcha that video marketing is on the rise where businesses need to use creative, quick moments to entertain and sell their wares or services at the convenience of the consumer. This is very important as wherever the consumer pauses…stop lights, traffic jams, train stations, subway stations, airports…digital media can reach them right where they’re at. This is where Traditional media runs into trouble because traditional ad outlets can’t do that. Most consumer’s are now engaged in their mobile media vehicle whether it’s an iPhone, or one of the other numerous phones available.
Video Marketing is a BIG part of search marketing because people are very likely to watch a video that is part of search results over text results. Also…video’s often show up near the TOP of those search results depending on the number of views they have received.
Video’s are also fun and easy to understand.
Consumer’s are more likely to share fun and easy to understand video’s. Viral videos can and have climbed vertically through out the internet world as people have viewed and shared content that they viewed as compelling. YouTube has rocked the online community with it’s versatility and phenomenal growth along with incorporating comments and ratings thus creating an engaging environment. Another statement made by Geoff Ramsey states that consumers in this digital age simply have too much control over their media environments these days for marketers to be pushing unwanted banners, buttons or video’s.
Marketers and agencies need to develop new forms of messages that are welcomed.
Businesses need: “to create communications that are so compelling, entertaining, informative or useful that the consumer is not only happy to receive them, but also motivated to share them with others.” Geoff Ramsey
As the consumer is empowered to: accept, view, delete, block, share, rate, comment, in an amazing amount of Social vehicles then businesses need to capture this audience in 2010 with VIDEO MARKETING. As video can be viewed in a greater arena then the home… remember that your online audience has a very short attention span to start off with. This actually works in your favor because it allows you to save on production time and costs. Some great video guidelines are offered at ReelSEO.
Have you included video in your 2010 strategies?
October 26th, 2009
…as the traditional marketing sector has also been affected by this recession. With companies slashing their marketing budgets from traditional means such as Television, radio, newspaper ads, SMM and RM has increased 10 fold due to it’s affordability and outreach.
The gas price inflation which in effect has kick-started this change, encouraged businesses to look for other vehicles or means to “get the word out”. Vehicles or means that were available but low-keyed in existence were: Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Myspace, blogs, ping, Youtube, Delicious, digg, StumbleUpon, Squidoo and countless others. They were vehicles just waiting to be boarded and boarded they were.
Twitter’s vertical climb was off the charts and couldn’t be harnessed because it was moving so fast. Facebook’s social outreach created such a landing place for personal and businesses pages that it also has morphed into a community which has blown itself off the charts with phenomenal growth. Youtube went from being a fun place to upload personal video’s to a wide open advertising market, with phenomenal growth continuing as it has and is becoming a tool for businesses & marketer’s having a lower price tag than television. (Consisting of someone shooting the video, processing it and uploading to their site, versus full blown production costs.)
Video itself is ubiquitous – existing or being everywhere at the same time…constantly encountered it also has helped change the market field. Businesses are changing their vehicles from traditional means to places like-YouTube, Facebook, Hulu, Metacafe, Blip.tv, which can host or provide links to user friendly self-help video’s, educational video’s, how to video’s and news-feeds.
Networking has become a part of who we are.
Businesses are reaching out to customer loyalty, which in turn creates “word of mouth” marketing in today’s world on an internet level. This is where Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, blogs, YouTube and others have become so important to businesses. People are talking in these places, talking to friends, relatives, and certain acquaintances/businesses. If they like your product or service, they will talk about you, to you, to family, to friends, to neighbors and connect with you.
Online ratings and reviews are an amazing tool that affects consumer’s buying decisions, and consumers really are using this information to make those decisions. Online companies have already realized this and business owners are now turning to this phenomenon as consumer’s are wanting to know how good the product is, how many people are liking the product and more. The consumer has become very active in researching product information. Businesses need to understand this.
Studies show that the average person has around 250 friends, acquaintances, business connections, etc. within their network/social life. Things to focus on – building relationships with your customer/client, not buddy buddy, but really listening to what they need, being helpful, finding the best deals and passing that on, being aware of what’s happening in your region. Keeping in contact with your clients, even sending thoughtful cards to them. These things will bring your customer/client back and open the door for “word of mouth” marketing, whether it’s in person, online with Facebook, Twitter or others.
The magic is this: If one customer likes your product/service, then you have the potential of reaching 250 more through that one connection. If you have 10 happy customers then you have the potential to reach 2500 connections, if you have 100 happy customers ….. well, you do the math 
Have you changed your playing field yet? 
If you’ve changed your marketing practices…leave a comment in the comment field below and let us know how it’s helped…
If you NEED HELP to change your marketing practices…fill in the contact form below:
[easy-contact]
August 13th, 2009
With power shifts continuing…marketing is morphing itself into a world that influences your brand, your product and your services.
Consumers have grabbed ahold of Social networks in such a frenzy that those networks have skyrocketed in growth five-fold. Building Social Strategies is vital to businesses surviving in this crucial time. To be successful, marketers must use a strategic, systematic approach in setting up this process.
*Listed below are seven practical ways to be efficient in this strategy.
- Socialize content.
- Word of mouth with Twitter
- Aggregate existing content.
- Crowdsource your support.
- Sponsor bloggers.
- Sponsor events.
- Let go with APIs.
*Additional things to do:
- Manage social media for the long term.
- Start small but plan for the long term.
- Accurately prove effectiveness through social application metrics.
- Measure based on objective
- Develop the right roles.
- Social media strategist and community manager
- Educate through social media supplements. Like Procter & Gamble’s social media lab
*Courtesy of Forrester’s Research.
