As entrepreneurs, we have to either adopt--or adapt to--new methods
of advertising to reach potential clients and customers. With so many of
them connected to the internet with their mobile phones and/or laptop
computers, it's no wonder that digital media advertising (DMA) is the
new hot button for any seasoned or newbie entrepreneur.
Now potential customers can be reached 24 hours a day on many
different devices all connected at once, and any customer can find your
services through your digital portfolio, ringtone or podcast, or an
online video tutorial. Beyond the internet, these media find their way
to any medium that will support them.
These are three top trends in DMA:
Media Rich Websites
Since digital media is so easy to capture, manipulate and work with,
it's no wonder that many businesses are deploying online commercials,
podcasts and videos for YouTube and MySpace. If your current website
harkens to a traditional bulletin board, you may want to design
something new.
By embracing Web 2.0, you will find yourself in an expanded internet
full of online collaboration and communication 24 hours a day. To have
no downloadable samples of your product or samples to stream is to miss
out on potential sales.
For example, when Chris Basile of SubSonic Recording Academy in New
York came up with a new way to stream educational audio and video
education tutorials from his newly deployed media-rich website, traffic
increased by 400 percent within 60 days. Due to this increase, Basile
closed new deals and contracts that helped increase his sales by more
than 75 percent within that same time period. By putting a simple online
video in a newsletter and blasting it out to his subscribers and
letting them know that a podcast library was no longer available, each
page got hundreds of new hits each week.
This is what makes social networking sites so popular: They are set
up to function with almost all digital media methods and types, and they
provide news and networking for all ages. If your company's website
doesn't provide digital media interactivity, you may lose popularity
quickly. If you can't make your own video look professional, outsource
to a production facility. With globalization, it's easy to find
facilities worldwide to make your vision a reality without breaking the
bank.
Create many types of files for a large amount of digital video
players, as well as many compression rates to match user download
mediums and speeds. Audio can be recorded once, edited a few times and
used for many different outlets. Ringtones, commercials, podcasts and
audio books are but a handful of options as well as for commercials on
terrestrial and online radio shows.
Success Tip:
Make sure you get a .mobi and set up a mobile version of your site and mobile versions of your media.
Digital Portfolios
Gone are the days of the outdated paper business card. Even if printed
on the best stock, a business card pales in comparison to a DVD or
CD-ROM with your information on it.
Imagine a customer at a tradeshow looking for a production facility
to make a commercial for online and TV airing. What would make more of
an impression: a traditional business card or a digital portfolio? If
your DVD when inserted opened a website, examples to view, video, audio
and contact information ready to drag and drop into your contacts, your
chances are much better than someone who just hands out a business card.
When Joan Babcock of GlobalArt Ltd. wanted to stand out, she put all
of her art examples and services on a DVD, added some great packaging
and handed out the DVD with a business card at trade shows, sales
meetings and any chance she could get to show off her talents. After
Babcock created her digital media-based portfolio, the world opened up
for her. In six months, her sales increased and she can now support
herself full-time on her business efforts alone.
Babcock realized that by teaming up a standard business card with a
transportable DVD, she could engage a potential client almost
immediately as her information was readily available. Many times, people
have access to their laptops, but not necessarily the internet. Having
information that could be handed out and discussed immediately gave life
to GlobalArt Ltd and helped make it the success it is today.
Success Tip:
Just like with business cards, don't forget the outside packaging of the
DVD case or sleeve. This branding will draw the potential client to
want to view the contents within.
Digital Signage
Whether in your offices or on the road on the side of a truck, taking
your message to the masses has becomes so much easier. Digital media can
be combined into a program that creates a sign in your store, outside
it or on the road. Depending on your line of business, you can always
take advantage of advertising on the road or within your store or store
window. With digital signage, you can send your message from your fleet
of vehicles or your own car, or these signs can be placed inside your
facility or in a store window. Digital signage is helpful for menus,
news, running lists of services and so on. Depending on the quality (and
cost) of the digital sign, you can incorporate all other forms of
digital media into the sign's cast.
For example, when Alysa Marsh of Fresh Free Fruit Inc. wanted to sell
fruit smoothies and yogurt health drinks, she found that long lines at
her counter could be put to better use than just looking around at her
stock. Marsh deployed a digital sign and had a production house create a
multimedia presentation that would run all day in her store and give
her customers stock information and news along with health tips. From
another 'digital sign' placed at the exit, she was able to run her TV
commercial so that users realized that it existed and identified with it
more when they saw it at home. With very little cost upfront and with
very little time and effort, Marsh found that with an investment of less
than $1,000, she was able to increase her sales and recoup her initial
investment within two months.
Success Tip:
Digitally enhance any graphic with tools such as Photoshop, Gimp or
Creative Suite. Kiosks can be set up in your company lounge area for
both employee and customer help, and for advertising. You can use audio,
video and still images together in the kiosk or digital sign
Source: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/195738
Robert Shimonski is a digital media expert who has helped build and
develop media packages for thousands of companies worldwide, including
Microsoft, Elsevier, Wiley and Syngress. He helps startup companies
break into Web 2.0 and currently resides in New York.
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