Made You Look - Now Pay Attention!

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 21:37:28 EST

Well, we are just past Thanksgiving and officially into the Holiday Season. Both Black Friday and Cyber Monday are behind us and there are now only 25 days (and nights) until Christmas Day. Department stores, online retailers and so many other organizations are in a no-holes barred frenzy to grab your attention by whatever means they can to get you motivated to shop, buy, visit, donate or participate - all in time for the holidays.

This may bother many people, but I enjoy this time of year because it gives me a chance to observe, learn and participate in how companies - from mom & pop local vendors to the big box mega stores and outlets - communicate (and market) their products and services to others. To many companies with big marketing budgets, it becomes a around-the-clock multi-faceted campaign to get us to notice, identify and purchase goods and services from them. Sounds fun, right?

Here's what you can do to enjoy this time of year as well . . . PAY ATTENTION.

Pay attention to what captures your attention, steals your focus or gets you to shop late a night for that "must have" item. Take note and LEARN from this experience. Then, when the time is right, USE that method, idea or crazy concept to communicate YOUR brand, product or service to others. There is no harm in recycling and customizing an idea to make it a better idea for your scenario. . . remember, it worked with you, right?

Now, go out there and enjoy yourself!

tags: Marketing Tips, Motivation

Can Video Help Your Small Business?

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 10:34:26 EST

Video has become a killer app for small-to-midsized businesses. You can now use live video conferencing and collaboration between remote employees and clients, provide video demonstrations and education for websites and social networks, and so much more. The possibilities are literally endless.

Is Video Right for Your Business?

Large businesses have long embraced video marketing in the form of traditional TV advertising. Smaller businesses however, find the expense and overhead too rich for a stretched (or non-existent) marketing budget.

Thanks to sites like YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook and several other social media sites, both large and small businesses can effectively market themselves via online videos within an affordable budget of both time and money. And once the video is created, it can then be recycled and reused in many different marketing strategies at little or no cost.

Let's face it: Consumers love to watch videos. We are becoming less a society of readers and more of watchers; the average consumer would rather watch a video than read a text-based advertisement. Like it or not, you need to be aware of and adapt your marketing mix to this trend.

What Kinds of Videos Can You Produce?

Here are just a few examples of how you can use and incorporate video into your marketing strategy:

Inform and Sell
Educate and Sell
Entertain and Sell
Brand Awareness
Retail Promotion
Product Support and/or Training
Employee Communications and/or Training

tags: Video, YouTube, Video Marketing, Statistics

AlwaysOn Communications

Made You Look - Now Pay Attention!

Can Video Help Your Small Business?