If at first you don't succeed, give up.
The mantra of a successful business? Unlikely. Faced with a marketing initiative that is failing, what are the options? Consider it a lost cause, a sunk cost, and move on? Sometimes, to quote a sage (ok, Bananarama), 'It ain't what you do it's the way that you do it'. What has caused the failure - the idea or the execution? If you undertake a leaflet drop or direct mail campaign and get a negligible response, what was at fault - the wrong audience, the wrong message or the wrong physical design? read moreFailure is an option
Back at the start of the millennium, when I was working in corporate land, creative endeavours were just a hobby. I had been writing books on and off for about ten years, but there was an itch I wanted to scratch - to write a movie. These were the days of the Orange Prize for Screenwriting, so I thought I would turn my most recent manuscript (none of which had ever been pitched anywhere) into a film script. I had watched enough films, and the raw material I had was very mainstream, so in the words of Clarkson & co, how hard could it be? The judge tore it to shreds. It was naive, formatted completely incorrectly, and about 5 hours long. read moreVideo as Pull Marketing
As the world moves away from traditional "push marketing" towards less intrusive "pull marketing", I would advocate that there are two types of pull marketing. One requires a constant regular effort to stay in front of customers, the other much less so. As Google continues to move the goalposts for search criteria, SEO needs a regular shot in the arm to keep pace and ensure your website ranks well. There is no argument that SEO works, but it also gets bad press. I get spammed on a weekly basis by companies offering SEO services. I also meet people who say they pay out regular monthly fees to companies but don't know what they do. Social media is all about regularity and presence. Either you outsource your social media management to a specialist or you devote time on a regular basis to the task. But time is money. Any business or business owner that considers social media to be a free marketing channel is out of touch. read moreWho is watching your corporate video?
It was good to see a piece of promotional activity around a corporate video this week. You know the thing, a social media pointer - in this case a tweet - saying 'Have you seen our video' followed by the URL. Often social media is used for signposting and it is good to draw your network's attention to your own content, whilst not perpetually broadcasting. Unfortunately that was the end of the good news for this example of video marketing. I followed the hyperlink and a video player box popped up with 'Video not found'. Undeterred, and seeing that the Play button looked like it was a YouTube embed, I went onto YouTube and searched for the business' name. (Did you know that searching directly on YouTube is a huge slice of the search market, further underlining why video is so important to your business). read moreVideo for PR
I had a gratifying conversation with a colleague recently, someone who knows what we offer but has never been a client. Actually, a business that already uses video very well as part of their marketing mix and leverages YouTube in a brand-consistent way. They were lucky enough to have exposure on terrestrial TV and even more fortunate to be given a copy of the programme by the broadcaster. Better yet, they were savvy enough to pull the relevant footage from the DVD and get it online immediately after the programme aired. Consequently they recieved a ton of hits and really milked their exposure. read moreFinding a video producer
"When all is said and done, much more is said than done" This is a very accurate observation, but while it indicates that there is often a lack of implementation or follow-up, it does risk giving talking a bad name. A recent client win indicates that sometimes there is no substitute for a good chat, and the soundboarding and brainstorming that can turn a vague notion into a concrete way forward. It's also proof that however large a company is, there is no guarantee that they have all the answers and skills in-house. read moreWhat's holding you back from using video?
Three top barriers to businesses harnessing the power of video marketing are- Fear of the camera
- Perception that it is expensive
- Belief that it doesn’t work