Mobile post sent by RogerRamjet using Utterz.  Replies.  mp3

Mobile post sent by RogerRamjet using Utterz.  Replies.  mp3

Finding your marketing sweet spot

Just before Valentines Day, the timing was right to sell chocolates and loads of them.

A man set up a card table at 7 a.m. in a Hudson Valley business hoping to catch the attention of a large group of passersby. The presentation was colorful and selection was plentiful. You could say he had a lock on the lucrative market. Business should have been sweet, but instead it had gone sour. There was one major flaw with his marketing plan: He was selling to the absolutely wrong audience. The man had set up a mobile sweet shop at a busy gym during what is in essence rush hour.

It is true that the gym has 1,300 members, but the profile of a potential buyer was someone with a weight problem or someone with a vow to improve their health. Runners, weight lifters, and Spinners arrive at the gym at the awful hour of 5 a.m. to fight the battle of the bulge and ward off the winter blues.

Most passersbys consider it a show of strength to stare the candy down and ignore the sugar’s siren-song call. What could this wayward Willy Wonka have done differently to target this large group of potential customers? The most obvious answer is to think about what the target audience would want to have either before or after a workout. Perhaps sources of protein are the solution. But, the gym already does sell protein drinks and products, so they have the corner on that market.

While the term sweet spot originally came from sports (the spot on a club, racket, bat, etc., where a ball is most effectively hit.) it has a really nice ring around Valentines Day.

Perhaps this is too much of a hard-hearted evaluation of the candy man’s venture to capture chocolate loving customers. The sugar-laced scenario does beg an important question: Does your business set up shop in a high-traffic area appealing to the wrong audience? Does your company need an emergency SWOT TEAM? A wise tactical approach might include a thorough evaluation of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Most can benefit from this exercise to determine how their value proposition benefits customers.

Another business that has found their sweet spot is Live South. The real estate marketing company publishes a magazine, Living Southern Style, which showcases nearly 20 new residential communities. Company president Dave Robertson describes his high-end publication as a cash business. ”If communities don’t pay, they aren’t in the publication, which reaches a key demographic of buyers.”

Robertson has taken the time to carefully analyze his target audience. What’s more, he then takes his clients on the road. Live South puts on a real estate road show with the sales and marketing staff of each of the communities.

A recent event at the Hyatt Regency in Old Greenwich, Connecticut had an overflow crowd coming to kick the tires of upscale communities throughout Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia and Florida just to name a few. Robertson understands that vacation and second homebuyers seeking warmer climates are currently located in the Northeast. Old Greenwich is not the only stop, so he cannot be accused of seeking customers in an affluent area who are in essence the cream of the crop. These shows also pull into Ohio, New Jersey, Boston and Washington, DC. They reach potential customers where they live and give Robertson’s clients hot leads of people seeking milder climates.

While this is a clearly smart strategy, Robertson’s website could reach the target audience on a year-round basis with digital video tours of each community. Not just overhead shots of sprawling southern golf courses, but real life interviews with current residents talking about what makes living in the community so appealing. These testimonials can showcase a lifestyle, which can be as important as the home a buyer will purchase. Customers want to imagine how a communities amenities fit in with their values and desire for relaxation and security.

In fact, a recent statistic in the New York Times stated that 80 percent homebuyers make purchasing decisions based upon Internet research and comparison-shopping. High quality web video can help communities seal the deal with customers.

There is no question that the photo-rich Living Southern Style magazine is a valuable sales tool for the communities it serves. The coffee table quality publication has a real place in an age of information overload.

Nonetheless, Live South is executing a marketing plan better than selling chocolates to the fit-conscious crowds. For all his heavy lifting, the Candy Man did not score one sale in a two-hour period. No one had the heart to tell him what he was doing wrong.

Roger Rosenbaum is the president of Rosenbaum Media Group LLC an Ulster County-based marketing communications company. He can be reached at: roger@rosenbaummedia.com

Video Is The Printing Press of the Digital Age....

Businesses Finding Their
Role In Digital Community
Web Video Content is Consumer-
Driven, Builds Brands and Increases Sales

By Roger Rosenbaum
President, Rosenbaum Media Group LLC

The digital video revolution is in full swing, and is growing at dizzying speeds. The sale of Internet upstart YouTube in October 2006 for $1.65 billion constitutes a shot heard round the world. As the world goes gaga over YouTube and Google Video, businesses can also profit from web video to increase sales, marketing and public relations efforts.

Some see YouTube as a worldwide version of America’s Funniest Videos, where the family pets and goofy gags often share the spotlight. Innovative marketers, however, see web video as an opportunity to successfully promote themselves, their products and services.

Companies such as Monsanto, Sun Microsystems Inc., Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and General Motors understand that web video content is no laughing matter and are already embracing the “clip culture” by using digital video to help sell, tell, train and entertain. Web video is emerging as the printing press of the digital decade as it helps to bring websites to life. Without digital video, many sites remain static, one-dimensional billboards.

Get the picture?

Seventy-five percent of the American workforce has high-speed Internet access at work, according to Neilsen/NetRatings. The Pew Internet & American Life Project reports that 45 percent of American homes have high-speed access. These numbers will continue to climb as broadband deployment grows and more digital content will smoothly flow to more users.
Better video compression and encoding software has improved the end product—in some cases allowing DVD-quality video without waiting for downloads.

Websites with digital video elements increase “stickiness”, information retention and the ability to case products and services. Sales can increase from targeted customers who understand how products and services meet their needs.

Tech savvy companies understand that digital video can deliver a very targeted message to customers and consumers around the world for far less than it would cost using traditional broadcast outlets. Business Week magazine reports the online advertising market will more than quadruple in the next five years to $82 billion worldwide.
(http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8MHUMT01.htm?chan=search)
Digital video and interactive elements will play a huge role in this vertical market.

How Do You Get Your Web Video to Carnegie Hall? Strategy, Strategy, Strategy!

While it is true that anyone with a DV camcorder and the right software can technically create web video, to be truly effective, campaigns require careful planning to integrate branding, positioning and marketing communications strategies. The goal is to develop content rather than individual clips. Footage produced for companies must serve a purpose, contribute to the bottom line and provide value to target audiences. The Ford Bold Moves campaign (www.fordboldmoves.com) masterfully uses web video to map out the future of the ailing automaker.

Compelling Content Is King

Making content memorable and relevant is a key factor to keep customers interested in your Internet video. Mentos made a big international splash when an experiment captured on tape showed the candies being dropped into a bottle of Diet Coke. The geyser-like reaction resulted in unexpected worldwide attention. Customers and web viewers can be an unexpected addition to your sales force. Millions watched the footage online and sales of the mints surged up a cool 15 percent. (http://mobile.adage.com/html_article.php?li=5041c668)

This a prime example of the unexpected “viral marketing” campaign (word of mouth and e-mail forwards creating an “underground” swell of popularity). Go to http://www.eepybird.com/exp214.html to watch the volcanic video.

Mentos received the equivalent of half of their annual advertising budget in free publicity from the soda stunt, according to a June 12, 2006 article in the Wall Street Journal.

Helpful Hints

Loading your website up with talking heads in the traditional TV manner just won’t cut it on the web. The same often goes for re-purposing footage from previous projects. Web video projects need to have a beginning, middle and an end. Site visitors must identify with or understand the people on camera. Interviews or comments need to be delivered in a conversational manner. Presentations need to have appropriate graphics and a sense of forward motion. Lighting and shot composition are also very important to maximize visual impact and information retention.

Get Video or Get Lost

The television and web viewing habits are changing. Time magazine recently identified that the power is now with the people. Consumers now decide what news, information and entertainment they want and how they will get it. Smart companies will profit from this power shift; others will be left on the breakdown lane of the information superhighway.

Roger Rosenbaum is the president of Rosenbaum Media Group LLC, a Hudson Valley-based custom digital content production company. He has 20 years experience as a journalist, media manager and PR practitioner. Reach him at roger@rosenbaummedia.com