Internet Marketing and Digital Media Strategy Sydney Australia

Ideas are easy, implementation is harder. It's often easier to consult then to actually do, I'm amazed how many experts are out there have never actually ran a business hands on - that preach a business quick fix or sell the latest fad.  Does experience in the field matter?

In many ways it's like the question of whether a good football coach needs to have been a player of the game to succeed?  Certainly playing develops an understanding of the skills but there's more to coaching than just the game skills and certainly playing at the top elite level provides a whole new variety of experiences - from the quality of training and knowledge to dealing with agents, sponsors and developing your personal brand - building your business. 

In any role it's what you bring to the table, your reputation, your background of experience that helps shape what you do and the way you do it BUT (and in capitals) how well does the past represent the future?

Those that focus purely on the past ignore the constant changes around us. 

I recall a prominent technology writer about five years ago telling all that social media was a fad and also a large Australian retailer saying that Australians won't shop online (his industry influence now putting many retailers years behind their global competitors).  There was also a whole lot of people saying put all your funds into Super.

The market constantly changes. 

Yes the sun will rise tomorrow and people are fundamentally the same but it's the daily choices and our attitudes that matter most.

I'm reminded of a clip I produced for FRED featuring leading international sports marketers regarding technology innovation.

Attitude is everything. 

Make yourself indispensable and sell, promote your unique benefits equals higher margins (is that for you or your customer?).  

Both Molly (A Country Practice) and twenty years later Mel (Packed To The Rafters) got a sudden bullet from their soaps - the insider says it was over asking too much mahoney.

The Producers have to balance customer engagement; profits and team integration - much like a coach of a football team or board of an organisation.

Talent, how they resonate with fans, contributions, the bottom line, the skills they bring and develop, productivity - the many pieces that make up the puzzle.

Back at the Casting Agency Gladis parades her latest bunch of six packs -  "it's nice to have these boys around".  For the girls it's a bit harder, you're just another pretty face - a reminiscence of yesterdays.

For the scriptwriters someone with real acting talent means they can write more complex scripts and storylines; emotional arcs equals engaging your audience = there's ratings to get and awards to be won.

For the CEO, it's the Marketing Director, the Finance Director; the Operations Director and so on = deliver shareholder returns.

For the Coach it's the players and support team = holding the trophy high, sponsors and fans delighted.

You see, no matter what we do, we're all a part of more complex systems.

Like oil, everyone and everything at some point is expendable and replaceable - there's always a price point on which the decision pendulum swings.

You can't undersell just as much as you can't over price what the customer will bare - it's always a value proposition.

There's a balancing act of your personal price point and contribution to the greater good.

We know every customer wants the best product, with the best service at the best price - in a competitve market what gives or rises to the top - what's most important?

Chris waits in the dentists lobby, after 40 minutes of waiting he walks out.

The receptionist calls a few days later and makes another booking.

This time Chris doesn't turn up.

The dentist calls - an argument follows - "my time is far more important then yours!" the dentist screams.

Chris shares the story with everyone who will listen including the hairdresser next door to the dentist.

It's a busy Saturday morning and Kim waits for her beauty client to turn up for her appointment.

The client's late - Kim rings - "ohhh sorry can't make it" - there goes an hour of potential revenue.

Kim rants on Facebook, (I'm not if that's a good idea or not!) - it's the online equivalent of Chris's rant.

The band comes on three hours after their advertised time.

The fight starts three hours after the telecast begins.

The bride is late!

We know that one of the most important elements for any business is creating a sustainable competitive advantage.

Given many people run late - the easiest thing to do is be on time - to value your customers or suppliers time.

How do you incentivize or reward for valuing time or do you simply punish - the credit card booking deposit?

Customer Service, creating value and stories that spread.

Tiger Woods and Nike, Shane Warne and McDonalds, Big Dell and The Dragons to name just a few.

How much do brand ambassadors help sell?

One of the major benefits of the digital advertising and online media space is that it provides businesses and organisations with real time tracking and  results to help determine and evaluate their return on marketing investment.

As you may know CLIVE is a website video overlay of a brand ambassador, professional presenter or business representative which includes video performance metrics - Plays, closes, click thrus etc.

We are often asked for statistical proof on how effective is CLIVE?

BUT many clients don't like to share their information for fear of losing some sort of competitive advantage.

Smart businesses understand it's not about the technology (often a commodity) but the power of information, sharing and creative differentiation.

Our very good friends at the Dragons have let us share their CLIVE results.

http://www.clivevideo.com/Customer-Showcase/Sport-and-Recreation/case-study-nrl-st-george-illawarra-dragons.html

To give you a comparison - a good "banner" campaign will have a CTR (Click Thru Rate) of 0.1%-0.2%

The Dragons averaged around over 6.5% CTR over 700K video served.

The average CLIVE Web Presenter CTR over millions of videos is 4%

The power of CLIVE with Brand Ambassador Wendell Sailor to engage online visitors cannot be understated.