Internet Marketing and Digital Media Strategy Sydney Australia

This blog is the ongoing chronicle of our own application to our business of the theories; ideas and lessons we are sharing and recommending with our clients.  

Taking Risks

If you're not taking risks then you're playing it safe.  It's one or the other.

Yes, it's hard for some people/ companies/ brands to take risks - there's the natural fear of failure, but today, the paradox is it is more risky to maintain the status quo - you risk become commoditised and irrelevant - easily replaced.

"If you or your brand does not have relevance and create passion from your customers and fans then long term you're in trouble - you're no different than washing powder."  Franklyn Un

Much of the current marketing talk today is about online social media, building and connecting with fans but social media is more than just about setting up a Facebook fan page or Twitter account.  It's about creating social objects says Gaping Void's Hugh MacLeod.

Facing Problems

I faced a problem with the CLIVE stuff we were creating - namely potential customers where comparing us with inferior produced competitors.  Our key messages were not being heard.

The reason - our website - (which is where most of our customers find out more about us)  did not clearly communicate our unique selling points - we looked like our competitors - ie just selling the technical video production ability instead of where we wanted to play - our creativity, our online marketing understanding, our script writing, our production quality, presenter coaching, technology platform and analytics. 

We had to change the way we sold and move from a volume production view of the world towards a very customer centric, creative, niche approach.  Less how many video jobs but more about developing the whole of customer experience - right through to their customers experience.

Seeds take a while to germinate

It took a very long time (in web years) for my team to actually understand what I was saying (and I suppose my deeper understanding of the space and ability to communicate).

Lonely Girl 15 (2006)

We'd all seen the Lonely Girl thing way back in 2006 but what was the end result today? Did it eventually ever sell anything beyond building the Directors profile? Was/ where's the long tail benefit to fans?  What's the point if those no end in sight?

Beached As

I'd seen the clips years ago but the guys appeared on one of the national morning TV shows - I sent the interview to my guys - it's when they saw the commercial return from the books "they got it".  In many ways many businesses are like this - they need to see someone else successful before they have a go - it reduces their perceived risk - they need to be sold and convinced.

For every huge success there will tens of thousands of failures - today there's 37 hours of video uploaded to Youtube every minute.

"It ain't viral till it's viral" but there are some common elements to viral video success - low budget; humour; topicality; provocation; surprises and strategies - piggybacking on trends or celebrities; kids and cute animals.

If you focus purely on the $$$ then customers will soon see through your work.

2010 - Doing Incredibly Boring Work and the Creative Stuff that inspired.

My video guys were stuck on a very boring government job - we done a hundred simple presenter to camera CLIVE clips, it was the creative ones like Wendell's Dancing Reebok that got the most Click Thrus and results - social media was focused on how many fans or Twitter followers - the next metric is engagement. 

2011 - Focus on Creative Inspiration 

Less now on volume and more focused on customer experience.  The development of characters to deliver key communications messages to targeted audiences; a platform for companies and brands to engage online; a framework for new talent to be involved.

Introducing The Characters

Each character went through a behavioural profiling approach (60 questions) used by Human Resource consultants around the world - developed to hopefully resonate with each customer segment.

The Hard Arsed CEO	The Punchy Salesman	Online Presenting Diva	Viral Video Expert	The Nerd
Facebook	Facebook	Facebook	Facebook	Facebook

Each character a Facebook fan page; Twitter account created and behind the scenes video element created. 

The rest to unfold - I'll keep you posted.  

Quality vs Quantity

What is better, a website that converts 1% of 100 visitors or 10% of 10?

I've never heard of Quantity Service!

Is marketing just a numbers game or is it the quality of your visitors and customers that matters most?

At the recent Online Retailers Conference in Sydney I was amused at the disproportionate number of exhibitors promoting Search Engine Optiminisation (SEO). SEO is essential (it helps to qualify your web visitors) but it's only one small part of online marketing and customer engagement.

The influence of mass media advertising is descreasing - we are increasing influenced by online word of mouth testimonial.

12.5 seconds

The most critical element of a new visitor to your website is the first 12.5 seconds - it's in these first few moments that a new visitor makes a decision whether to stay or go.

What's your web visitor experience like? Did your website engage? Did it build trust?

What's your ratio of visitors to customers look like? Is it increasing or decreasing?

For the record the average across most retail sites is 1% - wow 99% of website visitors don't engage!

How well do you know your visitors and online customers?

I was very impressed with Core Metrics whole of customer cycle management system at the show.

How can you easily increase online customer engagement?

A recent US Report on online advertising effectiveness showed that rich media with video significantly increased website results.

But a warning, not all rich media video is the same

A Few Tips on Rich Media with Video

• Users appreciate quality content and production. For professional results use professionals - it's not about the technology it's about the communication.
• Content must be relevant to the viewer. There's no point running a video for red meat on a vegitarian recipe page (unless you're out the convert buyer behaviour).
• User control is important - allow users to quickly close or mute.
• Cookie control functionality so your visitor is not getting the same message every time. Better still create a series of sequenced messages that create a conversation with your returning visitors and customers.
• No buffering - No one want to wait five seconds or more for a website video to load and play. Rich Media video must be fast.
• Keep your message real and to the point. Your in your viewers very personal space (less than a metre), value their time and eyeballs. Make your message sharp and to the point.
• Entertain to inform (if required use professional presenters)

Professional Rich Media Video will dramatically increase your visitor to sales ratios.

For more information on creating effective Rich Media video please give us a call on 61 2 8005 8072

About the Event

It is forecast over 90% of future Internet traffic will be video - covering everything from entertainment and advertising to health and education.

Australians now spend more time online than watching television and as we know media is increasingly fragmented. Today customer attention is scarce - you have an average 12.5 seconds on a website to capture attention and generate a call to action.

This group discusses developing effective digital media communications - from clients all the way to vendor solutions.

Each month commencing at 5PM sharp and running for an hour we'll hold an informative but social meetup group bringing together a wide mix of people covering film and video professionals; actors, presenters, sales, advertising and marketing people, Internet technologists, investors and clients.

Each month we'll have short presentations/ interview followed by short Q&A, drinks and offline social networking.
This month

We've all suffered "death by Powerpoint".
This months CLIVE-ALIVE event will focus on "effective online communication" and creating engaging content.

Our special guest speakers this month will be -

* Rose Fulete, National Advertising Sales Manager, CMPMedica (www.mydr.com.au)
* Scott Maxworthy, CEO Max Media and Entertainment & Chris Schwager, Creative Director RidgeFilms
* Jo Wilton - Professional Presenter
* Andrew Brain, General Manager, Virtual Communications - a clients perspective

One thing about the digital media space is that it is never boring - there is constant innovation and learning but at the end of the day it's all about communications - which is people talking with people.

Digital communications is now embedded into all our lives - from your mobile phone, conventional email through to blogs, Facebook and Twitter.

As the NBN (National Broadband Network) pipe expands so will the range of digital products and services on offer.  In fact,  Australian's spend more time on the Internet than watching TV or with any other media (Neilsen/ Love Digital)

Video on demand, IPTV, peer-to-peer (P2P) video, and Internet video are forecast to account for nearly 90 percent of all consumer IP traffic in 2012 (Cisco), more importantly around those video elements will be a myriad of interactive services - many of which we haven't thought of yet - health, education, entertainment and so on.

The economy of tomorrow will be connected by this high speed network connecting Australian customers and businesses to the global market.  At the moment Australia is ranked about 18th in the world and we are about 1% of the global GDP marketplace.   The potential opportunity is substantial.

Australia has the potential to be world leaders - in fact the US is already looking at what we've done with the NBN but the answer is more than infrastructure - ie like power poles are to electricity - it's how you use and create that counts and with limited capital that requires strategy and focus.

If Australia is going to compete on the world market then we need to not only develop the technical infrastructure but the skills development, effective capital investment framework, digital media strategy and thought leadership for the next wave of Aussie entrepreneurs.