There is an increasing use of motion graphics by companies in their marketing and branding. It has the capacity to give very particular images of a product, service or company.
The basics of your message are the words you use – it goes without saying. If content is king then one of the content royal family is the message directly put in words. It may be a one liner, a tagline, slogan, motto, or it may be something of greater depth – an article, a written walk-though, helpful information your clients and customers can use, or perhaps general and chatty ideas surrounding your products, services and the corner of the market they inhabit.
You brand is made of so many things. Increasingly it is becoming more and more visual, even for the small business. The visual aspect may be a photo, a graphic design, a video presentation or promo. It is even the case that motion graphics are being used more by larger organizations for their promotions. They bring an artier sensibility to the whole marketing process. I will admit it is something I like, but it is not right for everyone and would make the marketing scene dull if everyone was employing just such.
Logos and taglines are the two basic forms of icon used by any business in their branding and marketing. The point is to make them work for you. These are the first two major things to tell the story of you as a business.
Marketing for any small business can be difficult. It is generally a question of gaining a balance between cost, time, content and channels. There is very little sense in looking at any series of marketing options which are not going to be value for money and give suitable return on investment. The channels and content you choose need to fit the purpose at hand, particularly reaching the right targets in the right way. some businesses benefit well from a high incidence of graphic content while others do not. Marketing via a series of channels densely populated by youth is not a good choice for those with an older target market.
Given recent changes to Google algorhythms there has been far more emphasis put on video content. Indeed, there has been a greater weight given to content of all sorts, in particular the quality of that content.
Video comes in two major forms – basic message promo and information laden video. Promo videos give the basics of a message about a product, service or brand. They are short, punchy and often stylized. Information laden videos are generally longer, spoken word, text and graphics based.
There are two major schools of thought, it seems, concerning the best length of business video. The measurement of engagement span in video viewing talks of both 45 seconds and also over 2 minutes in terms of length of engagement, interest holding. The point that is all too often missed in comparing these glaringly different assessments is that there is more than one reason for video viewing online. Where someone is channel hopping or seeking entertainment, looking for a certain need to be met, then a shorter engagement tends to be the case. Interest is held only for seconds. Particular sorts of video work well given this sort of motivation, this sort of online activity. At other times the very same person may be looking for real information, something of depth. This purposive behaviour tends to lead to a longer potential engagement with a video. If someone is seeking out bodies of information laden content then they will extend their engagement with video content that fulfills that need, but only if that content answers a question posed or delivers something held to be of value.
Choose your channels to suit your business needs, your targets. Create, or have created for you, the sort of content that delivers what is required by your targets.
Everything above provides an introduction to a couple of ideas concerning small business marketing – integrated responsive marketing, a content marketing approach.
and here is a novel set of ideas to add to the marketing arsenal – as they say the theatre has a real history in marketing itself – why not make it entertaining
one of our taglines is – who put the art into marketing
there is too much marketing that is tired and hackneyed
Video content can be very simple – text based, voice over added, suitable music, spoken word direct to camera, arty, location based, how to’s, product or service demonstrations, information based, whatever. The format you choose needs to fit the purpose you set. Similarly the design, editing, lighting and sound need to fit. Remember this is all part of your branding and marketing effort. If you create something out of sync, something which clashes with your general brand and marketing landscape then it will do you no service at all.
Most small business owners will say – there is not enough time in the day! Dealing with the basics of any business and then looking to manage some marketing effort, let alone giving their marketing the time it deserves can be difficult, sometimes impossible. On top of this not everyone has the chance, the resources or the skills to do the design work, make the video, write the blog article, send the tweets, sort the facebook updates.
We take a responsive and integrated approach to marketing. We look to adapt the content and the mentions of businesses to what is happening in their market, their target audiences. We do not look to add endless channels and threads to a marketing effort – we look for the appropriate, the timely – what fits!
Here is the new ‘elements’ – the e-zine – I have decided to give it a slightly new form. Rather than compartmentalizing each edition, I will now combine various strands upon which I am working at any one time and try to throw in a few notes here and there. Please subscribe to it and the other channels mentioned – it is useful for me. There will continue to be a number of resources advertised in its pages where they are available and relevant.
I really enjoy digital publishing. I have had a modicum of a background in traditional publishing, having worked on local and niche publications in the past. As you will have noticed I do enjoy the graphic and the visual. I am not a trained graphic designer, nor a particularly experienced artist or illustrator. I am slightly more than a hobbyist but certainly not a thorough professional. I like to delight my own eyes and hope that I can do the same for others.
We specialize in small and local business marketing. For the coming New Year we have a series of offers available. It does not matter whether you are a local shop, a small manufacturer or service operation – we can help!
We like to put in a little art, a slightly different design in our content. Make yourselves that little bit different with just that extra twist we supply.
Business video is well within the reach of small and medium sized businesses. You can do it yourself but at our prices we are as cheap – we also have a background, we have experience that you do not have!
Print design, online content, business video, digital publishing, websites …
There is a saying in Yorkshire – it costs nowt to talk! so get in touch and we can discuss all of your needs …
Every business can do with a little help here and there. We would like to give you that help – nothing fancy, just some honest reductions. We can help almost any business … no selling ice to eskimos, or baseball to Americans …
We can give you that little extra as the New Year approaches and then begins -
business video ,creation, it is now well within the reach of the small business
digital publishing, e-books and presentations designed and written with craft
social media content, from facebook headers to animations, podcasts and graphic design
a branding work up, a real brand landscape, images, icons, taglines, brand story threads
help with the current website or a completely new one, designed to suit
How to Generate Leads With Video Marketing | Social Media Examiner.
