Marketing Archives - Media Mall Marketing

Scratch Cooked Catering at Media Mall

January 6, 2020/in Latest Post, Marketing, Members /by Nikki Gillingham

image via http://sammitchcafe.ca/

You may know Media Mall as the one-stop shop for marketing, web design, and business services needs, but did you know we also have our own in-house scratch cooked cafe and catering company? Whether you’re stopping by the Media Mall space for a meeting with one of our members, or you’ve rented a boardroom to deliver a presentation, Sam’Mitch Cafe has coffee, treats, and meals to make sure you and your clients are fueled with delicious, healthy energy that doesn’t interrupt your workflow.

Although conveniently located in Media Mall’s upstairs kitchen, Sam’Mitch Cafe is open to the public and even has a delivery service. You can check out their boxed lunch menu and place your order right online. It doesn’t get easier than that!

Why is it important to us to offer fresh meal options?

Media Mall’s collective power comes from having 17 professional and marketing services companies under one roof. We are always brainstorming to ensure the best results for our clients, and having Sam’Mitch Cafe onsite to provide healthy food options (and an endless supply of Equator coffee) helps keep the project planning on track.

Group Catering and Take-Out Options

Our members frequently host workshops, training sessions, or meetings in our state-of-the-art boardrooms, and Sam’Mitch Cafe offers great catering options to impress guests. Whether it’s coffee and muffins or a more elaborate selection, there’s something for everyone, no matter what kind of event it is. Our boardrooms can be booked by members, but also by the public! If you’re interested in hosting an event and need a space, book online today.

We also conveniently have take-out options for non-members who wish to drop by for a bite to eat! Just follow the signs when you enter the front door at 2435 Holly Lane.

We pride ourselves on being your one-stop shop for all of your professional marketing needs, and having a scratch kitchen and cafe on-site for members and the public is another way we ensure top value for anyone who comes into Media Mall. If you’re interested in a multi-member proposal, send our founder Tony a message today – or, if you’re in the area, stop by for a coffee!

Showcase Your Brand With Custom Promotional Items

December 13, 2019/in Latest Post, Marketing, Members /by Nikki Gillingham

When you come to Media Mall to refresh your brand, get website design or technology help, or even just a new campaign strategy, you can choose from a variety of promotional items at the same time with our in-house shop Springboard Promotions.

If promotional items aren’t already a part of your marketing strategy, it’s time to consider adding them in. Did you know that more than 80% of consumers keep swag for more than a year after they’ve received it? And about the same number will look a company up online if they receive a branded item from it.

But What Kind Of Promotional Products Do People Want?

According to Springboard, 50% of people have a promotional item on them – often a wearable item such as a hat, golf shirt, or gym bag. But anything people can use on a regular basis is a good swag item: car accessories, office supplies, travel mugs, or even kitchen items like branded knives.

Still Not Sure About Adding Branded Products into Your Marketing Strategy?

Swag can be given out to anyone, anywhere, and leaves a lasting impression on potential clients. From golf hats for your sales team, to scarves for clients at Christmas or notepads as a giveaway at trade shows, there is nowhere you can’t make use of these items.

Springboard doesn’t just do the typical USB sticks and mouse-pads – although you can certainly get those, too! Springboard also offers printing services, including stand-up banners.

“You don’t have to be a Fortune 500 company to market like one,” they told us. Springboard can work with you to plan for your long-term needs, as well as offers multi-year plans.

Promotional items can go a long way in helping build brand awareness. With items starting at just a few dollars each, no matter what your budget is Springboard can find the appropriate item for your situation without breaking the bank. And because they’re located on the second floor right inside Media Mall, we can work with you to ensure the products you’re picking out make sense for your brand, your audience, and your current strategy or campaign.

If you’re in need of a comprehensive marketing or business strategy that involves more than one traditional (or non-traditional!) marketing tactic, send our founder Tony a message. We can arrange to get all of the experts you need in one room, and ensure your promotional product needs are all taken care of, too.

Increase Sales with Lead Acquisition Strategies and Content Marketing

October 21, 2019/in Marketing, Member tips /by mmstaff

If you’re a business owner, you know the importance of good marketing and – even more so – good Return on Investment of that marketing. To generate lead acquisition (and get that ROI) you need two things: traffic going to your website, and great content on your site.

Lead Acquisition: PPC and Google AdWords

A solid Pay Per Click (PPC) strategy and Google AdWords campaign is one way to help drive targeted traffic (i.e. people who are likely to buy from you) to your website. In fact, a well-structured PPC campaign can increase traffic to your website by more than 300%!

Google determines the quality of your ad (and how many people to show it to) based on the following four factors:

CTR (click through rate). What percentage of the time do people click your ad when it appears? If people aren’t clicking either your keywords OR ad copy aren’t relevant.

Your bounce rate. Once a person clicks the ad, what do they do on your website? If they leave quickly or without clicking on anything, AdWords determines that the landing page is irrelevant. OR your website experience is bad (slow, not mobile friendly, confusing, etc.)

Campaign history. They are gathering data over time. If you fix something, it will take a little time to get the score back up because of this. That’s yet another reason. If your quality is slipping and you don’t know why, consult an AdWords management agency.

Landing Page Relevance. This is one of the most important aspects of any Ad campaign, Google will crawl the targeted page to ensure its content is valuable to the user. Do not just send traffic to your home page! Your landing page should be optimized to capture your potential leads as well, sending them to a contact page after they read your content increases the chance of users bouncing from your site.

Content Marketing

Once you’re successfully driving traffic to your website, it’s important to keep them there with great content that is relevant to them and their needs. If you look at the PPC campaign factors above, half of them depend on good content to be successful: Your bounce rate and Landing Page Relevance. Without engaging content on your landing page, both of these factors will suffer.

Great content requires three key pieces to keep the reader engaged: The right audience, the right information, and the right time.

The Right Audience: Who is your target audience? When you’re writing content, keep a very specific niche of your target market in mind and write for them only – not everyone you sell your products and services to.

The Right Information: This is easier to figure out once you’ve chosen your audience. What exactly is the problem they have? How can you solve it for them? Don’t be afraid of giving away free information here – when your readers begin to trust you, that’s when they will become more likely to buy from you.

The Right Time: Understand where your audience, with that specific problem, is in their buyer journey. Writing for them at that moment will help move them from researcher, to shopper, to buyer (and new client).

If you need help implementing a PPC or content marketing campaign to increase your lead acquisition, book a meeting with our co-founder, Tony, today. We have experts in-house that specialize in these areas and work together to ensure your digital marketing strategy is a success from start to finish. In fact, we specialize in multi-company projects, giving you a single-point of contact through a dedicated project manager and professionals in each specific field of your marketing project.

The Impact of Sound on Your Productivity – It Might Be Greater Than You Think

October 3, 2019/in Marketing, Workplace /by mmstaff

Coffee shops and other bustling places have become a common place for people to work, with a lot of claims that it improves productivity by having people around to hold you more accountable. This is true, to a point.

A certain level of background noise has been shown to increase productivity in short busts, however, continued exposure to noise actually has the opposite effect and shows an overall negative impact. This includes repetitive sounds like those of an espresso machine or conversations happening around you.

Most of us don’t pay that much attention to the sounds around us unless they become irritating. Even then we often simply put up with it or find ways to tune it out, but do you ever think about how those sounds impact your work, mindset, and health?

Noise is Stressful

Our bodies are deeply impacted and stressed by noise, which only adds to the stress of the work we are already doing. Prolonged exposure to loud or repetitive sounds can actually trigger both psychological and physiological stress responses. Spike in blood pressure or heart rate are the most notable.

The onslaught of pings, rings, and other sounds coming from office devices can slowly build up your cortisol, which is the primary stress hormone. But on the other hand, escaping the office for the local coffee shop and being surrounded by conversations can end up having a similar impact especially frustrating when you are trying to accomplish something.

Reducing the noise level, either by working in a different location or putting on noise canceling headphones can have a huge impact, but don’t start pumping music on those headphones right away. It might cut out all of those unwanted sounds but it may not be as beneficial as you think!

Earphones Can Make Matters Worse

Putting in your earbuds can be an easy solution to block unwanted sounds and focus in on your own world. Unfortunately this has its own set of downfalls.

It’s been shown that repetitive tasks such as data entry, design or coding can all be enhanced with music. . However, tasks that require you to retain information can suffer greatly from it – I can personally attest to this!

As an avid music lover, I have spent many years throwing on my headphones and drowning out the sounds around me and getting into a good working groove. However, there are definitely tasks that can be completed much more effectively when listing to the music at a much lower volume and being aware of one’s surroundings; writing or detailed planning, for example.

In addition, the potential health risks from listening to loud music (like hearing loss or an increased risk of ear infections from earbuds). Earbuds can be especially harmful because they put the sound so close to your inner ear, boosting levels by 9 decibels. That may not look like much but 10 decibels is the difference between having a conversation and standing next to a washing machine.

Productivity and Motivation Suffer

People have shown to be up to 66% less productive when exposed to a nearby conversation. This is especially true when the tasks include reading or writing. Whether you’re an entrepreneur or an employer, you can see the implications of a day’s productivity being cut down by two thirds.

With approximately 70% of offices now using open plan concepts, with little to no separation, people are working themselves harder and producing less. It’s easy to feel stuck in a hamster wheel,, running faster and harder while getting nowhere.

Entrepreneur.com even recently published an article called ‘Why Open Plan Offices are Bad News For Employees’.

Being in a position at work that allows me to choose where I work, whether it’s in blissful silence or in a busier open space, I can honestly say that both have their benefits. Having the ability to strike up a conversation with someone in the Hot Desk Space or in one of the lounges opens up a lot of ideas and opportunities. However, I do not get as much checked off my list during those hours. For that, I retreat to a quiet space and plow through my work.

A Well Planned Space Can Make All The Difference

The modern minimalist look popping up throughout office spaces today adds to the amount of sound we hear. Large open spaces with a lot of hard, flat surfaces only magnify sound. Use of sound dampening elements on walls or opting to use carpet flooring instead of hardwood has a huge impact on noise reduction.

Listen to this great podcast by Twenty Thousand Hertz to learn more.

At Media Mall, we have taken all of these factors into consideration in the planning and design of our office spaces. We have designed our private offices and shared spaces to help minimize the amount of noise. With noise dampening glass and segregated areas to sit and work, people can always find a quiet place focus. We even have a phone booth for people wanting to make a call in a quiet private place.

“When we designed Media Mall, we understood that people running their businesses liked the idea of working together, but they still needed their privacy. All our interior walls are filled with sound proof insulation and even the floor to ceiling glass panels are a two part glass with a sound dampening film in the centre. We made extra wide hallways to allow for people to pass others in conversation and several small lounges for meeting with clients or teams if you don’t need one of our boardrooms. The entire office is designed to allow the best of a productive and private environment while still incorporating the ability for our members to collaborate and communicate as they need to throughout the day.” – Tony Snippe

Does Your Website Load Fast Enough or are You Losing Leads?

September 10, 2019/in Marketing /by mmstaff

“47% of consumers expect to wait no longer than two seconds for a web page to load. After that, consumer tolerance wears and 40% of visitors will abandon a web page if it doesn’t load in less than three seconds”
Shopify studies.

No doubt you’ve read, heard about, and likely experienced the importance of a fast loading website. It’s a conversation that’s been around since the days of dialup connection – if you still remember those days. It’s become increasingly important these days as people’s patience for a slow website is all but non-existent.

This is compounded by the fact that the different devices people use vary widely in their connection speed. We have access to high-speed internet that render a highly graphic site very quickly, unless it’s being shared with people streaming Netflix, or having a shared office connection where speed can vary. At the same time people on mobile devices have much more limited connection speed and data limitation.

What can be done to speed up your website?
First thing is to have a conversation with your webmaster. Your website speed may be limited by the website CMS, large image files, inefficient or outdated code, or the server itself. There are typically 5 different things that you should consider, and talk about with your website provider.

Ensure your server supports the website needs

Depending on the amount of traffic your website receives, and what your website is meant to accomplish, you may need to consider the type of server your website is hosted on.

We recently rebuilt and launched a website on the client’s existing server as per their request. Within 1 week we migrated the website to a whole new server that would better suited for their needs. The new website was taking 6-8 seconds to load despite all of the optimizations put in place. Once moved, the website was served up in less than 2 seconds.

gZip compression is available on most servers and you can usually just request that your hosting provider activate it for you. This is a form of compression run at the server level to speed up serving all of your website files and can have a significant impact on page load times.

Compress Everything – videos, images and script files

Did you know a video background can easily add 3-5 seconds to the load time of your page? This can be even longer if it’s being loaded on a phone.

Using video background has become very popular with such high bandwidth being available these days. It creates movement on the page and helps engage visitors visually. However that point is moot if people leave your website before they ever load the full page. Even when using Youtube or Vimeo to stream the video, it’s important to consider load times for non-optimal connections. You can take a 18MB video and compress it down to 3MB without losing impact.

Images can have the same impact. Consider this: 426kb file can be compressed down to to 28kb, a 93% decrease in size. That’s the difference between a bear and a small microwave. Which one would you rather move? Aside from the obvious danger of attempting to move a stubborn and likely annoyed bear of course.

There are tools which can help compress files as you upload them to your website, such as reSmush.it or kraken.io.

On average, when we’re launching a website, it comes with 100 of images. Once they are optimized and compressed during the launch phase, that media library comes down to 23 – 57mb. This has a huge impact on speed of the pages.

Make sure pages are being cached

Caching is the technical term for storing data in a temporary storage area, usually your computer. Browsers cache a lot of information so that when a visitor comes back to your site, the browser doesn’t have to reload everything on the page, just portions of it. This not only speeds up the pages for returning visitors, it also reduces the load on your web server so that they can go to quickly delivering the page to new visitors.

Use a Content Distribution Network (CDN)

Content distribution networks, also called content delivery networks, are networks of servers that are used to distribute the load of delivering your website content. Essentially, these are copies of your site are stored at multiple, geographically diverse locations so that users have faster and more reliable access to your site.

If a website is hosted in Texas, visitors from the southern states will be able to load it much more quickly than people viewing it in Canada. So if your audience spans a large geographic area, a CDN will help ensure quick delivery of your content no matter the location.

This is not necessary when your organisation is focused on fairly local traffic, such as the same province. Most websites do not use CDNs unless they are aiming for a global audience – such as Amazon or Apple.

By improving a mobile site’s page speed from 8 seconds to 2 seconds, “conversion rate could increase by 74%.”
Shopify studies.

Have a trusted web developer

Having a web developer goes a long way when it comes to the effectiveness of your website. The efficiency of your CMS is based a lot on the underlying code and the various addons used to give your site the functionality you’re looking for. This can range from a shopping cart, booking system, directories and many others. All of these things need to be integrated seamlessly to balance function, form and delivery.

Although this article only speaks to speed optimization, there are many different elements that need to be considered. Everything from the user experience and journey, search engine optimization, conversion rate and more. This is where a robust team can do wonders.

Google Maps Pricing and What That Means for You

June 11, 2018/in Marketing /by Piotr Rauchfleisch

Starting on July 16, 2018, Google will introduce a pay-as-you-go pricing plan that will go into effect for all Maps, Routes, and Places. You’ll be required to provide a credit card in order to continue using Google Maps. The good news is you will have $200 free monthly credit, which will be enough for most people. You will just need to do a little work in order for the maps to continue showing up.

What you’ll find here:

What is changing with Google Maps?
How does this affect your website?
What are your next steps?

What is Google changing?

Google has announced that as of July 16, 2018, the Google Maps Platform will release streamlined mapping API services. This may not mean much to you until you are asked for your credit card, in order to show a Google Map on your website.

There are 3 big changes that are taking place:

Free access is being reduced to a $200 credit that can be used towards any API service. This will be enough for the majority of websites using a Google Maps on their contact page.
A credit card will likely be required to get that $200 credit. There is a good chance the embedded Google Maps will display an error.
Premium API prices are being increased by 1,000 to 1,400%. Nope, that’s not a typo. This will apply most heavily to app developers and websites that make heavy use of Google Maps, such as real estate listings.

How does this impact your website?

If you have an embedded Google Map on your website, it will stop showing up once the new API is released and you will likely see an error message. It’s not the end of the world; however, when your website looks broken, it does look less professional.

Do you need help sorting this out?

We’re happy to help, simply contact us by clicking here.

What you should do next:

You should have received an email from Google in the past few weeks providing details regarding the price increase and whether you fit within the new free tier of $200 in credit. If you don’t have that email, you can go to https://console.cloud.google.com/apis/dashboard and login to the developers console to check your current usage.

If you decide to enable billing and your credit card to your Google account, make absolutely sure that you set up a budget and limit the amount to $200. Doing so will prevent a surprise bill from Google at the end of the month.

More details from Google here:

Creating your Budget:

https://cloud.google.com/billing/docs/how-to/budgets#create_a_budget

Setting up Budget Alerts:

https://cloud.google.com/billing/docs/how-to/budgets#set_edit_or_remove_alerts

We expect that a number of business owners are not aware about this upcoming change. If they manage their own website and do not have a web company, they are going to wonder why the map on their contact page is missing come July 17.

You can read the full details right from Google here: https://cloud.google.com/maps-platform/pricing/

Do you want to know how to update your Google account to continue using Maps? Contact us and we can help you through the process. hello@mediamall.ca

7 podcasts to Enhance Your professional and Personal Life

February 20, 2018/in Marketing /by Piotr Rauchfleisch

Many of us have a commute to work and take that time as a quiet getaway from our hectic days by listening to music, the news, or taking time to enjoy the silence. This time also offers perfect opportunity to broaden one’s horizons and help enhance our professional and personal lives.

I have been addicted to podcasts for about 8 years now and I can honestly say that they have improved my life immensely. Listening to podcasts helped me repair my marriage, improve my confidence, and continues to be a primary source of education for me that makes all aspects of my life better.

Podcast Tip:

Did you know that you can listen much faster than you can speak? We can speak at a rate of 125 words per minute but can process 400 words per minute, with some practice. I set my podcast app to play at 1.5 the normal speed. It helps prevent stray thoughts so I can more fully focus on the content. Worst case scenario, I pause the podcast and take note of a thought or revelation.

The Leadx Show with Kevin Kruse

Kevin interviews some the top leadership experts and business executives for their best career advice, management tips and ends the show with a challenge to be just 1% better at the end of each show. After all, as Peter Cohen once said “There is no one giant step that does it. It’s a lot of little steps.” Find it here: https://leadx.org/leadership-podcast/

99% Invisible

This show is about all the thought that goes into the things we don’t think about — the unnoticed architecture and designs that shape our world. It demonstrates the immense impact such small things can have in our daily lives and on society at large. It’s a great way to understand the world we’ve constructed and provides some great conversation pieces. Find it here: https://99percentinvisible.org/

The Jordan Harbinger Show (Formally the Art of Charm)

Here you will find strategies to improve your career, confidence and lifestyle. With guests like Tim Ferriss, Seth Godin and Simon Sinek, the insights are nearly endless and have practical advice that’s easily applied to your life. Find it here: https://theartofcharm.com/category/podcast-episodes/

The School of Greatness with Lewis Howes

This podcast is excellent at helping develop vision and perspective. Lewis interviews a diverse range of of intelligent, inspirational and positive thinking people. With thought provoking conversation, you’re bound to come away with ideas to enhance your life. Find it here: https://lewishowes.com/blog/

The Buyer’s Mind with Jeff Shore

If you work in sales or engage with clients in any way, you do not want to miss this podcast! Jeff is dedicated to helping you understand your customers, and their thought process during the purchase cycle. He explores the psychology behind those thought patterns; the obvious and subtle considerations that will lead someone to buy (or often not buy). Find it here: https://jeffshore.com/podcast/

Success Unfiltered with Michelle Weinstein

Michelle explores intimate and inspiring stories of being in business with her guests. Stories of rejection, being vulnerable, and overcoming obstacles which all combine in creating their version of success. Find it here: https://www.thepitchqueen.com/podcast-success-unfiltered/

The One You Feed with Eric Zimmer and Chris Forbes

We all struggle with our inner voices at one time or another and this podcast will help you see the positive things in your life and feed your soul. This podcasts explores everything from anxiety, depression, mindfulness, Meditation, and the habits that will help shape a happier life. It’s an excellent way to improve your outlook which inevitably transfers to all aspects of your life. Find it here: http://www.oneyoufeed.net/category/featured/

Do you have a podcast that has impacted your life? I’m always adding to my list and would love to hear what you’re listening to!

Why Events Need to be Part of Your Marketing Strategy

September 1, 2016/in Marketing, Updates /by Piotr Rauchfleisch

Your company can benefit greatly from participating in and holding events. I’m just going to jump start with a couple statistics to backup this idea.

Your company can increase awareness and even become a leader in your industry by holding and participating in local or professional events. As humans, we are social creatures that develop the strongest bonds in person. Although the Internet gives us an incredible ability to connect with each other just about anywhere, it is still just a substitute. In person events give you the opportunity to get insights from your audience and make those personal connections with people that help drive your business.

Do your research

Before you attend, sponsor or host your event, first you should do a little research. Start by asking a few questions.

What events has your company attended in the past?
What kind of events are held in your industry?
Do you have a budget and an audience to hold your own event?

I remember an afternoon several years ago at a small show where I expected to be speaking with people about the importance of user experience in web design. After an hour, I learned that the event attracted job seekers. The afternoon was spent explaining what the company did and taking resumes of people who weren’t qualified – what a bust. You can avoid getting trapped at an event like this by doing your research beforehand. If you can take the time it takes you to drink a cup of coffee and go through a couple potential events, you will be well on your way. If you know someone who has attended a specific event, ask them how they liked it and why.

Attend events and get inspired

At the very least, you should be attending events, connecting with people, strengthening relationships and starting new ones. Natalie Tarini from the Canadian Wood Council spoke with me about the series of events they have been holding for nearly three decades which now span across Canada. The events include keynote speakers, workshops, companies showcasing products, and resources for architects, engineers and students. All of this revolves around how wood can be used in construction, and the events continue to grow. This year, the Wood Solutions fair in BC has been expanded to two days because of the demand.

“Some people say that we’re just preaching to the converted, but the converted still need to be inspired”
Natalie Tarini – National Communications Coordinator at the Canadian Wood Council

Inspiration is a key point because it’s what can make someone excited about what they do, or spark passion in someone new. As the Canadian Wood Council’s goal is to increase awareness of wood as a strong and dependable building material, they gauge the success of their events through an exit survey. This gives them invaluable insight into what stands out at each event and what people want more of.

Let yourself be inspired by the people and ideas at events.
Connect with people in and outside of your industry.
Learn what makes the event great and why people attend.

Get involved and be a sponsor

At a well organised event, you will receive some prominent exposure and demonstrate community involvement and social consciousness. This will get you in front of people who may never think of you otherwise. The added bonus is that you will usually receive tickets to the event which let you engage with other attendees.

Align your organization with a community or social cause.
Increase awareness through the exposure before, during and after the event.
Connect with new audiences.

Hold your own event and make sure it stands out (in a good way)

I have never been enthusiastic about going to events, but an event that shows it will teach me something in a new and exciting way gets my attention every time. Would you go out after a long workday because a new business is opening? Probably not. What if there was an axe throwing competition at the opening? That’s what Bad Axe Throwing did when opening up their location in Ottawa. They didn’t just invite people in and talk about themselves, instead they put an axe in your hand, taught you how to throw it and then had all the attendees compete. That was an event that was fun and worth talking about.

“We take pride in the relationships we build with our clients, our ability to listen and interpret our clients event vision and exceed their expectations. We have a combined 30+ years in the event industry, our expertise in logistics, maximizing a budget, sponsorship, food and beverage, travel, policy and procedure is really what makes us stand out and deliver for our clients.”
ITM Events

Speaking with Julia O’Grady from ITM Events, I learned more about all of the tiny, yet incredibly important pieces that need careful consideration to make an event great. It can sometimes be more than just what happens at the event, but what doesn’t happen. Everything from the food, the registration process, and how people flow through the space. This is an extremely detail oriented responsibility and usually comes with unexpected surprises, which is what makes the talents of a event planning company even more important to a smooth and memorable event. I saw how passionate Julia is about creating events that are remarkable and have people coming back for more.
Ensure the event is aligned with your goals

The bottom line of hosting events may come down to the ROI, but there are different ways to measure your return. You may want to increase awareness of your product or you may want to show your support of the local community and garner good faith.

Raise awareness of your organisation

If you want to get people talking about your company or something new you offer, an event is an excellent way to generate interest. This goes far beyond your list of contacts and attendees. If you are marketing the event effectively, you can expect an improvement in your online presence as people search and learn about who you are, what you’re doing and why.

Support the local community

Your company is likely involved in the community at some level and an event is a good way to demonstrate that involvement further. Whether you support a charity organization of host a Christmas party that invites all the business on your street, people appreciate when you take an active interest in the local community.

Demonstrate leadership

Events such as WordCamp or the Marketing Evolution Summit attract a lot of attention because they educate and inspire. Engaging speakers with innovative ideas are what drives these events to be successful each year. If you’ve been in business for a few years, there is a good chance you know at least a few people whom you find inspiring and would be happy to take part in an event – assuming it’s something you can get people excited about.

Do something extraordinary that will make people excited to come to your event year after year.

Here are a few places to help you get started:

Reach out to your network and see what events people are planning on attending and why.
Take a look through some of the events taking place in your industry or region by going to canadaone.com/canadian_business_events/

References:

blog.eventfarm.com/blog/35-statistics-that-every-event-marketer-should-know
www.virgin.com/entrepreneur/infographic-the-importance-of-face-to-face-networking
business.time.com/2012/04/27/why-face-to-face-networking-trumps-social-networking
ivanmisner.com/onlinenetworkslag
CWC.ca

Do You Engage Your Audience With Online Video?

August 16, 2016/in Marketing, Updates /by Piotr Rauchfleisch

Last month I had a chance to sit down with Jesse Card who is the owner of House Edge Media, a video production studio here in Ottawa, and we had a great chat all about the implications of video and marketing for businesses both large and small. The general conclusion of the conversation: Video is extremely important and has already become much more of a requirement for businesses. Websites went from ‘nice to have’ in the mid 2000’s to ‘absolutely necessary’ by 2010, and now video has also become a ‘must have’ medium.

The popularity of video has been made easier by the fact that expensive high-end equipment is no longer a necessity. More than half of the population of Canada has a smartphone, allowing them to easily record and share videos. In 2015, 68% of Canadians owned a smartphone, up from 55% the year before. Many of us already do this – sharing videos on Facebook and Instagram of that concert we attended or our child climbing up in a doorway, and yet many businesses do not use video in their marketing at all. The most common reasons are money, time, and a lack of understanding of the impact that video has as part of their marketing strategy.

“Everyone has a pretty capable camera and you have to find a way to adapt. Certainly I see House Edge Media empowering and guiding people to do their own stuff but then also providing infrastructure and guidance that makes our services valuable.”
Jesse Card, House Edge Media

Creating video content for your company that is relevant and socially engaging may be easier than you think. Since you no longer need a bulky camera to take videos, your organization can encourage staff to record candid videos which can be shared with a production company to finesse into a marketing tool.

The Benefits of Video:

Let’s start with the implications of using Video as part of your marketing strategy. The benefits of video can be seen across the board in both B2B and B2C markets. Whether you are selling a product or a service, video content can have tremendous implications in generating interest, increasing lead generation, and pulling people in to learn more about your company.

There are many different ways an organization can share their videos online including YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Vimeo, and Snapchat. In addition there are ways to leverage video with ads across Google properties, using videos at events or shows and embedding them on your company website such as the homepage or landing page. There is no silver bullet, so what works for one company may not work as well for another, it all comes down to your audience and their media preferences. A single video can have several variations, each tailored to specific mediums to help entice engagement.

With Facebook’s big push into video, they have become a strong competitor in terms of video marketing budgets. Videos on Facebook tend to receive more views compared to YouTube, however viewers on YouTube are more likely to watch the whole video. So if you’re looking for exposure, Facebook is likely your best bet, but if you want to educate or inform, YouTube is the better option. This doesn’t even include Instagram or using these videos on your website to drive interest and leads. It comes down to the KPIs established for your company campaign.

The Cost of Exposure

The cost of video production has gone down over the last 10 years but is has been replaced with marketing the video content itself. This is because you can no longer depend on people finding your videos online by chance. There is a great deal of video content being created and uploaded every day which means that effective targeting and marketing are required to get in front of your customers.

Your video needs to stand out so that people don’t simply skip over it and move on with their day. This is where understanding your audience coupled with a knowledgable of video production is crucial. There are always unique elements to the people that your company is trying to reach which needs to be addressed, but there are also many underlying visual and audio elements which an experienced professional will have insights into. These little elements can make or break your video. As an example, people are willing to tolerate a lower quality video (although that is changing) as long as the audio quality is good.

The Idea Vs Execution

Taking an idea from concept through to execution of the end product can be one of the most challenging elements and is the point where planning is crucial. Everyone has their opinions about what the video should look like, what it should include, and the tone it should take. Sometimes the final product can be very different from the initial idea, especially once the logistics of making that idea happen are laid out in front of you. Sometimes making that idea possible is what makes it too costly, however coupling your goals with audience research may provide an equal opportunity at lower cost to execute.

“I really feel that sometimes people come with ideas, and they’re great ideas, but I know that logistically they will not be successful with it – it’s just too big of an idea and it’s too hard to execute. The most value is the time you spend in talking with them and figure out what they are trying to accomplish. You have to reverse engineer it. I think most of the skill is in that part.”
Jesse Card, House Edge Media

This is where the value of a professional video provider really becomes apparent. I have created several simple 5 minute how-to videos for clients where I simply record my screen and voice. Even something as simple as short videos like that would take me over an hour to create, between planning out the important steps to cover, recording it, missing a step or tripping over my own tongue and subsequently needing to start all over again multiple times.

With so many tools and resources at our disposal, I’m looking forward to seeing how companies continue to innovate and take advantage of this powerful medium. Video is the strongest way of sharing your story.

References:

https://moz.com/blog/facebook-vs-youtube
http://catalyst.ca/2015-canadian-smartphone-market/
http://www.insivia.com/50-must-know-stats-about-video-marketing-2016/