Local consultant Richard Berger presents the second in a seven-article series designed to help Long Beach businesses successfully market themselves in a depressed economy.
Last time, we discussed creating an economic theme in your messaging, marketing and advertising. We learned the value of effective messaging and how it bonds with consumers. We also discovered some local companies that were effectively using this strategy to grow their businesses in a freakonomy. This time, we’ll explore some innovative, affordable and effective ways to help you get your message out by duplicating, replicating and multiplying. This strategy works across all media channels – from radio and TV to print, web and even most mobile formats.
(Re)purposeful Marketing
This article may be nothing new to many of you. But in my practice, you’d be surprised how many business owners overlook or otherwise never consider some of these do-more-with-less tactics; quite simply, their minds are on matters of a different nature.
Messaging in today’s market isn’t like it was just ten years ago. In order to rise above the clutter of competing messages, your message must be delivered more frequently and crafted more effectively. Duplicating or repurposing your content for use in multiple marketing channels is an inexpensive and easy way to rise above – and be in more than one place at one time. It’s also necessary in implementing a consistent and effective messaging theme.
Recently, I had the opportunity to speak with Mr. Dave Solzman, General Manager and Sommelier at Delius Restaurant in Signal Hill. We spoke about a specific and unique element of the restaurant that he was having difficulty promoting or otherwise effectively introducing to his customers. Admittedly, said Mr. Solzman, “With all the other plates I have spinning, I haven’t really considered how, or where to begin such an effort.” For most small business owners with multiple responsibilities to fulfill, it’s easy to see how marketing can end up being a part-time effort.
So, what must a business “plate spinner” do to create more with less?
It is generally easier and less costly to sell to existing customers than it is to new ones. Therefore, simply adding a small menu insert informing Delius’ diners of this particular feature could help increase awareness, interest and subsequent sales among his existing customers. We agreed that repurposing a relevant, abbreviated version of an existing digital file would do the trick. Going a small step further, repurposing this same digital file into an e-mail announcement tied to his economic theme will reinforce a consistent message and help increase his sales from a different customer touch point.
If you’ve done a radio or cable TV commercial touting your features and benefits to your target consumers, repurpose it. Have the video edited into various segments and posted to your website in a Flash format. These excerpts can aid you in creating effective customer affinity messaging that you can use for market segmentation pathways and in your e-mail marketing efforts to your prospects and clients. You could also use the video for creating online banner advertisements for placement in reciprocal, vertical and/or horizontal partner and market-destination websites. Finally, depending on the quality, video captures or still-shots might also be used for any offline advertisements in industry-related magazines and local newspapers, etc. “You can do all of these things more easily if you have your checklist up-front,” explains Mr. Mick Victor, Creative Director at I MOBIUS in Long Beach. “Where is [the advertisement] going to be used? The web wants 15 seconds. Bam! You’ve made your point and move on,” stated Mr. Victor. “Thinking up-front how it might be used helps a lot,” he added.
Being In More Than One Place at the Same Time is Possible and Easy!
Anything in print can be repurposed for use on the web and in e-mail. Your content can be repurposed into PDF downloads or e-mailers, online PowerPoint presentations and Flash movies. Likewise, print ads and flyers, PowerPoint presentations, graphs, charts, spreadsheets, Word documents and PDFs can all be integrated into your web presence. They can be posted on your social media sites like Second Life, YouTube and Facebook (more on this later in the article series). Even a screen shot of your website can be printed, emailed and/or made into a cable TV commercial. All of these repurposed items can be used for additional brand awareness, traffic generation, as rapport-building tactics and as distinct calls-to-action.
Looking again at Long Beach Transit’s “99 Reasons” to ride the bus campaign is another good example of repurposing a specific message in different mediums. “The 99 reasons campaign runs throughout the year in conjunction with what we are promoting at the time. When we kicked off the campaign initially, billboards, bus shelter ads, the commercial, sides of buses and direct mail were utilized,” explained Ms. Marcelle Epley, Long Beach Transit Marketing Manager.
By simply repurposing your effective advertisements and messages, you can easily create a memorable communication strategy that keeps your message in front of your target consumers as they move across multiple media channels
In fact, you’ll discover that practically any content can be repurposed to reap maximum value on that effort, especially when it’s tied-in to your economic theme.
In your business, what types of (re)purposeful marketing tactics are working for you?
Richard is co-founder of the digital business solutions firm ASTRALCOM, LLC, a published author and an avid socio-political marketing fan. Previously appointed to the Presidential Business Commission and recognized as California Businessman of the Year, Richard’s primary business focus is assisting clients achieve success through effective social intelligence messaging and customer experience management. He can be reached at 562.240.2114.