Create Interest For Your Users: Online Images and Video

People are visual, and with the advent of the Internet and phenomena like YouTube, people expect and often demand to consume information by means other than just written words.  Through thoughtful use of images, photos, audio and video, you can not only inform prospects, but encourage them to learn more.  When used online, they can also help you increase your number of prospects!

Let’s examine some of the applications for online and traditional/off-line communication.

Website Design

The overall look and feel of your website is dictated by the choice of images, fonts and colors.  The homepage design can communicate a fun environment or a serious business marketplace or a cluttered, confusing environment.  Custom design graphics, video and images help define your brand and communicate what your business is all about, particularly on your product webpages.   Enhance or update your website with fixed price services from outsourced marketing specialists.

Brochures and Datasheets

Images and photos have traditionally been used to make company brochures, product data sheets and tradeshow booths more eye-catching.   An expert outsourcer can either take custom photos or leverage stock photos that are readily available online.  Brochures and data sheets can be designed to be available as PDFs for online download from your website, as well as for quality printing at a local printer.   Outsourced marketing specialists can create images and photos for you.

Tradeshows in the 21^st Century

Trade shows and conferences can often be a great venue to introduce your product to new prospects, plus network with other industry experts.   Your tradeshow booth could be as simple as a table and a poster, or, an elaborate destination costing well over $100,000.  Handouts of information and giveaways of prizes are standard fare at a tradeshow.  Having an eye-catching video could both attract visitors to your booth and help educate them.   Designs of tradeshow booth graphics and posters can be created and delivered online by outsourced marketing specialists, allowing you to print them at a local shop.  Your speech can be ghostwritten.  A public relations specialist could help you set up appointments with leading industry editors and analysts.

Tradeshows are moving more and more into the Internet as virtual tradeshows requiring no travel, no hotel and minimal disruption to your schedule.   Even seminar speeches are being replaced by online webinars and podcasts.  Outsourced marketing specialist can help you leverage this capability.

Audio and Podcasts

Audio files and podcasts can be a great choice to educate and influence your future customers.  It’s a great medium to reach people if they’re driving, traveling by subway or just find key to download bills in check.

Video

The power of video was briefly described in a prior blog post.  However, when you think of videos don’t forget about flash animation.  And always try to leverage these videos for enhanced search engine optimization whether hosted on your website or some other venue.

Re-Enforce Your Company Brand

Images also are used for the company logo, business cards and flyers.  This becomes an important part of your branding.

For your website, you want any image, including custom-designed graphics, to support the primary message that you’re trying to communicate to prospects.   Don’t let the images become a distraction to getting the order! Your choice of image could be as simple as a banner, which could be further leveraged for use in banner advertising.  Or, your image could be an e-book cover or a specialized info graphic.

Make It Search Friendly

Remember, search engines love unique content, and will we word you with traffic.

Whatever image you use online, you need to be properly tag it with a keyword title; that will allow the search engines to know what the image is about and can send prospects to your site that are looking for information about the specific keyword topic.

Maximize the Leverage

Understand every prospect and customer touch point; leverage that opportunity into increased sales.  Prospects don’t simply know about you from your website or your storefront.  They may see shipping containers (that hopefully have your logo prominently displayed) or trucks (that hopefully display a clear message to potential customers).

To increase your business revenue, it is often easier to maximize the sales for existing customers than it is to generate new customers.  Customers don’t just speak with your sales people.  They communicate with your customer support group, they receive e-mails and newsletters from your marketing group and receive account statements from your finance group.

Get the most out of every single marketing service investment. Get the most out of every single communication opportunity with both existing customers and potential customers.   A singe custom graphic can be used on any page of the website, any printed document, a tradeshow booth, a poster or a mailing.  A single video could be used on YouTube (for example) to drive traffic to your site or could be on your website help educate your prospects or provide online support to your customers.

Create quality content, then always look for opportunities to leverage and repurpose whatever content you create. 

At Marketing Outfield you will find videographers, graphic designers, writers and other specialists who can help you put together an eye-catching and compelling proposition for your prospects.   These independent service providers and their services are satisfaction rated by other buyers.  With competitive, fixed-price marketing services you can do more marketing than originally planned; you’ll be able to execute your marketing plan with increased confidence.