Edward GeorgeAh! So you’re thinking about corporate video production to promote your business? I am guessing you’re here to find out whether this is the right decision or not. It almost certainly is but in this guide we go through the advantages and disadvantages of the alternatives to make sure your making the right decision.
So there are hundreds, even thousands of ways to promote your business whether it be in a physical sense or digital online content. We can’t run through every way you can advertise your business but instead we are going to look at the following 5 ways:
- Advertising in print
- Radio Advertising
- Video Advertising
- Public Relations
- Social media
You are almost certainly doing at least one of these already to advertise and market your business. But of course, you’re a smart individual and want to discover alternative effective ways to grow your business, so read on and we’ll give you the breakdown on each one.
Advertising in Print
Advertising in industry related magazines, the press and billboards can be a great way of promoting your business, but how effective is it really?
With advertising in print you have the opportunity to target a reasonably relevant audience within your industry on a regular basis. With different publications being sent out on weekly, monthly and quarterly intervals it gives a great opportunity to convey you message over a period of time. As chances are the first time they see it they are unlikely to read it. It is also often refreshing for some individuals to see a physical advert which they can see and touch rather than being bombarded with digital adverts online.
Of course it’s not all great news. The biggest downside with advertising in print is the reality is you have very little feedback in terms of who see’s and reads your ad. This makes it much more difficult to gauge effectiveness of your advert. While some larger publications will have audited readership demographics it is still relatively vague, this could be frustrating for measuring your return on investment.
Advantages
Regularity – Repeated subliminal message
Old School – Everybody’s bombarded with digital content so people find it refreshing to see a physical advert and message.
Disadvantages
Return On Investment – It is much more difficult to measure effectiveness of your physical advert in comparison to online digital advertising. This could be frustrating when it comes to measuring your adverts return on investment
Expensive – Advertising in widely read publications is notoriously expensive
Radio Advertising
Radio is everywhere. There is no denying that because radio is free it is easy to access for all it is a great advertising method. Radio is also intrusive without being annoying, easily conveying information in the background without it being in your face trying to grab your attention. This is such a great way of advertising as people listen to radio everywhere, all the time. Radio is also cost effective, you might be able to play an advert over 20 times for example for the same price as an advert in a newspaper or magazine so that’s 20+ impressions vs 1 – a no brainer surely?
However Radio is not perfect, unlike a physical advert which can be returned to at a later time, a radio advert cannot. Radio adverts are also at their most effective during peak rush hour periods when people are sat in their cars. As you can imagine there are only so many slots available so it may be challenging to get a slot at the right time.
Advantages
Free access – it is quick, easy and free to listen to the radio which results in large amounts of listeners
Cost Effective – Higher number impressions compared to advertising in print
Always on – Vast numbers of businesses nearly always have a radio on in the background, great for B2B advertising
Disadvantages
Not physical – A radio advert can’t be returned to at a later time, it relies on you memorising it
High Demand – It’s tough to get slots at peak listening times ie rush hour
PR (Public Relations)
PR is never easy. It takes dedication and hard work to get articles into the press, however when you do it can be incredibly rewarding. Successful PR nearly always revolves around writing excellent articles and making the right contacts in the right places, it in theory is easy but many underestimate just how long it takes to build relationships with reporters and to learn to write publishable content and articles. This is not to say it is impossible, by putting in sustained efforts into PR then you will find success.
It is worth noting the most important thing about PR is to remember that no one cares about your company. I’m not being rude here but people want to read engaging and captivating stories, not here about how your company has just moved offices. Bear this in mind and you’ll already be off to a great start.
Advantages
It’s Free!
Huge readership base
Disadvantages
Very time consuming
Challenging to make the right contacts and write worthy articles
Social Media
It’s a well-known fact most people don’t like social media. Well unfortunately whether you love it or hate it, it seems to have become a necessary evil in modern day business. What many people don’t realise is that it is actually an incredibly cost effective and valuable marketing and advertising tool.
Its biggest advantage is that it is FREE. That’s right all you need is time and hard work to get the most out of these increasingly invaluable tools. Social media quickly allows you to build a following of existing customers as well as attract new ones. This is a great way to increase brand awareness and have an easy way to announce new products, deals and offers to existing customers quickly and for free. It gets better. Not only do you get all these benefits but both Twitter and Facebook now provide advanced demographic information in regards to their demographics, allowing you to effectively and quickly market your product or service effectively.
One disadvantage is the amount of work required. Many people today will often take to social media to complain or ask questions about your products/services so it is very important to keep on track and maintain your social media accounts. Depending on the size of your business this may mean reallocating staff or hiring new staff to cope with the extra work.
Advantages
Free
Advanced demographics – very easy to accurately market to your following/followers
Re-targeting existing customers with ease
Disadvantages
Very time consuming – may require additional time and effort from existing or new staff.
Video Advertising
Ah! The one you have been waiting for. So now you’ve seen the alternatives you may be wondering whether corporate video production is all it is cracked up to be. Well don’t worry, it absolutely is. Video production is actually THE most effective advertising and marketing tool available to you. However I know what you’re thinking – it’s so expensive! Well this is where you are wrong. Instead of looking at the initial cost you need to look at the results it can bring. By looking at it this way you can then see the huge return on investment corporate video can provide.
You will have probably already invested in a flashy website in some cases costing tens of thousands of pounds and then spent time and money trying to improve the number of visitors and ranking on Google yet what is the point is doing this if only 1 in 100 visitors orders from you or contacts you as a result of visiting the website?
Surely it is better to spend a little extra money and add a compelling and engaging corporate video to your website so that you get more sales from the people you have expensively managed to get on to your website thus making the best of something you pay for already
Video production is also a very effective way of engaging viewers. With websites such as stacksandstacks.com reporting that video on their website increased sales by 64% it is clear that video is very effective. By using a combination of visual and audio communication alongside a compelling story it is very easy to engage viewers and turn them from potential customers into actual customers.
Advantages
Very effective at reaching a large audience online
Allows engaging personalised “Human” communication
Quick and easy for the viewer to engage in your products and services
Great at increasing sales and boosting brand awareness
Maximises the effectiveness of your website in producing sales.
Superb return on investment
Disadvantages
Initial budget required
Can be time consuming
So there you have it, now you know the key facts. Corporate video is undoubtedly the most impressive performer of them all. However, there is no doubt you would want to have a combined marketing effort using several of these tools at least.
Do you have any other marketing/advertising methods that are effective for you and I haven’t mentioned, let us know in the comments below!
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