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Health & Fitness

SMORGASBORD of Promotional Resources

Multimedia marketing uses fewer natural resources than print, but comes with its own challenges. There are lots of resources to meet those challenges

As multimedia marketing supplants print the amount of wood and water that goes into producing print material is reduced. Print media now plays a smaller specialized role in marketing. Smarter uses of resources bring new challenges for business. 

Today's public is barraged with information overload. Advertising has evolved beyond billboards, television, radio and print media to sending text and visual messages on smart phone and computers at work and at home. Few Americans are more than a few inches away from some form of multimedia marketing at any one time.

This presents a challenge to businesses that are seeking to stand out in the tech soup atmosphere consumers inhabit. 

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Fortunately the basic elements to successful marketing never change even when promotional methods become more complex. Know how to keep your customers happy and ask for more of their business, ask for testimonials and referrals. The age-old adage, to under promise and over deliver and remember that your customers opinion is the only one that counts builds loyalty and success. Sticking to those basics as you learn to navigate multimedia marketing is a good recipe for long-term prosperity.

From a resource perspective how does a business owner decide where to invest their energy learning and applying multimedia tools for their business? How can they measure the effectiveness of their selected media advertising? If a business is not getting the results they expected from a media tool how can they tell if it is the media tool or their own lack of expertise in applying it that needs changing? What are the basic elements of a successful multimedia campaign?

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There are resources available to help small business owners get answers to those and other questions.

Tuesday's from Noon to 1:30pm at Shoreline City Hall there is the "Quick Start Shoreline Business Workshop" series. The classes are free and cover a wide variety of business topics. You can check the schedule to look for classes on multimedia marketing.

(March 13th class is on "Protecting You and Your Business From Identity Theft" by Jonathan Bingham of Legal Shield)

Wednesday March 14th Tracy Warren from Ready Set Grow Marketing will be teaching participants at the Shoreline Chamber luncheon how to use multimedia effectively. Strategies include time saving tips, fan engagement and prospecting strategies. (Cost is $20 and includes a catered lunch, RSVP's due by Tuesday morning March 13th. Registration and details available on the Shoreline Chamber website.

Taking advantage of free and low cost classes provides an opportunity for business owners to get a handle on what they should/can be doing to increase their business success from multimedia marketing. It can also help them define whether they need to hire a consultant and if so narrow the focus and therefore the cost of those consulting services.

The City of Shoreline has contracted with an outside company CGI Communications, Inc to work with local businesses to create promotional video's that will be linked to the City of Shoreline website. Once this program is setup there will be a link on the main page of the City website that will act like a portal to the promotional videos and rotating ad space. Each video or ad will include links to the businesses being promoted. The city will be able to track the number of times ads or videos are accessed providing valuable data on the effectiveness of the program.

Currently the City of Shoreline website is accessed by viewers 77,000 times month so you can see the potential market value of such a program. You can contact Jackie Vadas, Account Executive at 1-800-398-3029 x501 or Jenna May, Account Executive at 1-800-398-3029 x304 of CGI Communications for more information on participation in the video project. The City of Shoreline will have a "coming soon" link on their website. In the meantime interested individuals can learn more about the program at the Destination City page of CGI Communications website.

Other resources:

  • Google Places for Business is a free online resource. Most business listings can be found via the Internet. The information for the listings is collected through third party sources such as the Yellow Pages. When a person creates a Google Place for Business Account, they are able to verify that the information is currently accurate, correct the body of information, add photos, videos, coupons, real time updates such as weekly or daily specials and other details to make your listing more interesting and attractive. There is a good user guide for setting up your Google Places account.
  • Twitter for Business – "offers businesses an easy way to reach an engaged audience." To learn the basics, review case studies or advertising options visit Twitter 101 for businesses.
  • Facebook for Business – You can set up a Facebook Page for your business and use it to get feedback from your customers, testimonials, let your customers know about special offers or create ads. Other popular features include face-to-face video calling, a great option to traveling to in person meetings, and event creation and management.
  • Linked In for Business is appropriate "if you are a "recruiter, sales professional, entrepreneur, researcher or any other professional whose success depends on linking with the right person."
  • The Small Business Administration has both online small business training and local training classes.

Multimedia marketing can be used to publicly celebrate good customer service. With careful thought given to who your target audience is and the message you want to convey much of your outreach can be automated, freeing the small business owner to focus on taking care of customers. 

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