Using New Media Technologies to Promote Your Business
Summary
Attracting and retaining customers is an age old problem for every business, so it is always a good idea to explore new ways of communicating to clients. New media represents a whole set of tools and technologies that can help you reach your marketplace often using a novel approach.
Any enthusiasm for new media needs to be tempered with a realistic view of your target market. If you intend to sell to trendy 20 year olds then podcasting and video blogs may be ideal, but for a different market sector that maybe does not use IT on a daily basis you may not be spending your time and money effectively.
There are basics – such as a good website – which are a must have for almost every business. If you sell into the creative media marketplace customers would expect you to be leading the way with as many exciting promotional tools as possible and be able to demonstrate that you can push back the boundaries of communication. If on the other hand you work in a traditional engineering sector customers may view these tools as unimportant, but would value your opinion in the form of a blog or commentary on the latest industry developments.
What is certain is that new media is here to stay, and we should all look at ways of capitalising on these exciting new communication tools.
What is New Media?
Mention new media too many people and you will get a blank stare. Mention it to others and you will see their eyes light up as they extol the virtues of blogs, wikis, podcasts, virtual worlds and any other form of new media.
Before we look at new media it is worth understanding what we mean by old media.
Up until the 1980’s media was defined by print and analogue broadcasts. Print was dominated by newspapers and magazines, and the daily paper was part of the routine for many people. In fact it was the primary source of detailed news, gossip and advertising for the majority and daily sales of newspapers ran into the millions. With this came incredible power to the owners and editors as they firmly set the current affairs agenda.
Analogue broadcasts were defined by 3 television channels, of which only 1 was commercial until the advent of Channel 4. Radio was heavily dominated by the BBC and only a few localised commercial radio stations lasted for any length of time.
As a business person wishing to promote a business in the old media days it meant buying expensive print space or advertising slots on radio and TV, along with adverts in the local press and directory pages. In fact many smaller businesses were built on the back of regular adverts in either the Yellow Pages or Thompson Local Directory.
Since the 1980s we have seen, quite frankly, a revolution in the breadth and depth of media available to us for business promotion. Powered by the internet and worldwide web, along with developments in software and digital hardware, new media offers more ways of promoting a business than we could have imagined until recently. New media touches every part of our daily lives be it shopping, working, banking or playing and therefore offers businesses a new way of passing on their messages, often to a very focussed buying community.
New Media and your Business
It is very easy to be seduced by the vast range of new media channels and want to spend time and money promoting your business through each and every one. This highlights a problem with new media – the huge volume of promotional noise. 25 years ago advertisers could guarantee that 10 million viewers would tune in to see a peak time program on the television, and the advertising slots were priced accordingly. Now the sheer number of media channels competing for people’s time has fragmented viewing and listening habits beyond recognition.
As a business person this poses a problem Which media should you use? How can you raise above the noise? Where are your efforts best spent?
The answer to this will vary from business to business. You will understand your target market better than anyone else, and should therefore have an insight into what influences a buying decision. An older age group in a very traditional or niche market will use different influencing media than selling cool gadgets to trendy under 25s. It is vital that you don’t get seduced into using new media because it looks trendy. By all means explore new ways of promoting your business but approach it from a balanced return on investment angle, or you may find yourself wasting a lot of time and money for no return.
Websites
Some purists may say that websites are no longer new media, but for most they are the most basic way of promoting your business. Even though there are millions of websites on line your new and existing customers will expect you to have a compelling site that represents your shop window. Even the smallest trader should seriously consider a website as they can be a surprisingly good source of new business.
It is vital that the site looks and works well, as the site will often dictate what people think of you before you have even spoken or met with them. Sites with poor graphics, broken links and spelling mistakes will give you a shoddy appearance much in the same way as a dirty and dishevelled shop front will put off customers.
On the other hand a well presented website can make your business look much bigger than it really is and add direct value to your bottom line. A website will also be your way of hosting other new media tools such as blogs, webcasts and podcasts.
There are a number of projects in the Business IT Guide that can help you set up a website, including:
Choosing a website
Choosing someone to build your website
Getting your business online
Blogs and Wikis
A blog is a series of commentaries, views and opinions. Normally these are posted by individuals and represent a view on a particular subject, eventually forming a chronological list of comments. There are many millions of blogs, many created by individuals but a few created by corporations as part of their public relations function.
A wiki is a website created and edited by a number of users in a collaborative fashion. Its most popular rendition is in Wikipedia, an online encyclopaedia to which anyone can add or amend content. A number of businesses and individuals have entries on Wikipedia.
From a business perspective blogs can be used to represent a more personal face of a company and help promote a service or products. Therein lies the issue with blogs – how commercial should they be? Experience has taught many business people that overly commercial blogs should be avoided unless they are positioned very obviously as a selling pitch. You are likely to get a lot of very negative comments if you do actively sell in a blog.
A far better strategy is to use a blog as a way of producing intelligent thought and commentary that makes people realise that you are a subject matter expert and someone worth listening to. That way your views count and you will gain followers to your blog as well as developing your reputation. Additional sales will automatically follow from this work.
In a similar fashion create a factual, truthful blog but no more. Do not advertise or promote yourself excessively and you should find that people are more receptive.
If you are interested in blogging, we have a project in the Business IT Guide:
Using blogs
Using forums
Podcasting, Vlogs, Webinars and Virtual Worlds
A podcast is a piece of audio commentary similar to a blog but with your spoken words. Some podcasts are produced in an interview format, where you are asked appropriate questions by another person. A vlog is a video blog, so you have pictures as well as audio and is more often as a formal interview as you may see on television. Webinars are online discussion forums where people “attend” the event remotely via the internet. Finally virtual worlds, such as Second Life, provide a virtual environment to visit and engage with other people.
All of these tools are great ways of promoting your expertise in a particular marketplace. Webinars can be especially popular with often hundreds of people listening to the sessions. Podcasts and vlogs cane be created with a specific commercial goal in mind so can be educational as well as a good sales tool. Some businesses build virtual sales teams in Second Life and actively promote their products and services, depending who they are trying to target.
We have a blog from Mr Business IT Guide covering virtual worlds if you are interested in finding out more:
Virtual Worlds
In Conclusion
In today’s world new media can become old media in what seems a blink of an eye. What were once trendy and exciting websites to hang around quickly fade as fashion moves on. As business people we need to be open minded and accepting of new media as much as we need to be watching trends.
We also need to experiment and try new ways of developing our companies, but remember that sound business principles always apply no matter what media you choose to use.
