practicing in a real dance studio, with such luxuries as a full-length mirror, the band set up a video camera to record their routine. The resulting video was absolutely hilarious! A girlfriend of one of the band members thought the practice video was so amusing that she insisted they use it as their real video. The band laughed. She was serious. As the story goes, she then stole the video, emailed it to a few friends, and 2.5 million downloads later, the band was asked to perform on The Tonight Show and Good Morning America. They eventually made their way to the MTV Music Video Awards to perform a reenactment of their follow-up video, “Here It Goes Again,” better known as the “treadmill song.”
As with any marketing plan, the goal of using new media elements should be the same as when using traditional marketing methods — to increase sales or market share. In the case of OK Go!’s viral videos, it definitely led to more direct sales. As a result of the 7 million downloads of the treadmill video for “Here It Goes Again,” the band’s album quickly became one of the top 100 on iTunes with a top 100 song. If you haven’t yet seen either of the OK Go! videos, it’s well worth a click over to YouTube to witness firsthand what all the talk is about. I guarantee you’ll mention the video to at least a few friends afterward!
A Look at Podcasting
Podcasting, a term originally derived from Apple’s mobile music player the iPod, is a way of distributing and sharing multimedia files such as audio and video files over the web. The files can then be downloaded to a personal computer or mobile device such as an iPod. In this discussion I am not referring to commercial music downloads from sites such as iTunes, but specifically about content such as news clips, radio shows, and very targeted content made available via podcasting technology.
With less than 1 percent of Americans listening to such podcasts, the stats are less impressive than for online gaming, social networks, video downloads, or Internet usage in general. However, this does not mean this new media channel should be ignored. In fact, Forrester projects podcasting will reach 12.3 million households by 2010, although primarily reaching an audience of educated males with high average income as well as youth audiences seeking music, entertainment, and tech info (Lieb, May 2006).
Although fewer people regularly download and listen to podcasts, this medium still allows marketers to get their message to a highly targeted and engaged audience. If you choose to use podcasting as a way to get your message out, here are some points to consider:
1. Consider your business goals and brand
Create content that not only reinforces your brand, but is also interesting and useful to the customer. Consider your overall business goals and what you hope your podcast will achieve, whether that is establishing yourself as a leader in the field by providing important information, enhancing your credibility, increasing media attention through increased exposure to a niche group, or driving direct sales.
2. Make your podcast easily available
Making sure your podcast is accessible via search engines and primary portals where people seek podcast content is essential to success. Make your podcast available to search engine spiders by including text-based descriptions detailing the content of your podcast, so both users and search engines will know what your podcast is about before they click. Make your podcast available on top podcasting portals such as Odeo, Yahoo! Podcasts, and Podcast.net.
3. Promote your podcast
Mention your podcasts in your traditional advertising, post links on your website, and promote the content in your newsletters. It’s also a good idea to create a blog or message board around your podcast to encourage feedback.
4. Promote complementary podcasts
Similar to the idea of link exchanges, promoting other podcasts that will in turn promote yours helps everyone involved by opening up your content to a wider audience and establishing credibility.
Partnerships in podcasting
For some companies, the idea of sponsoring an existing podcast is much more appealing that taking the time to develop one on your own. For example in 2006, Travelocity teamed up with a leading travel personality, Rick Steves. He had already built up a large following through his more traditional outlets of guidebooks, radio shows, and television. When he took his show online in the form of podcasting, it seemed like a natural match for Travelocity. Keep in mind that even for personalities like Rick Steves and large companies like Travelocity, this is a new medium (Lerma, May 2006). So prices for sponsorship and how the partnership will work are often completely open to negotiation by both parties.
My suggestion is to take a look at already existing top podcasters related to your industry, and then start a dialogue. Be ready to propose how you think the partnership could work and how much you’d like to pay as a starting point, since most podcasters really have no idea what to charge sponsors.
Engage Consumers in Your Brand
I’d like to emphasize again that new media differ from any of the traditional media channels in that consumers are actively engaged in the media and seeking out information. New media marketing is less interruptive, more targeted, and relies on a person’s genuine need to socialize and to seek and share information. Compared to letting content of television and radio come to them, Internet users are actively engaged and more likely to take direct action when they see your marketing message. This is not to say the traditional media are ineffective; in fact, I am suggesting quite the opposite. In order to create a successful campaign, you can no longer choose new media or traditional advertising campaigns — you must work to incorporate both.
Here is an example: a March 2006 survey by Burst Media found that nearly half of consumers said television most effectively captures their attention, but those same consumers admitted that when it comes to actually making a decision to purchase a product or service, the Internet ranked first. They went so far as to say that the Internet was their primary source for this information (eMarketer, May 2006a).
As you read this book, remember that the key to combining traditional and new media marketing is not only about exposing your brand to your target audience, but about truly engaging the consumer, by encouraging them to take action and become more loyal to your product.
References
Bausch, Suzy, and Leilani Han. 2006. Social Networking Sites from 47 Percent, Year over Year, Reaching 45 Percent of Web Users, According to Nielsen//NetRatings. Nielsen//NetRatings, May 11.
Blackshaw, Pete. 2006. Skype Nation. ClickZ, May 30.
Burns, Enid. 2006a. In-Gaming Advertising to Continue Exponential Growth. ClickZ, April 17.
____. 2006b. Blogosphere Doubles Every Six Months. ClickZ, April 18.
____. 2006. Executives Slow to See Value of Corporate Blogging. ClickZ, May 9.
Crowell, Grant. 2004. Public Relations via Search Engines. ClickZ, June 30.
eMarketer. 2006a. When Americans Buy … They Go Online First, May 2.
____. 2006b. Video Games Entice 4 out of 10 Americans, May 17.
____. 2006c. Where Do Workers Go Online?, May 24.
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