by James Shaw, Creative Director

Are your customers ENGAGED with your message (or bored out of their minds)?

When it comes to engaging your target audience, not all marketing channels are created equal....

You are competing with 1000's of messages everyday. Your "target audience" is being bullseyed with so many random, off-topic, and boring attempts to capture their attention that they've probably tuned out most marketing messages altogether.  Wow, that's a depressing thought for marketing managers and advertisers, right?!  Industry insiders have even gone so far to say proclaim things like, "Death of the Advertising Agency" and other disturbing headlines.

I'm sick of advertising too. [I'm the Creative Director for Twin Creek Media, but since I own the company I'm not worried about being fired for a statement like that! Whew! ]

Aren't we all sick of advertising?  Let's define advertising as: any boring marketing message that we aren't interested in, isn't relevant, and isn't engaging.  No one likes "advertising" in that sense.  So what's the opportunity?  As marketers, business owners, sales reps, and business developers our goal is to communicate our messages so well that they do not come across as ads.  The challenge is to make them the opposite of the definition above:  un-boring, interesting, relevant, and engaging.

The topic of this article is Engagement, so we'll leave the other communication goals alone for now.  Marketing and advertising used to be limited to mostly "push" type messages.  Traditional mediums of print, radio, and TV can be effective if done creatively (and targeted as much as possible) but in general the communication is one way.  Marketers push the message out to sea and hope someone eventually picks up their message-in-a-bottle.  Tradigital mediums are not whole lot better in my opinion, but at least your target audience can find your message whenever they want - it's accessible and searchable on Google for example.  The other advantage of pushing content out online is that it can be interactive.  People can dig, explore, learn and sort of control their experience with your brand, product, or service.

Stop "pushing" and have real conversations on Social Engagement channels. The major advantage of this type of communication is that it's two way.  People talk, and people talk back.  If your marketing message is genuinely interesting and relevant to your audience it won't be treated as an ad.  Instead of being boring and ignored your message becomes a thread in normal conversation.  It's a story worthy of repeating.  This is true marketing success!

Wait! Social Media is not the answer to all your marketing goals. Nothing irks me more than flavour-of-the-day marketing.  It's important to figure out exactly what you're trying to do, and who you're trying to reach.  Social networks are not the obvious answer every time.  Set measurable goals so you'll know if moving in the right direction.  Often it's best to integrate all the marketing channels together.  They each have strengths and weaknesses, and instead of jumping on the band wagon with the latest (untested) web tool, craft balanced campaigns to meet your communication goals.  Use a blend of traditional and digital tactics.  Use one channel to spark awareness and curiosity.  Another to inform.  Another to capture.  Another to have conversations.  Another to sell.  Another to retain.  Another to... well, you get the idea.

Have an opinion on engaging customers?  We'd love to hear them!  Comment below.

Quick Review of the Kodak Zi8

Click to jump to Kodak's product page

This is not a marketing related article like most of the posts on this blog, but it may interest readers in the marketing/production/design world nonetheless.

Do you shoot interviews?  Customer testimonials?

Aspiring product reviewer or blogger?

Impromptu capture-the-moment-around-town videos?

Work events, grand openings, parties, birthdays, dog eating soap bubbles?

Using the Kodak Zi8

I just bought the Zi8 on the weekend for $180 at London Drugs.  It's the easiest video camera I've ever used.  We had a $3000 Canon XH-A1 in our studio that we pulled out for pro shoots and mini-interviews.  Although the little Kodak can't really compare on a low light/zoom/quality optics level, it's ridiculous how good it is.  The 1080p mode is great.  The videos are very very good, and with the electronic image stabilization there is zero shake noticeable in playback, with video shot just handheld.

I took video inside and outside over the weekend. The outside video is exceptional (because the little lens works best in bright light).  The indoor video with lower light is a bit grainy, but still looks really good.  Audio is great.  I videod a birthday party and even got decent "blowing out the candles" footage in near pitch black.  I hooked it up on the spot to my 50" LCD TV with the supplied HDMI cable, and we all had a good laugh... everyone was totally blown away by the audio/video quality.  "That little thing made that video?!"

It has lower shooting quality levels too: 720p/60fps and lower, but I'll probably never use them.  The 60 frames per second is better for sports so you can slow-mo the action later, but unless you're running around chasing the action, this camera will be useless for most sports. (Remember, it has no optical zoom.)

Walk closer or back up to zoom.  That right.  Use your feet.  Digital zoom only crops the image...don't use it.  Actually this is kind of a novelty in itself.  It's sooooooo small that moving around is natural.  You can get down low, run close, move sideways... it adds to the creativity.  I enjoyed the low tech for once.  It's like using a prime lens on a DSLR still frame camera like the Canon 7D.  The fixed focal length lens limits you in a sense, and frees you up to move your body and find cool angles.

Kodak Zi8 dimensions

Summary

This is simply the best "home video camera" that I ever used.  It's like a microscopic pro camera that you can take anywhere.  I bought a 16GB SDHC card that gives me over 2hrs of recording time at full 1080p.  I jacked the camera directly in with USB and copied the clips to my Macbook Pro.  They playback just fine, and the format is .MOV so they should be easy to edit with iMovie on a Mac (haven't tested it yet).  It comes with bundled software for a PC, if for some odd reason you're a PC person.

It could be better if...

I wish it came with a case, but I'll find something that'll work.  And it would be nice if the lens had a little powered cover to keep dust and fuzz off.

In the end, every family should own one of these.   Every company should own one of these.  They're just too easy, too cheap, and too much fun to ignore.