How multimedia can help you grow your business

Creative Uses of Multimedia for Business Marketing

online advertising

“When you think about [multimedia platforms] and what that’s all about, it’s about being able to communicate mass marketing messages to the device of choice on demand. I think what’s more interesting is how these tools can be used in conjunction with other multimedia tools to support the business- the marketing, sales and promotion of their products and services. To me, for a small business, that is probably more important than internal communication,”

Communication is vital in startup businesses. Now that the communication landscape has evolved along with technological changes, businesses should also know how to take advantage and how to maximize the opportunities along with these developments.

Information that can only be delivered through texts on a traditional print platform, such as newspapers and magazines, can now be conveyed through multimedia – photos, graphics, videos, and even social media.

Advertisements that used to be published on magazines can now be watched on a webcast or listened to on a podcast on your mobile phones and tablet through free apps on IOS and Android.

For business, these changes in the communication landscape could mean that publicity and promotions of products and services are no longer limited to the three traditional platforms – print, radio, and television.

Other online platforms like blogs, websites, social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, among others, are now available and accessible. These multimedia tools and platforms, if used suitably, can help entrepreneurs and startup founders in growing the business. Now, how can you maximize these multimedia tools?

Always remember the power of visuals

Excellent visuals have proven to be effective marketing materials for different platforms. Online tools allow you to use multimedia to promote your products and services, then you can work around on it.

Get your consumers excited about your new products and services through photos and videos. Use your Facebook page to create an album containing photos of your newest product and its features, your services and its rate, and promos.

There are other photo-sharing websites you can also explore – Flickr, Smugmug, Instagram and Pinterest.

Screenshot of Sunnies on Instagram
Sunnies Studios uses Instagram to promote their current eyewear styles, exciting promos and to give followers a glimpse of the Sunnies headquarters.

You can also venture on creating short videos about your products and services, and upload them online. YouTube is not the only option. You can also use Instagram and Vine. You can download these video mobile apps for free.

An example is Nintendo’s use of Vine to tease fans and gamers and give them preview of the video game package they are about to launch.

Businesses use these video applications to show the consumers how to use the product, how it was made and what is it made of, and how consumers will benefit from the products and services. These can also be used to impart knowledge and provide a little entertainment to the consumers.

If you don’t want to invest much yet on the equipment, you just need to have a mobile phone, online applications, an open source online tool, and an Internet connection, then you can already come up with a regular video clip production. This will highlight different aspects of your company, your products and services, among others.

Also, make sure your photo albums, your graphics, and your videos contain the basic information about where and who to contact for more details. Don’t forget to include your site’s URL in the captions and descriptions to help drive traffic back to your website.

There are plenty of things you can do to market your business through multimedia. You can also take advantage of the interactivity feature of these multimedia platforms to know what your consumers want and don’t want with your marketing, what they like most and what they like the least, and how you can better provide solution to their everyday needs.

And remember that these are only tools and platforms you can learn to work with and are available to aid you in marketing and promoting products and services. Remember that effective business marketing in various platforms, using different tools, still need an excellent concept or theme. Go ahead, explore, and make full use of multimedia for your business.

Sources:

Folino, L. and Rafter, M. ( Jan. 25, 2010). How to Use Multimedia for Business Marketing. Retrieved from: Multimedia for Business Marketing

Hines, K. (Mar. 4, 2013). 16 Ways Businesses Are Using Twitter Vine. Retrieved from: Creative Uses of Twitter and Vine for Business

Multimedia storyteller and a former assistant content editor for an online news site. When she runs out of words and pauses from writing, she runs ultra- marathon races for a cause, dances her heart out, and buries herself in books and becomes invisible. She loves Doctor Who and she believes she’s a daughter of Time and Space.