The Ad Ventures of SlatersGarage

I just posted a guest blog entry at Sephone Internet Solutions — the web designers who do my Slater’s Garage site. They asked me to contribute a piece about YouTube, and the increasing popularity of online video as a marketing vehicle.

Hop on over and check it out when you get a minute.

    One of the “white elephants” of online video is to have your video “go viral,” and become one of those things that gets passed around the world and back again in e-mails between friends and co-workers who say, “Dude, check this out!  It’s SO funny!”  And if you’re a company or brand that happens to be attached to such a video, then whoa, baby.  Because THEN, you’re looking at potentially millions of views — millions of impressions for your brand.  However, of those millions of viewers, how many become customers?  I know, I know… It doesn’t matter, right?  An impression is an impression… True, I suppose.

But, what if you just ain’t that lucky?  And what if you’re a small, local business who wants to enhance your marketing by using online video?  Can you still benefit on a smaller, local scale?  Of course.  I think it’s VERY doable.  You may just have to be a little more precise in where you place your online video(s) in order to maximize your visibility.

1)  YouTube — obviously.  Great place to start.  Millions of people watching any number of videos, and you never know who’s gonna see yours.  While the chances of your video going viral on YouTube are slim, it COULD happen.  But don’t count on YouTube alone.  Besides, it’s easy to embed a YouTube video onto other sites… Such as:

2)  Your own website.  Why not?  If your current customers are visiting your site, are you giving them something fun and entertaining to look at each time they come back?  Then kick it up a notch, and give them something to SHARE… A video about an offer you’re having.  A video about someone local — maybe a “featured customer?”  Maybe a video about a tip or hint related to your business… GIVE your web visitors something to take with them, AND pass along.

3)  Are you using local media to advertise?  Ask about added value they can offer you by posting your video on their sites as well…  Many local radio and TV stations (at least in my neck of the woods) haven’t quite figured out how to embrace online technology to its fullest potential, so many of them also have PLENTY of online “inventory” for sale.  Make ‘em an offer.

4)  Other local websites like your town’s Chamber of Commerce site.  Again, ask ‘em if you can include your video (or a LINK to your video) along with your “Local Business Directory” entry.

5)  Related businesses websites — Do you run a cafe or restaurant?  Try the site of a local hotelier.  And vice-versa… Maybe you two could work out a barter deal.

Don’t forget to make your video something that people want to watch, RE-watch, and SHARE.  Make it entertaining, make it informative, make it funny!  ENHANCE peoples’ web experiences!  Even if the word spreads locally, it still spreads, and with consistency and frequency, it WILL lead to increased impressions and traffic…

Good luck!

The new phone book arrived this week…

We keep it at the bottom of a large, heavy-duty, black contractor bag with all the other stuff we no longer need or use. Where do you keep yours?

I think that when it comes to garnering results from advertising, online video is not that different a medium as TV or radio or even print.  It’s the old postulate about sending “the Right Message to the Right People at the Right Time and Place.”  The difference in online video is the specificity of choices when it comes to what The Public wants to view.  How The Public responds to advertising isn’t really that different.

If you want to produce a “traditional” video ad, and run it online, you gotta run it OFTEN (frequency is STILL the best way to get results if you ask me) — WAY more often than an ad may be broadcast on TV, because of the vast fragmentation of the online video audience. And you have to run it on the sites where your prospective consumers congregate. A spot that runs on YouTube for an auto repair joint in Bangor Maine won’t get nearly as much ROI as if you post the video on maineautosearch.com, a local used auto dealer site. The old adage is “all advertising is local.” So, localize your online marketing! You may not get millions of views, but you’ll get a higher percentage of quality inquiries…

… That is, of course, if your message is salient and entertaining enough to be remembered, and then acted upon.

Mehlman.

So, who’s Peter Mehlman?  Ask Jerry Seinfeld.  Everyone knows Jerry, Elaine, George, and Kramer.  Peter Mehlman, however, is largely unrecognized.  Mehlman wrote more Seinfeld episodes than anyone except Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David.  He’s the guy who coined the term “Spongeworthy,” and gave us the Soup Nazi.

Why mention Mehlman?  Because, while it may be that Michael Richards played one of the greatest characters in the history of TV, let’s not forget to recognize the people who actually create those characters — those quotables — those words and images that live in our hearts and minds.

Don’t get me wrong.  Great acting takes a certain level of skill.  But these men and women are still just going off a script that someone else dreamed, realized, and wrote.   Everyone knows who starred, or who directed.  But I don’t think The Writer is always remembered and recognized for the immense talent he or she possesses.

So as you (re)watch the final The Sopranos, the new CSI, or your favorite Seinfeld rerun, bear in mind that before Kramer, Grissom, and Tony Soprano ever spoke their first lines on camera, they existed in the ideas and dreams of a Writer.

Rachael Ray is getting millions in endorsement dollars from Dunkin’ Donuts. She’s slated to be their spokesperson through 2010. Do you go there any more often now that she’s telling you to? I don’t. In fact (and I don’t think I’m alone here), I’m conscious enough of her overexposure for it to act as a deterrent.

Consumers are wise to “traditional” methods of advertising. Used to be that Dean Martin would tell you to buy golf balls, and folks would line up around the block. Nowadays, consumers would rather take the word of a friend, or even “some guy” with a blog entry, than trust a celebrity who’s being paid a LOT to recommend a Brand. If you wanna earn consumers’ trust, get other consumers — regular people — to talk about you… At a comparatively miniuscule fraction of the cost.

I wonder if Dunkin’ Donuts could have found a way to save millions, and get more REAL people buzzin’ about their Brand.

Pleased as punch to share some great news:  XLNT Ads, a consumer-generated advertising site, recently announced the winners for their series of video contests for their “XLNT” brands, and they chose one of our spots as the winner of the XLNT DIY contest:

“XLNT DIY” is a fictional do-it-yourself store, along the lines of a Lowe’s or Home Depot. The guys at XLNT Ads built this brand, as well as several others, to show prospective REAL brands what XLNT Ads is all about, and to show these Brands just how effective consumer-generated ads can be.

Although I do have a background in advertising, my proclivity is toward audio production. I’m still a relative newbie to video, so I’m very flattered, and very honored to have been chosen by these guys as a winner. I’m looking forward to doing more with them, as well as with the talented crew of creators they’ve amassed over the past several weeks. Thanks, guys!

I had kept a blog for awhile several months back, but kind of abandoned it. I tried to return to it a few days ago, but I forgot all my usernames and passwords and couldn’t get back in, so I guess my old blog has found its way to the internet equivalent of the dead letter office. Ah, well, I’m hoping this will be a better experience for you and me both.

A little background. I’m an advertising developer whose forte is in radio. I worked for several years as a DJ and Production guy, writing, producing and voicing radio spots. In 2005, I started my own production company, Slater’s Garage Ads & Audio. The name is an homage to a garage my family owns in upstate New York. They repair cars, I repair advertising. I still predominantly do radio ads and other audio production. But this year, I discovered video — particularly online video sites like YouTube — and am gradually learning the power these sites have to bring Brands and Consumers together.

I think there’s something happening online, and I think Brands need to be aware of it. Other marketing gurus have blogged about it before, but it bears repeating. People are talking about you. Good stories (hopefully), bad stories, sharing experiences with your product, or your store… Don’t believe me? Google yourself. I bet you’ll be surprised at what you find. And due to the nature of blogs and the internet, more people than ever are paying attention to the stories being told. It’s exciting, dontcha think?

As I move forward in this new blog adventure, I hope to share some of my own experiences exploring this new medium (well, new to me, anyway), and document my learning as I go. It really is a lot of fun, and I’d love to bring you along.