Posts Tagged ‘Communication design’

Are You Exposed to Copyright Liability?

Canadian copywriting company, webcopyplus, recently confirmed it paid approximately $4,000 US to settle an image copyright infringement claim, and warns web designers, developers, business owners and other marketers they may also be exposed to such claims, with statutory damages of up to $150,000 per image.

“Like many other creative types in the web industry, our copywriters were not clear on image copyright laws, and we were taught an expensive lesson,” said Rick Sloboda, Senior Web Copywriter at webcopyplus, which provides designers and businesses optimized web content. “We’re sharing our story, so others can learn from our experience and avoid the same mistake.”

In May, 2010, with the assumption web images without copyright notices were “public domain” and free to use, a webcopyplus copywriter used Google images to find an unmarked 400 x 300 pixel scenic photo to complement an article for a tourism client’s blog.

In December, 2010, the client received a formal cease and desist demand and copyright infringement claim letter, demanding the following actions:

1. Immediately cease and desist all unlicensed uses of the image, and delete all copies from computers and digital storage devices.

2. Remit almost $4,000 to the lawyer’s trust account.

The image was removed within minutes, and a letter of apology was sent. However, following several emails, which included requests for proof of copyright registration and ownership, a counter offer, and the threat of additional legal fees and court action, webcopyplus ultimately opted to settle for $4,000.

“While we accepted responsibility and were willing to settle from the start, we felt the amount was excessive,” said Sloboda. “However, our client was caught in the middle of this matter, and he’d be the one who’d get subpoenaed, so we needed to resolve this issue promptly.”

While copyright laws are complex, Sloboda encourages other creative types and marketers to follow this simple guide: if an image or work is on the Internet and others wrote or created it, do not use it without their permission.

“Ironically, since our start in 2006, this was the only image we ever acquired for a client’s project,” said Sloboda. “Had we purchased a photo from a stock image website, it would have spared us a lot of time and money.”

There are several elements surrounding copyright laws that designers and marketers should explore, including ‘Fair Use,’ where copyrighted work is used for teaching or news, and ‘Creative Commons’, where photographers let people share and use photographs with certain conditions, both which webcopyplus touches on in an article titled Legal Lesson Learned: Copywriter Pays $4,000 for a $10 Photo.

“As copywriters, we work with and rely on a range of creative types and specialists, including photographers,” said Sloboda. “We didn’t mean any disregard for this profession and now have a greater awareness and appreciation for the fact that freely using photos from the web diminishes a photographer’s income and livelihood. We apologize for and regret our action, and we’ve created internal policies to ensure it won’t happen again.”

For specific information or clarification on copyright laws, one should seek the professional advice of a copyright lawyer.

Link: http://blog.webcopyplus.com/2011/02/14/legal-lesson-learned-copywriter-pays-4000-for-10-photo/

Is your web copy right?
Find out at www.webcopyplus.com

Rick Sloboda is a Senior Web Copywriter at Webcopyplus http://www.webcopyplus.com/, which helps designers and businesses boost online traffic, leads and sales with optimized web content. Clients range from independent retailers to some of the world’s largest service providers, including AT&T (formerly Cingular), Quest Diagnostics and Scotia Bank. Rick advocates clear, concise and objective website content that promotes readability and usability, and conducts web content studies with organizations in Europe and the U.S., including Yale University. He speaks frequently at web-related forums and seminars, including Small Business BC, Content Convergence & Integration, SUCCESS and HRMA. Rick also serves as a consultant to various organizations, such as the Web Development Advisory Committee at Vancouver, B.C.’s Langara College.

Posted by Jameel in Getting Organized on March 23rd, 2011

, , , , , , , , , , , ,
0 comments | Share

Don't Let Poor Website Design Hold Your Business Hostage: Part Three of Three

By Rick Sloboda

Designers Can Be a Copywriter’s Best Friend

With design forming first impressions before visitors even have a chance to process headlines and body copy, designers can make copywriters’ jobs awfully hard, or easy. Poor design can put visitors into a negative mindset, which sets the stage for a grueling uphill, nearly impossible battle for the Web copy.

On the contrary, good design, explained Dr. Lindgaard, can prime visitors for a sale, and make them more lenient and forgiving. Reflecting on the study, she said, “The strong impact of the visual appeal of the site seemed to draw attention away from usability problems. This suggests that aesthetics, or visual appeal, factors may be detected first and that these could influence how users judge subsequent experience.” She added, “Even if a website is highly usable and provides very useful information presented in a logical arrangement, this may fail to impress a user whose first impression of the site was negative.”

Therefore, it’s wise for Web copywriters and other Web specialists who take their craft seriously to partner with high-caliber, experienced designers. Professional designers have the know-how and skills to set the right tone to help websites gain credibility and trust, and achieve desired objectives, goals and conversion rates.

While many people say, “content is king,” on the Web, Webcopyplus has politely turned down several prospects whose website design was so dismal, no Web copy — regardless how optimized and engaging it might be — would be able to produce the desired value, results and ROI.

Just last week, we told a business owner of a moving company start-up to “invest in a professional designer.” The flaw-filled website comprised a long lineup of trucks, each with a company logo amateurishly Photoshopped on its side. The image was clearly fake, even to the untrained eye. If visitors feel they’re being misled, why would they trust the business behind the website?

Good Design Produces Happy Visitors and Healthy Businesses

Designers are at the core of the Internet’s abruptly advancing speed, sophistication and reach. Good designers can make websites aesthetically enticing and so much more. They can make them findable, usable, distinct, helpful, productive and profitable.

As Thomas Watson of IBM said in the 1950s, “Good design is good business.”

 

clip_image002_thumb.jpgRick Sloboda is a Senior Web Copywriter at Webcopyplus , which helps designers and businesses boost online traffic, leads and sales with optimized web content. Clients range from independent retailers to some of the world’s largest service providers, including AT&T (formerly Cingular), Quest Diagnostics and Scotia Bank. Rick advocates clear, concise and objective website content that promotes readability and usability, and conducts web content studies with organizations in Europe and the U.S., including Yale University. He speaks frequently at web-related forums and seminars, including Small Business BC, Content Convergence & Integration, SUCCESS and HRMA. Rick also serves as a consultant to various organizations, such as the Web Development Advisory Committee at Vancouver, B.C.’s Langara College.

Posted by Lynnette in Growing Your Biz on October 29th, 2010

, , , , , , , ,
0 comments | Share

Don’t Let Poor Website Design Hold Your Business Hostage: Part Two of Three

By Rick Sloboda

 Looking at the ROI

Before making the decision to do things on the cheap by taking the do-it-yourself route, it’s important to consider the bottom line. Let’s say a professional website costs Dean the Mover $7,500. That’s a lot of pocket change. But, if it generates just four sales a month at an average of $300 a pop, that’s $14,400 worth of business in the first year alone. 

Those are conservative numbers, but regardless, the site’s paid for in about six months. And the business will continue to benefit from the website with minimum costs for several years. That’s an outstanding marketing investment and ROI. Our copywriting firm has teamed up with designers to create websites that paid for themselves in as little as three months. 

So, while many business owners view design as a fluffy, abstract, let’s-play-with-colours-and-move-the-logo-around activity, they’re missing the point. Design is not art that merely exists. Design serves a specific purpose, forming a connection and relationship, as award-winning designer Gonzalo Alatorre says, “between object, business and consumer.” A good designer can solve complex problems and create a wealth of opportunities with direct, measurable impact on a business’ bottom line. 

Meanwhile, a $500 website that doesn’t generate business and merely shows up on sites like www.webpagesthatsuck.com will only hurt a brand and business.

Good Design Gains Importance With Information Overload

More than 75% of North Americans are using the Internet, and more consumers are seeking products and services and spending more money online. As a result, businesses are swiftly transferring their marketing dollars online and delivering more content to consumers at an explosive, unprecedented rate. As people are bombarded with information overload and have limited time to observe, orient, decide and act, they may increasingly rely on instinct and intuition.

Living in a world where we assume the quality of a decision has direct relation to the time and effort that went into making it, it can be difficult to trust our primitive ‘gut feelings.’ But consider the fact that we don’t need to understand mass x velocity to leap out of the way of an oncoming car. It just “feels right” and ultimately results in a decision with an optimal outcome. The old adage that you should always trust your instincts is supported by scientific studies. 

Dr. Lindgaard and her team presented volunteers with brief glimpses of Web pages previously rated as being either easy on the eye or particularly jarring, and asked them to rate the websites on a sliding scale of visual appeal. Even though the images flashed up for just 50 milliseconds, roughly the duration of a single frame of standard television footage, their verdicts matched judgements made after a longer period of examination.

 German social psychologist, Dr. Gerd Gigerenzer, the director of the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin, conducts breakthrough studies on the nature of intuitive thinking. Based on his research, he told the New York Times, “When a person relies on their gut feelings and uses the instinctual rule of thumb ‘go with your first best feeling and ignore everything else,’ it can permit them to outperform the most complex calculations.” 

In the book, Blink, Malcolm Gladwell wrote about a marble statue from the sixth century BC, which was bought by a California museum for $10-million, following a 14-month investigation with an electron microscope, electron microprobe, mass spectrometry, X-ray diffraction, and X-ray fluorescence. The point is that they had top industry authorities use all sorts of high tech equipment to confirm the statue’s authenticity. 

However, the were a few observers who — in a single glance — felt an “intuitive repulsion.” They felt the statue was a fake. And they were right. Letters used to trace the statue’s history were found to be phony and the statue didn’t come from ancient Greece. It came from a forger’s shop in Rome in the early 1980s, when mullets, the Rubix Cube, and Madonna were ‘in.’ 

Blink also documents a study where psychologist, Nalini Ambady, gave students three 10-second videotapes of a teacher with the sound turned off. The students had no difficulty coming up with a rating of the teacher’s effectiveness. Then the clips were cut back to five seconds. The ratings were the same. The ratings were remarkably consistent when students were showed just two seconds of videotape. Then Ambady compared those snap judgments of teacher effectiveness with evaluations of those same professors made by their students after a full semester of classes and she found they were also essentially the same. 

Gladwell noted, “A person watching a silent two-second video clip of a teacher he or she has never met will reach conclusions about how good that teacher is that are very similar to those of a student who has sat in the teacher’s class for an entire semester.” 

Stay tuned for Part Three on Friday!

clip_image002_thumb.jpg Rick Sloboda is a Senior Web Copywriter at Webcopyplus, which helps designers and businesses boost online traffic, leads and sales with optimized web content. Clients range from independent retailers to some of the world’s largest service providers, including AT&T (formerly Cingular), Quest Diagnostics and Scotia Bank. Rick advocates clear, concise and objective website content that promotes readability and usability, and conducts web content studies with organizations in Europe and the U.S., including Yale University. He speaks frequently at web-related forums and seminars, including Small Business BC, Content Convergence & Integration, SUCCESS and HRMA. Rick also serves as a consultant to various organizations, such as the Web Development Advisory Committee at Vancouver, B.C.’s Langara College.

Posted by Lynnette in Growing Your Biz on October 27th, 2010

, , , , , , , , ,
0 comments | Share

Don’t Let Poor Website Design Hold Your Business Hostage: Part One of Three

By Rick Sloboda 

Online visitors form a first impression of a website quicker than the blink of an eye — literally. It typically takes humans 300 to 400 milliseconds to blink. Meanwhile, scientific research led by Dr. Gitte Lindgaard at Carleton University in Ontario, reveals that websites have as little as 50 milliseconds to establish a first impression — a mere 1/20th of a second. That’s it!

This is crucial information for any business, since once a visitor forms an impression on a subconscious level, he or she will selectively search for information confirming that impression. People do this because we all want to prove we have good judgement. So, if our first impression of a website is negative, we have a tendency to mainly seek and see the negatives, regardless of how good their products and services might actually be. Alternatively, if we immediately like what we see, we’ll look for positive information to reinforce that impression.

So how do you avoid making a bad first impression on the Web? Easy. Find a good designer.

Poor Design Sets the Stage For Failure

DIY website design might seem like a good idea at the get-go. Not only can you avoid spending wads of money on eccentric creative types, only you know how you really want your business branded. No one loves your business like you do! Plus, throwing together a layout with some colours, images and buttons, while sipping a Caramel Macchiato on a Sunday afternoon is easy, right?

Wrong. Based on 20-plus years of communications experience, speaking at Web-related events, and teaching Web-writing courses to small business owners, our copywriters have come to recognize a common cycle: 

  1. The do-it-yourselfer spends several hours to a few weeks building a website.
  2. The website is launched. 
  3. The website is live, but there are few visitors that trickle in, if any at all. The few who arrive don’t stick around. 
  4. Typically, 12 to 24 months later, if they’re still in business, they reach out to specialists to improve their SEO. If they get rankings, they wonder why the emails and calls still aren’t arriving. 
  5. Another six to 12 months later, they start to realize the website isn’t working and it’s not going to fix itself. Then comes the sobering realization that, in addition to wasting a few hundred dollars and countless hours and enduring unnecessary stress, they missed out on about three years of opportunities, revenues and growth.

Stay tuned for Part Two on Wednesday!

clip_image002_thumb.jpgRick Sloboda is a Senior Web Copywriter at Webcopyplus, which helps designers and businesses boost online traffic, leads and sales with optimized web content. Clients range from independent retailers to some of the world’s largest service providers, including AT&T (formerly Cingular), Quest Diagnostics and Scotia Bank. Rick advocates clear, concise and objective website content that promotes readability and usability, and conducts web content studies with organizations in Europe and the U.S., including Yale University. He speaks frequently at web-related forums and seminars, including Small Business BC, Content Convergence & Integration, SUCCESS and HRMA. Rick also serves as a consultant to various organizations, such as the Web Development Advisory Committee at Vancouver, B.C.’s Langara College.

Posted by Lynnette in Growing Your Biz on October 25th, 2010

, , , , , , , ,
5 comments | Share

BOOK OF THE MONTH

THE AGE OF PERSUASION: How Marketing Ate Our Culture, by Terry O’Reilly and Mike Tennant

You’d have to be living in a cave to not realize that “advertising has insinuated itself into virtually every aspect of twenty-first century life” (to quote a line from The Age of Persuasion). Even in that cave, I bet there are some who took the time to brand themselves: Tom Thumb was here; Joanie Loves Chachi… you get the idea. The fact is, on any given day, at least 300 and as many as 6,000 marketing messages are lobbed your way.

Terry O’Reilly and Mike Tennant, the ad men behind The Age of Persuasion, a radio show that airs on CBC and Sirius Radio, wrote this book to provide a back-room view of the advertising industry. As an entrepreneur, you might wonder what you’d stand to gain from reading about this topic. It’s not as if you have the kind of budget that Mr. Reilly and Mr. Tennant are accustomed to, right? It’s important to note, though, that your message will always be competing with the big boys, even in your local newspaper. And, if your message is competing with up to 6,000 other messages, yours had better stand out! 

This book gives you a sneak peek into the inner workings of the ad industry. It will also inspire you to think outside the box when it comes to marketing and advertising your business—even when that advertising consists of a simple message on a business card. 

When this writer was taking her advertising courses at college, there was a big-name muffler shop whose tagline started with, “Nobody beats…” This small, mom-and-pop garage, based in a small town that I can’t remember now, based ALL their advertising on, “We’re the nobody that beats…” It was smart, humorous, and certainly left a lasting impression. 

Sure, this book may seem like it’s written for those in the business, but it offers much more than that. It takes you through the history and inner workings of the advertising business in a charming, story-telling style. Many business books read like textbooks and are a chore to get through—but if reading is an outlet for you, you’ll find that this entertaining book makes you think! 

“It’s a must-read for everyone living in this Age of Persuasion,” as written by Doug Checkeris, chief executive officer of MediaCom North America. 

TERRY O’REILLY has been promoting the Power of Radio for many years now. He has a long history in the ad business as a copywriter and director, has won several prestigious awards, including three advertising industry lifetime achievement awards. He co-founded the audio production company Pirate, based in New York and Toronto. 

MIKE TENNANT is the co-creator and writer for the CBC’s radio series, the Age of Persuasion, and often runs workshops on creative communication. He has written several award-winning campaigns for clients throughout North America.

Posted by Lynnette in Book of the Month on September 15th, 2010

, , , , , , , , , , ,
0 comments | Share

What's in a logo?

Along with your business name, your logo and word mark your meaning and say a lot about your company’s personality. Like dressing well in an interview, a clean, smart and iconic logo won’t guarantee success, but a bad one can send the wrong signal to your potential clients.

Take for instance, Apple’s original logo:

clip_image002

Now there’s no way of knowing whether ditching this logo for the iconic apple with a bite out of it was key to the company’s success. But few of us would look at the logo above and think “progressive design and technology leader.”

Graphic designer Jacob Cass lists five important design elements that all good logos share. They are:

1. Simple: A simple logo design is easily recognizable and often features something unique.

clip_image004

2. Memorable: Simple logos, because they’re simple, tend to stand out and are easy to recall – something we can picture in our mind’s eye. Think of McDonald’s, Nike or BMO.

clip_image006

3. Timeless: None of us can predict the future, but when you look at a logo does it look too trendy? Are the font, colour or graphic too similar to other logos you’ve seen recently? AT&T’s logo from the 1990s was similar to a variety of other logos designed around the same time.

clip_image008

clip_image010

4. Versatile: An effective logo ought to work in different mediums – online, print, TV, point-of-sale – as well as in different sizes and either horizontally and vertically.

clip_image012

5. Appropriate: Are you designing a logo for a children’s product or a mutual fund? You can imagine a logo treatment for one audience or product wouldn’t work very well for the other.

Cass also points out that a logo doesn’t have to be literal. Nike’s doesn’t show shoes and Harley Davidson’s logo isn’t a motorcycle. In fact, he says 94% of the world’s top 50 brand logos don’t visually describe the company at all.

But sometimes, they sort of do:

clip_image014

Keep in mind too that while many logos include icons like a panda or a globe, it’s not required. A stylized word mark – Coca Cola is a classic example – can be just as powerful.

For a wonderful repository of logos from around the world, click here.

Posted by Lynnette in Getting Started on July 29th, 2010

, , , , ,
0 comments | Share

STAPLES BizTIPs: Attach your biz to hot news

By Small Business Expert, Roger Pierce, BizLaunch

Getting media coverage for your small business can dramatically boost sales. It’s much cheaper than paid advertising and, at times, far more credible. You could appear on television, get quoted in a newspaper or be featured on a blog.

The media industry needs experts to comment on current news stories and issues. For example, an image consultant we know recently appeared on a major market radio talk show where she discussed the look and image of party leaders running for re-election.

You’ve got to attach your expertise to the news of the day. Here’s how:

Send a Media Advisory. Send an email to your media database offering to comment on a hot news topic, such as the election, the economy, the Canadian dollar, gas prices or the environment. Explain why you are qualified to comment on a particular topic. For example, a tourism operator might speak about the effect of the weak US dollar on business.

Pursue a particular editor or reporter. Many journalists specialize in a particular “beat”, such as family, health, business, city news or politics. If your expertise is relevant to what they cover, approach them directly by email or phone.

Offer some statistics. Media love statistics, so collect numbers for them. Conduct customer surveys, compile industry data or report on buying trends. Send snippets of your data to your media contacts and offer to be interviewed.

Every day, media professionals must produce a lot of good content within tight deadlines. If you can help make their jobs a bit easier, you’ll be rewarded with some free publicity for your small business.

Roger Pierce

ROGER PIERCE is passionate about helping entrepreneurs achieve success. Co-founder of Canada’s largest small business training company, BizLaunch.ca, he’s launched eleven small businesses of his own and personally experienced what he calls “the good, the bad and the ugly” sides of entrepreneurship.

BizLaunch advises thousands of Canadian startups through its popular how-to seminars and webinars delivered with partners such as STAPLES.

Posted by Lynnette in STAPLES BizTIPs on June 11th, 2010

, , , , , , , , ,
0 comments | Share

Building Your Business on the Web (Part Two): Turning Online Visitors into Customers

Q&A with Rick Sloboda, Senior Web Copywriter for Webcopyplus

(Part two of a two-part series. Also see Generating Online Traffic.)

clip_image002So you’re getting people to your website, which was covered in Generating Online Traffic, the first part of this two-part series. Now, how do you turn these visitors into customers? Rick Sloboda, Senior Web Copywriter at Webcopyplus, which produces professional Web copy for businesses around the globe, including Scotia Bank and AT&T, answers your questions.

How important is the first impression on a website?

It’s essential. Studies show you have no more than a few seconds to make a positive first impression on the Web – and as little as .55 seconds. Your website should have a clean, appealing design, with relevant, engaging and informative Web copy, and intuitive navigation and information flow. If you don’t answer key questions right off the bat, Google, Yahoo and Bing will take your visitor to a competitor that does.

What are the key questions?

Am I at the right place? Can these guys help me? What makes these guys different? Several factors are already at play. For instance, is the design professional looking, does it generate trust and credibility? If you get your niece or nephew to do website design and development for $500, chances are it’ll show. That’s like selling retail products or consulting services from a lemonade stand. Also, is your Web copy clear and customer centric? Does it explain why people should choose you over competitors? Or is it full of self-centered, empty hype? Business owners need to that when a person arrives at your website, the visitor doesn’t really care about your business. They care about what your business can do for them.

That’s where experienced copywriters and marketers come into play?

Whether you write the web copy yourself, or hire a copywriter, make sure you flesh out and promote your benefits. Most business owners and copywriters write exclusively about features – what the product or service is, or has. Benefits are what the visitor gains as a result of the features. For instance, binoculars might have oversized lenses. Fine. But what will engage a visitor is the fact that they deliver low-light performance.

Benefits engage people emotionally, which is how we make decisions. We then rationalize decisions logically. For instance, does a person really need a $120,000 luxury vehicle? No. They might desire it for status, which is an emotional desire. And then they’ll justify it with rational, practical reasons, such as cutting edge brake technology, safety rankings, and so on. Benefits appeal to a person’s self-interest, and get people to act. People purchase things for three basic reasons: to satisfy needs; solve problems; or make themselves feel good. That’s why experienced copywriters often say, “Features tell, benefits sell.”

If benefits are so important, why do most websites promote features?

Because it’s easier to list features. A copywriter has to really understand a product or service, and have a good marketing mind, to define and convey benefits effectively.

So isn’t it better for a business owner to write their own web copy, as they know their business best?

Well, most people can write. But most people can also take photos. Take your own photos, and chances are you’ll have an amateurish website representing your business. The same goes for copywriting. Moreover, business owners tend to write what they want to say rather than what website visitors need to hear. A copywriter can bring an objective view to the table.

How much information is necessary on websites?

It varies. For instance, if you’re in fashion selling perfume, and want to build presence and nurture a brand, a few words might do. Visuals would play a key role. But, if you’re actually trying to get visitors to purchase a product from your website, or sell a subscription to a publication or software, you’d need a lot more web copy to make the sale.

As a general rule, web copy should be about half of what you’d use in traditional print, such as brochures. This is partly because it’s harder to read content on monitors and handhelds, and people tend to be impatient and easily distracted when using the Web. So it’s good to keep web copy concise.

What other elements are important to engage and convert visitors?

Since about 80% of people scan copy on the web, meaning they don’t read word for word, it’s helpful to provide visitors web copy in digestible chunks. To achieve this, web copywriters and designers often apply information layering techniques, using links to let visitors drill down to get more detailed information. It allows visitors to quickly access info relevant to their needs, without having to wade through huge chunks of text.

In line with keeping web copy lean and clean, you should kill any filler and clichés. Also, keep the language at about a grade 8 to 10 level, which is in line with Time and Newsweek, so you don’t alienate visitors. And include lots of testimonials. Third-party endorsements effectively generate trust, credibility and sales. Just edit them down to a sentence or two, and be sure to include a full name and city, when possible. A vague “John S.” reeks of spam on the already suspect Web. 

And, finally, ask for the sale. What do you want visitors to do? Whatever it is, it’s in your best interest to ask. This is your call to action. We might be writing copy for the cutting edge Internet, but the old-fashioned ‘ask for the sale’ still applies.

Note: This is the second of a two-part series. Also see Generating Online Traffic.

 

Rick Sloboda is a Senior Web Copywriter at Webcopyplus, which helps designers and businesses boost online traffic, leads and sales with optimized web content. Clients range from independent retailers to some of the world’s largest service providers, including AT&T (formerly Cingular), Quest Diagnostics and Scotia Bank. Rick advocates clear, concise and objective website content that promotes readability and usability, and conducts web content studies with organizations in Europe and the U.S., including Yale University. He speaks frequently at web-related forums and seminars, including Small Business BC, Content Convergence & Integration, SUCCESS and HRMA. Rick also serves as a consultant to various organizations, such as the Web Development Advisory Committee at Vancouver, B.C.’s Langara College.

Posted by Lynnette in Growing Your Biz on June 2nd, 2010

, , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0 comments | Share

Branded Content 101

By Chris Advansun, Digital Content Strategist, Venture Communications

All forms of marketing come down to good content. Search engine marketing attempts to attract users to what? Content. It could be a blog post, product demo, sales page, a Facebook page or a how-to video. But it’s all content. The same is true of social media; social media is all about connecting and sharing. Sharing what? Content. Having a content strategy is a natural and crucial extension of any company’s web presence and digital strategy, whether you’re a start-up or a small to medium-sized business.

When I talk about branded content, people sometimes think I’m talking about so-called advertorial or persuasive advertising content masquerading as editorial. The principle driving branded content is precisely the opposite. Instead of being intrusive and of minimal value to its audience, branded content creates real value, in the form of entertainment or information. This is what’s so exciting about this trend; instead of wrapping advertising around the content, brands can now be the content.

The strategy behind branded content doesn’t begin with a brand’s desired message. It starts with insights into a brand’s desired audience. We start by understanding our target audience, and then we create content that informs and entertains them. Then, having created a content property, we integrate the brand.

This insight is far from new. The first soap operas were developed by consumer product brands as a product placement vehicle. Those original soaps entertained and captivated the audience responsible for household purchasing while subtly (and sometimes blatantly) introducing products. What’s new is not the basic tactics of branded content but the fact that the costs of digital content creation and distribution have lowered dramatically. Even small companies can inexpensively produce high-quality content and distribute it on platforms like Facebook, iPhone, Hulu, Vuze and YouTube. Today, you don’t need to have the budget of Proctor & Gamble to produce a scripted drama and get it in front of millions of viewers. What you do need, however, is a strong concept, high-quality production and built-in virality.

A modern-day example of branded content is OpenForum.com, an online destination full of insightful content for businesspeople. The property is entirely supported by American Express. It’s a great example of branded content in action.

Instead of spending on an advertising campaign, AMEX invested in its own digital media property, OpenForum.com. They recruited a bunch of celebrity authors and high-profile bloggers to contribute articles and videos on marketing, management, finance and other subjects. Then they used social media to generate buzz and attract audience.

AMEX uses the site and its content as a way to generate leads for AMEX Open, one of its credit products for small businesses. You can apply for the card right on the site, which gets tons of traffic because of its fantastic search and social media optimization. And this is just one example. Many other brands are creating and distributing their own dramatic web series, reality shows and other types of content.

I believe it’s an exciting time for brands and marketers to start exploring and forging their futures with branded content. That’s why I founded the inaugural Branded Content Summit, taking place in Toronto on June 4. It is a gathering where companies, marketers, content producers and media convene to understand and profit from the shift toward branded content. For more information, visit www.brandedcontentsummit.com

 

About Chris Advansun 

Chris-AdvansunChris Advansun is an entrepreneur, writer, digital media expert and marketing professional. He has co-founded a handful of start-up companies and volunteer initiatives. He currently lives in Toronto, where he works as a digital content strategist for Venture Communications, an integrated marketing communications firm.

Posted by Lynnette in Marketing on May 11th, 2010

, , , , , , , , , , , ,
0 comments | Share