by Justin James | Jul 11, 2013 | Advertising, Business Success, Interactive, Latest, Social Media
If your company is trying to market in this digital age, you have likely heard of social media marketing. Using social media to reach out and connect to your audience is wonderful —it can turn a boring ad into an amazing interactive experience! Engaging an audience with Facebook and Twitter is something anyone can do, but you need to be careful when trying to sell your product through YouTube —or you might be spending your budget on ineffective infomercials!
Defenders may argue that “YouTube is the second largest search engine. Of course having ads on here would benefit my company!” Although Mr. Advertiser is right to think that YouTube has a lot of marketing potential, he’s is probably using the wrong type of advertising.
Yes, YouTube has more than one billion unique visitors a month. Yes, YouTube reaches more adults ages 18-34 than any cable network. Of course, more than a million advertisers use Google ad platforms. However, if you are trying to reach the young demographic with windy infomercials, you may end up driving them away instead.
Why YouTube Ads are Less Effective Than you Think
Think of how you use YouTube. You’re relaxing in the comfort of your home and need something to do. You don’t want to commit to watching an entire movie, so you log onto YouTube and see that one of your favorite YouTubers has uploaded a new video.
5 minutes! Wow, perfect! You’re excited now—the video’s title promises a cute cat doing funny things! You hover your mouse over the title and click the video and then…
“Hi. I’m Doug from x company, and we want to sell you y.” Your muscles tense as a large man in a suit bombards you with special offers for a product that cleans goldfish bowls. You’re growing impatient now; you want to watch your cat video and not this interrupting salesman.
Once the ad finally finishes, you get to enjoy your cat video. Great! Then you look, in the related searches bar—what’s that!? A dancing bear? You just have to click it, and— No! Why? The exact same ad begins to play again. You’ve already suffered through the salesman’s irrelevant spiel once, and now you are forced to watch it again!
Now, not only have you decided:
1) ‘I want to enjoy my personal time.’
2) ‘I do not care about this product.’
But you’ve also developed another reaction: The company has actually angered you with their intrusive videos and so:
3) ‘I am so annoyed with this company that I am less likely to involve myself with this or other products they carry.’
Sound familiar? So what should your company do?
YouTube is a massive website that reaches billions of viewers. However, YouTube often reaches people during their “Me-Time.” It’s the same concept as door-to-door salesmen knocking on your door at supper time. It’s intrusive and could hurt your company’s chances at gaining customers.
Check back on Hoopla as I reveal how to successfully advertise on YouTube.
by Justin James | Jul 9, 2013 | Advertising, Business Success, Creative, Design, Latest, Social Media
As I mentioned in my last blog, I want to be an entrepreneur. I have come to realize that the key to success is letting people know about your business since you need customers to earn money. Marketing is crucial for any business, and is important for me to understand if I want to run a successful business. To market effectively, I need a good marketing process.
At 3H, a lot of hard work goes into marketing. There are countless hours spent on the creative process, content and design, and linking all of the elements together effectively. For that reason, I believe one could call 3H’s marketing process 3D.
The “Three Dimensions” of the Marketing Process
The first dimension is the creative process. In only a couple of days, I’ve learned that a lot of time, inside and outside of the office, is spent on conceptualizing ideas. In this process, their team conjures the foundations for websites, advertisements, and strategic targeting of demographics and what appeals to them. This creative edge is what makes 3H stand above other marketing and branding agencies, since creativity is an essential part of connecting with an audience and capturing their attention.
The second dimension is where creativity meets reality. In the content and design phase, the company’s talented artists, writers, and web developers capture their creative ideas in a tangible, unique way. While I find the creative dimension enjoyable, it is this second dimension that makes me feel most satisfied as ideas come to life in ads, promotions or websites.
The third dimension is turning well-conceived efforts into effective efforts. This third phase links the content and ideas to the desired audience through blogs, social media, and introductory promotions. It is in this phase that 3H reaches out to the clients’ targeted demographics to build familiarity and trust with their potential buyers through online and offline tactics.
On social media platforms, like Facebook and twitter, 3H effectively uses content to engage their readers and spark their interests. The third dimension is the difference between reading well-written content on a website and feeling a personal connection with the company as they build trust, good will and confidence.
During my internship, I hope to learn more about the processes 3H utilizes in order to create the effective content they produce. I’m excited to have an opportunity to work with several new programs, including Google tools, Photoshop, and possibly Dreamweaver!
Even if I don’t become a marketer, understanding the need for effective marketing and the process behind creating good content is critical. I know that if I can learn these three dimensions, any future business I have will be more successful. Understanding how intricate the marketing process is makes me realize that it can be done most effectively by specialists in marketing. As most successful entrepreneurs know, it is best to stick with your core competencies and have other experts handle the accounting, marketing, shipping or other tasks, so you can do what you do best – and get the customers you need.
by Justin James | Jul 5, 2013 | Advertising, Business Success, Latest
Today, I find myself in an advertising agency on my first day at 3H Communications as an intern. Good for me! Let me back up a little and give you some background on well, me, the 3H Intern. Since the day I was old enough to understand that I needed money to live, I started asking myself the big question: How can I make money?
I eventually decided that I wanted to become an entrepreneur and start my business after finishing university. Now, I face only two problems:
1. I have no idea what I should be innovating , inventing or doing for my business, nor how to market what I was doing.
2. I need to be accepted to a university.
The combination of these two factors was rather daunting, until I heard of an interesting opportunity to gain in work training. This training provides a better understanding of the working world and can be used on a resume to help with future job and university applications. Through a Specialist High Skills Major business program at my school, I enrolled in a Co-op and was fortunate enough to be offered an internship at
3H Communications – a marketing advertising agency in downtown Oakville.
Excellent! Before I started working, I needed the proper attire. I visited a few stores and gathered the full ensemble: shoes, shirt, jacket, tie, and dress pants. Sweltering in the summer heat but looking professional, I approached the doors of 3H Communications Inc.
A day in the life of the 3H Intern:
The company is very impressive. There are talented writers, designers, and web developers working here, oozing talent and confidence. The workplace has a vibe of creativity and dedication, creating a stimulating work environment.
After a brief boardroom meeting, I was assigned a cozy office space to work in. My supervisor showed me what work I needed to complete, and as I tried to absorb all the instructions, I quickly turn into a Macklemore rap song. ‘All right. Okay. All—all right, okay.’
The day progressed and I learned much about effectively gathering data, evaluating consumer interest for a product and targeting the right demographics. In one day of work, I learned the equivalent of a semester’s teachings in school. I believe that co-op workplaces offer a great opportunity for aspiring teenagers because they can gain practical skills and information, which in business, proves to be more valuable than theoretical knowledge.
My experience as an intern is already phenomenal and I am only one day into my month-long co-op. Future ambitions aside, being an intern at 3H Communications Inc. is much more enjoyable than flipping burgers at McDonalds or one of the other limited jobs generally available to a 16-year-old.
Keep checking back here as I share experiences at 3H!
