Marketing in the 21st Century is about being able to evolve, understanding new trends and embracing a specialized approach.
Lot’s of industries are having to adapt to new marketing and publishing strategies, and that includes the newspaper industry. In a recent article for Media Shift, Angela Washeck wrote about the three lessons from 2014 in the digital media front. While its tailored to publishing companies, there are some lessons for those looking to embrace Internet marketing strategies for career colleges and trade schools.
The first tip offered by Washeck is that in order to compete with TV, you have to look at act like TV, but be digital.
“When you think of AOL or Yahoo, TV isn’t the first thing that comes to mind,” Washeck writes. “But as both companies struggle to solve the revenue riddle with a hodgepodge of advertising tactics, they’re also delving into the world of original entertainment programming that looks much like TV while carrying with it the drawbacks of digital.
“The effort toward standardizing metrics is of the utmost importance for advertisers who are looking to share their TV ad budgets with web video ad content, which has been seen in the past as a fledgling sub-industry with an underwhelming impact. And as AdAge’s Jeanine Poggi pointed out, it seems digital players are realizing they must broaden their horizons when it comes to planning and paying for quality content, if they want to seriously compete with TV.
“It’s sunk in that they, too, must spend like a TV network and often produce TV-like content to compete for TV ad dollars,” Poggi wrote.
Video can be an effective tool for Internet marketing, but it needs to look professional and be tailored to the Web.
However, simply posting a video online might not be enough.
“Even for massive publishing companies like Conde Nast and the New York Times, getting people to watch the video they produce is just plain hard,” Washeck said. “It’s not known exactly why, but it’s likely because they weren’t created as video content distributors or publishers like Netflix, Hulu or YouTube. But both legacy companies know that marketers are looking for innovative ways to incorporate their messages onto their websites, so pubs are beefing up their video contributions accordingly.”
Washeck adds that The New York Times has been building up buzz for its video efforts all year, having doubled its staff and created a video department solely for advertisers.
“While NewFronts presenters have largely been digitally native pubs and companies, the Times’ appearance shows they want their video ad capabilities to be taken seriously. But they have to work with what they’ve got – and that’s still a whole lot of print. One of the paper’s most popular columns, “Modern Love,” will get a video counterpart, as well as “Bits,” and the Times’ new video hub represents videos by topic including Times Documentaries, Sports, Real Estate, Travel, Health and a handful more.”
Of course, this video endeavor has to monetize if brands want to buy into it, Washeck adds. “So, branded playlists where all of an advertiser’s video content can be located in one library will sit among regular editorial videos, and sponsored video will be implemented onto NYTimes.com.”
Video ads have grown in popularity in recent years and Washeck wrote about an interesting way to interact with customers through a video ad.
· All the chatter surrounding Hulu’s Pizza Hut advertisement proves that hyper-interactive ads may be here to stay. Here’s how it works: You’re in the middle of your favorite show, and your stomach’s growling. Who wants to pick up the phone to order a pizza? Hulu is answering back this summer with a Pizza Hut ad that lets viewers order their pepperoni pie, hot wings and sodas inside of the ad. Bringing together the pizza company’s digital ordering system with Hulu’s interactive ad setup, the move makes you wonder whether traditional publishers might start hooking up with nationwide eateries and boutiques to get readers buying directly from the ad.
Video content may or may not be the right method of marketing of your career college, but it’s a topic that highlights the shift taking place in Web-based marketing and content strategies.