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How to Effectively Use Tradeshow Video Displays | FASTSIGNS Guest Post
Would you stop at trade show displays featuring just two salespeople and a table? Trade show booths need to grab the attention of attendees to be worth the investment. There are many ways to accomplish this with eye-catching trade show banners, demonstrations and giveaways. Utilizing video displays is also an emerging strategy to make trade show exhibits pop.
Video displays provide a way to appeal to event attendees with both sight and sound. An engaging video can both attract attendees and give them an in-depth understanding of your product or service. Video content can include product reviews from customers, company highlights or new product introductions.
Product reviews from current customers help give prospective customers a visual idea of how your product will help them. There’s nothing like seeing a beautiful face to sell skin cream, a fit person to sell exercise equipment or a happy mother to sell children’s toys. Producing a video featuring your own leadership and staff gives trade show display visitors a window into your company, humanizing the workforce and showcasing your team’s talent. Video is also an excellent tool for new product introductions. How does a heavy machinery company demonstrate the power of their new backhoe in a conference hall? Video allows companies with larger products to show off their features even if they aren’t in the room.
Whatever the content, video quality is very important. It is a representation of your company and brand, so if you commit to investing in video content and a video display unit, ensure both are professional quality. The video file should be suitable for different aspect ratios and universally playable so it can be shown in a wide variety of settings.
Video displays can also provide an interactive experience if they are connected to the internet. Sales people can flip through photo galleries with prospects, pull up product data or show product reviews from customers. Incorporating technology into trade show exhibits is both engaging and indicative of a cutting-edge organization.
Trade show displays can be many things, but they should never be boring! A booth with something to offer, whether it’s a promotional item, helpful information or an engaging video will always draw more attention. And more attention means more leads, more new relationships and ultimately getting more out of your trade show experience.
About the author
Drue Townsend is senior vice president of marketing at FASTSIGNS®, a visual communications services provider with more than 550 locations around the world.
Digital Sign Solutions
Digital signage is often the first place customers and travelers turn when they need to find information. Whether displaying up-to-the-minute flight information in airports, helping shoppers find their way around a mall or even cycling through the daily dinner specials at a local restaurant, companies are always finding new and unique ways to make digital signs work for them..
At FASTSIGNS®, we understand that some people don’t understand how digital signage can effectively work for them. While there’s no universal answer, a good place to start is by determining how digital signs can address marketing and communication challenges you face.
Do you need to communicate a variety of visual messages? Does your pricing or product offering change frequently? Do you need to have different messages going to different audiences at different times of the day and night? Digital signage can solve challenges like these. You can provide customers with anything from a simple list of prices and services to dynamic information such as traffic and weather updates. These visual experiences can be clean and simple, or detailed and interactive, depending on the objective.
Are you thinking that this is too expensive for you? You might be surprised by the variety of entry-level options available, as well as the savings it could provide you long-term. It’s important to speak to somebody directly about your digital signage needs before taking any major steps. It can save a lot of hassle, confusion and money to have an experienced professional by your side while you explore the wide range of possibilities and solutions. You can save a great deal of money with a solution that is scalable and can grow with you. FASTSIGNS offers this service, and so do others. What’s important is finding a company that you are comfortable with when discussing the communication objectives you have for your business and clients.
About the Author
Matt Miles is director of products and services at FASTSIGNS®, a visual communications services provider with more than 530 locations around the world.
Build Mobile
BuildMobile introduces you to jQuery Mobile, wherein we learn the basics of writing lean mean HTML5 and incorporating the appropriate data-handlers to ignite the jQM framework and in the process build out a reference site, which illuminates the creation of CSS3 shapes, sans images. Build jQuery Mobile
Apple’s ‘Mac vs. PC’ Ad Campaign (Year 1 of 4)
Year One: 2006
1. Better (May 2006) Watch the Ad
2. iLife (May 2006) Watch the Ad
3. Network (May 2006) Watch the Ad
4. Restarting (May 2006) Watch the Ad
5. Viruses (May 2006) Watch the Ad
6. Wall Street Journal (May 2006) Watch the Ad
7. Out of the Box (June 2006) Watch the Ad
8. Touché (June 2006) Watch the Ad
9. Work vs. Home (June 2006) Watch the Ad
10. Accident (August 2006) Watch the Ad
11. Angel/Devil (August 2006) Watch the Ad
12. Trust Mac (August 2006) Watch the Ad
13. Better Results (October 2006) Watch the Ad
14. Counselor (October 2006) Watch the Ad
15. Self-Pity (October 2006) Watch the Ad
16. Gift Exchange (November 2006) Watch the Ad
17. Meant for Work (November 2006) Watch the Ad
18. Sales Pitch (November 2006) Watch the Ad
19. Goodwill (December 2006) Watch the Ad
QR Codes: Nailing the basics and adding value for consumers
QR codes are quickly becoming a part of any integrated marketing campaign. Also known as quick response codes, they are a useful way to encourage consumers to interact with a brand. They can be used to direct a magazine reader to a product’s ecommerce site, give additional product information or deliver a special coupon.
Who is using QR codes?
According to a 2011 study conducted by marketing firm MGH, QR code awareness is high among smartphone users. One-third of them have used QR codes, and two-thirds have seen one. Users who were aware of QR codes tended to be more educated and affluent, and the majority used one to get a coupon or additional information. The largest majority of users were ages 35-54 and users were almost evenly split between men and women. As more well-known brands incorporate QR codes into their marketing campaigns, awareness is certain to grow in all demographics.
How do I use them effectively?
There are some very basic steps to take before employing a QR code in a campaign. Before trying the fancy stuff, ensure the basics are in place:
- Give the potential user a website URL to download a code reader. Mobile-Barcodes.com has an extensive list.
- The QR code should go to a site designed specifically for mobile.
- The QR code should not be in a place with poor cell reception such as a subway stop or underground office.
- Measure the success of QR codes with a trackable URL, which will provide stats on the number of QR code scans per hour as well as the devices used.
The most important thing to remember in effective QR code use is to provide value for the consumer. This can certainly be a coupon or promotion, but also think of information or a service as added value. An instructional video that provides information on how to use a product (along with selling points) provides value. So does services such as a Store Finder or ecommerce solution.
Unique applications
There have been some excellent examples of how to use QR codes to increase brand engagement by adding value for the user. Starbucks got an early jump on the movement with the Starbucks Card Mobile Application. Customers load an account with money, and the pull up their account’s QR code at the register for quick and easy payment. The QR code provides the added value of convenience and time saving.
In February, Jimmy Fallon broke the late-night show tradition of holding up the performing band’s album cover. Instead of the album, he flashed a QR code that led viewers to an exclusive music video. The clip became a trending topic on Twitter, magnifying exposure for both the band and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.
Web-based event registration site Eventbrite experimented with using QR codes at registration desks. Whether it’s a conference or a concert, attendees hate waiting in a long line just to fill out an attendee form. When attendees registered with Eventbrite they were sent a QR code in their confirmation. Event coordinators quickly scanned the codes, gathering attendee information quickly and accurately.
These are just a few examples of the creative and engaging ways QR codes can be used. Think of the growing use of QR codes as an opportunity to develop new ways of engaging with the people who care about your brand.
About the Author
Nick Jerome is a marketing services manager at FASTSIGNS®, a visual communications services provider with more than 550 locations around the world.
11 Email Marketing Terms You Need to Know
ROI (Return on Investment) – Your ROI is the measure of the profit you make and/or costs saved at your business. For your email marketing campaigns you calculate cost of sending email plus time.
ROI = [(Payback - Investment)/Investment)]*100
So if you made $780 on your email campaign, your time was worth $50 to create it and it costs $15 to send it it would look like this:
(($780 – $65)/$65)*100 = 1100% ROI (which is really good!)
If you want to take it a step further subtract your cost of your products or services as well.
Open Rate – Your open rate is simply the number recipients who opened your HTML emails. It is typically measured as a percentage of the total number of emails sent, although calculation methods may differ. The open rate is considered a useful metric for judging response to an email campaign but it should be noted that open rates for text emails can’t be calculated AND some email clients don’t display images as a default which would under report your total number of opens.
Above the Fold – The bottom of your browser window or the bottom of your email before you have to start scrolling is commonly referred to as the “fold”. These viewable areas should be where your most important information should be located since it’s the first thing your viewer will see.
Preview Pane – Email programs like Microsoft Outlook, Entourage, and Mac Mail allow users to view email through a preview pane before your recipient clicks to open. The preview pane is important to bear in mind when composing the opening lines of an email so you can get your recipient’s attention fast.
Copy – Your copy is simply the text of the email you write.
Hosted Email – A hosted version of an email allows users to view the email message as a web page, ensuring that all formatting remains intact. VerticalResponse does this for you for free you just need to include the “hosted version” link. Hosted versions of your email are also great for you to send your Twitter and Facebook followers to when you launch your campaign.
Spoofing – Email spoofing involves forging a sender’s address on email messages. It can be used by malicious individuals to mislead email recipients into reading and responding to deceptive mail. These fake messages can jeopardize the online privacy of consumers and damage the reputation of the companies purported to have sent the messages. Spoofed email often contains phishing scams. VerticalResponse doesn’t allow for this in our systems.
Phishing – In a phishing scam, a spammer, posing as a trusted party such as a bank or reputable online vendor, sends email messages directing recipients to Web sites that appear to be official but are in reality fraudulent. Visitors to these Web sites are asked to disclose personal information, such as credit card numbers, or to purchase counterfeit or pirated products.
Targeting – Targeting gives you the ability to deliver emails to those most likely to respond to your emails, based on a variety of things like their geographic, demographic, psychographic and behavioral information.
Whitelists – Whitelists are usually created by an ISP (internet service provider) and are made up of commercial emailers (including ESPs) who have been approved to send email through their gates. The ISP requires a list of IP (internet protocol) addresses that email will be sent from, and in some cases a test period where the commercial emailer will be approved or rejected. VerticalResponse is on all available whitelists.
Web Friendly fonts – Almost all web browsers are capable of displaying four primary fonts properly: Times, Arial, Helvetica, and Verdana, as well as their variants (Arial Narrow, Times New Roman, etc.) If a web developer decides to stray from one of these fonts he or she risks browser compatibility problems and the prospect that their pages may render inaccurately when viewed through certain web browsers.
Changes to Google Social Search
By displaying information from various social sites, Google’s search results should help searchers in their decision making process.
For an overview of Google Social Search and our new features, check out the explanatory video:
Here are some changes outlined by Google:
First, social search results will now be mixed throughout your results based on their relevance (in the past they only appeared at the bottom). This means you’ll start seeing more from people like co-workers and friends, with annotations below the results they’ve shared or created. So if you’re thinking about climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro and your colleague Matt has written a blog post about his own experience, then we’ll bump up that post with a note and a picture:
Second, Google has made Social Search more comprehensive by adding notes for links people have shared on Twitter and other sites. In the past, Google would show you results people created and linked through their Google profiles. Now, if someone you’re connected to has publicly shared a link, Google may show that link in your results with a clear annotation (which is visible only to you, and only when you’re signed in).
Third, Google’s given you more control over how you connect accounts, and made connecting accounts more convenient. You can still connect accounts publicly on your Google profile, but now Google’s added a new option to connect accounts privately in your Google Account. (After all, you may not want everyone to know you’re @spongebobsuperfan on Twitter.) In addition, if the Google algorithms find a public account that might be yours (for example, because the usernames are the same), Google may invite you to connect your accounts right on the search results page and in your Google Account settings:
Mobile Internet Access Taking Over the Web
More consumers will access the Internet by mobile devices than by desktops or laptop computers by 2013, projects analyst Mary Meeker of investment bank Morgan Stanley. She also projects that mobile commerce will account for nearly 2% of U.S. retail sales by late 2012, while web retail will account for 5-6%. Meeker says mobile commerce in the U.S. will follow the path blazed by Japan, where the leading online retail site, Rakuten, already was booking 19% of its sales from mobile devices in late 2009.
Source: Morgan Stanley Research
