Since the JOBS Act was signed into law on April 5, 2012, there has been an increase in the number of start-up businesses. Entrepreneurs at the helm of these start-ups must focus on their marketing efforts, particularly as it relates to interactive marketing, the new path that marketing is traveling down.
The ever-changing marketing world
Gone are the days when entrepreneurs could limit their marketing messages to a specific segment of the population. Post a video, image, white paper or Q&A piece to social media networks and millions of people can come across the material within seconds. Marketing adoption rates are firmly in the hands of consumers. This also places the strength of branding more in consumers’ hands.
The importance of publishing effective visual, audio, and written messages out to multiple platforms like mobile devices, video catalogs, social media sites, and blogs is higher than it has ever been.
What consumers are saying about viral digital marketing products (i.e. digital magazines, infographics, images, videos) is that they want more visual messaging. For instance, comScore reports that 45.4% of online users watch at least one video per month. As many as 100 million online users watch a video every day.
Perhaps most important is news that 90% of online shoppers say that videos at major retailers’ websites influence their buying decisions.
It’s not that start-ups aren’t aware of the growing value of digital marketing. It’s that, in our fast-paced, short-on-time society, marketers don’t have the occasion to develop enticing, image-heavy messages needed to cater to online audiences. The end result is that marketing efforts are, unfortunately, placed on the back burner.
Bridging the digital marketing divide with digital catalogue software
A workaround that an increasing number of start-ups are turning to is Lookbook and digital catalogue software that can be used to design effective memes, Lookbooks, videos and infographics. With these tools, busy entrepreneurs can create highly visual websites, digital magazines and product images in HD quality within a matter of minutes. Since this software is compatible with mobile devices like the iPad, entrepreneurs can push their finished marketing products out to millions of consumers.
Digital catalogue software generally includes a range of software types that can be used to develop e-book, banner ad, direct email, brochure, infographic, meme and video marketing pieces. It’s like having a suite of time saving digital tools at hand. A downside to digital catalogue software is that some of the software could require start-ups to have, at the least, basic coding skills. Among the marketing firms that offer digital catalogue software that requires absolutely no coding are Ceros, Synergy MG and Vocus.
Of these companies offering marketing software and design solutions, Ceros, also teaches start-ups, as well as marketers at established, more traditional companies, how to design Lookbooks, memes and infographics. Ceros demonstrates how to incorporate digital marketing tools into overall marketing and branding campaigns that are published across social media channels and other online platforms.
How much marketing support is required?
How much marketing direction is enough to get start-ups the results they need to continue to grow their businesses? After all, depending on the product and the business, marketers might have to put the same message in front of a target audience two to four (or more) times a month.
Plainly stated, in order for marketing to work, marketing messages must get down into consumers’ memories. This way, when consumers perceive that there’s a gap between what they have now and what they want or need, certain correlating start-up products will immediately surface in their minds.
Putting digital marketing content out in front of the right audience takes time. The last thing busy entrepreneurs need to hassle with is the marketing product development process. For this reason, entrepreneurs should ask marketing firms that offer digital catalogue software and Lookbook software about their training options, particularly their in-depth training modules.
Start-ups who achieve this could use savings on payroll tax cuts, improved access to capital and tax credits they get for hiring workers who have been unemployed for extended periods of time on new product developments, internal business alignment, and client relationship management. Then, gains from the 2012 JOBS Act may start to reveal themselves more clearly, more strongly.
