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Recently the world, including Simon Cowell, was completely shocked by the perfect voice from an unlikely star on Britian’s Got Talent. I have watched the video several times, and am continually amazed at how the frowning, judgmental faces melt into sheer joy as she begins her rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream”. So we have heard good singers before, why is she so infectious? Why is she such a household name? Why are we blogging about her? All the Bloggers out there ask if it isn’t partly because she is like us. She is a normal girl, from a small town, that leads a small life of family and friends, and isn’t gracing the cover of a magazine. We can relate to her, and want to see her rewarded for her beautiful gift!

So why is this a topic we find interesting for advertising and media? If you Google Susan Boyle today, she has over 23,200,000 results. This is proof that what appeals to the people WILL grow in a viral way across the Internet. She gave the people what they wanted, and they responded by blogging about it, sending tweets about it, writing facebook notes about it, the list goes on and on. As you begin to grow your social Internet presence, remember that people respond positively when you give them something they want, something they can relate to. It isn’t all about you, good companies make it about the customer, and create raving…and blogging…fans.

This post is adapted from “Why Television Still Shines in a World of Screens ” - Richard Stross

During the third quarter in 2008, Borders reported a loss of $175.4 million. People today are just not reading print. Today’s society thrives on multitasking and crunched time. While watching television, people are able to use their cell, access the internet, and watch television with minimal effort. If they were to read print, the concentration level required would have to be elevated and people are not willing to put the effort forth.

“MARKETERS often cite a quote generally attributed to John Wanamaker, the pioneer department store merchant: “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.” In the absence of hard data on how many people actually saw an ad in predigital times, advertisers were willing to give print media the benefit of the doubt. That’s no longer the case.”

This means that advertisers are now able to focus their ad dollars in a way that will not leave them questioning. If you focus on television and internet you will hit your expected audience without a single doubt. The time in which reading was a hobby has plummeted. It has now become a skill that not all possess. Focusing your ads to the changing of society will alleviate any uncertainty you may have about your advertising. And help you grow your business.

Reach the right people.
Instead of creating an advertisement and hoping that it reaches the right customers, you can create a Facebook Social Ad and target it precisely to the audience you choose. You can target my age group, gender, geographic location, and more! Why does this matter? Advertisers often pay by impression, or time the ad is seen, so my targeting your specific prospects, you save have a much higher return on your investment. The ads can also be shown to users whose friends have recently engaged with your Facebook Page or engaged with your website through Facebook Beacon. Social Ads are more likely to influence users when they appear next to a story about a friend’s interaction with your business.

Another great Facebook fact-the ad links directly to your website, so users can learn more about you and your products.

Establish an interactive presence on Facebook.
Every Facebook Page is a unique experience where users can form a relationship with your business or brand. Users can express their support by adding themselves as a fan, writing on your Wall, uploading photos, and joining other fans in discussion groups. You can send updates to your fans regularly, telling them about special news or offers. You can also enhance your Page using videos, reviews, images, flash content, and more. A Facebook page is beneficial to all types of businesses–
Restaurants
Bars
Cafes
Health and Beauty
Pets
Local Stores
Parks
Attractions
Sports Teams
Games
Artists
Musicians
Politicians
Non-profits
And many more…
Facebook pages should be current and updated often to keep returning users excited about what you have to offer. Don’t worry if this isn’t something you have time for-we do! We are logged-on to this favorite social platform daily, and update pages frequently.

Facebook Facts

•A social utility that helps people communicate with their friends, family and coworkers.

•Anyone can sign up for Facebook and interact with the people they know in a trusted environment.

•Facebook is a part of millions of people’s lives and half of the users return daily.

• Facebook is a privately-held company and is headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif.

•As part of your online presence, Facebook connects with clients in a new way, through Social Media.

General Growth
•More than 69 million active users
User Demographics
•More than 50% of users are outside college
•Fastest growing demographic 25+
User Engagement
•Sixth- most trafficked site in US
•More than 65 billion pages views/month
•More than half of active users return daily
•Users spend an average of 20min/day on site

Although Facebook began as a college connection tool, it has become THE social site on the Internet. By linking friends and colleges through profiles, Facebook has connected people of ALL ages
as never before. So, how does your business fit into a social platform? We will explore several ways, piecing together this bug chunk of the Internet we call Social Media. stay tuned…

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(facebook stats as recorded by facebook, for more info, please visit www.facebook.com)

A company advertising to a niche market seeks to meet the needs not being addressed by the mainstream market. What’s the upside of this type of focus? There is significant identification that develops when a product is meeting a select need. Monogrammed stationary, team or city themed merchandise, haircare products that exactly target your frizz… What’s the downside to this focus? It can be expensive, especially in advertising and marketing, and especially in the vastness of the Internet.

There are two great ways your company can consider targeting a niche market online- social advertising and search engine optimization. Social advertising is all about niches, groups of people meeting on networking sites, blogs, and forums to discuss topics and share ideas. Search Engine Optimization makes your site ready, so when someone is searching for just what you have to sell, they will find it fast. You can learn more about these two services, and others that we offer on our website, www.mediavenue.com

Happy Niche Marketing!

Advertising 101: Grab the consumers attention! As a last minute Christmas shopper, I was walking around a particular store trying to decide what to purchase and contemplating which caught my eye first, the horrid 8.5″x11″ red signs everywhere, or the fact that everything was 40% off in the store. Everyone knows that the economy is falling off the side of a cliff but as a business you should attempt to ease the consumers mind instead of throwing it in their face. ( AKA we have cut our marketing budget and have resorted to color paper and a copy machine) During last minute shopping consumers are acting strictly on impulse spending. However as a business this is your time to create a loyal consumer. If a consumer is satisfied with their purchase and does not experience buyers remorse then the likelihood that they will return to your store after the holiday season is considerably higher. However, if your store looks like it is going out of business during the largest shopping season of the year, your creditability as a store is shot.

Now that we are aware that America has been in a recession, it has made many prices drop, one being media prices. This is a great benefit to all of the companies who know how important it is to keep their name and presence out there. Media prices for TV, radio and print will be considerably low for those who know how to negotiate plans and execute effective buys. However, for those of you who are not aware of how media negotiations are made, you may find prices to be higher than market rates.

This situation coupled with the advice of a seasoned media buying service or media buying professional can add even more to the end result by keen negotiating and knowing the media landscape. If this is you, then you need an expert who knows when time and space are available and the demand is low, because the prices are almost at a “name your price” budget within considerable reason. This might be considered like having an additional 10-25% discount coupon after all the markdowns by the seller are considered. So call the experts at Media Venue today to get your company name and presence out there to compete with other companies for minimal costs.

Nielsen reports is third-quarter results…everyone is watching TV. The report indicates that the average American household has the TV on over 8 hours each day. Nielsen, who began measuring results in the 1950’s, reports these results as a record high. They are also reporting the the average person in the US is watching 142 hours of TV each month! Now that’s a lot of commercials to see!

The most interesting part to me is that Internet usage is also up. So where are all these hours coming from? Estimates show that 30% of TV watchers are also on the Internet at the same time. Talk about multi-tasking!

This year, the 2009 Super Bowl will be sponsored by NBC. Last year the Super Bowl was aired on FOX. Even in times of an economic crisis many businesses are able to come up with the high dollar amounts to advertise in the biggest sports game of the year. Last year 97.4 million people viewed the game, which was the most viewed sports game. This year NBC is in better shape than FOX was last year at this time. FOX still had about 10% of commercial spots left to fill, whereas, this year NBC has sold all but 8 commercial spots with over two months to go. This is a much better turn out. Many companies were on the fence about spending so much money for one spot in a game, because they fear being looked down upon due to the financial crisis. However, they know that if they have a great spot in the game, it will be viewed by more people than in any other venue of advertising. Other companies were not positive that their wallets could afford it, yet some decided it would be worth the risk. A few companies, like General Motors, made a decision to bail out this year, while others, who are benefiting from the bail out have decided to give it another go. Last year, due to 10% of inventory being unsold, many spots were heavily discounted right before the big game. Even though this year, there may not be spots left before the game to be discounted, many companies may decide to buy local spots in the game, which could cut the cost in half or even more depending on how close to the time of game, the spots are purchased.

Chrisina Ryan
Media Venue

*Information from: The Wall Street Journal, Tuesday November 11, 2008 by Suzanne Vranica