Video promotion online
05.02.06Joan Stewart at the Publicity Hound blog wrote today about a mother/child yoga DVD that needs help with online marketing. The DVD producer ends her request for advice with the following:
“But in order to do that, we need to be out there! I’ve sent press releases, done a local news guest segment, gotten reviews, created an interactive website, have product placed in a few specialty stores, done expos, etc.
“But I need that Big Thing. What am I missing? What’s one huge thing that might put us on the map? Please help, Hounds.”
I watched the DVD trailer, and it is pretty neat. So I posted the following comment on Joan's blog. Anyone have any thoughts on the question or this advice?
Not to rain on the parade, but some people contend that the new social media emerging (like blogs) is not at all about the Big Thing - but rather the aggregate result of lots of small things. That said, this vid has a great trailer! You might consider putting it on YouTube, engaging some yoga and mama bloggers in conversation (see, for example http://technorati.com/blogs/motherhood ) and offering them the short code snippet that will allow your video to be shown on their site. Trying to get bloggers to cover your product can be difficult, but the bottom line is reading their blogs before hand and really engaging with them. Beyond that, I've bookmarked the best resources I've found for pitching bloggers for coverage at http://del.icio.us/marshallkirkpatrick/pitchingbloggers
Good luck!
One thing I didn't think to write at the time is that I would make sure to set up search feeds for references to the video and make sure to respond to any coverage. I would not set up search feeds for terms like "mother and baby Yoga" because making a commercial pitch any time anything related is blogged about would be in poor taste.
May 2nd, 2006 at
Hey, Marshall, my initial thought was just like yours — the “next Big Thing” isn’t a great concept anymore. I’ve also got some suggestions at my blog, here.
May 2nd, 2006 at
David, sound advice there. As I posted on your blog, though, while blogging yourself is the best way to engage in the blogosphere - it’s hard for many people to sustain a blog.
May 3rd, 2006 at
Sure it is, but if someone has the time to create and market a DVD, they need to make the time to sustain a blog and/or podcast. Or they need to pay someone to do it for them.
Marketers who are looking for the Big Thing are not only trying to make it too easy on themselves. They are also missing the fundamental shift going on in the marketplace. Marketing is just a lot harder now than it used to be, and that’s due to a change in the audience as much as anything else.
May 3rd, 2006 at
I hear you there. It’s a tough call. In my consulting work I very rarely these days try to convince anyone to blog - I just work with people who already know they want to. Hiring someone to do it for you is a very good option, I think, in some circomstances. Or having a staff person who dedicates a serious amount of time to online communication.
May 4th, 2006 at
I’m glad to hear you say it’s a good option to hire someone. I know that’s really frowned upon by a lot of people, because of the notion that blogs must be all about a person’s “passion.” I think passion can help, but some of the most interesting stuff I’ve ever read has been written by people who were collecting a paycheck, did their research, and churned out really compelling content.
May 4th, 2006 at
To some degree I think that’s a hold-over from the days when blogs were all about kittens.
Organizations should have someone ultimately responsible for blogging, I think, though they may focus on bringing many voices in. The time, energy and skill invested required needs to be taken seriously.