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Everyone's Invited to the revolution!

by Rob Krabbe

First the recording industry, and now book publishing. Random House, HarperCollins, MacMillan, Penguin, Simon & Schuster, Hachette Book Group, all too big and set in their ways to adjust? The winner of this new era really, is the indie author, or song writer respectively. The recording industry was presaged by the demise of chains such as Sam Goodies, and Tower Records, we see the book industry’s bankruptcies-syptoms too ie: Borders/Waldenbooks, adjustments and death of industry elements too large to change.  In the dust, niche labels and publishers have sprouted around the graves of the too-big-to-change, and artists (both musical and literary) have opted for the control that self-releasing their work allows.

The signs are not as debatable anymore.  In June of 2012, the Association of American Publishers announced that for the first time, ebook sales surpassed hardcover sales (excluding children’s books). Business reporter Lauren Indvik of Mashable notes that, “The proliferation of ereading devices, from tablets and smartphones to dedicated ereaders, has a lot to do with it. Research published by Pew in April found a strong correlation between the spike in sales of ereading-capable devices and ebook adoption over the holidays.”

What does that mean for the new “nitch” publishers, and artists of all kinds?  It means the market place is now a “New Wild West.” Artists can get their work out there now without being part of the royal family.  More access to the market, more titles, more, more, more.  And . . . in some ways now, a larger group of artists, having to work very hard to get notice in this new and burgeoning world. To be fair, artists, authors, musicians and songwriters of, uh, let’s say less established talent or marketability, also will be putting projects into the market, yet the net result is more variety, and less governing by the cultural elite, and the profitability of each project.  Maybe we will have a change for greater experience of true art?  Time will tell.  How long did it take to tame the wild west?

How do we get the word out then?

"Push me Pull You."

Two different forms of digital marketing exist:

In PULL digital marketing, the consumer actively seeks the marketing content, often via web searches or opening an email, text message or web feed. Websites, blogs and streaming media (audio and video) are examples of pull digital marketing. In each of these, users have to navigate to the website to view the content. Only current web browser technology is required to maintain static content. Search engine optimization is one tactic used to increase activity. Martin et al. found that consumers prefer special sales and new product information, whereas "interesting" content was not useful.

In PUSH digital marketing the marketer sends a message without the consent of the recipients, such as display advertising on websites and news blogs. Email, text messaging and web feeds can also be classed as push digital marketing when the recipient has not given permission to receive the marketing message. Push marketing is also known as spam. Push technologies can deliver content as it becomes available and can be better targeted to consumer demographics, although audiences are often smaller, and creation and distribution costs are higher.

Visual Marketing

As a key component of modern marketing, VISUAL MARKETING focuses on the studying and analysing how images can be used to make objects the centre of visual communication. The product and its visual communication become therefore inseparable and their fusion is what reaches out to people, engages them and defines their choices (a marketing mechanism is known as persuasion.

Not to be confused with visual merchandising, that is one of its facets and more about retail spaces; here, Marketing gets customers in the door. Once inside, merchandising takes over—affecting placement of products, signage, display materials, ambiance and employee staffing. Harnessing the power of images and visuals makes a marketing plan more powerful and more memorable.

Images — when done deftly – can turn concepts and intangible things into something concrete. That helps people envision a brand and its message in their mind’s eye — and remember it when it comes time to buy. Visual Marketing can be a part of every aspect of the Communication Mix. Marketing persuades consumer's buying behaviour and Visual Marketing enhances that by factors of recall, memory and identity. Growing Trends in the usage of Picture Based Websites and social networking platforms like Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr, Timeline feature of Facebook justifies the fact that people want to believe what they see, and therefore, need for Visual Marketing. Visual Marketing includes all visual cues like logo, signage, sales tools, vehicles, uniforms, right to your Advertisements, Brochures, Informational DVDs, Websites, everything that meets the Public Eye.

Social Network Marketing

Social media marketing refers to the process of gaining website traffic or attention through social media sites, or in connection with same. Social media marketing programs usually center on efforts to create content that attracts attention and encourages readers to share it with their social networks. A corporate message spreads from user to user and presumably resonates because it appears to come from a more trusted, third-party source, as opposed to the only the brand or company itself. Hence, this form of marketing is driven by word-of-mouth, meaning it results in earned media rather than paid media. Social media has become a platform that is easily accessible to anyone with internet access. Increased communication for organizations fosters brand awareness and often, improved customer service. Additionally, social media serves as a relatively inexpensive platform for organizations to implement marketing campaigns.