Articles in The 'Integration' Tag

Integrating Search With Offline Media

by MoreVisibility

Think back to when you took your drivers license test.  Remember how you had to first pass the written test, and then excel at the driving test?  You couldn’t get your license without passing both. This happens a lot in life.  In order to become a successful doctor, you not only have to complete undergraduate science requirements, but you also have to take the MCAT and get accepted into medical school.  In order to successfully make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, you have to have bread, peanut butter, and jelly.   Most things in life require steps.  First this, then that, etc – You get my point.  The same methodology applies to the marketing arena.  If you have a multi-media marketing plan, you must learn how to integrate and utilize each media channel in order to enhance the other.

In order to have a successful online marketing campaign, it must reflect and/or match what you are communicating offline. Search Engine Marketing professionals cannot expect to be a complete success, if they do not integrate their search marketing efforts with their efforts in offline media channels. As a client strategist, I have different types of clients.  I have some that solely focus on online marketing where search makes up their entire marketing plan.  I have other clients who not only advertise on search, but also through television, radio, direct mail, and newspapers.  It is essential for me to know and understand the promotions that they are running through offline media channels, in order for me to be successful with their search marketing campaigns.

From my experience, there is often a big disconnect when integrating online and offline marketing efforts. Frequently, it has to do with budgets.  A lot of companies have $xxx to spend on traditional media and a completely separate budget for online media.  In addition, it’s typical that different departments work with separate efforts- one being assigned to broadcast media, one being assigned to print, one being assigned to online, etc.   If this occurs, it is extremely important that all of those departments communicate in order to learn and understand the complete marketing picture.  Integrating search with offline media should result in a healthier bottom line.  Effective communication with other departments or agencies, if you have them, is critical. It is important for all members on board to fully understand the entire marketing plan.  It will result in more success with your campaigns.

Search the Internet Through Your Television Remote

by MoreVisibility

Integration between Television and the Internet is one step closer. The Internet has always been a medium for people to get what they want, when they want it. It is a place where people proactively look for information and/or products. Television, on the other hand, has always been more of a “lean-back experience”. A place for people to relax, watch their favorite show, and often get bombarded with commercials (at least before the fabulous invention of TIVO and DVR). Television has never been recognized as place to proactively gather information, until now.

Samsung seems to have found a bridge between the Internet and Television through a device the company is calling See’N’Search. The new tool allows you to access the internet without using a keyboard or a PC. This new tool automatically pulls content from the Internet to match whatever television show you are watching. According to Mashable, “The new See’N’Search is a set-top box that reads the closed captions on a television show, as well as listens for keywords, to search for related Internet articles to the content you are currently watching. Say you’re watching the news and they do a story about the President; links to information on the President will appear at the bottom of the screen. For programs such as scripted shows, the system will pull up information on the actors as well as whatever they are discussing in the show. Furthermore, while it may be annoying to have information covering the bottom portion of your screen, you can instead choose to have any requested info sent to handheld devices or a computer connected to the local network.”

With any new technology, the question then becomes, will consumers find this tool useful or annoying? I am guilty of multi-tasking, which is why I am torn on how I feel about this product. When I get home from work, I often use the internet to search for a restaurant nearby, while using my DVR to watch my favorite daytime television show, and usually chatting on the phone with family or friends about my day. Multi-tasking is something that I am used to. Would this new tool from Samsung relieve some of my activities at night, or would it become more of an annoyance than a useful tool? While I am trying to relax and watch TV, do I really want to be bombarded with search results at the bottom of my screen? Also, would this type of technology be a fit for every type of television show? For example, I understand how this technology would be useful when watching a news clip or television about the President and/or any topic he or she is talking about, but what if I was watching “Everybody Loves Raymond”? What type of information would be made available to me? I am assuming articles and video clips related to the actors on the show, but truthfully, I don’t really care to learn more about that? I watch “Everybody Loves Raymond” for a good laugh, not to learn everything about the actors in the show.

Either way, the news is pretty exciting! With this being one of the first steps toward integration between the Internet and Television, it seems that the digital media space is joining together to try and make our lives a little bit easier and more connected. I am excited to learn more about this new technology and how it will evolve in the near future.