Media Monetization

Tuesday, 04. 28. 2009  –  Category: Enversa Companies

How would you define digital assets? Is it the text on a webpage? The contents of an eBook? The series of images used in an online PowerPoint presentation? What about the contents of an e-mail? A digital asset is all these things and more and as 2009 evolves, digital assets become important sources of possible revenue for a company.

Many marketing companies have long suggested that a business’s website be more than an electronic brochure. Is a brochure an asset? Yes, in so much as it may intrigue a potential client enough to request more information, or to do further research. While some may argue that a brochure is a good selling tool, it’s just one of many tools that can be used, and the simple power and possibility of a web presence precludes just an electronic brochure. Companies that are struggling in 2009 could be failing in part because they don’t adquately communicate with their customers and provide value and quality through digital assets. How many companies have a short, informative video on their homepage that provides value to the visitor? Value does not mean a video that promotes the company, which is nothing more than an online commercial, and in most respects a complete waste of time and bandwidth. True value to the consumer would be the President of Ford Motors sitting on the edge of his desk and telling Ford owners ten ways to conserve on gas while driving a Ford vehicle during the gas crisis. Or the President of AIG explaining why the bonuses were given out, why they are being returned as a gesture of goodwill, and then discussing how AIG plans to help consumers save money during the economic downturn. In fact, any business owner who doesn’t have a video on their homepage specifically telling their customers how to not only survive, but thrive during the next year to eighteen months is missing a prime opportunity to encourage brand loyalty among its target audience. These businesses are failing to capitalize on their digital assets. They are not providing value andthey are not communicating with their customer base as effectively as they could be.

Can big business be faulted for failing to communicate with their customers? I’ve given permission to market to me to a mega brand in the soft drink business This brand could be sending me information on how they are working to make their product greener through the use of recycled material, or how the sugar cane farmer in Florida is growing product that is the basis of syrup for Pepsi production. They could include a measurable, trackable coupon and earn my money. But they aren’t talking to me. They did, once, but it’s been so long, and what the company said was so insignificant that I can’t remember. Contrast that with a locally owned cafe. I hear from this cafe once per month or so. The e-mail’s are elegant and invite me to join them for breakfast, or lunch, or something very specific, like “Try our new better portions menu” and include a trackable, measurable coupon for buy one, get one free. The communication is simple and consistent and talks to me about portion control, a topic of great concern among the health-conscious in society . The café’s digital asset in this case is my e-mail address, and thousands of other e-mail addresses that they turn to with a special offer each time they want to generate revenue for their store. I can cite countless others who fail to communicate with me at all (hello every car dealer I’ve bought a car from in the past ten years) and those who speak to me often, with permission, and provide value each time they do. I am not defining value as a coupon, although as a marketing tool, it’s an effective way of measuring return. A company that gives me recipes to save money and stretch my dollar even further, while providing tasty and sound nutrition to my family is giving me value. I may reward that value by purchasing the product, because I will remember the company who gave me that value.

This process can be easily implemented by any company. E-mail newsletters are a simple way to aggregate data from across the company, and convert it into bite size nuggets of information that can then be delivered to the customer to expand and build on the relationship with the customer. I bought a computer, a television and a washer and dryer from a big box retailer over the past three years, however, they have not reached out to me. They could, since they have my address, my e-mail address, and obviously, I buy from them. Yet they choose to ignore me. So if another company comes along and begins talking to me about my future appliance, or computing needs, a business that gives me value, attention and some form of incentive to buy from them instead, then the big box retailer will lose my business. They could have talked to me once per month for pennies, and will probably lose out on the thousands of dollars I represent as a lifetime customer. Multiply that by millions of consumers in the United States and you’ll begin to see why most retailers are in trouble. It’s not just the economy, its bad business practices and failing to capitalize on the assets within the organization. The companies that learn to think outside of the box, and who begin to recognize that digital assets can be monetized will be successful and survive past this recession. Those companies that fail to do so will not be around, which will give those who are a larger share of the market.

Marc Pickren is the President of Enversa- a performance-based marketing agency.

Tags: article, branding, e-mail, Performance-Based Marketing, websites