Berga...thanks for the detailed description of your process. I'm sure lots of folks can benefit from your experience.

Keep the ideas coming...

I am glad if it can help someone.

I know that sales is the most difficult part for professionals, everything from video producers to mangement consultances. "My process" is just the same that most experience business to business salesmans do. Especialy if they sell things for €10000 plus.

As an ad agency exec. for many years, I will add that IMO, when people say their advertising isn't working, it is usually because they do not understand advertising and typically are not educated and/or experienced with it...and often because they haven't had much, if any, consistency. It looks easy. Nonetheless, different advertising can produce dramatically different results based on a number of factors, including those that I mentioned. That is precisely why you have advertising agencies.

But, I agree that there is nothing like "word of mouth." The trick sometimes, is to use advertising to promote "word of mouth." Branding can be very effective in doing so. Branding requires a consistent presence via multi-media exposure. Also, the quality of your advertising directly correlates to the perceived quality of your product or service in the mind of your target audience.

Anyone else have examples of success in promoting their video services?

Robert,

I hope I does not get an impression that advertising does not work. Marketing is one important aspect of a companys sales efforts. And of course it works, why shold Coca Cola and Sony pay lots of money on advertising if it does not work.

But advertising can be a trap, if You think it as an easy way, using and ad agency, to not take the difficult work and call potential customers and ask for a meeting.Using adverticing does not make you free from active sales activities.

It is different works with differnt skills. Adverticing, marketing, is about genereate contacts with the sales persons. Sales persons will also do the active sales and make the deal. This is another profession and both can be complementing.

My experience, more whan 10 years of government SME promotion is that we like to make business plans and marketing plans. But most SME problem is that they can not sell their fantastic productions. They lack good salesmens or knowlege of sales. Depending on markets, products, capital and size of the firm, advertising will be more or less effective. (I meet one SME last month who works in a market with  15 customers world wide. Direct contacts is the best way to sell for them. This is an extreme exampel, but I hope it will illustrate my point. On the other side, I know one who have an art shop in a major city in Scandinavia.Advertising would help her in her business becuse of the amount of potential customers. Most of us is inbetween).

I hope I does not get an impression that advertising does not work.

No...not at all. I am only trying to further the discussion for the benefit of all.

I agree with you completely. Advertising cannot generally "close the sale." That takes personal contact and salesmanship. But it can be easier to call on a client if the client is already somewhat familiar with you and/or your company...(branding)...even if the prior contact is a direct mail postcard campaign. ...possibly combined with directory listings, etc. -- not to mention press articles about your service or company in local publications and/or the business section of your newspaper?

And yes, as an advertising exec, I have written tons of marketing plans. I try to incorporate the need for educating the sales force as an integral part of the plan....in addition to performance evaluation to ensure that the objectives are being achieved. Too often, the sales staff isn't aware of the marketing/advertising plan objectives and strategies, and vice versa. They go hand in hand.

In short, I believe that the basic marketing principles apply to small businesses as well as large businesses.

Robert,

I think we aggree in most cases, and diskcuss the cases there we disagree is more like cuting hairs.

Yes. And you are right of course that the skillset can be much different for a salesperson vs a marketing person vs a creative person. Some of the ad agencies I have worked for have been somewhat reluctant to allow the creative types have contact with the client. I have worked on both sides of the equation and I can identify with both perspectives....The "account side vs. the creative side" can be a struggle at times....they do tend to dislike each other in some situations...lol.

Nonetheless, sometimes it is advantageous to have a "buffer zone" between the creative staff and the client...sometimes the creative folks might even get physical j/k if the client were present when the "author's alterations" are presented. lol. Better for the account executive to get chewed out by an art director than the client, eh?

Creative people don't always have the social skills that are necessary to work with the client...of course there are exceptions and some are great with clients...and some account execs shouldn't be working with clients either . I struggle with this myself as a creative...I've told a client or two to "take a hike" in my day. On the other hand, there are good clients...bad clients...and everything in-between.

Some aspects of the creative personna might not be considered to be positive from the perspective of a business executive, and vice-versa. For example, the dress codes of the creative staff is often very lax...anything to stimulate creativity! Client's egos can become quite large when given the opportunity to become involved in the creative process...and some are on a power trip. Nonetheless, creatives still have to deal with clients...both in terms of generating new business and in situations where the client and creatives both are present -- production meetings, video shoots and edit sessions.

So...I'm sure the creative types here can benefit from a discussion on the business aspects of the creative business, eh? And we can all benefit greatly by sharing ideas and experiences...good and bad. ???

...back to the original question...what is the best way to market and sell video production services? Any other ideas or examples?

For us it quite simple... we get jobs du eto the fact that others speak of us. We have not yet been in an active advertising role because there was no need for it yet. Lots of contacts and potential leads come our way.

Having said that productions are just a small portion of our company and we do much more in workflow regulation and the "going digital" paths that lots take here at the moment. How to get work in that field is totaly different and besides word of mouth an active advertising is needed .. but only if we knew how

We tried an agency but that was a complete waste of money just because they where unable to relate to our needs and potential clients. For now we write in magazines and get add space in return and that seems to work a bit but not as much as we hoped.. for now anyway

So i will reading this thread with interest and maybe pick up a few tips along the way ...

Menno

Robert,
I think the distinctions the ad world make between creative type, business types, accounting managers in the ad world is one thing which make me uncomfortable with the ad world.

In my world creativity is the abitlity to understand the customers need, help the customers to express these needs and find a solution for them. For me, it is easy to be "creative" and come up with freak ideas. But to come up with good, working,  new solutions is must more difficult.

Yes, You are right, the "creative" people here will benefit from a discussion of business aspects. We all work with communications and if we can not communicate with our customers, how will we communicate with their customers? We are paid for helping other making money, not to have fun (which we also have).

Berga...you may be suprised to find that I agree with you. One problem that I have seen throughout my career is that the "account side" and the "creative side" don't communicate. The creative people are supposed to develop solutions to problems...communication is critically important.

Nevertheless...in the ad agency world, the creative staff comes from a different educational background than the account types as a general rule. Account executives have their MBA's and the Creatives come from top creative schools such as the Portfolio Center here in Atlanta. Ad agencies do tend to be "compartmentalized." I am a believer in having the creative people and the account people and the client all on the same page. I also believe that all of an ad agencies employees should have a certain amount of creative ability ...even the accounting staff... as an ad agency is a creative business period., IMHO.

I wouldn't characterize "coming up with creative ideas" as being easy though. I would argue (and agree with David Ogilvy) that writing great ad copy, for example, is one of the hardest things a person can do. Creating something from nothing is VERY difficult, IMHO. I have tremendous respect for the true creative professionals...if it were easy, everyone would be a "Leonardo DaVinci" eh?

 

Robert,
I think You missunderstand me about the easiness of creativity.

I try to say, comming up with creative ideas which make sense, or is withing some bundaries, is much more difficult compare to just come up with crative ideas.

E.g. design a "creative" chair which has a uniq design is "easy" if You does not think You have to make it comfortable for people to sit on it. Create a chair which is confortable and uniq is much more difficult.

Or, the internet is abundant of cools websites which is unusable, but cool website which is usable is much more scare.

In my world, good academics is very creative people. Most Noble price winners is very creative people. The genius of Leonardo Da Vinci was his ability to see a problem and the solution of the problem. This is much more difficult compare to only see the problem (which most of us does ) or see a solution and not the problem.

A'h...kinda figured I was misunderstanding you... 

I might add this...I have a model for the development of a marketing plan at my agency (most true advertising agencies have such a model) that includes a "problem/opportunity" analysis. It follows the "Situation Analysis" which is a quick read of the marketing situation based on research findings in three areas...market trends, competition, product and the consumer. The exercise involves defining six to eight unique problems that the marketing program must address. Behind each problem, of course, is an opportunity...so we also define specific opportunities. This is the basis of the marketing, advertising, creative and media planning process from that point forward. It leads to definitions of the target market, the positioning statement, the unique selling proposition, product and consumer benefits, creative theme, the "problem that advertising must solve" and the rest of the very detailed and systematic plan.

The creative is then developed to specifically address these aspects of the marketing plan. That is why it is important for the creative and the account folks to have a positive working relationship and the ability to interact and work as a unit. Account execs need to understand and work with the creatives and vice versa.

So, without getting carried away...yes, advertising is all about solutions to problems...and problem solving is very much a part of the creative development process.

Which brings to mind another issue in promoting your business...having a written plan. Any thoughts on this?

No, we haven any writen marketing plans. For some of our products, we surely would benifit from one, such as some educational dvd:s we are selling. On the other side, we know what we need to do and we have a friend who have his office in the same hous as we who kick us in our ases, in a friendly way.

I think in small business You need to concentrate on the most important problems. You have not the luxury You have in large corporations there You have people who can do everything. In our case, the most important issue is sales. Since we focus on sales, I have watch lots of improvments. Hopefully, we can make other priorities after summer.

But we know, we can not  advance one leged. We think about marketing and take the opertunities which comes. We must also think about produtions work flows and all that stuff.

On the other side, we have a middle size business who can expand their production lots, but the does not sell much. We are planing an excercise there we make a short marketing plan with some sort of model You are using. (Most consultance, management consultats, ad agencies and so on have their own models, but they are surpricinly similar if You study them carefull!). We will identify their problems, identify there they can gain most, identify solutions and make a plan for action. This plan will include efforst from them and for us and our under consultancies. I think we in this project is as much as management consultant as video producer.

The main thing with this business and marketing plans is to promote action and tell the employees what we expect from them, and from us. I think it is all about communication.

berga wrote:

I think it is all about communication.

I can't agree with you more.