Building a Multimedia Site Use video on your Web site to capture the interest of visitors, and use consistent branding to build trust. By Lori Baerg
The Internet gives all businesses, regardless of size, an expanded ability to reach customers with messaging, customer service and brand recognition. But this advantage also brings challenges—one of which is maintaining consistency in identity across all mediums, both online and off. Branding Your Company Online—It’s Personal There are many facets involved in branding your company. As always, be consistent in colors, logo, spokesperson and messaging throughout the site. These consistencies help your company build trust with potential clients. People do business with people they trust. The Internet’s niche audience possesses the potential to effortlessly direct increased traffic to your business via the site. Here you should make sure to reveal the heart and soul of your company and why people would be crazy not to do business with you. If you can’t differentiate your company, you may as well close your doors.
Messaging—People Do Business With People They Trust Messaging is the most important aspect of branding and needs to resonate throughout everything you do. It also needs to be consistent with traditional offline media. Studies report that people spend less than two minutes on a Web site, so the faster a company can deliver information, the better. Develop a strategic message that communicates your company to the consumer on the highest level. This builds trust with your customer and creates a lasting relationship. You must build and maintain a relationship with your customers to be successful. A virtual host adds dimension to a Web site. This host, whether it’s the CEO of the company or hired talent, is part of the overall branding of a site. Your Web site only has about 10 seconds to get the attention of visitors via video, and after that you can only hold their attention for 30 seconds. While business owners often feel they have more to say than fits in 30 seconds, it is important to remember that writing for video is a lot different than writing for print. The non-verbal cues in video often say as much if not more than the spoken word.
How to Start—How to Finish When speaking with Web development companies, the first thing you should do is get a road map of the project. You’ll probably have to pay for the road map, but it’s worth the investment. It’s yours and you can do what you want with it. Second, you’ll want to see a mock-up of designated creative ideas. You should know exactly what will be accomplished and the overall cost upon completion. This plan must be in place before you start. You wouldn’t construct a building without an architectural plan and you can’t build a Web site without a strategic plan in place. This ensures that all aspects of branding are consistent and effectively reach targeted consumers. After your Web site is complete, a library of collateral material will be available on your site. All these pieces can be repackaged and repurposed to get the highest return on your creative budget. Video from your site can be used in commercials, e-mail campaigns or posted on YouTube. This repurposing gives you the chance to do more with less. It cuts budgets and makes having a profitable multimedia Web site an option for all businesses, regardless of size. Lori Baerg is a partner in Prizm Productions. You can reach her at (816) 471-1515 or
