On the 5:15 train, your first prospect is browsing the Internet on her tablet when your ad catches her eye. She touches the banner to view your video, and a short message appears on the blank screen: “Sorry. Your device does not support this type of media.” Your prospect sighs in disappointment, and moves on to another web page. Chances are you’ve lost her for good.

It’s a nightmare come true for any business owner. You’ve targeted your audience, developed a killer message and stunning Internet movie, then let the customer slip away.

Not so long ago, producing rich media for the Web was much simpler. Most people browsed the Web on a PC or laptop, and they could view your video or Flash movie with a couple simple plugins. You designed a high-bandwidth version for business users, and a low bandwidth version for viewers on a dialup connection.

Today, people are more connected and mobile than ever. They are consuming their media using different devices, bandwidths, and screen sizes.

For example, consider the iPad, which did not even exist three years ago. Now, more than half of large businesses are planning to provide tablets to their employees.

Mobility is changing the way we work, live, and learn. But it’s also creating new challenges for marketing. How can your Internet movie make an impact when your audience is on the move and difficult to reach? By thinking about mobility as part of your overall marketing strategy, you can be sure your content reaches the most people possible, and produces the best impact.

It starts with a holistic approach, where your marketing message and design elements are in sync and complement one another. If you’re hiring a marketing company, consider a vendor who can deliver messaging and design services as part of one package. Focus on delivering a consistent experience to your audience—no matter how they will be viewing your content.

As you develop your message and design elements, think about how your content will come across when viewed on different devices. Complicated, wordy on-screen text won’t fly if your viewer is trying to read it on a 3.5-inch screen. Design elements, fonts, and colors should be attractive and easy to read, even on a smart phone.

The same tips apply for video footage. If you’re shooting video, consider how scenes will look when they are cropped or downsized to fit on small devices. To give yourself the most flexibility, a good rule of thumb is to shoot in hi-def. You can always convert your video to a lower resolution format if it’s needed.

Flexible video and design elements are only the first step in developing mobile content. In our next post, we’ll discuss bandwidth, platform options, and other tools you can use to make sure your message gets out to customers on the move.

Maybe you have a small marketing department, or no marketing staff at all. If you’re running a small business, you probably employ just a few people wearing several different hats. You’ve probably sketched out a marketing message and brainstormed about events, campaigns, new products, and promotionals. But how can you bring everything together into one strategy that will capture new customers—without breaking the bank?

Creating a short Internet movie is a great way to start. Today’s technology puts affordable, high-quality media in reach even for small businesses. An Internet movie lets you speak directly to the customer, and get your message across in a short amount of time. With powerful images, sound, and narration, you can reinforce your message and brand and make sure your customers notice you, and remember you.

But making your movie is only a first step. You can’t just shoot a video or create a funny animated story, upload it to the Web, and expect customers to find it or respond. You need to make it part of a bigger strategy.

Follow up on your movie with a web seminar—or Webinar. A Webinar is a powerful, low-cost way to interact with large numbers of prospects from anywhere. You can deliver a more in-depth marketing message, and interact with your audience with polling and chat features, learning more about them as they learn about you and your company.

After a prospect has attended the Webinar, you can offer to talk about their specific project, or maybe create a free estimate. Whether they accept immediately or not, you have established a relationship with them, and they understand what you and your company are all about.

You can tie in your video and your Webinar to any other initiatives that you have, like direct mail, telemarketing, or special events or trade shows. Then you can track your success with reporting tools and reports. Each of these initiatives can reinforce the other, and since they’re all part of a common strategy, you can keep your messaging and branding consistent.

If you’re running a small business, your company might not have all in-house skill needed for online marketing. But a one-stop marketing partner that offers design, rich media, messaging, and writing services can provide the support you need. And more importantly, they can collaborate with you to understand your business and build a strategy that’s right for you.

When it comes to attracting new customers, even having the best product or service won’t do you much good if you can’t grab a listener’s attention, spark their interest, and make an impact on their needs and emotions. It’s all about persuasive communication. And the good news is that anyone can learn to do this with just a few simple techniques.

Grab Attention—You need to “click” with your audience right away. Get off to a strong start with an attention-grabbing statement that will bring your audience “into” the moment.

Create Curiosity—Don’t let your prospect’s attention wander. Build on your initial statement and develop a sense of anticipation, to keep the audience locked in.

Connect Emotionally—Persuasive communication is not only about what you say, but how you say it. People may forget the exact content of your message, but they will always remember how you made them feel.

We’ll talk more about using these techniques in future blog posts.

So once you’ve engaged a listener, what’s next? You’ll need to have a killer marketing message in hand to set yourself apart from the rest of the pack. This means understanding your customer’s needs, showing how your product or service will solve them, and talking about what’s in it for their business.

Before you meet your prospect, take a few minutes to learn more about their business. What line of business are they in, and what are their top products? Who are their top competitors? Browse their Website (if they have one) to find out what they care about, and think about how you can make a difference. It’s surprising how many businesses spend so much time focusing on their own products and features, without pausing to understand some basic facts about their customers.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions and get to know your prospect, and their top care-abouts. When it’s time to talk about your own products, be sure to align them with business challenges. Above all, you want to position your company as the answer to all their most important business problems.

Ready to learn more? Contact Envision Media to schedule a consultation with one of our proven professionals. We’ll discuss your business needs and explore how we can bring your marketing vision to life.

New technology is putting powerful marketing tools in reach for business of all sizes. You may have already considered producing an Internet movie, Web ads, or an email campaign. These are all great ways to attract attention, but they won’t be effective unless they’re part of a complete marketing strategy.

For business, the only thing worse than not having a sales and marketing initiative is kicking off a campaign, then slowly curtailing or abandoning the effort. In a marketplace where potential customers expect to see your business represented professionally, an inconsistent message can damage your reputation and slow down the business development effort.

The key to a successful marketing initiative is consistency. If you do not have (or cannot afford) a full-time CMO or marketing staff to develop and execute your strategy, you need one partner who can work with you to understand your business, craft your message, present it to customers, and track your success.

There are plenty of good vendors to choose from, but a complete marketing strategy requires an integrated approach. A true marketing partner will work with you to understand your business and help you forge a path forward. They can help you understand your most important goals, discuss your strengths and weaknesses, and help you target the right customers.

A full service, one-stop marketing firm can offer not only in-house services, but can tap an ecosystem of partner companies to deliver everything you need to support your initiative. By choosing the right business partner, you can get a complete solution with minimal overhead—at a lower overall cost.

Every business is different, but there are core sales and marketing needs that are common to almost every company. By applying the right thinking with a unique synthesis of insightful strategy and compelling creative, you can deliver breakthrough campaigns that build brand value, communicate your message, and empower your sales force with real-time opportunities. In a competitive market and tight economy, it’s more important than ever to aggressively seek new business any way you can, on a daily basis.

Take a look at this video we created for Cisco about taking Telepresence to the next level. We shot everything in one day, and the whole team was great to work with!

We worked with Cisco to create a beautiful video about the proliferation of devices. The bonus was the adorable Jack Russel that was brought to the shoot by the actor in the opening shot, who snuck his was into the shot. Check it out!

Coca-Cola in Singapore created a clever and friendly way to dispense its beverages – in exchange for a hug. Aww, I think that’s a fair trade.

Check this out. Its painting meets photography meets performance art.