Event management can be a tricky business. While it can require months of thorough preparation, organisation and planning, this should not be a deterrent. A special event can be a fantastic, fun and very strategic way to celebrate a myriad of achievements such as a product launch, corporate entertainment or a new service.

If managed well, and incorporated as a cohesive part of your business marketing activity, special events also offer great opportunities to achieve powerful branding, positioning and strengthen relationships with your clients.

A special event can get the message out to a targeted group of customers, business partners, new business leads, and media contacts all at once.

It doesn’t have to be a lavish affair in order to be an affair to remember. Even a small event injected with creativity and professionalism can bring big results.

Some of the things you will need to remember for a truly memorable event include:

* A strong/catchy theme
* Updated or ‘clean’ invitee database (including key media contacts and dignitaries if appropriate)
* Guest speakers
* Designing and distributing invitations
* Mail out
* Managing RSVPs - follow up.
* Venue coordination and liaison - make sure the venue is very clear about your expectations!
* Signage and decorations
* Speech writing and MC
* On-the-day greeting and registration
* Event photography and video coverage. (Make sure lighting is appropriate)
* Entertainment
* Catering and beverages
* Media and marketing campaign to leverage your commitment

Connecting Images has much experience in creating and promoting a wide range of events. To discuss the possibilities contact either Merilyn or Cal on (03) 9819 2566.

As the web “matures” it is becoming more economically viable for business to produce effective websites - especially when the benefits of the levels of exposure the business should receive are considered.

However, as they say it is a jungle out there, and there are a wide variety of options and price tags attached when it comes to website development and re-development.

Even with low cost solutions, building a quality website that is easy to navigate, contains concise and persuasive copy, and most importantly has been designed for Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), which allows your website to be easily found by your target audiences on search engines such as Google, you’ll need the knowledge and expertise of a good developer with an understanding of marketing.

We thrive on building sites that drive traffic and engage users with brands. We recently partnered with Optalert to build their online presence and also create a secondary site for the founder to manage his intellectual property and research papers.

We recently launched EpworthSleepinessScale.com. The brief was to create a site with an academic, yet friendly feel to appeal to a diverse range of users including, corporations (pharmaceutical companies), governments and academics.

Connecting Images are experienced at website developments and re-developments and will be able to evaluate your business’ needs and simplify the tech talk to make it a pain free process. To find out more or discuss your business’ web needs, contact Cal on (03) 9819 2566.

Festival Indonesia, a successful Indonesian culture and business event held last weekend at the Royal Exhibition Building, Carlton, was abuzz with interested visitors from across Melbourne. Connecting Images worked with the organising committee to attract media interest and editorial inclusion pre-event.

Editorial coverage is a powerful way to communicate key messages to specific audiences. However, it is vitally important to ensure that media coverage generated will be relevant to the audience. Factors to be considered in planning the campaign include:

* Is this the right type of publication/medium for the target audience?
* Will this medium reach enough viewers/readers?

With a brief to attract the interest of visitors with an interest in potential business opportunities with Indonesia, one particularly successful article generated by Connecting Images was an article about Villa & Hut in The Age ‘Metro’ section, two days prior to the event. Villa and Hut was a Gold Sponsor with a great story to tell. Many of the visitors to Festival Indonesia had read the article and responded with their feet! This is evidence of the power of a well-crafted case study appearing in an appropriate publication.

The popularity of viewing videos over the Internet is a growing trend and shows no sign of slowing. Most businesses are only just catching on to this trend, and the benefits of streaming relevant video footage such as product demonstrations, from their website.

UsabilityOne has produced a research report on ‘how to best include video on the internet’. If it is implemented correctly ‘video has the potential to engage the Internet audience, whether that is to entertain, inform or sell products’ (p.4).

UsabilityOne provides tips on how to produce the most effective videos for Internet users. The top 3 are:

- Only provide short video clips - the attention span of Internet users are often minimal. If you have a lot to say, split your long videos into a few short and interesting sections.
- Embedding video within a webpage to enhance an article, rather than linking to a popup window was preferred by 61% of UsabilityOne’s survey respondents.
- If you employ similar video interfaces to those commonly used on YouTube for example, Internet users are far more likely to find watching your video an easy and satisfying experience.

At Connecting Images we help our clients stream effective video communications from their websites. For more information on how we can help your business, contact Cal on (03) 9819 2566.

Whilst YouTube can be useful for hours of mindless entertainment watching video clips on just about every topic imaginable, utilising video as a communications medium can have significant benefits for businesses.

We at Connecting Images have found clients who have instructional video on YouTube are pleasantly surprised when they check their view stats each month. This provides invaluable exposure of your business’ products or services and key messages to a potentially large audience. But remember you get what you pay for. If your footage warrants high quality streaming, consider paying for a hi definition full-screen streaming service like that provided by Vividas.

At Connecting Images we are experienced in utilising video communications, contact Merilyn or Cal on (03) 9819 2566 for more information.

There is a misconception that effective PR is all about the fantastic media contacts we maintain. This must lead to increased editorial content, right?
Not necessarily. While maintaining relationships with media contacts is important, obtaining editorial coverage will always come down to what the journalist thinks will be newsworthy to their audience. If journalists are dedicated to their jobs, their number one priority is to maintain a standard of quality content, after all this is what sells papers or magazines.

Editorial content is often considered more credible and effective than advertising in delivering your message, hence forms part of the strategy in communicating with your business’ stakeholders. But crafting a story and getting it published is somewhat of an art.

Identifying the news worthy angle of any story, even identifying if there really is a story worth telling, and then creating a media release that ‘works’ is a rare skill and one that our clients value when dealing with Connecting Images.

To maximise your chances of getting exposure from your next editorial campaign call Merilyn on (03) 9819 2566 to discuss our media relations service.

Next time you’re writing, try this: Tell your reader why they should care first - then give them the context.

You’ll notice when reading many articles or media releases, they start by describing the ‘who, what, where, when’. This can take a paragraph or three. As a result, the most interesting, relevant information (the part that makes you want to read on) is buried in the middle or at the bottom of the story.

So how can you be more engaging? Here’s an example, if an employee has won an award, put the information about what the win means first. So, if it means that their peers or customers have recognised them as the best in the industry for the year, say that!
Then, in the following paragraphs, give the details such as the award’s name and which body granted it, who voted/judged, and where and when it was awarded.

If you’re uncertain, read your draft article back, pick out the most news-worthy sentence and move it to the top. Then, re-work your copy accordingly.

This absorbing ad isn’t describing the car or its features - it doesn’t need to, because it communicates so clearly the experience of owning the car. Voila!

Details vs. benefits

So often when people write copy, they write details.

They describe all the features of their product/service. But they don’t touch on the benefits that buying will bring.

People don’t buy features. They buy the benefits that your product/service brings them, because of those features. When you’re writing, write to a customer who’s thinking: ‘What’s in it for me?’

What are you communicating that will overcome the obstacles blocking your potential customers from purchasing? - whether those obstacles be them doing it themself, not doing/buying it at all, or buying from someone else.

I heard a fantastic ad on 3AW the other day. It was just a standard radio ad - no fancy dialogue, no music, nothing attention-grabbing at all. It was for a carpet company over in Moorabbin. Now, I am not the slightest bit interested in buying carpet (nor in listening to 3AW for that matter - unfortunately my 17-year-old brother seems to have inherited the soul of a middle-aged man). But I stopped to listen, because right away I knew that it was a great ad.

The ad focussed on how easy the company makes it for you to buy carpet. It stated that the roll you see in the shop is the roll you buy. This company has recognised the fear associated with ordering carpet. People are concerned that what is eventually laid down in their home will be a variation in colour, or not the same quality, or have a fault. The company is addressing that fear head-on. It is essentially saying to its customers: ‘With us, you don’t have to worry. What you see is what you get.’ And that is a benefit to the customer. There’s a fair chance customers will feel more comfortable buying from this company than from the company down the road - the one that’s offering quality carpets in a wide variety of textures and styles.

Details are dry. And more often than not, consumers have heard it all before. Benefits go to feelings and emotions - which how the majority of people make their purchase decisions.

Write benefits, not details.

Considering using email to effectively communicate with current and potential customers, whilst growing a ‘community’ around your brand or services?

eNewsletters can be a cost effective way of communicating in today’s technologically driven world. However, to cut through the clutter of spam emails and phishing scams (attempting to acquire sensitive information from people such as credit card details, by posing as a trustworthy entity in an email or on a website), can present a challenge.

To ensure your eNewsletters do not end up as a permanent fixture in the ‘junk’ folder, there are a few simple steps you can follow:

Concise copy - research shows that 43-60% of click throughs in an eNewsletter occur before the reader reaches the point at which they must begin scrolling to view the content, known as ‘below the fold’. This means the more copy; the less it’s going to be read.

Catchy subject lines - readers need motivation to open the email - a subject heading that catches their eye and makes it stand out from the other 50 odd emails in their inbox.

Eye-catching design - whilst this is not essential, a well-designed eNewsletter can help to attract readers and communicate a consistent image for your company.

Now to pay some bills:
Connecting Images specialises in creating and delivering effective eNewsletter communications. To find out more on how we can help your business, call Merilyn on (03) 9819 2566.

Today’s environment is increasingly driven by user-generated content. You can see examples everywhere - every song or album you buy on iTunes brings up five other artists that customers with the same taste have also bought. On Amazon, it’s the same story.

More than ever before, we’re trusting others who are like us, rather than what the companies we buy from are telling us. Makes sense, really.

With this philosophy in mind, I reckon one way to differentiate your brand from all the others out there is to market with a little more personality. Of course not to the extent that you jeopardise your professionalism, and you need to know your market, but the benefit is that customers will feel like they’re talking to people who are talking to them. And that’s the next best thing. People want the brands they use to say something about who they are as a person. (Why else would Virgin introduce bright pink, stylish credit cards?!)

Here’s some websites to check out that really communicate the company’s personality:

www.wordpress.com - Click through to the ‘Learn more about what sets us apart page’. The WordPress team fesses up to being ‘a group of geeks’, and for the most part steers clear of technical jargon in favour of humour. Also check ’sign up for a blog with us’ - there’s only three steps (Username, Email Address, and Legal Flotsam - which invited me to ‘read and agree to the fascinating terms of service’. What a way to say ‘terms and conditions’ - it was the icing on the cake and it made me sign up!

www.losamates.com.au - Melbourne Mexican restaurant. Check the About Us page - sample quote: ‘If you don’t speak Spanish, don’t worry, we live in an area where not many people can speak English… they all live at the back.’ (The food and drink here is delicious, and the place has a ramshackle feel about it, as if you’re dining in someone’s kitchen. Sometimes they forget to bring your drinks, sometimes you ring to book and they reserve your table on the wrong date… but the experience of eating there, and the lovely staff, means that it all just adds to the authenticity.)

www.chezolivier.com - Melbourne French restaurant/wine bar. From the delightful, personalised sketch on the home page to the friendly, unpretentious copy throughout and the fun Olivier’s Team page, this site makes you feel welcome.

www.trampolinehq.com.au - Just clever. The employment page is of particular interest as a way to attract great staff - you’re not an ice-cream scooper, you’re an ice breaker!