With customer attention span becoming shorter and shorter, ecommerce businesses and small online entrepreneurs alike are looking for creative and innovative ways to capture their audience more than ever. Several businesses are starting to turn to multimedia audio and video marketing for several reasons. I realized the power of multimedia marketing several years ago while producing marketing videos for different cruising companies that still hold true today more than ever.



Finding a way to entertain customers while subliminally slipping in the benefits is a great way for people to feel like they're not being sold to. Who likes to be sold to anyways? It brings back the psychological triggers of the in-person sales pitch where people feel pressured. If a customer turns on the television or watches a website video with a sales pitch through some form of direct response marketing, they don't feel as threatened compared to an "in-person" sales pitch.

I remember one time I did a sales video for a company that was sent out to a group of database clients. Those same clients also received a flyer. When the people who responded asked what method they learned about the offer through, only a small percentage said they read the flyer. Everyone else watched or listened to the video. Although the flyer was only a blurb, the video was about seven minutes, but could easily be listened to while they were busy and multitasking. From that campaign and several others, we were fortunate to be able to test and track our results from the media that was sent out and how it was delivered in direct comparison to the response. The results were always that the promotional videos received the best response and call to action.

In multimedia marketing, there are several resources that maintain customer attention on websites when used properly. Streaming audio, flash video, professional slideshow presentations and commercial video production do the trick. After doing different tests on the web, we've found that the "mix and match" works the best. A "mix and match" is using a combination of real video, possible animations and graphic text instead of having only one still image, motion video or graphics source.

The reason we have found this works best is because it hits the triggers of customers on different levels that they can connect with. When using video in multimedia marketing, customers relate that directly to the realism of it. When using streaming audio, customers are able to connect the voice and soundtrack to everything else that is on the website simultaneously, allowing the online experience to be more personalized. When using motion still images, this puts customer at ease while they connect the images and soundtrack to their own world of endless possibilities. A picture is "worth a thousand words" when adding the proper music and visual cues that hits the emotional subliminal buying triggers.

When using any or all of these resources, pacing is the key. Pacing is the speed and momentum at which the presentation is being delivered. Just like a headline that grabs customer attention, a multimedia marketing solution is an extended headline with benefits, features and a call to action about your business.