VR Set To Revolutionise the Worlds of Business and Training

Over the last ten years there has been an undeniable and ongoing swing in the importance of all things social and digital in business marketing. As business people we have become aware of the universal customer need to for businesses to become much more interactive, experiential and ultimately engaging.

Businesses that have adopted this mantra have certainly enjoyed a first mover advantage over slower, less responsive rivals. Not surprisingly the technology we use is also continuing to evolve and support this customer need and the most obvious example of this is in the form of the Virtual Reality Units and Bluetooth Controllers that have a virtually unlimited number of potential business applications.

Despite some brands being priced very high with price tags of between $600 to $3000 per single unit, I'm pleased to say that other quality, entry level units are much more affordable and given their quality, functionality and access to large amounts of impressive free content, represent true value for SME's in particular.

One such option is the VR Box (Series II) model that has just been released. https://verve.digital/vr-box/ It is a truly impressive unit that simply requires a modern smartphone runs on any regular mobile and does not require a laptop to run off ensuring a greater level of freedom of movement.
There is a plethora of content online where much of it is actually available free. Some great immersive (360) videos can be obtained from:

1. Jaunt: https://www.jauntvr.com/
2. 360Rize: http://video.360heros.com/
3. Littlstar: https://littlstar.com/
4. Discover VR: http://www.discoveryvr.com/
5. YouTube (There is a growing range of 360 degree videos here): https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=360+video
6. Google Play & Apple Store apps

Even as a teaching tool for teachers and trainers, many of these can be woven into teaching classes, such as the Shipwreck and underwater shark experiences, space exploration, city flyovers, sporting and events etc.

Also interesting to note is that the Google cardboard app and related content can also be viewed on these headsets as they implement the same VR viewing methods via a smartphone.

In terms of dedicated curriculum, Google has launched Google Expeditions (https://www.google.com.au/edu/expeditions/) where the VR learning and experience comes from the downloadable app. The full Google Expeditions kit is not required and at its foundations each student would have a headset and the teacher would facilitate the learning experience from e.g. a tablet, all connecting to a single access point (WiFi).

So regardless of how proactive you have been to this point, the advent of Virtual Reality technology now affords another exciting opportunity to differentiate your business offering from competitors and provide an even higher degree of value added service delivery that will continue to allow for a more interactive and immersive brand experience.

So until next time, good luck and good marketing.
Regards,
Daniele.

Advertise On Pinterest With Promoted Pins

What Are Promoted Pins

When you have important visual pins that will drive business for you, Pinterest gives you the option of paying for Promoted Pins which is the advertising modality within Pinterest.

When you scroll down your personal feed you will read the term: Promoted By on pins which designate promoted pins the way Google Adwords have ‘Ad’ on them.  Any pin that is public can be promoted in this way.

Essentially as a first step you need to think critically about the thing that is central to what your business does. In other words what is your ‘core’ business? Within any area you will be able to see the level of activity within Pinterest as measured by the number of people that follow that area.

Mobile Friendly Video Pins

Pinterest have now also confirmed that you can now also incorporate Promoted Video Pins that are at this stage at least, being targeted exclusively to mobile users that as we know make up the vast majority of Pinterest users with over 80% of use happening on a mobile device. These video pins are viewed on the mobile screen as an animated GIF and when selected direct the viewer to the full video.

As an added incentive those businesses that use these new video pins will be able to at no cost, add six free pins below the video. These complimentary pins show as a carousel under the video, and are used to provide additional content regarding the product being marketed.  

Currently the videos are on third-party video players like YouTube but Pinterest is developing its own video system so it is just a matter of time until it replaces the current system and users will upload video content directly the Pinterest system.

Using Promoted Pins

The key benefit with the use of Promoted Pins is that you can effectively target defined groups where you create an ad campaigns based on three main business goals: Namely: Awareness, Engagement and Traffic.

Brand awareness campaigns allow you to promote your pin to your target market using a Pay per Impression (PPI) model of 1000 impressions.   Whilst with engagement ads, the Pay per Click (PPC) system is used where you pay each time someone clicks and enlarges your pin, repins your pin, saves your pin, or clicks and your pin.With traffic campaigns, the business pays for each click-through on your pin.

Personally as with Adwords which is also PPC I have always preferred the value that PPC ads provide. 

Budgeting for a Promoted Pin Campaign

Pinterest will provide you with a CPC budget estimate based on the keywords and interests you are targeting. Typically it will be around a dollar plus per click so it is more expensive potentially than a Google Adword but I believe a good complement to it.

For brand awareness campaigns, you will be looking at around 3 to 5 dollars per click.

Industry reports say that around 5% of all pins are promoted pins.

Buyable pins are also now available as promoted pins represent a change where when you buy you no longer need to be transferred to the seller’s site.

So until next time, Good luck and good marketing.

Regards,

Daniele.

 

The PEST Analysis

Background

As readers of this blog you know that I have always believed that the most underutilised tool in the business world is the all encompassing SWOT analysis. It is perfect for any business in any market and provides unfailing insight into both the internal processes and systems of your business as well as the external market forces that prevail outside of your business.  Recently I had a student ask me about what is the best way to assess the current and foreseeable opportunities and threats that are likely to present themselves within the next twelve months?  Enter the  PEST analysis.

                                                                  http://bit.ly/1pkgwUJ

The PEST Analysis

The PEST analysis is a structured framework of macro-environmental (external) factors, which essentially act as a feeder that facilitates a better awareness of the likely opportunities and threats that your market will present your business in the short, medium and long terms based on the current available knowledge and understanding. It is made up of four key groupings.

Political 

Political factors examines how directly and to what extent the Government (National, State or Local) intervenes either in the market your business operates in and/or within the economy. Political factors include monetary and fiscal policy, taxation levels, employment law, environmental legislation and regulation, trade policies and tariff settings.

Economic

Economic factors include various aspects that measure the state and dynamics of the economy such as the inflation rate, foreign currency exchange rates, income tax rates, the level of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the level of budget deficit or surplus.  The robustness or weakness of the key economic indicators have a direct and profound effect on the level of business optimism, levels of risk tolerance and subsequent levels in business expenditure.

Social (and Cultural)

Social factors look at the prevailing attitudes, beliefs and generally sum up the current mind set of the people within different groups that make up the community or market place. These factors include: key demographics such as age distribution and population growth rate as well as attitudinal data such as environmental attitudes, home ownership, career aspirations and immigration. Changing beliefs in these social factors affect the demand for a company's products and future products. Currently for example Australia has a Baby Boomer driven aging population that will increasing require additional levels of pharmaceuticals, medical services, retirement facilities,etc.

Technological

Technological factors as the name suggests involve any refinement or advance that occurs in the processes, automation or broad technology used by that market or industry. As the levels of sophistication and cost for technology rise in any given market, so to do the barriers to entry which protect the businesses currently within that space and deter potential rivals from entering. Broadly speaking technological advances made by any business or group within a market, drive continued research by the other players to match and surpass that business and lead to greater quality, production levels of efficiencies in production supporting a more profitable outcome.

Summary

By utilising the PEST analysis and reviewing your findings on a regular basis you will be able to ensure that you are feeding the best, most relevant and timely information into the SWOT analysis as the basis for robust and reliable long term, strategic and short term, tactical decision making for your business.

Naturally to discuss any of the marketing and social media discussions raised here, please come along to any of the Victorian Chamber of Business Workshops as detailed at:
http://www.victorianchamber.com.au/business-solutions/training/course    Hope to see you there.

So until next time, good luck and good marketing.
Regards,
Daniele.