Save Money on Content Creation for Online Advertising and In-Store Display Screens

I watched it happen in the music world and I'm seeing it happen on the internet - people are making wiser decisions when it comes to producing content - and now, the timing could not be better.

Thinking 'Indie'
Independent musicians are the ones who don't have major contracts and are left on their own to record their own music and produce their own videos. Because computers got cheaper and more useful, musicians no longer had to rely on major record companies to get stuff done.

Independent musicians who were locked out of the major record labels had turned to the internet to showcase their talent, sell music and advertise their upcoming shows because they really had no other option. They could not get air time on TV, the radio wouldn't touch them (aside from college radio) and they could not justify the expense of print advertising (aside from street pole advertising). Suffice it to say that the internet was a Godsend to the independent musician.

Well, now that commercial TV ads are relatively expensive, I see smaller businesses turn to online video and in-store screens for advertising; and, I've seen some pretty darn good content. I've also seen some lame content, but fortunately, the content itself won't break the bank for anyone considering OOH (Out-of-Home media), digital signage or whatever it's being called these days.

Slide-Show Loops
The beauty of it is that it is not expensive to produce a 'slide-show' loop of a store's interior or products and that same slide-show can be re-purposed for a website quite easily. Not only that, once the content is created, it can be easily re-edited in various lengths. What does it take to produce a slide show video with fancy fades, moving slides and catchy titles/logos? Not much. I do it all the time. I just finished working on a documentary involving many still photos and titles and we were in a hurry to get it done. So, within four or five hours, it was done.

Live Action Ads
If a retailer decides that they want a live action ad produced, it will generally cost more, but once it is produced it won't cost much to upload it to the internet or play it in-store. One of the best options for saving money on live-action advertising is to hire a video crew to shoot the interiors with happy staff, great close-ups of products and smiling customers AND, as long as the camera is there, it may as well shoot interesting images (I've seen a few TV ads from smaller business that were pretty terrible - and, I still do!).

In summary, if a retailer or other small to medium business owner has a screen or two available, but they can't justify the expense of having an in-store network, they can easily have digital content produced for their existing screen or screens.

I was recently at a Home Hardware in Toronto and saw that they had one screen near the exit on the way out. I thought they did a beautiful job because the loop was nice-looking and informative, and it was something that caught the eye when waiting in line (a common tactic, of course). It was the only screen that I had noticed in the entire store and the effectiveness could not have been better. They could have put a few up, overhead, and they would not have worked as well as the one on the post at average eye level.

Parting Thoughts:
1) Have some content created for an in-store display (start with a slide-show).
2) Re-purpose the content and have it cut shorter for web use.
3) Upload versions of the content to video sites (shorter versions)
4) Get one or two screens and playback device (computer, DVD player, etc) and place them in the best spots possible.
5) Keep the content interesting and informative (and only repetitive enough to satisfy a long wait in line - people may be more frustrated waiting when they see the loop start again).
6) Have different loops playing for different times of day (different age groups).
7) Talk to a consultant about live action options.
8) Make the most from spending less!

Cheers!
- Buck Moore