Online video stories for small businesses

Engagement is the goal of most marketing applications of Web 2.0. Visa USA, working with Microsoft, has developed its Business Breakthrough site for small business clients that engages them through case studies--on video. These short videos demonstrate how a Visa-provided business advisor has helped a small business improve one of several aspects of their business, including marketing, fionancial management and team building. To make the site even more interactive, there is a contest where any small business can win a customized consultation with a small business expert and $10,000 to implement the suggestions.

Increasing site visits through social media

“Web sites that have added social media tools have seen traffic jumps of 30 to 100 percent,” says Media magazine. Media
Advertising on these sites is way up too. Could banks or other FS companies benefit? Media companies are using their creativity to come up with sites that users want to come back to. For example, HGTV (a home decorating site) developed a social networking site called “Rate my Space” where visitors show off their flair for decorating by sharing photos and videos of their favorite spaces. HGTV It’s gotten more than 10 million page views in just 6 weeks.

Also, don’t miss the article titled “Industry Watch: Checks and Balances,” by Gwen Moran on how the financial services industry is doing online in the May issue of OMMA Financial Industry online

Wikis for Financial Companies?

A recent article in BtoB offers some thoughts on how Wikis can be used in marketing. While the examples were not from the financial services industry, the article cited how IBM is planning to use a wiki to enable corporate customers to comment on new product introductions and ad campaigns. Xerox is considering using Wikis as part of its new ad campaign where it will ask users to post humorous comments about office life. One commentator points out that setting up social media is much cheaper than blast marketing. More critically, marketers have an opportunity to build a "wikipedia" about their own industry--such as inviting contributors to help build a resource covering everything anyone wanted to know about taking out a mortgage or investing in ETFs, say.