How Your Business Can Benefit From Custom Publishing

You’ve heard it over and over again: “Content is King.” But you may wonder how your business should go about integrating content into your overall marketing strategy. With so many content marketing tactics available, deciding the best way to distribute your content can be a daunting task.

If your business objectives include connecting and building meaningful relationships with a specific audience and sharing valuable, high-quality content that is relevant and resonates with them, then a custom publication may be the answer for you.

Custom magazines are similar to traditional magazines in look and feel but are sponsored, produced and issued by a company or brand with the intent of brand building, relationship building and establishing a position of authority or thought leadership on a particular topic. Created in both print and digital formats, custom magazines draw the audience to your products and services while also providing solutions to their problems along with other relevant information. Nearly any industry or business sector can benefit from custom publishing; from banking to healthcare to retail, any business that wants to generate leads, educate and retain customers, sustain internal communications or support sales can benefit from a custom magazine.

Consumers are on board with custom magazines as well. According to the Custom Content Council:

• 90% of consumers find custom content useful

• 78% of people believe that organizations providing custom content are interested in building good relationships with them

• 77% understand that the goal for these organizations is to sell them something but are okay with it as long as it provides value

A custom magazine allows your business to strengthen relationships with existing clients, target new clients and debut new products and services. The benefits of custom publishing are undeniable. Let’s get started!

Need help creating a custom publication or producing great content? PRISM Media Group can help. Visit our website or call us at 469-645-2408.

Retailers Can Benefit from Content Marketing

Content marketing is fast becoming the go-to marketing technique for businesses.  In fact, studies show that content marketing will soon dominate traditional marketing techniques.  Retailers can benefit from a solid content marketing strategy and connect with prospects by publishing relevant content that addresses buyer needs.

Content marketing, being a push style of marketing rather than a pull style, focuses on finding the intersection between your customer’s needs and your solutions.  A recent study by the Custom Content Council shows that:

• 72% of consumers prefer to get information from a company in the form of articles over advertising

• 51% feel better about a company that delivers custom content and are in turn more likely to buy from that company. 

Content marketing establishes you as an authority in your business, allows you to target key prospects, contributes to lead nurturing and positions you for competitive advantage. 

To make the most out of content marketing:

Evaluate you buyer persona.

Ask yourself, “would this person like this content?”  Have an understanding of what it is your prospects want in terms of content and produce that.

Provide useful information. 

Offer solutions to your prospects problems.  Inform them on the latest news, trends and hot topics in the industry.  Be a resource for customers to seek information in making purchasing decisions.

Post often.

Be consistent with your postings to gain a following.  Post blogs, articles and other content to your website and social media networks regularly and include links in your email marketing.

Make sure you content can be found.

Keyword-rich content will boost your e-commerce business.  Utilize SEO tactics and use keywords in titles, images to be found by search engines. 

Need help developing a content marketing strategy or producing great content?  PRISM Media Group can help.  Visit our website or give us a call at 469-645-2408.

Drive Traffic to Your Virtual Store or Showroom

Are you promoting and selling your products online?  In today’s digital world, everyone is connected with easy access to the web via computers, tablets and smartphones.  Recognizing this trend, most all merchants have some sort of online presence.  Sure you have a booth at Market, but a virtual store or show room can boost sales by allowing you to be in front of customers at any given time with special offers, new product lines and detailed product information.  Here are some tips on driving traffic to your virtual store or showroom:

Optimize your site for search engines

Search Engine Optimization is key for successful e-commerce.  Spend time building a solid list of keywords and use them in product titles and product descriptions.  Include Alt tags to provide a text equivalent for images as some may not display on visitor browsers. 

Content is king      

Create content that is interesting and relevant to your customer and post it on your site.  Your content should provide value to the customer, offering solutions to their problems or other information that they want or need.  In addition to your product offerings, make your site a resource for customers.  Keep them coming back with interactive displays of your products in slideshows or flipbooks.

Share you content

Share your content with social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter.  To maximize this effort, target your customers or specific groups of people with tools like Twitter Search.  Provide links to the custom content on your site. Ask your social community to share your content if they enjoyed it and found it helpful.

Email marketing

An excellent way to drive traffic back to your site is with an email marketing campaign.  Build a list of subscribers who have expressed interest in receiving communication from you and update them with news about your business and your products.  Direct them back to your virtual store or showroom for more information.

Need help with SEO, content creation, social media management or email marketing?  PRISM Media Group can help!  Visit our website or give us a call at 469-645-2408.

Enhance Online Presence & Boost Sales with Video Marketing

The objective for most companies that market online is to drive traffic to their websites and increase sales.  Believe it or not, video marketing is now one of the most effective ways to do that.  In fact, online marketers are using video more than ever to connect and engage with their customers.  Video marketing can be an easy and inexpensive way to market your products and services online and direct prospects to your website or store where they can learn more about you and your business.    

These days, it’s not unusual for people to hop online to research and find more information about products and services.  A search engine like Google is a starting point for most but you may be surprised to learn that Youtube is now the 2^nd most popular search engine.  The good news for online marketers is that search engines love video and listing them in search results.  Forrester Research states that online video is 53 times more likely to appear as a top search engine listing.  Cisco Systems projects that 90% of all internet traffic will be video by 2013.  This is a perfect time to start integrating video into your marketing strategy.

Make the most out of video marketing

Video stimulates two primary senses – sight and hearing – and can have a strong impact on your customers. Keep it simple and avoid over-complicated images and messaging.

Be creative!  One retailer that makes great use of video is the engagement ring destination, Robbins Brothers.  They’ve taken their video marketing a step further in allowing their customers to submit videos of their wedding proposals for a chance to win $1,000. 

Promote your videos in your email marketing campaigns, on your website and on your company Facebook page.  Consider including links to your videos in your regular email communication as well. 

Use video sites like Youtube and Vimeo that are recognized by search engines and utilize targeted keywords in the titles, descriptions and links of your videos to help with link building and SEO strategy.

Need help planning or executing a video marketing strategy?  PRISM Media Group can help!  Visit or website or give us a call at 469-645-2408.

Trade Show Marketing for Trade Show Success

How successful was your last trade show event?  We hope that it was incredibly successful and that you headed home with orders in hand.  Unfortunately, not all businesses are that lucky.  While trade shows can be a significant investment, participation should be a significant portion of your marketing plan.  Trade shows are great for allowing you to showcase your wares to a very targeted audience.  What better way to enhance the visibility of your products, meet prospective customers and maintain a presence in the market place?  But its not enough to do a show...you've got to do it right!  And doing it right means executing a well planned marketing strategy to draw traffic to your booth and maximize your investment.

Think of trade show marketing as a 3-step process:  Pre-show Marketing, At Market Initiatives and Post-show Follow Up.

Pre-Show Marketing 
To ensure success at your next show, start early!  Plan ahead and start engaging with existing and potential customers well before the show to let them know you'll be there and where they can find you.  A personalized phone call is always nice but incorporate other methods of communication as well.  Execute a direct mail or email marketing campaign to personally invite them to your booth.  Update your website with your show schedule.  Utilize social networks to get the word out.

At Market Initiatives
Don't slack on your marketing initiatives once you make it to she show.  Offer prospects and customers an incentive to visit your booth.  Accomplish this by generating excitement and a buzz around your booth with drawings and giveaways, interactive games, new product demonstrations and samples.  Take advantage of social media and advanced technology by tweeting live from the show.  Getting your message in front of show attendees on their smartphones or other mobile devices shows that you're not only in touch, but care about keeping them in the loop.  Don't forget about on-site advertising opportunities!  Find out where show management allows it and how to participate.  Also use your time at the show to capture detailed lead information for post-show follow up.

Post-Show Follow Up
Following up post-show might be the most important step.  After all that hard work, you want to make sure you close some deals, right?  Again, follow up with a personal phone call, send a thank you note or execute a post-show marketing campaign.  Read our post on how to Follow Up Post-Market with Email Marketing.

Need help planning show marketing or executing your marketing ideas?  PRISM Media Group can help!  Visit our website or give us a call at 469-645-2400.  We look forward to hearing from you!

PRISM Media Group Wins Two Magnum Opus Awards

Magazines produced for Dallas Market Center cited as winners in “Best Retail Publication” category

LEWISVILLE, TX – PRISM Media Group, the premier custom publisher in the Southwest, has been named the recipient of two prestigious Magnum Opus Awards. The eighth annual custom publishing competition honors excellence in editorial content, design and strategy. Sponsored by ContentWise magazine in conjunction with the Missouri School of Journalism, this year’s Magnum Opus contest attracted more than 550 entries.

“We are extremely proud of the work that PRISM is doing, and to have that recognized by such a well-respected leader in the industry is truly an honor for us,” said Lori Harvey, publisher for PRISM Media Group.

PRISM was honored with a Bronze in the category of “Best Retail Publication” for InStore, which is published four times a year and distributed to nearly 60,000 retailers nationwide. Its sister publication, The Source, was awarded an Honorable Mention distinction in the same category. Both magazines are produced by PRISM Media Group for Dallas Market Center.

“Our goal has always been to provide useful information in a lively and upbeat format,” Harvey said. “Earning these two awards is validation that we are accomplishing that in a way that is effective and meaningful. Dallas Market Center is a long-time client, and we are honored to be able to partner with them in producing such quality publications.”   

PRISM Media Group also publishes two other magazines for Dallas Market Center – Christmas Source and LightSource – in addition to the seasonal Product Insider email guide to the January and June Total Home & Gift Markets.

About The Magnum Opus Awards
The ContentWise Magnum Opus Awards are the leading custom media awards program recognizing excellence in editorial, design and strategy for organizations using print and online publications as well as social media in their content marketing efforts.

About Dallas Market Center

Dallas Market Center is a complete wholesale marketplace featuring permanent showrooms and product lines from every category imaginable. From home décor to gifts to apparel to lighting, this campus is home to more than 2,000 permanent showrooms featuring more than 35,000 product lines from leading manufacturers.

About PRISM Media Group

PRISM Media Group provides customized, results-oriented content marketing solutions to clients in a variety of print and digital arenas. Services include print and digital publishing, interactive marketing, tradeshow marketing, social media and mobile media. To learn more about PRISM Media Group, visit them online at http://solutions.prismmediagroup.com or find them on Facebook.

Follow Up Post-Market with Email Marketing

The Total Home & Gift show at Dallas Market Center wrapped this week.  As we walked the floors of the Market, checking in on some of our clients, we were thrilled to see how busy some of the showrooms and booths were.  Especially the ones that took advantage of the advertising opportunities available through Dallas Market Center's partnership with PRISM Media Group!  We know that the ads placed in The Source and the Directory, as well as the amazing On-Site Media opportunities were a huge draw and helped buyers know where to find your showrooms and product lines.  But what happened once they made it there?  Did you get the sale?  We hope that you did but if not, what's your plan for follow up?  How will you keep your potential customers engaged?  A great way to follow up with and maintain communication is with an email marketing campaign.

Some of you may already be doing this and for some it is on your growing to-do list.  In either case, we want to help make you and your email marketing campaigns successful.  Here are a few quick tips to make sure your email marketing campaigns are effective:

• Have an interesting subject line:  Your subject line should be interesting and intriguing in order to encourage recipients to open your email.  It's decided in the first few words of your subject line whether or not your message is of interest to them.
• Keep the emails short & to the point:  You may have a lot that you want to say but only relay the important points in your email marketing.  Long emails with a lot of text and paragraphs are not thoroughly read.  Keep it short and sweet.
• Include a strong call to action:  Now that the recipient is engaged, make sure to tell them what to do next.  Whether its to visit your website or Facebook page or to call for more information, make sure the instructions are clear.
• Include all of your contact info: Your potential customers will need to know how to get in touch with you.  Make it easy by prominently displaying all of your contact information.  This will also assure recipients that the email is legitimate and from a reliable source. 

Don't have time to successfully launch your own email marketing campaign?  That's okay, we can help!  Visit:  http://solutions.prismmediagroup.com/ for more information or give us a call at 469-645-2400.