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New Media

What’s all this about “new media?”

People in the marketing and communications business are pretty familiar with traditional media, mainly in the forms of print publications, radio and television. But the advent of the Internet has brought with it new tools to communicate information and market products. Welcome to a new column here in the Columbia Business Times that’s all about new media. We’re going to start out describing a few terms in this first column and focus on specific examples and ideas in the future.

One of the primary new media tools is a blog, short for Web log. Basically, a blog is defined by the online encyclopedia Wikipedia (www.wikipedia.org) as “type of Web site where entries are made (such as in a journal or diary), displayed in a reverse chronological order.” Blogs, blogging and bloggers have been around since about 1998, but the potential of this information tool is just beginning to be realized. More and more companies and organizations are beginning to use the medium as an easy form of micropublishing to a targeted and interested audience who can receive the updated information almost instantaneously.

The beauty of blogging for marketing and public relations is the ability to communicate directly with a willing target audience. Consider it for applications such as direct interactive communications with customers, dealers, members or any other target market. Blogs can be complementary to other electronic communication methods, such as periodically e-mailed newsletters. A great local example would be Clyde Lear’s blog for Learfield Communications at learfield.typepad.com/growlearfield.

Another new media tool is podcasting, which Wikipedia defines as “the method of distributing multimedia files, such as audio programs or music videos, over the Internet … for playback on mobile devices and personal computers.” The growth in sales of iPods and other personal digital audio players has been nothing short of phenomenal. These devices have given people the ability to listen to what they want when they want and where they want. While music will always be the most popular type of audio downloaded onto iPods, more and more people are downloading programming off the Internet to listen to at their leisure. Thousands of people a day download Rush Limbaugh’s three-hour daily program because it allows them to listen to it when it is convenient for them. The introduction of video iPods has created a market for video programming as well. Imagine your customers or members watching a recorded product demonstration or informational program on a topic that’s important to them with you as the producer. An example of how this is being done locally would be Dr. Henry Domke with his “Living Healthy” podcast, which you can find at www.livinghealthypodcast.com, or KLIK 1240 AM’s Warren Krech at www.radiowarren.com.

The last new media tool I’ll mention is RSS, or rich site summary. Think of it as “really simple syndication.” This electronic mechanism allows people to subscribe to feeds containing anything from text to audio, video and document files. RSS is what powers the distribution of blogs and podcasts. It can do the same for your company newsletter or a regular information update. A local example of how this is being done is the Missouri Bicycle Federation. You can find its feeds at mobikefed.org/rss.html.

If you are a local business operator, these new media tools give you new ways to communicate with your customers for a relatively low investment. Blogs can provide you with an easily updated Web site that can reach out to potential customers in a personal way. For example, a developer might use a blog to chronicle the construction of a new project. A beauty salon could use a blog to showcase new styles and build traffic by posting pictures of clients who then will spread the word to family and friends.

To learn more about these new media options, I recommend investing a little time online looking through the definitions and links you’ll find in Wikipedia. If you want to find consultants to help you, the first request you should make is for them to show you their blog!

I would also suggest some reading material, including Naked Conversations by Robert Scoble & Shel Israel and The Long Tail by Chris Anderson, both of which you can find on Amazon.com. v

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