Blog

• Improving Saranac Beer's Website and Moving Them to a Content Management System

  Aug 29, 2008 by Clay

  I wanted to take the time to write about one of our recent projects that we're really proud of. We recently implemented a new site for Saranac, a nationally distributed and absolutely delicious beer company based in Utica, NY. The site was designed by Romanelli Communications, one of many firms across the country that use NMC as a strategic web partner for advertising agencies.
  
  Sarnac's previous site was cumbersome to navigate and nearly impossible to edit content. They knew that they wanted a streamlined navigation structure and the ability to constantly refresh content. After seeing a demonstration of our content management software, Saranac management instantly knew that this would be the best way to frequently update their web content.
  
  Romanelli provided us with a beautiful design and we set about putting it onto our Content Management System. Every area of the site is completely controlled by the system, allowing Saranac to highlight new contests, popular brews, and breaking news on their homepage. Also, by incorporating some web 2.0 tools to enhance their site, Saranac has been able to start a conversation with their consumers. Whether it's the ability to comment on interior pages or sign up for the latest events, Saranac visitors are able to use the site to easily communicate and interact with the brand.
  
  So far, the site has been a success. They've been able to use the Content Management System completely independent of assistance from us, have registered numerous visitors for different contests, and received dozens of comments on the interior pages of the site.
  
  We're really proud of Romanelli Communications' design, our team's implementation, and Saranac's embrace of content management and web 2.0 tools. Let us know your thoughts on the site.
  
  

• Three Third-Party Tools We Use to Build Better Websites

  Aug 21, 2008 by Clay

  At NMC, we pride ourselves on providing our clients with powerful websites...I think our homepage headline makes that pretty clear. In building powerful websites, we recognize that it's not always necessary for us to "reinvent the wheel."
  
  By being willing to plug in other applications to our sites, we avoid having to custom develop certain complex elements of the site, thus saving us time and saving our clients money. It's not necessary for us to spend time and our client's budget trying to reinvent something that another vendor has already focused on and poured resources into.
  
  We understand that work it takes to make a really powerful and compelling application, as we've dedicated our team and resources into building a powerful Content Management System that is one of the best around. So, we're not hesitant to recognize the strengths of different companies in other niches and we frequently leverage their technology to make our websites more powerful.
  
  Here are three of our favorite vendors to incorporate into our sites:
  

  • Wufoo form builder - Wufoo's tagline is "making forms easy + fast + fun." We couldn't agree more. Wufoo is a simple to use tool, with robust capabilities. We have dozens of clients that use Wufoo as their primary form tool, allowing them to easily create new forms, start petitions, process contributions, and more. Much thanks to the Wufoo team for making such a powerful tool so easy and fun to use.
  • Campaign Monitor Email Marketing Software - Campaign Monitor is our email marketing tool of choice. Seems like from an ad agency or design firm's perspective, Campaign Monitor has done just about everything right with this product. Unlike their competitors, they give you complete control over the look of your email template in a very easy-to-use manner. Also, their CreateSend system makes it easy to give our clients a personal login to manage their email campaigns from start to finish, on their own.
  • Disqus comments system - We haven't used Disqus extensively, but plan on using them more frequently after recent successes. We recently used them to create a web 2.0 atmosphere around the Saranac Beer website, allowing visitors to comment on just about any page and start a discussion about the company's products. Disqus was easy to plug in to the site and added some really cool functionality that the client has been very excited about.
  
  All three of these companies save our clients money by allowing us to easily and affordably plug their powerful software into our client sites. If you know of any other cool tools we should be using more regularly, let us know.
  

• 5 Things Your Company Could Learn From Web Celebs

  Aug 18, 2008 by Clay

  A recent Wired article details the rise of Julia Allison, one of a long list of people who have managed to become Web Celebs without really doing anything worthy of fame.  Whether it's making a viral YouTube video about your new haircut or crying about Britney's VMA performance, there have now been dozens of people and companies that have become Web Celebs and built their own online brand.
  
  Allison's claim to fame is blogging and tweeting just about everything she does...not to mention having a string of famous boyfriends.  While it's easy for many organizations to write off her online success as annoying and pandering - there are still several things that organizations can learn from her to help build their brand online.
  
  

  1. Be Innovative - The Web Celeb clique have each been innovative in their own way.  Whether it was a new style of humor or being unprecedentedly open about personal secrets, most web celebs have done something innovative to call attention to themselves.  Organizations don't necessarily need to do something as risky as these tactics, but they should still keep up with the technology curve, which will usually make them seem innovative compared to their peers.  Whether it's linking to Twitter and Facebook, Embracing Flash Video, Blogging, or allowing consumers to discuss your product on the site (we did something like this for the Saranac Beer website), it's important to not let your site fall behind the times.
  2. Keep Generating Good Content - Each of the aforementioned celebs constantly generates content.  While it's not as important for a normal business or non-profit to post content on their site by the hour, they should refresh their news, blog, and other elements each week.  One easy way to do this is to manage your website with a Content Management System - the system will make it easy and painless to frequently update your site's content.
  3. Start a Conversation - It's important to prompt your audience for feedback and give them the opportunity to get in contact with you.  This includes writing open ended blog posts that prompt responses or just simply giving people an easy way to reach out to you.  This conversation will make the experience at your site that much more relevant to the visitor, and when they hear back from you, it will encourage them to come back and visit again.
  4. Know Your Audience - Julia Allison knows that visitors to her website want to read about her dates and details about her social life - so, she gives people what they want and they continue to visit and refer other visitors.  By tailoring your content to your specific audience, you'll build a better connection with visitors to your site and encourage them to return.  This can be difficult at times - we recently completed building a new website for a national non-profit, and it was tough to balance addressing potential donors, applicants, and others, as each comes from a different demographic.  However, after some work, we were able to find ways to make it very intuitive for stakeholders to quickly access the information that mattered most to them. 
  5. Don't Give Up Easily - Many of the web celebs had blogged for years or posted dozens of videos before they found their celebrity.  If you're site doesn't instantly receive the traffic you were hoping for, don't get discouraged.  Keep generating good content and working to improve your site, and someone will take notice.  Once you start to build a following, it will grow exponentially, so it's important to keep at it and don't get discouraged.
  These tips will help turn your static site into a more heavily trafficked online brand.  It doesn't happen over night, and for some, it may never happen.  However, by following the examples of people who have successfully built their own online brands, you can greatly improve your site, traffic, and reputation.
  
  

• Another Free Google Tool To Compliment Your Online Campaign Strategy

  Aug 7, 2008 by Clay

  Google released a new tool today to help voters scour through the thousands of hours of political footage on YouTube. The feature is called the Elections Video Search. A user can type in a phrase and then see what candidates across the nation have said about that specific issue.
  
  The screen shot below shows the results returned for a search on "nuclear energy." When you play an individual video, yellow marks on the timeline delineate where the topic is mentioned in the speech. By mousing over one of those marks, you can read the direct quote.
  
  
  
  It's a pretty neat technology and will be really helpful to voters wanting to learn where candidates stand on specific issues. Currently, it seems that the tool is aimed mainly at the Presidential candidates - it actually allows you to filter the results to show just McCain or Obama quotes.
  
  This is just another example of a free tool to help support your online campaign strategy. Looking forward to watching how it continues to develop, scale, and be used.
  
  

• New Media Campaigns Web Design Listed on CSS Divine

  Aug 6, 2008 by Joel

  As you may have noticed, newmediacampaigns.com has a new look.  Last week we launched a design refresh that focused on improving our homepage.  Our main addition was the slideshow on the homepage that features some of the recent work we have done for clients. We have also improved other areas of the site and updated our cool sliding web design portfolio.

  Using Google Alerts, we noticed today that CSS Divine had selected our new site design to list on their homepage. CSS Divine is a website devoted to beautiful web design that has been implemented using CSS.

  It is an honor to have our work recognized for its beautiful design as well as its technical features. If you have any feedback on the refresh, let us know.

   

• How Google Alerts Can Support Your Online Campaign

  Aug 5, 2008 by Clay

  You've designed and launched your campaign website, sent out an email blast driving people to the site, and even written a blog post.  Great.  However, your online campaign doesn't just stop there!   It's important to continually keep working on improving your campaign website and Internet strategy.  One particular tool that can help inform your online campaign strategy is Google Alerts.  
  
  First, you enter the terms you want to keep tabs on.  Then, Google Alerts will email you anytime a Googlebot comes across one of your listed terms.  This feature allows you to easily and passively keep up to date on your campaign's online brand.
  
  We've setup Google Alerts for a few of our clients, and it has proved an invaluable tool.  Frequently, the Alert will be about a YouTube video that our candidate had no idea existed, because someone was taping it from the back of the audience.  Also, they are really helpful to see what the Blogosphere is saying about your campaign.
  
  Google Alerts is a powerful tool that is underused by too many campaigns.  I recommend setting up an alert for the candidate's name, your opponent(s), key donors and staffers, and important issues in the area.
  
  This is one of the easiest ways to track your online brand, improve your online strategy, and  harness the power of the most innovative company in the world.
  
  

• Important Aspects of Good Web Design

  Jul 28, 2008 by Clay

  BusinessWeek recently published a good article called the 10 Commandments of Web Design. The article outlines the aspects of design that keep a website attractive, yet functional. Too often, firms without a good understanding of how to design for the web try to put up sites that are not optimized for the medium. I've whittled BusinessWeek's top 10 down to the top three items from the article that we hold dearest to our hearts when we design a new website.
  

  1. Thou shalt not abuse Flash - We have never built a fully flash site. They're hard to navigate and horrible for Search Engines. Flash can definitely enhance certain elements of a site, but we feel that we can achieve most of the same effects through use of Javascript and other languages that make it easier for Search Engines to spider. We use Flash at times, but are very careful to not abuse it and to focus more on creating a functional and navigable site.
  2. Thou shalt not clutter - One of our top priorities is to streamline a site's layout, making it easy to navigate and get information quickly. This is especially helpful with political campaign websites, as voters come to the site wanting to quickly be able to understand a candidate and their issue stances. We aim to keep all over layouts clutter-free and easy to navigate.
  3. Thou shalt create immersive experiences - We aim to ensure that each of our sites is extremely engaging to visitors. We accomplish this by giving our clients the ability to easily edit content, create unlimited pages, manage unlimited photo galleries, build contact forms, host videos, and much more through our powerful content management system. By being able to manage and scale out your site, visitors will become engaged, frequently visit the site, and generate more page views.
  We're perpetual students of great design and new technology, and we help each of our clients launch sites that are consistent with the best on the web.
  

• Kansas Campaign Features Innovative Online Tactics

  Jul 20, 2008 by Clay

  Sean Tevis is running for State Representative in Kansas. He currently works as an Information Architect for a company in Johnson County, Kansas, and he formerly founded a successful Internet company. So, it's no surprise that he launched an attractive and innovative campaign site when he decided to run for State Representative. The site has a web 2.0 feel with smooth drop down navigation, a frequently updated blog, a host of social networking options, and an overall web-friendly design.
  
  However, his site still isn't too out of the norm of most good campaign websites being launched in today's political environment. Where Tevis really set himself apart was with his cartoon to drive traffic to his site. The cartoon is an extremely funny take on today's political environment that tends to heavily favor incumbents and big fundraisers only. After making the reader laugh through the cartoon, Tevis places his call to action by asking readers to support his campaign.
  
  The state record in Kansas for most donations to a State Rep campaign is 644, but Tevis sets the auspicious goal of gathering 3,000 small pledges of $8.34. The humorous slant on political marketing resulted in the cartoon going viral and Tevis reaching his goal of 3,000 donations in just 37.25 hours! The campaign has now raised money from over 5,000 contributors. Amazing!
  
  Tevis is an excellent job of how creating content and driving visitors to it, especially if it is innovative and funny, can help a campaign site break through the mold and be really successful. Congrats again to Sean.
  
  Clay Schossow - cschossow@newmediacampaigns.com
  

• Another Tar Heel Joins the Team

  Jul 1, 2008 by Clay

  New Media Campaigns is happy to announce the addition of Josh Lockhart to our web design and marketing team. Josh joins the NMC team as a web developer and project manager. Josh has extensive experience in programming and client relations. Josh formerly ran his own consulting firm at joshlockhart.com, and focused on RapidWeaver theme templates and custom development.
  
  We're very happy to add such a talent as Josh to our team, but more importantly, he increases the lead of Tar Heels vs. Dukies working in our office (no wonder we've done several web projects for the UNC-system, but none for the folks from Durham). We see his addition as the next great step in the war of good against evil, and also are extremely excited for him to bring his high caliber of work and attention to detail on board. Be sure to send Josh a warm welcome to our team.

• A Worthwhile New Year's Resolution - Invest Your Marketing Dollars Online

  Jan 3, 2008 by Decision makers tend to make resolutions for their organizations, most of the time relating to the growth and service that they hope to maintain in the new year. Well, this is the year to make sure that you include online efforts in your new year's resolution.

  Welcome to 2008! It's a new year, which means it's time for a new year's resolution. The common ones are to get into beach shape, read more, make more time for family, and the like. However, decision makers also tend to make resolutions for their organizations, most of the time relating to the growth and service that they hope to maintain in the new year. Well, this is the year to make sure that you include online efforts in your new year's resolution.

  A recent Wall Street Journal article elaborates on why this is the year that new media spending should own a nice portion of your budget. Some of the article's featured statistics that demonstrate how important new media will be in the coming year are:

  • 70% of Americans actively use the Internet for everything from educational research and social networking to online shopping.
  • There are 1.24 billion active Internet users worldwide
  • Online sales, excluding travel, grew 19% in 2007 with no signs of slowing down in ‘08/

  The stats speak for themselves - a modest investment online gives you the opportunity to reach 70% of the nation!

  However, this doesn't mean that you can just throw up a cheap brochure site and you'll capitalize on the opportunity of the Internet. Like any marketing campaign, it's important to invest time and money (although, the Internet allows you to spend much less money than most other marketing campaigns) into your online presence.

  You want to be sure that you're leveraging the Internet, not just taking up space. So, your new year's resolution shouldn't be simply to "be online," but it should be to "win online." This means having an interactive, engaging, and attractive website. It also means keeping your site frequently updated and fresh. It means continuing to scale your site and take advantage of new technologies. By doing these things, you can be sure that your '08 marketing budget will get a better return than the one in '07 that consisted simply of cold calls.

  If you have any questions about other ways to maximize your online presence, we encourage you to get into contact with us about how we leverage the Internet for our clients. Also, please browse our portfolio firsthand to see interactive campaigns we've put together for organizations of all sizes.

  Happy new year!

  Clay Schossow
  Lead Project Manager
  cschossow@newmediacampaigns.com

• Building Successful Political Campaign Websites

  Oct 7, 2007 by We're a month away from thousands of elections around the country and only a year away from Election Day 2008. We've been watching the season closely, and paying particular attention to the different online campaigns. Here are some tips on how you can maximize your political website and stay away from some common missteps.

  We're a month away from thousands of elections around the country and only a year away from Election Day 2008. New Media Campaigns was founded as a company devoted to political campaign websites and we still have many political clients - so we've been watching the season closely, and paying particular attention to the different online campaigns (read more about New Media Campaigns' founding as a company devoted to political campaign websites and our evolution since).

  Four years ago, this post would have had to been devoted to the online strategies for a handful of big budget races, as they were the only ones who could afford to be online. However, it's now a requisite for every type of campaign, on any level to have an online component to educate, engage, and sway voters. The growing popularity has proved a very cost effective way for candidates to both win votes and raise contributions.

  However, there are many "political website companies" that have only joined the game to make a quick buck and don't create innovative or effective sites. At New Media Campaigns, our campaigns have succeeded online because we are here to help them succeed online.

  We treat each campaign as an individual, meaning we don't use templates -every campaign site that we work on is custom designed for that specific campaign. Many companies paint themselves as a political design firm, but all they really do is continue to regurgitate the same design over and over with a different color scheme and new photos. In order to succeed online, your online campaign needs to be specific to your campaign and message in the same way that a direct mail piece is.

  Excite people with your design! While the content of a political website is important, the value of a well designed website can't be underestimated. The Internet is no longer some new trend - voters are veterans of the web and have been to dozens of political websites. They'll instantly be more interested in yours if your design is exciting, unique, and professional. This is another problem with templates or enlisting a random campaign volunteer to put together your site. It's important to trust your design to web design professionals, especially if they're political web design professionals (shameless plug, I know), even if that means you have to pay a little more.

  Open up the lines of communication! A site is more than just a venue for you to post your ideas - it's an opportunity to have a dialogue with voters. Have a contact form, host a blog, register volunteers! When a candidate visits someone's house, he/she encourages the voter to ask questions and engage the candidate, a campaign website should be no different! Allow voters to submit questions and engage the campaign, and make sure to get back to them. Also, your site is an extremely cost effective way to gather volunteer information and keep in touch with them.

  Our company has had a lot of success building political websites, and it's because we build each one with care, passion, and creativity. I hope these hints were helpful in beginning to know how to maximize your online campaign. If you have any other ideas or comments, please be in touch!

  Clay Schossow
  Lead Project Manager
  cschossow@newmediacampaigns.com

• Get Rich Quick Schemes Never Work - Not Even for SEO

  Sep 26, 2007 by There's an eternal debate on the web and among companies about the most important SEO tactic. Everyone wants to find to find Midas' Touch and instantly turn their website into search engine gold - a top listing on Google.

  There's an eternal debate on the web and among companies about the most important SEO tactic. Everyone wants to find to find Midas' Touch and instantly turn their website into search engine gold - a top listing on Google. People are so eager to have a top Google ranking that they quite often forego the hard work necessary to earn a ranking, and they just opt for a "get rich quick scheme." We've all seen these ploys advertised in sketchy corners of the Internet: "Top Google Ranking, GUARANTEED," "Google Your Way to Millions," "Be On Google's First Page In a Week! GUARANTEED!" ... there are endless wordings of these ads, but only one result - wasted money.

  When it comes to search engine optimization, just like in the real world, there's no sure fire "get rich quick" scheme. Believe it or not, the Google guys and their employees are pretty smart folks. Smart enough to know the shady little tricks that people will try to get a high ranking, and smart enough to not let those methods work. In fact, there's a good chance that if you try and sketch your way to the top that Google will penalize your site in the rankings.

  In order to succeed in search engine optimization, you have to put some work into it. The most important work is writing good content. By writing content that accurately reflects your business and keeping it updated, Google will index you based on what your company does. Also, the better the content and the more frequently it's refreshed, the more likely it is that other companies and bloggers will link to your site - these links are a key part to your Google ranking. Business blogs are the raging fashion of today mainly because they challenge companies to write compelling content frequently, thus motivating visitors to link to the blog/company, which results in higher Google rankings for the terms that those companies care (and blog) about.

  At New Media Campaigns, SEO is on the forefront of our minds when we work with designing our clients' websites. For example, our proprietary content management system (which is used by corporate, non-profit, and political websites around the country) ensures that all of the content on your site can be indexed by search engines. The system also allows for your site to host its very own blog, and reap the benefits that were mentioned in the previous paragraph. Additionally, when our clients want to strengthen their SEO tactics, we work with them every step of the way. From helping write content to directory submission, we work with our clients to ensure that they're getting the most out of their SEO. If you're interested in SEO, be sure to get in contact with us and learn about New Media Campaigns' SEO packages.

  It's important to always remember that SEO is a long, hard fought battle, but if you put in the work, you'll begin to see results - however, never trust anyone that GUARANTEES quick results, because the process isn't that simple or predictable.

  Clay Schossow
  Lead Project Manager
  cschossow@newmediacampaigns.com
  

• Is Second Life Quickly Approaching the Afterlife?

  Jul 20, 2007 by

  Life just wouldn't be any fun without fads: pogs, Pokemon, Barney, Britney Spears...However, there is always that rare fad that transcends temporary obsession and becomes ingrained in our culture (think YouTube). For the past year, it has seemed like Second Life was going to become the next wave of the Internet - "this is how the entire web will operate within the next few years," was a common cry from media outlets, both large and small. However, it seems that the day of reckoning may be approaching for Second Life.

  Life just wouldn't be any fun without fads: pogs, Pokemon, Barney, Britney Spears...However, there is always that rare fad that transcends temporary obsession and becomes ingrained in our culture (think YouTube). For the past year, it has seemed like Second Life was going to become the next wave of the Internet - "this is how the entire web will operate within the next few years," was a common cry from media outlets, both large and small.

  However, it seems that the day of reckoning may be approaching for Second Life. A recent Wired article details how companies are dumping money into the virtual world, but have yet to see any pay off. The article makes it seem as if most companies can no longer even begin to justify their presence in Second Life, but they've simply heard about it so many times that they believe it's necessary to be there in order to be successful on the web. Seems like the beginning of the end to us over here at NMC.

  Much of the misleading hype is due to the number crunching presented by Linden Labs (the creator of Second Life). While the company claims more than 7 million Avatars (every Second Life user creates an "Avatar," which is their identity while they're "in world") inhabit the virtual world, many of those are duplicates and there are only 4 million unique members. Of those 4 million, only 1 million had logged in within the previous 30 days of the article. The numbers keep dwindling with further inspection, and eventually the article concludes that the market for a US company is about 100,000 active members/week. Still not a terribly disappointing number, but to think that the original figure was 7 million, and then you must realize that large companies are dumping tens of thousands of dollars into this fledgling virtual world. The NBA put a lot of work and money into building their own island in Second Life, but they've had less than 2,000 visits since its launch in May.

  Second Life is the perfect example of an Internet fad blown out of proportion. When it comes to the web, people are quite often looking just a little too hard for the next big thing, so they're willing to latch onto whatever their consultants or the media tell them - no matter how poor that advice sometimes is. At New Media Campaigns, we keep our ear to the ground and are always looking out for the new trends on the web - however, before we never advocate that our clients spend a boat load of money on something that has yet to show if its really worth it. We've been in the web design and marketing business for years and have developed quite the discerning eye. We only recommend proven methods to our clients that will help them win online and get the greatest possible ROI. If you've got an idea or heard about some hot new trend, we'd love to talk with you about it and help you decide whether or not it's the right fit for your website.

  We're committed to giving honest advice about what we think will most help your website -not what is going to pump up our price. So, if you're looking for an honest web design firm that's committed to helping you get the most out of your website, get in contact with us. We'll keep you updated on the Second Life situation, but our prediction is pretty dismal and this thing looks to be going down quicker than the Titanic. Let us know what you think and if you've had a successful stint on Second Life.

  Clay Schossow
  Lead Project Manager
  cschossow@newmediacampaigns.com

   

   

• It's All About Functionality

  Jun 12, 2007 by There's an eternal debate in web design of good vs. evil, aka functional vs. flashy. Many designers and developers make their money by pitching clients on designs that are the flashiest, hippest, coolest, and whatever other catchy buzz words they can throw at it. While that pads the wallet of the designer, it doesn't do much for his/her client.

  There's an eternal debate in web design of good vs. evil, aka functional vs. flashy. Many designers and developers make their money by pitching clients on designs that are the flashiest, hippest, coolest, and whatever other catchy buzz words they can throw at it. While that pads the wallet of the designer, it doesn't do much for his/her client.

  We've all been there, we go to a site and instantly say "COOL!" as we watch a Flash intro and then the rest of the site Flashes in fast enough to cause a seizure. Then comes the greatest challenge you've ever encountered: navigating the site. While the site looks really impressive and expensive, you can't find any of the information you're looking for. Don't worry you're not alone, you join the millions of others who hate navigating poorly organized sites, not to mention the search engines that can't even read the text on a Flash site (yup, that means no Google ranking).

  While no one agrees more than me that a site should have a really great design and a WOW pop that lures people in, the first and foremost consideration when designing a site should be functionality and organization. After all, that's the first concern on the minds of your site visitors-they come to your site to gather information and learn about your organization, not to watch a fireworks show.

  We're not opposed to using Flash in designs, but we just make sure to use it with discretion. There's no need to sacrifice the usability of a site, just to crank up the price and impress 5% of your visitors. The best strategy is to have an appealing, professional and coherently designed site that engages visitors while giving them easy access to the information that they came to find.

  New Media Campaigns specializes in professional and functional web design. Our sites are designed to look great, engage visitors, articulate your message, and work the way that visitors expect them to.

  So, the next time you're facing a tough choice about how much Flash to use on your site. Save us all the headache (literally) and go with a classy design that looks great but is still easy to use.

  Clay Schossow
  Lead Project Manager
  cschossow@newmediacampaigns.com

• Campaigns in a New Media World

  May 20, 2007 by We've all heard it and it is true: advertising and marketing have changed fundamentally. The 30 second TV spot is dead and audiences are segmented beyond the reach of traditional media. Getting your message across will require new strategies during the comings years.

  These days, it almost seems cliché to say that traditional advertising is dwindling in importance. However, after WPP's recent purchase of 24/7 Real Media for more than $600 million (in case you missed it), it seems like a point that can't be overstated.

  Perhaps the more correct and fundamental way to look at the situation is that there's no longer such a thing as "non-traditional." With seemingly every company in the world starting to pour funds into the online market, it seems that even You Tube campaigns, SEO, Banner Ads, Blog Seeding, Content Management Systems, and Email marketing campaigns are becoming more traditional than a full page print ad. If this is true, the real question is how to maximize your online campaign?

  Well, I can tell you from firsthand experience you need to do more than just build website in Flash that aims to "wow" its audience. As You Tube and the Web 2.0 movement have taught us, the Internet is more about engaging your target than wowing them. Visitors would rather actually interact with your website than just sit there and watch it. This means host multimedia, have signups, open forums, allow comments on articles, and more.

  If you focus just on the sheer appearance of the site and not on anything else, then you're losing the beauty of the Internet. Use a content management system to keep the site up to date and encourage visitors to return; capture visitors' data so you can see what people are interested in and keep in contact with them. Too often websites are forgetting to be updated and interactive. These are the hallmarks of today's successful web presences.

  As ad agencies and companies begin venturing into the new media world, they have to remember to look at it in new ways. The 30 second TV spot was all about grabbing someone's attention, web campaigns are about keeping people's attention. It's imperative that there is some interactivity in your website, even if it's simply that you update it every day and users will always find something new-host a blog, update your welcome message, post articles, upload videos, sell new merchandise, just do something to grab their attention!

  Don't worry, we've eaten our own dogfood and do a number of things to keep our New Media Campaigns site interactive. First, we always push people to sign up for an online demo of our backend system and to join our email newsletter. Also, when building this new site, we thoroughly analyzed our old site's statistics and saw that we needed to build out our portfolio section, because that's what most visitors go to immediately. Finally, you're looking at it! We aim to update this Blog section multiple times a week and we hope that you check back frequently and let us know what you think! We want to be responsive to what you're looking for and use this section of the site to let you know what we're thinking and to hear your feedback.

  Clay Schossow
  Lead Project Manager
  cschossow@newmediacampaigns.com