Micky Long, vice president of Arketi Group (http://www.arketi.com), a high-tech BtoB PR and digital marketing firm, explains a strategic marketing approach that considers all aspects of delivering your message to a relevant audience in an ongoing and impactful way. At Arketi we call it 3D Content Mapping.

To learn more about 3D Content Mapping visit: http://arketi.com/newsletter/newslett…

Another great article from emarketer.com! Videos are going to be the “it” BtoB marketing tactic during 2011. If you are a BtoB marketing or PR pro that is NOT using videos in your mix write down today’s date because by the end of this year you will be – and you will want to know when you first started thinking about using videos.

Busy executive are using videos to help education themselves on business products and services. A recent Forbes Insights study found that, “nearly 60% of all respondents said they would watch video before reading text on the same webpage, and 22% said they generally liked watching video more than reading text for reviewing business information.” That is a marketing and PR WOW!

As emarketer.com puts it, “video has only become more important for the younger set, and marketers can depend on them to watch, pass along, recommend—and often, enter the purchase funnel.”

Get ready – lights, camera and action!

You can read the full article at: http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1008146 or below…             

 How Online Video Can Reach the Business Audience

JANUARY 4, 2011

Even busy executives want to do more than just read on the web

Executives with no time for fun and games do have time for the sound and motion of video, according to findings from Forbes Insights. In some cases, they may actually prefer it to text for learning about products and services.

A majority of businesspeople surveyed by Forbes in October 2010 said they watched more online video than a year earlier. Nearly 60% of all respondents said they would watch video before reading text on the same webpage, and 22% said they generally liked watching video more than reading text for reviewing business information. Three-quarters of all executives said they watched work-related videos on business websites at least once a week, and more than half did the same on YouTube.

Video can be highly effective for merchants. The executives surveyed reported taking a wide variety of actions after watching online videos, with about two-thirds visiting vendor websites subsequent to viewing and more than half searching for more information. Especially among younger executives, likelihood of making a purchase was high.

Generational differences ran throughout the Forbes research, with a split in behavior at age 50. While the youngest executives were most interested in video across the board, baby boomers in their 40s had comparable participation levels. It was older executives who had not yet gotten on board with video, and business-to-business marketers must continue to reach them through other means.

But video has only become more important for the younger set, and marketers can depend on them to watch, pass along, recommend—and often, enter the purchase funnel.

Source: emarketer.com

Journalists are quick to disparage public relations professionals (often in rather public forums). Yet, every once in a while, reporters will “fess up” and recognize that strong p.r. pros are more help than hindrance.

Such was the case in a recent Ragan’s PR Daily story in which New York Times technology reviewer, David Pogue, announced this year’s winners of the Pogue Perfect Pitch award. After my initial shock of not reading one of my pitches, I rather enjoyed seeing how a couple of my public relations peers managed to stand out in the crowd.

While the approaches in the Pogue article may not work in the B2B technology world in which I live and breathe, the pitches were clever and every bit worth the reviewer’s shout out.

One of the Pogue Perfect Pitch awards went to Nikon.

Pogue had written a review of a competitive product in the form of a love letter. (“Dear Canon S95, I don’t often write love letters to gadgets. But you—you’re something special. Truth is, I’ve been searching for someone like you for years…”)

The response, from Nikon D80, was PR pitching perfection.

Dear David—

It has been far too long since our last encounter, and today I found out why. Imagine my horror to find your public proclamation of love for that floozy, the Canon S95, for the whole world to see. You called that little camera “something special?” Well, I remember when I was your one special camera, the one you could come to for anything. Photographing a soccer game? Done. Days at the beach? Easy squeezy. Amazing landscape shots on vacation? You betcha.

Is it because I’m so much bigger than the S95? After our years together, I would think you would accept me for what I am: a highly capable, semi-pro SLR that empowered you to take great pictures. Depth of field, fast burst rate, sharp focus, accurate colors—these are all things only a camera like me can give you.

Let’s not forget all the fun times we had with my friend NIKKOR, who was always willing to go to great telephoto focal lengths to please you. And sometimes our friend Speedlight joined the party to brighten the mood. You talk about physics? I’ll talk about chemistry. You, me, and your 18-200mm VR lens are a perfect match.

But I don’t want to be spiteful. I only want what’s best for you, and I think you are a great match for my cousin, the P7000. She is smaller and more powerful than most cameras, and leads the way for a segment of cameras that is quickly gaining in popularity, the high-end compact. She’s got a cute retro style that everyone loves, and full manual analog controls.

From Your First photographic Love,

Your Loyal Nikon D80

Even I will give credit where credit is due!

To read more on both pitches, including one sent via video, check out the full Pogue article at http://www.linkedin.com/news?actionBar=&articleID=383128931&ids=0Mc3wRe3kSe3cIcPwRcj0Mc3wPb3cSe3gUe3oUcOMPdj0TdP8Re3cIcjcVe38NcPwP&aag=true&freq=weekly&trk=yiaag-98