September 2016 - Business Marketing Strategies & Trends

Feeling Loopy? Repetitive Slideshows Leave Customers More Anxious

What is it about an environment that makes you feel bored? What makes you feel like time is moving slowly, or that you have been waiting a long time? It probably wouldn’t surprise you to hear that many people cite repetitive (or looping) television programs to be a major factor.

Repetition can be seen everywhere

Repeating over and over

Have you ever been at a medical office and seen the same “medical facts” flash on the screen a number of times before seeing your doctor?

How about the gas station where the screen plays the same advertisement or weather forecast multiple times in 3 minutes?

Have you ever been at a restaurant and seen the same news stories played every 15 minutes?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you are not alone! Businesses often turn to television content providers with limited libraries of content to show “relevant” content to their customers. Unfortunately, most of these providers don’t take into consideration the amount of time customers wait, or the average frequency of visits the same customer makes in any given week or month.

Showing the same content over and over is boring

Bored Man When people are bored they feel like their time is being wasted. Business owners don’t want to waste customers’ time. Happy customers make greater purchases and come back again in the future.

The It’s Relevant TV custom TV platform takes all of this into consideration.

The 5 Main Differentiators of It’s Relevant TV

1. There is no loop. The programs shown on the custom TV networks do not repeat over and over again in the same sequence.

2. The content library is gigantic. It’s Relevant TV licenses television programs from top TV producers and short-film makers around the world. As a result, the company constantly changes the content they deliver to each of the partner televisions.

3. It’s Relevant TV constantly updates the content. Some other services “refresh” the content on custom networks once or twice a month. It’s Relevant TV releases new content to partners almost hourly, expanding the library and creating new experiences all the time.

4. It’s Relevant TV makes custom TV easy to control. Some other solutions require that the business owners have to go in and select specific videos that they want played, and then have to go back and change their selections anytime they want the programming on their TV to change. It’s Relevant TV changes the programming for you, while keeping within your preferences and parameters. Instead of picking specific videos, you simply choose from a list of 50 categories of content. The service then continues to deliver videos in only the categories you select.

5. They take care of the licensing. This is a big deal, and will become an even bigger deal in the years to come. Some services allow business owners to display YouTube videos on their TVs. Simply put: THAT IS ILLEGAL. YouTube’s terms of use prohibit broadcasting content publicly. Users who upload videos to YouTube give YouTube limited rights to display their content only on certain monetized online platforms. Since taking the content off the platform is essentially stealing it, the owner of the content could come after your business if you use it that way.

For more information and to explore creating your own non-looping custom channel contact It’s Relevant TV via phone at: 855-ITS-RELE or via email at: support@itsrelevant.com

Facebook Video Ad Viewing Times Inflated, ROI Questioned

Recent news has broken about the inaccurate reporting of video playback times on the Facebook platform. Facebook’s reporting suggested higher message playback than actually happened. In a post on the Facebook advertising help site, Facebook announced the discrepancy and explained the difference between how it defined the statistic, and what was actually measured.

We had previously defined the Average Duration of Video Viewed as “total time spent watching a video divided by the total number of people who have played the video.” But we erroneously had calculated the Average Duration of Video Viewed as “the total time spent watching a video divided by only the number of people who have viewed a video for three or more seconds.

New Changes In Place

Then in response to this discovery, Facebook says it’s introducing two new metrics in hopes to save face:

Video Average Watch Time: the total watch time for your video, divided by the total number of video plays. This includes plays that start automatically and on click. This will replace the Average Duration of Video Viewed metric.

Video Percentage Watched: reflects the percentage of your video somebody watches per session, averaged across all sessions of your video where the video auto-played or was clicked to play. This will replace the Average % Video Viewed metric.

What does this mean for you as an advertiser? It means that if you advertised on Facebook over the past couple of years you have likely been misled. You likely have an unrealistic ROI measure if you were using the “average duration of video views” metric. Most noteworthy is that Facebook is never aiming for a 100% playback of your video. The platform operates with distracted individuals in mind and is not the place to deliver a real ad message.

A Facebook Ad Alternative

TV Advertising Digital SIgnage Business Television — TV Advertising on It’s Relevant TV

Instead of playing back fractions of your video ads to viewers that may be largely irrelevant to your messaging, you could be utilizing It’s Relevant TV’s Advertising Platform. It’s Relevant TV puts your video messages on television in public places and only charges you for FULL PLAYBACKS. The price is about 1/100 of what standard TV ads cost. Advertisers can target by geographic location and business type.

For more information you can call the toll free office line: (855) ITS-RELE or visit online at: http://www.itsrelevant.com/advertising.

An Apple TV App for Businesses (tvOS)

Transforming the TV in Your Business

Up until now there have been very few options for using a TV in a business location. Turning on cable TV results in a lot of doom and gloom news stories and unpredictable content. Even worse for your business, cable TV delivers countless competitive ads that draw customers away. Some businesses have tried using their televisions as digital signs. But plain old digital signage is BORING and often ignored. Some pre-programmed video packages are available also, but those bring a repetitive loop that can frustrate customers. Finally, there is a solution! It’s Relevant TV takes a fresh approach to help you take control of your TV.

For a business, the true power of television is the combination of interesting content and well-placed advertisements, and It’s Relevant TV puts that power within reach of every business owner. From local retailers, medical offices, restaurants, and salons to sports arenas, theaters, hotels and car dealerships, the custom channels work uniquely for each and every location.

Apple TV App (tvOS) Hand Remote — It’s Relevant for Apple TV (tvOS)

Apple TV (4th Generation)

It’s Relevant TV for tvOS brings the power of the company’s custom TV networks to any owner of a 4th generation Apple TV device. The service combines the best aspects of television, social media and digital promotions. In addition, the service allows business owners to control them all from their computer, tablet, or smartphone. It offers greater control than any other TV product available today.

Television Content, Social Media, Competitive Ad Block®

Businesses choose the types of content they want to display to their visitors from a vast library of licensed content. They can also upload their own messaging, images, and videos to show. In addition, they can decide which social media updates to display from their own accounts, and It’s Relevant TV does the rest. It’s Relevant TV automatically delivers fresh video content throughout the day, updating the promotions and social media as each business makes changes in their account. Businesses are also excited about what It’s Relevant TV blocks from the broadcast: competitive ads. With Competitive Ad Block® from It’s Relevant TV, all advertisements from competing businesses are blocked from reaching the screen.

Get Started

All you need is the free application from the iTunes TVOS store, and an access code from It’s Relevant TV. Search “it’s relevant tv” on your Apple TV) to download the app. If you don’t already have an access code please email support@itsrelevant.com to get one.

Today is the day you will make your TV worth something. We look forward to providing you with the tools to make it happen.

Waiting Room Makeover: Controlled By an iPhone App?

It can take a long time to create a waiting room environment that you are 100% happy with for your visitors. You want people to feel comfortable, to be entertained, and also to be informed about all you have to offer. Buying thousands of dollars of furniture, changing the lighting, updating music and even creating the scents are some of the ways businesses and professionals are altering their environments. But what if there were an easier way to transform your space? And what if major changes could be made inexpensively from a smartphone app? It sounds like a fantasy, but it is now a reality.

The Easy & Inexpensive Solution

Televisions are the focal point of most waiting areas, but until now there was no way strategically integrate one in your environment. Introducing: It’s Relevant TV for iOS. Businesses and their employees can now personalize and control the content displayed on their televisions directly from their iPhones. The new application paired with a $99/month subscription allow professionals to take control. Ideal for hospitality businesses including medical offices, hotels, restaurants, and sports arenas, It’s Relevant TV helps businesses easily take control of the programming displayed on their televisions, while influencing visitor satisfaction, purchasing decisions and social media followership.

“It’s Relevant TV does exactly what our name says. We empower business owners to control the TVs and make the programming relevant to their customers,” said Jonathan Krackehl, CEO of It’s Relevant TV. Waiting is a part of any service business, but it doesn’t have be a point of frustration for yours. “Up until now most businesses have done one of two things: Either they chose a cable television station loosely relevant to their business, or they displayed a video or image loop that became redundant after a couple repetitions.”

Making the “Wait” Less of a “Weight” on Your Visitors

The company, Software Advice, asked more than 5-thousand people to rate how they felt about wait times. 64% said the wait would be more bearable with a TV in the waiting room. Participants in the study chose television over free food and beverages and even access to WiFi. “ TV that shows interesting content alongside a business’ messaging makes both the customers and the business happier,” according to Krackehl.

What Can You Control?

It’s Relevant TV provides simple controls for all aspects of their screen displays. It is simple for you to chose the video content that is relevant to your customers. The company’s experienced editors compile diverse, timely and interesting content and organize it into 40+ categories, ranging from general health, travel, business, kids shows, fashion, sports, comedy, cooking and non- controversial news. Business owners, administrators and facility managers using the service for display, simply choose the categories that match their vistors’ interests most.

Becker’s Hospital Review reports the average wait time nationwide is now more than 15 minutes. Most TV shows last much longer and start at the top and bottom of the hour. IRTV segments are current, timely, engaging and never run more 4 minutes in length. All of the videos are subtitled so even if you prefer a quieter setting people can still enjoy the programming.

iPhone App to Create Custom TV with Wireless Ad Uploading — It’s Relevant TV Ad Builder, Inside the It’s Relevant TV iOS App

In addition to controling the video content, users also control a suite of digital messaging. The app includes an ad builder that allows the user to take a photo, add text and even a QR code before setting it live alongside the TV programming on their screen(s). Users can also control the syndication of their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts. With full screen features, It’s Relevant TV displays the user’s most recent posts automatically. It’s Relevant also offers a 5-day weather forecast based on the user’s zip code

Free App Download

It’s Relevant TV for iOS is free for It’s Relevant TV customers. The application includes a demonstration video, accessible upon download. Click Here to access the application on the iTunes Store.