Tag: business strategy

What is Infotainment? A Growing Tool for Business Engagement

The term infotainment is a blend of two concepts—information and entertainment. The phrase, originally coined to describe media content that combines educational or informative messaging with engaging entertainment elements, has since evolved into a strategic communication tool in numerous settings. It’s particularly impactful in business environments where capturing the attention of a passive audience—like waiting customers, patrons, or visitors—is both a challenge and an opportunity. From hospitals to car dealerships, retail shops to dental offices, infotainment bridges the gap between content consumption and meaningful engagement.

In a business context, infotainment serves a critical dual function: it improves the customer experience while also delivering purposeful messaging. Whether it’s health tips in a medical waiting room, industry updates in a corporate lobby, or product highlights in a retail store, infotainment keeps audiences informed without being boring or overbearing.

Not everyone wants to learn, but everyone enjoys being entertained. Unlike traditional digital signage or basic advertising, infotainment doesn’t feel like a hard sell. Instead, it fosters a more natural and enjoyable viewing experience that subtly reinforces brand values, services, or calls to action.

Business Segments Utilizing Infotainment

Medical Offices

Medical offices, including hospitals, urgent cares, and dental clinics, are among the most common environments where infotainment shines. Patients often spend time in waiting rooms, anxious or idle. A screen that simply loops ads or silent news headlines does little to improve their experience. Infotainment offers a better alternative—engaging them with health-related facts, calming entertainment, wellness programming, and even content tailored to children or specific demographics. This thoughtful blend reduces perceived wait times and helps build trust by positioning the practice as both informative and caring.

Car Dealerships

Automotive dealerships are another business type that benefits significantly from infotainment programming. While customers wait for sales consultations, financing, or vehicle servicing, infotainment can be used to promote new models, explain service packages, or highlight limited-time offers—all while providing entertaining segments that hold viewer attention. The balance of content ensures customers aren’t bombarded with promotions but are still exposed to relevant, brand-enhancing information in a way that feels casual and engaging.

Retailers

Retail and specialty stores, including boutique shops and sports card stores, use infotainment to enhance the in-store experience and reinforce brand identity. Rather than showing generic cable channels or looping product videos, curated infotainment content can showcase lifestyle segments, hobby-specific features, and even customer-generated social media highlights. This approach helps connect shoppers more deeply with the brand while creating a vibrant, personalized shopping environment that encourages longer stays and higher spending.

Restaurants & More

Even hospitality environments—such as cafes, salons, gyms, and family entertainment centers—are embracing infotainment as a way to keep customers engaged and informed. A salon might include beauty tips and fashion trends mixed with entertainment clips, while a family fun center might feature trivia, cartoon shorts, and safety information. In these settings, infotainment isn’t just background noise; it becomes a functional part of the customer experience, reflecting the business’s personality and values while subtly promoting services or products.

Infotainment has become a vital component of modern business communication strategies. It transforms passive screen time into an active brand experience, creating an atmosphere where customers are entertained, educated, and influenced—all without feeling like they’re watching an ad.

Whether used in healthcare, retail, automotive, hospitality, or other customer-facing industries, infotainment is a powerful way to engage audiences. It has been found to reduce perceived wait times and reinforce brand identity in a smart sophisticated manner. Sell less… INFOTAIN more!

#1 Marketing Mistake of 2025: Don’t Overlook Customer Retention

Many businesses allocate a significant portion of their budgets to external advertising, often underestimating the value and ROI of internal marketing for customer retention.

Data from industry studies reveals it costs 5 to 7 times more to acquire a new customer than to retain an existing one.

Despite this, businesses remain fixated on external campaigns, paying high CPMs (cost per thousand impressions) to platforms like Meta (formerly Facebook), Google, and X (formerly Twitter). Meta’s CPMs typically range between $8 to $14, while Google Display Ads average around $6 to $12, and X’s CPMs can range from $6 to $10 or more, depending on targeting and ad formats.

Compared to these, TV marketing tools such as those offered by It’s Relevant provide much lower CPMs—between $0.50 to $2—making them a smarter, and more cost-effective option.

The high costs of external advertising are also compounded by the fact that many platforms target audiences that may not convert. Meta and Google ads, while effective in getting in front of large audiences, can actually limit your ad’s visibility to the most relevant audiences. This often causes wasteful spending as you reach irrelevant audiences, unless you have someone dedicated to continual optimization and investment– which just makes it even more expensive!

In contrast, internal marketing tools focus on your customers who are already familiar with your brand—people who have visited your business, and are statistically more likely to return. By targeting this core group, innovative customer retention technologies ensure businesses get the most value out of their marketing efforts.

Internal Marketing is crucial for Customer Retention

Most business owners already know that the cost of retaining a customer is much less than the cost of acquiring a new one; but that’s just the start. The added revenue a business can generate is where the difference really shines.

According to research by Bain Capital, increasing customer retention rates by just 5% can boost profits by up to 95%. When businesses use industry-leading tools like It’s Relevant TV, they can easily promote special offers, highlight additional services, and deliver timely messages to their customers while they are present in their locations.

In today’s competitive advertising landscape, where external platforms demand higher and higher CPMs, businesses must rethink their marketing strategies.

Instead of pouring all of your funds into external campaigns with CPMs upwards of $10-20, you can achieve better results by leveraging affordable and targeted internal marketing tools.

Utilizing platforms like It’s Relevant TV and the even lower-cost-to-start Rele.TV, allow businesses to create their own ad spaces for a fraction of the price, and with just as much if not more effectiveness. With CPMs as low as $0.50 to $2, these internal technology-assisted solutions not only maximize your marketing budget but also target the ideal audience—your existing customers—ultimately driving greater loyalty, retention, and revenue.

Increase Your Social Media Following to Increase Your Customer Retention

Social media following plays a key role in this process by keeping your brand top-of-mind long after a customer leaves your store. When customers follow your business on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, or X, you gain direct access to their attention—providing opportunities to re-engage, promote special offers, and build a deeper relationship when they are outside of your business’s walls. This long-term connection can be the difference between a one-time visit and a lifelong customer.

It’s Relevant TV helps bridge the gap between in-store experience and online engagement by turning your business’s TVs into tools for social growth. Instead of displaying cable or passive streaming content that can promote other brands, It’s Relevant TV gives businesses the power to include automated social media displays that directly invite customers to follow them on social media. This turns passive viewing time into an active social conversion funnel.

By combining relevant, family-friendly entertainment with your brand messaging, It’s Relevant TV ensures that customers are both entertained and engaged. This unique dual-purpose platform keeps visitors in a good mood while also planting calls to action that matter to your business. Whether you operate a retail store, medical office, restaurant, or auto dealership, It’s Relevant TV helps convert foot traffic into followers—and followers into repeat customers. It’s a simple yet powerful way to increase social engagement without needing to spend extra time or money on social campaigns.