What is interactive sales?

Why Should I Use Interactive CD-ROM for Sales and Marketing?

• I own a multimedia company that authors and designs CD-ROM. I am trying to write some copy about the advantages of using custom interactive CD-ROM as a sales and marketing tool. I would like your research to help me answer these questions that I believe could help me write this copy. What are the advantages of using a custom interactive CD-ROM as a sales and marketing tool? Is an interactive CD-ROM more effective than print material? Why should I consider using CD-ROM for my sales piece over print material or in addition to print material? What if any is the price advantage over print material? I am not talking about very static or powerpoint driven CD-ROM's I am talking about custom built CD-ROM that uses Macromedia Director to create the content. I know it can be used as push marketing to a web site and that would be interesting for our clients but I want to know is there are any other reasons why my customers should consider interactive CD-ROM for marketing their product/service. While looking at other custom CD-ROM makers and how they benefit their clients through their products would be helpful it would only be half of the answer. I would love to know if there were any independent studies or survey's or articles that talk about the advantages/benefits of CD-ROM as a sales and marketing tool. I would like to show how CD-ROM is more cost effective than print and should be used in place of or in conjunction with print material. Again, I am talking about robust CD-ROM's. CD-ROM's that are highly interactive and enable the user to "talk" to the disc. Basic question again is "why should my customers consider interactive CD-ROM for marketing their product.

• Answer:

  Hi mr4698, Here's some basic points in answer to your question... With a multimedia presentation, your client can... - Tailor each presentation to the specific audience through interactive paths. You (or the audience user) selects only the information your audience wants to see. Executives can review the so-called "15-second elevator speech" overview whicle engineers can study complex technical information through the same CD. This is one of the primary advantages of multimedia over print. - Make consistent presentations. Ensure your sales force is delivering consistent corporate messages using approved corporate branding and imagery. - Tell your story with power. In a paper titled "Why Interactive Multimedia Language Learning," author Brian A. Victoria of the University of Auckland's Multimedia Laboratory at Tamaki reports that "studies have shown that people remember 20% of what they hear, 40% of what they see and hear, but 70% of what they see, hear, and do." In other words, combining media to communicate information is good, but incorporating interactivity is even better. - Interact with the prospects and customers before and after, as well as during, the sale. Among other uses, multimedia CDs can be used as trade show handouts, qualifiers, and fulfillment. - Decrease your sales cycle time. When you educate prospects faster, they decide faster. When you present a compelling message they gain confidence faster. They buy faster. - Simplify complex products and services. Multimedia will show how easy it is to understand, use, and own what your client is trying to sell. If your customer is selling software, a demo or example version of the product can be included on the CD. - Reduce a sales kit to one CD. No need for a sales force to lug around print collateral, brochures, information sheets, price catalogs, video testimonals, et al; Everything they need to make a close the sale can be put on one interactive CD. - Leverage the power of the internet and your customer's Web site. Include a "For More Information" section on the CD and with one click a prospect can send email or go directly to the Web. -Present live testimonials. Either audio or full video, there's nothing like hearing testimonials from real customers to convince prospects. The above was adapted from a 1997 article published in the South Florida Business Journal. http://southflorida.bizjournals.com/southflorida/stories/1997/12/29/smallb2.html As you'll see, I modified some of the writer's points based on my own experience as a creative director of interactive media for a marketing communications firm. Even though the article is six years old, I feel the points are still quite valid. I also suggest you take a look at an eTimes article by Traci Hukill, "Why Corporations Are Using Interactive Multimedia for Sales, Marketing and Training" which you'll find at ... http://www.etimes.com/feature.htm ...which will also give you a variety of proof points that you can use in your copy. In the "Sales, Marketing and Training" of that article, Hukill notes, "Multimedia makes a powerful marketing tool as well, not only because of its ability to make an impact and convey information but because of its potential for wide distribution at low cost. A point-of-purchase kiosk in a busy store can reach hundreds of people each day for the initial cost of installation. A direct mailing of CD-ROMs — a method many successful marketing specialists have already discovered — presents a distinct and interesting message to thousands of people for a small cost. Paul Cegielski, Program Manager for 3Com's Remote & Mobile Products division, appreciates the powerful impression multimedia can make. Marketing for the 3ComImpactTM IQ ISDN modem included point-of-purchase kiosks and promotional CD-ROMs distributed via direct mail and at trade shows (see 3Com's The Impact of ISDN Case Study for more information). 'It gets our point across," says Cegielski. "It puts 3Com in the audience's face, and it's enjoyable to watch. It's a very powerful way to get the message across.'" As noted in the article, the link to the case study noted is here... http://www.etimes.com/iqcase.htm Some other resources... Macromedia is a good site for case study information on Director projects. See... http://dynamic.macromedia.com/bin/MM/showcase/scripts/showcase_cs_listing_by_query.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1185305772.1043787066@@@@&BV_EngineID=cadcgfjfmeembedcgemcgcgf.0&product=Director You also might find useful an article by a friend of mine that discusses how to make a business case for multimedia, "Guidelines for your Dog and Pony Show" ... http://www.director-online.com/accessArticle.cfm?id=9 Search strategy personal experience plus search terms "multimedia; "business case"; "business justification" regards, rico