Multimedia

The focus of my post will be on the multimedia aspect of Chapter 7 and how the use of it affects the success of business. We are surrounded by all different types of multimedia every day, especially the younger generation. I, personally, am always sending my friends pictures or videos or posting them on Twitter or Facebook. Multimedia is a very quick, interesting, fun way to get information across. Because of this, more and more businesses have been incorporating multimedia into business practices such as presentations, projects, marketing and advertising. “Multimedia includes a combination of text, audio, still images, animation,video, or interactivity content forms” (1). “The various formats of technological or digital multimedia may be intended to enhance the users' experience, for example to make it easier and faster to convey information” (1). It may be faster to just send a picture rather than to describe, in tons of words, what is in front of you. This form of information can create a faster pace in conducting business and communicating within a business. However, due to some of the costs in the use of multimedia, it is crucial that businesses get the most bang for their buck. They have to make sure that the use of multimedia will have an effect on their intended audience. Multimedia is very effective when targeting to a young audience (2). The younger generations are the ones who really pay attention to multimedia. Marketing to younger generations with multimedia will have a greater effect on them than when marketing to older generations. Multimedia has been very useful not only in presentations and internal projects of the business, but with promotion and marketing. As a user of twitter, I constantly see promotions with pictures that businesses “tweet.” “Twitter's TweetPhoto will automatically enable you to publish photos to your Twitter and Facebook accounts for free via mobile and Web platforms. Tweet pictures of discounted and new items or offer exclusive incentives” (3). Twitter is a great form of mobile marketing. This is one example of a simple, quick way to promote and advertise through the use of multimedia. “Since multimedia solutions have the tendency to captivate potential customers or visitors to your site, the exposure of your business will be greatly possible” (4). With more and more people on the internet, putting multimedia marketing on the internet will be extremely effective. This gives people more access to your business. Although there seems to be great hype about the use of multimedia, I came across a few disadvantages in conducting my research. Two major disadvantages that are discussed in the use of multimedia for business purposes were equipment failure and lost productivity (5). The article that I read discussed the common scenario of equipment failure just before a big presentation. If the multimedia fails, the whole presentation is lost and ruined. Furthermore, the article discussed lost productivity due to the time and effort that multimedia takes. Maybe this is suggesting that individuals who are quick and experienced with the use of multimedia should be the ones using it. In conclusion, the use of multimedia seems like a great way for businesses to expand and enhance their work. Although there are some possible disadvantages, I feel that the benefits surely outweigh the costs. Presentations and projects are more appealing, and marketing is made quick and easy through such promotions as pictures and videos in using multimedia. 1.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multimedia 2.http://www.smallbusinessmultimedia.com/article2.html 3.http://www.inc.com/guides/multimedia-for-business-marketing.html 4.http://www.barrytatum.com/the-importance-of-multimedia-marketing-to-your-business/ 5.http://smallbusiness.chron.com/disadvantages-using-multimedia-professional-communication-18491.html