Via Donald Tong

It’s safe to say the rise of the internet has had a transformative effect on commerce around the globe, and perhaps no industry has been more impacted than media and advertising. As YouTube, Facebook (FB) and Snapchat (SNAP) have replaced television and newspapers, companies and advertisers have had to rethink their entire strategies. Increasingly, they’re finding that video is the best way to get their messages out to the public.

But how does one stand out in a marketplace that’s never been more competitive? That’s a question that the team at D S Simon Media seeks to answer every day. D S Simon seeks to raise the profile of the leadership of the companies they work with by offering services that include Influencer Media Tours, Influencer Media Packages, Influencer Video Series and Influencer Junkets.

“The common perception of influencer marketing is that you partner with a third party, a celebrity, perhaps, and you take advantage of their following to get your message across,” explained David Simon, President and CEO of D S Simon Media, in a recent interview with Equities.com Broadcast Contributor Silvia Davi. “They become a representative of your brand. What we see changing is it’s time for brands, organizations and nonprofits to be establishing their own expertise as influencers. That’s going to be a more effective way of communicating.”

D S Simon certainly seems to be making a name for themselves in the space at the right time, as video seems to be at the core of many companies’ marketing and business strategies as of late. ”It’s not just broadcast anymore, obviously,” says Simon. “Clearly, it’s the most powerful way that people communicate, that people receive information. So, you have to make sure that your leaders are effective at communicating in that medium across multiple platforms. Really, it’s about storytelling, creativity, and finding a message that’s authentic for your organization, that fits what your experts and leaders can talk about.”

So, as the media landscape continues to change so rapidly, what methods are proving most effective? “There was recent news of Elon Musk, and Tesla’s (TSLA) valuation passing Ford (F),” Simon explains. “One of the reasons that they’re so effective is that he’s been established as a leader, as an influencer, when it might be harder to identify who’s the current CEO of Ford. So, being out there has specific value to your bottom line when it comes to products and influencer media tours, when you’re communicating out to the public through broadcast and online media. That’s critically important, because you can take that content, repurpose it, use it in meetings with VCs, with investors. To your key communities, that’s valuable.”

Simon notes that influencer media packages are another important product for marketers and entrepreneurs, as “it allows you to tell your story in an efficient and effective way, in the way that people want to digest that material. Also, if you’re at events, showing that, you want to do influencer video series, where you can actually be partnering with other leaders in your space, other business targets for your organization, get them engaged with you, with content that they’re sharing with their followers.”

So, for upstart entrepreneurs or those looking to up their media game, where should you start with your video strategy? “You can’t really separate your video strategy from your marketing and communications strategy – it has to be integrated,” Simon says. “So, you have to look at your goals: Who are you trying to reach? What are the messages you’re trying to communicate? What content will be effective at reaching that audience and changing their behavior? Once you have specific goals for each piece of content that you’re developing, it’s much easier to have a plan to see, ‘Should it be narrative?’, ‘Does it need to be interactive?’, ‘Do you need to be getting on television?’ ‘Does it need to focus in specific markets?’ Once you start with a plan, you can execute on having video be a part of it.”

Simon offers a few companies as examples of using video in truly innovative and effective ways. “Earlier, I referenced Elon Musk at Tesla,” says Simon. “They’ve gotten out there, they’ve been very effective in the marketing space. VaynerMedia is a company where they’ve built up a huge following online. I think Dove has done a great job. They’ve created a brand equity that they’re about women feeling beautiful. And they’ve been able to parlay that across multiple channels with consistent content that reinforces that message in a wonderful way to really build brand value.”