Where are slides created in your company? Marketing (marcom, product marketing, field marketing), multiple vendors or contractors, training, field sales and pre-sales, executives — almost everyone creates slides. How well are they shared? How easily can you find the slide(s) you need.
Everyone manages PowerPoint. Most manage it poorly. PowerPoint is typically managed as a document. But we are often looking for specific SLIDES. We want the most up-to-date slide version. We also want shows that closely fit our specific presentation situation. Custom assembly, while necessary, requires time, effort and knowledge. What if we can access and leverage the best versions for each situation?
I recently reviewed the 2011 Eccolo Media 2011 B2B Technology Collateral Survey report which highlighted the importance of visual elements in content. Technology purchasers want more visual content. They prefer whitepapers with more visuals. Content with embedded video was even more valued. We all know blogs that contain visuals are read and shared more frequently than text only blogs. Eccolo’s conclusion:
“We believe that developing a library of assets suitable for
inserting into content marketing efforts is the number one
imperative that marketers must concern themselves with today.”
For sales, training and marketing executives who make presentations or create their own content, this is especially important.
Slide Share Library
Why a Slide Share Library?
So let’s look at specific reasons you need a slide library, across your stove-piped organizations, to move beyond the constraints of slides that are hidden inside show files, inside individual computers, inside directories that are who-knows-where
1. The first point is to manage, maintain and make SLIDES accessible, not just shows. Slides provide visual support to conversations, even when presentations are not formally made.
2. Slides will be organized into many versions — especially across multiple functions of marketing, sales, training, even the channel. PowerPoint files duplicate slides used in multiple shows. Companies need a way to organize shows virtually to easily maintain and update the underlying slides, and keep shows updated.
3. Slides are created by message experts who have a specific intention about the message, context or use case for these visuals. As slides become more visual it is often difficult for front line users to interpret and use visuals effectively. Audio annotation of slides best provides associated knowledge, messaging and coaching on the use of visuals.
4. Customer facing audio that is embedded into slides, shares the expert’s customer facing messages. But this audio also prepares these assets to be converted into video files using numerous video assembly tools, including PowerPoint, which today can output a video file directly (did you know that?!) Centralize preparation of audio assets eliminates the need for the front line to perform this task. Yet, they can always re-narrate slides for custom adaptation because of the ease-of-use of PowerPoint.
5. By embedding licensed and approved images, graphics, animation and even video assets into PowerPoint, and managing them in a slide library, you have a practical way to manage and distribute visual assets to the front line for use in presentations, blogs and other content.
6. This practice will prepare you for your upcoming challenge: to manage, share and distribute source VIDEO modules throughout your organization. While PowerPoint slides are relatively inexpensive — although the time cost of creation, while hidden, isn’t — video is considerably more expensive. The ability to share source video elements will soon be critical.
7. Your organization is not just your internal personnel. Organizations foster ecosystems. For many companies, empowering partner and sales channels is a critical part of growth strategies. Channel partners need your assets: for training, marketing and sales support. But they want to organize and deliver those assets together with their core assets in support of their messages to their customers. A well organized and easily accessible slide library — especially if it can facilitate and incorporate channel partner slide assets — goes a long way to improving channel effectiveness and efficiency.
We have all used PowerPoint for so long we often have a love-hate relationship, and even take it for granted. Yet PowerPoint has evolved into a ubiquitous but very functional business tool for visual development, show assembly and universal delivery.
Properly managed, these assets can reduce a lot of precious wasted time at the front line, improve message understanding and delivery, and improve content quality and usefulness. Let’s get organized!
To view a video explanation of this idea click below:
Click here if you would like to see an example of the Avitage Collections library — click on the “Try Avitage Collections Now” link on the page.
