How are companies going to differentiate themselves in digital channels today? There are a number of tactics that can be employed, but considering that HubSpot cited that 93% of brands used video to win new customers,* it’s important to understand how video can be an integral part of marketing efforts.
What are the benefits of video marketing?
Video marketing is a broad term used today to describe many practices, but its application to companies falls into three basic categories:
- Capturing the attention of new and existing audiences for new product launches, generating brand awareness, and amping up activation and usage campaigns.
- Simplifying and clearly demonstrating the value of a potentially complex offering, how it works, and how it will have a positive impact on people’s lives.
- Being a source of valuable information by educating, telling stories, communicating important company objectives like DEI or ESG, and donning the persona of a guide through the complex jungle.
When should video be utilized?
Most likely, a customer’s first experience with a brand or product will be on social media or through its website. You have no time to grab a person’s attention and drive them to the next touchpoint, so consider utilizing video in these scenarios to increase your chances:
- Bringing your website to life. Does the brand’s personality show through? Are the benefits of your solutions clearly differentiated? Is your brand exciting? Interspersing hosted videos on a website builds excitement, helps viewers understand your purpose, and shows your humanity. Also, Google prioritizes websites with video content.
- Testing in a paid marketing campaign. Launching a new product is only as successful as the effectiveness of the social media campaign. Always utilize at least one video to test its effectiveness against static ads or other video ads with varied messaging, and measure results. This approach also allows you to retarget users who have previously viewed the videos.
- Creating impact for an event. In-person or virtual events need attendees, and the best way to get attention is to utilize video to draw excitement to the event with a creative mix of footage and motion graphics to build momentum.
- Amping up presentations. Whether it’s interspersing stories or giving traditional infographics a creative twist, video can bring a new perspective to a presentation, give a fresh perspective to expertise, and make a presenter shine.
What are the different video styles?
Video covers a lot of ground in its application, so we’ll broadly break it down into the core styles companies are using today:
- Filmed video or stock footage. When a camera, most of the time with a crew, films a subject, such as people speaking, groups, locations, or objects.
- Animation. Includes multiple ways of storytelling (without videography), includingmotion graphics that produce bold, digital motion design and more classic animation, potentially utilizing illustrations or characters.
- Mixed styles. Depending on the creative strategy, usually, a mix of filmed or stock footage combined with motion graphics and/or animated elements can produce an impactful result.
What are some pro tips to think about before creating a video?
- Prepare a detailed brief (Discovery Phase). Include product descriptions and benefits, audiences and needs, objectives, competitor samples, brand guidelines, any guidance on stylistic direction, channels on which video will be played, and specifications and formats.
- Always lead with the need (Script Development Phase). A new product or service may have all the bells and whistles, but the video script should reverse-engineer the product’s value as it solves for a customer’s needs first and foremost.
- Design for animation (Design/Storyboard Phase). A storyboard is the means for telling the story, but it’s also the visual guide for the animator to create impact, so use an active mindset, versus a static one, to take the viewer on a dynamic journey.
- Never forget the subtitles (Animation Phase). Subtitles ensure that videos are accessible to a wider audience, including hard of hearing individuals, in addition to providing an option to watch a video without sound.
- Promote your videos in social channels (Marketing Phase). A great way to target custom audiences and measure KPIs, promoted videos on social platforms like LinkedIn can bring in wider audiences to view your content.
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Alex is the president of Adventure House and is based out of New York. He lives with his family and little cavapoo, Daisy.