Today’s highly-competitive and ever-evolving market has forced entrepreneurs to be on the alert for the most effective methods to tell a brand’s story. These days, content is a competitive necessity. With the rise of new technologies, brands have gained a wide range of options to choose from. Since there are several choices, it’s highly important that brands pick the right medium that will help them achieve their business goals.
Lately, more marketers have been using video as a marketing tool. That’s mainly because consumers’ fondness for video content has become more apparent, and brands are starting to realize the advantages it may bring to their business.
Today, you will come to understand why video has become an integral part of content marketing. Below you will also find actionable video marketing tips that can help you produce your own brand video.
Why Is a Brand Video Important?
A well-made brand video helps build a positive image of your company. Aside from providing consumers with a convenient and efficient means of discovering new brands and products, video content, whether website videos or social media videos, gives marketers a highly-engaging and shareable medium to connect with prospects and existing clients.
Here are a few facts to help you realize the importance of video marketing:
- 81% of companies now use videos to market
- 78% of marketers claim that video content produces a good return on investment
- 76% of them admit that it increased their sales
- 76% of them say it boosted traffic
- 80% of marketers state that it improved visitors’ dwell time on their website
Perhaps it’s our ever-decreasing attention spans or our biological inclination for visual communication that has paved the way for the rise of video content. Whatever the reason may be, the fact is that video content allows brands to relay important information in a shorter amount of time. Not to mention, it can tug at viewers’ heartstrings through visual and auditory elements that text alone can’t accomplish.
Making a High-Impact Brand Video
Video is a rather flexible format. It allows you to deliver different kinds of messages in several unique ways. But to make your content impactful, you need to relay the right story through the right presentation.
If you want your video marketing efforts to improve organic traffic, leads, and sales, take time to map out a well-structured strategy. Listed below are a few ways to make a brand video resonate with your desired audience.
1. Determine your goal
What are your objectives? Where does your video fit into your marketing campaign?
Identifying your goals before doing anything else will make it easier for you once you proceed to the video production process. With a well-defined goal, you know who to target, and you can identify the best type of content to engage with your viewers.
If you’re hoping to spread awareness about the brand, a share-worthy video should help you achieve that. You can, for instance, create entertaining content. This will encourage viewers to hit play and to watch until the end. You may also share educational videos to showcase your expertise about your niche.
2. Consider your audience
Who are you trying to reach? Consumers who are at different stages of the buyer’s journey won’t value the same kind of information. For example, a prospective client who has yet to encounter your brand may not find customer testimonials as impactful as someone who is just one step closer to purchasing your product.
Hence, do your research. Take a moment to figure out who your target customer is based on your goal, and identify what information they want to know about. By offering the right kind of content to your viewers, you catch their attention, and hopefully, convince them to carry out the desired action.
3. Provide value
Much like content marketing, your goal here is to develop content that viewers will find valuable. Now that you’ve identified your goals and your target audience, you should be able to tell what they want to see in a video.
Here are three ways to add value to your videos:
- Engaging: The objective is to make consumers want to know more about the brand or what you have to offer after viewing this kind of content.
- Informative: This refers to content that consumers can use and apply to help them do something or live better. It could either be through tutorials or advice. Anything that can expand their knowledge should fall under this category.
- Entertaining: Viral videos most often fall under this category. That makes sense since this kind of content is meant to be exciting, interesting, as well as funny.
Take a look at this ad from Airbnb. For those who may not be aware of the brand, this highly-engaging advert should encourage viewers to know more about what they offer.
4. Use an emotional hook
A video that’s able to evoke a strong emotional response is more likely to be shared than content that fails to elicit any emotion. That’s why you need to identify a core emotion and use it to drive your story. Don’t feel bad about triggering viewers’ emotions because you wouldn’t be the first to employ such a tactic to reach larger audiences or to close a deal.
All aspects of a video production depend on the script. Though concise, the story must be compelling. It must motivate viewers to take action. Apart from the story itself, the second most powerful tool at your disposal is music. With the right tunes, you can set the mood and enhance your narrative.
Adding a human element is crucial as it makes the video more relatable. If you aren’t filming real people, you can use a voiceover. Let a human voice narrate your story. As for your visuals, you must remain consistent with your branding. For reference, you can look at logo colors and other marketing materials that reinforce your brand’s identity.
Last but not the least, you need to determine your video’s length. It depends on your narrative, audience, choice of platform, and the action you want viewers to make.
Here’s an ad from Heathrow that’s a perfect example of emotional storytelling:
Production Stage
Every phase of the video production process is essential to the success of the content you make. The stages vary depending on the time and budget you’ve allotted for this endeavor. But one thing is for sure, whether you’re running a startup or a large corporation, these resources have a certain limit. And the slightest changes could affect the success of the project.
To ensure the success of the production, create a core team consisting of professionals who can help produce your video in-house. If you’ve got the budget but not enough employees, you may seek professional assistance from a video production company.
Once your video is done, share it online. Keep in mind that different social hubs or video hosting platforms have different video requirements. That means you need to adhere to each platform’s conditions to ensure your video’s success. For example, Instagram only allows short-form content, specifically three to 60 seconds long. If you want to reach audiences from this social hub, make your story fit the required video length.
The video production process can easily overwhelm anyone. But with the right team and a well-structured plan, you can guarantee that filming will go without a hitch. Remember to follow the tips mentioned in this guide, and you should be able to come up with a high-impact brand video. Best of luck!
To jumpstart the process of creating an efficient video marketing plan for your business, contact us here.
