With more and more things clamoring for our attention in the digital age, and even less attention to devote to them, the competition for those precious seconds of customer engagement is fierce. And in those few seconds, brands have to communicate their message in a way that’s compelling, interesting and impactful to their customers.
That’s a pretty tall order to fill for just a few seconds isn’t it?
Fortunately, video gives you a way to not only attract attention, but build brand awareness in a way that encourages the customer to learn more. Here’s why video is the best option to connect with new customers and how to do it right:
Why Use Video to Create Branded Content?
Whether you’re creating a corporate or non-profit video, your chosen “brand content vehicle” matters. And with online video viewing on the rise globally, there’s no better time to share your story visually than right now. Here’s why:
Video is Engaging and Memorable
Great video has the ability to connect with viewers in ways that plain text or images can’t. Through a combination of sound and visuals, video has the potential to plant a seed in our mind.
Whether through a quirky slogan, a catchy beat, or an awe-inspiring moment, we often find ourselves sharing it with friends, who share it with friends of friends, and so on. In the very best cases, a video is so good that it goes viral.
Here’s one such example from LG promoting their HD TVs. Nearly everyone can identify with the stress of a job interview. Now add the end of the world to that moment and you’ve got a video that people can’t help but talk about—to the tune of 33 million views.
Video Forges an Emotional Connection
Great branded content isn’t just about presenting a product. It’s about presenting a product as part of a larger, more intricate and more compelling story. Through visual cues, music, speech, body language, and tone, branded content can evoke everything from joy to empathy, excitement to inspiration. Done right, these very same emotions can nurture and create a positive association with the brand they’re promoting.
This Coca-Cola commercial, will tug at your heartstrings even though the people involved are thousands of miles away. If nothing else, it most certainly gives you a new perspective on the holiday season.
Video Demonstrates Value – Quickly
Even though our attention is often being pulled in a thousand different directions at once, there’s still a spark of an opportunity to create value, and video is the best way to get that message across succinctly.
Video directly answers the question at the forefront of the viewer’s mind: “What’s in it for me?” Nobody wants to sit through a minute and a half product pitch droning on and on. But they will watch a captivating video showing just how far we’ve come in our quest to do things not just faster, but also better.
Branded content allows brands the freedom to showcase their values, mission, and personality in a way that is authentic and real. Have a look at the video we created for GitHub to see just how quickly value can be shared in a way that’s powerful and impactful.
Video Lets You Tell a Compelling Story
Last, but certainly not least is the very heart of what video and branded content is all about: storytelling. We’ve been sharing stories around a campfire for generations and even with the advent of new technology, there’s something about a captivating story that speaks to us on a different level.
This video from Dove tells the story, not of Dove the brand, but of women who, for years, have been told by society, television, and even by their parents, how they look. So during the video, you can hear them share these bits of self with the artist by saying things like “My mom told me I have a big jaw.” or “I would say I have a pretty big forehead.”
When they see how the forensic artist has drawn them, their natural beauty surprises them, leading one woman to add “I should be more grateful of my natural beauty. It impacts the choices in friends we make, the jobs we apply for, how we treat our children.” Dove doesn’t even mention its products, it merely creates this association of real beauty with its brand.
Can I Use a Branded Content for Marketing?
So far, we’ve talked a lot about building brand awareness using video, but what about the next step and using branded video content for marketing? Here are seven steps you’ll need to take to ensure your branded content resonates well with your target audience:
Step 1: Define Your Marketing Goals
Are you aiming to drive website traffic? Promote brand recognition, generate leads, or introduce a certain product? The clearer your goals, the better your video will be at reaching them. By defining your goals before the video production gets underway, you’ll also give your video production team room to get creative and make your marketing vision happen.
Step 2: Identify Your Target Audience
Knowing your ideal customer’s demographics is a key step in video creation. The more you can be “in tune” with your target audience, the more your video will stand out and get watched.
Step 3: Weave Your Narrative
The key to a successful branded content piece is a compelling narrative: a mission, story, or piece of content that attracts attention and helps people to see themselves in the story. What kind of emotions or messages do you want to share? Look at the examples above for several ideas to help inspire you.
Step 4: Create a Powerful Script
The best video scripts communicate your brand in as few words as possible. Keep your script clear, concise, and compelling and look for ways to connect with your viewers through the power of emotional storytelling.
Pro tip: Work with a video agency like Slow Clap on this step, if you don’t have the capabilities in-house.
Step 5: Plan for Your Shoot
What sort of visual style, tone, and mood will your video evoke? High quality video, animation, graphics, and music that all align with your brand each work like pillars to prop up the message you’re promoting and the words and feelings you want to be associated with your brand.
Step 6: Optimize for Different Platforms
Once your video is complete, you’ll want to ensure that it’s optimized for different platforms and devices. Depending on your marketing goals, your video may be broadcast at a conference or showcased on Instagram or anything in between. Make sure it’s designed to work flawlessly on the platforms you’re targeting, including on mobile devices.
Step 7: Promote and Share Your Video
Even after the production work is done, you still have to promote your video. Add it to your website, your social media accounts, relevant video sharing platforms, and encourage viewers to do the same. You have a wide range of options for marketing your video, including partnerships with influencers, email marketing, and paid advertising to help boost your video’s reach.
Conclusion
That’s a considerable number of steps, and for brands that are just starting out—or even more established brands—you may not have the time or the team to do it all yourself. That’s where a great video agency partner like Slow Clap comes in.
Leveraging our experience working with Fortune 500 brands like Sony PlayStation, eBay, Adobe, and Capital One, as well as startups like Slack, Ironclad, and Stampli, our creative team is ready to help you make a powerful impression through video content.