Key Videos Every Brand Should Have
Whilst many of us regard video as a form of entertainment or art – thanks to the virality of social media platforms – lest we forget, it also could be positioned as a medium for information. Videos have become an essential in digital marketing because let’s be honest – who wants to read a chunk of text about you, talking about yourself and what you do?
Here are some examples of videos any organisation, company, firm or brand should have in their arsenal that could better articulate their key messages across.
1. Explainer Videos
In the current Information Age, the digital industry has created a society where individuals demand knowledge about products and services at a whim. As such, explainer videos serve as a good introduction to customers, because they provide an informative overview of your business. Of course you may argue: “I could just use text to achieve the same result!”, but why challenge yourself to explain in words when a video can get the same job done in seconds – and make it sexier?
Quite simply put, explainer videos show you “how to” use a product/service. They are generally used to create educational awareness about your product/service while consumers are still at the top of the sales funnel. So, talk about your product, the pain points you solve, and the best practices when using it! Keep it concise so that your audience can quickly comprehend your product/service. But when should you be setting your sights on producing an explainer video? One rule of thumb is to observe whether your targeted audience is curious about your brand and ready to learn about your product/service. If they’re still not convinced with your brand promise, we suggest you try producing a video explained in the next point.
2. Brand Videos
Let’s not run away from the muted truth: the ins-and-outs of B2B is colourless and uninteresting, especially to outsiders (a.k.a our consumers). It doesn’t help that the current postmodern culture calls for a more prosocial generation; people seek out purpose and meaning more than general theories and structures. So as a brand trying to sell a product/service, how do we even get them to be interested in us? That’s what brand stories do, they bridge the gap, they connect and they retain! The first step? Forget your product, forget your service, forget your business. Instead, think about why your brand works, how it makes the world a better place, how it interacts with people.
There’s two primary ways to go about producing a brand video. The conventional route would be to create a ‘showcase video’ or ‘highlight reel’ which usually encompasses the best works your brand has done (the ones you’re most proud of) and what you are capable of. An alternative route would be to create a more narrative ‘brand story’ – one that defines the value your brand stands for.
At the end of the day, be sincere, honest and genuine and your brand will create warmth, familiarity and trust!
3. Testimonial Videos
Have you ever wondered why album covers and movie posters tend to have ratings plastered across their displays? Well testimonials have become sort of an age-old standard, simply because people favour another person’s opinion on a matter. Most testimonials we see are in the form of a few lengthy text boxes, but guess what? Text-based testimonials can easily be faked by another person posing as “Jerome the satisfied client”. That’s where video testimonials come into play – your audience can now pair a face with the words they hear and the text they read. They also have the added value of being shareable across social media platforms for more outreach.
How to get started? It’s really simple actually – get a few of your most loyal customers, preferably of different demographics. Get them to talk about your product/service – what they like most about it, the things they discovered whilst using it, how it has benefited them, and last but not least, get them to be 100% themselves. Even if they have minor slip-ups on camera or if they have something not-so-great to say (but not degrading), we suggest to go with it. Why? Because it makes the testimonial more realistically credible to the audience, especially when they observe that the person on screen isn’t an actor, but another person – just like them!
4. Company Culture Video
Yes, we are always excited and eager to show the world our wonderfully creative inventions, but if you haven’t already figured out by now, people would rather watch other people doing things instead of having a product/service shoved in their faces. As mentioned earlier, the current generation prefers to know the brains behind the inventions, the hard work and dedication put in, and of course, the lives of the people involved. But how do you merge work and people into a video without it being boring? What is fashioned as “culture content” seems to do the trick. Think of it as a glorified ‘About You’ page – one that boosts the identification of not just your brand, but the people and the work they do. Before you ask, we’re here to tell you that yes, customers do care about who you are as a brand.
Convey your passion for your work and the unnoticed stuff you and your team do that makes the brand/company so united. Overall, no matter the angle you’re vying for, the tone of the video should always be fun and welcoming. An added bonus would be if you could somehow inject humour into your video – just to show that you’re not so serious and straight-laced, but sociable humans too!
Event Highlights Video
We’re sure you’ve attended a few round-table talks, seminars and whatnot, and you’ve probably enjoyed a few more than some. It could be because you managed to showcase your brand productively, or you learnt a valuable thing or two there. We suggest you start shooting some footage of such events. Why? Because these event videos could be posited on your website as ‘content fillers’ to let the world know how involved and hungry you are in the scene. Moreover, it could serve as a talking point for networking!
We suggest starting this out by organising your own events, so you can put yourself in the limelight. Alternatively, you could start attending more conferences and industry events!
Product Demo Video
Although it may sound similar to an explainer video, think of product-demo videos as the next step. The idea here is to give your customers a detailed step-by-step process of your product/service, sort of like a test drive before buying the real thing. Besides helping the end user better understand your product/service, you could also put in some ‘hidden’ special features of your product that would make them go “Wow!”
People enjoy the “buy-before-you-try” approach, so to retain their attention, be clear, simple and straight to the point. Explore the primary goal of how your product/service works, cover a specific need/want and showcase your unique selling point.
User-Generated Content Video
We’ve already justified how the marketing sphere has evolved to become much more digital, so utilise these spaces! Facebook Live, Instagram TV, Snapchat Stories are some of the ways you could promote awareness in bite-sized piece about your brand. The best part? You don’t even need a whole film crew or complexed storyline to produce such works! There’s almost no limitations – you could shoot a workshop session you held in your office on Facebook, host a Q&A session on Instagram Stories Live, or post an ‘in-the-works’ process on Snapchat!
We suggest you start experimenting loosely on the content you would like to showcase, but don’t wrack your brains on it, because it’s all about real interactions with your customers. So, don’t be shy and just do your thing!
All in all, we urge you to keep in mind that while videos are fun to produce and can indeed boost your brand, don’t just churn out videos for every single cornerstone of your brand, or worse – for the sake of churning out video content. So, before you go about your new marketing campaign, we suggest you think through and plan out what exactly you want to showcase about your brand, to save yourself the extra effort and time. We hope this article has served as an informative and helpful one for you, and til’ next time!
P.S.
Special Thanks to our Ex-Intern Mavis Chong for coming out with the ideas behind this article!