 Stephanie Siewert |
According to Insivia’s 2016 Video Marketing Statistics, one out of three online activities is spent watching video, and 92 percent of mobile video consumers share videos with others, proving how critical video is for a brand’s content and marketing mix. Consumers are tired of traditional marketing that simply shouts a marketing message without a relevant storyline or entertainment value that’s worth sharing. Producing quality and authentic video content is leveling the playing field for new brands as consumers devour more video content year after year.
Relevancy to target audience
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Facebook and Instagram have been optimizing ad distribution based off keywords and relevancy score. It’s easier than ever to receive instant feedback on the relevancy of your video content to the intended target demographic and shift your strategy same day. Brands have access to more data than before to drive their content marketing decisions.
What is your product’s unique selling proposition and how do you stand out from your competitors? Your video should illustrate the answer to generate views and drive conversions.
REKS Optics, a new sunglasses company, focused on high quality lenses and unbreakable frames for a rock-bottom price compared to their competitors, did just this. Their strategy included filming several segments with their core target demographics in mind: fitness, fashion and active lifestyle consumers. These videos were edited to 12-second to 27-second clips for their brand awareness and product feature demonstration online marketing phases.
Authenticity of content
Even companies with modest budgets can compete, because a majority of campaigns are shot specifically with authenticity in mind. Have you seen Apple’s images and videos “Taken on an iPhone” campaigns? New and veteran fashion and beauty brands alike have especially wtaken note by creating real time content on iPhones in-house and also partnering with influencers to reach and impact their target audience.
The REKS Optics video segments were shot in “real” locations: the Vice President’s NYC apartment, Central Park and throughout the city. The brand also incorporates GIF-like video clips with the Boomerang app by Instagram to showcase the sunglasses’ unique, bendable soft touch frames and grab consumer’s attention as they scroll through their feed. Models featured had realistic body types and include a variety of ethnicities.
REKS also partners with influencers to review and model the sunglasses for their personal online networks which is also cross-promoted on the brand’s own channels, serving as an extension of authentic, user-generated video content and testimonial that is considered 50% more trustworthy by U.S. consumers, according to the 2012 Bazaarvoice Talking to Strangers: Millennials Trust People over Brands Whitepaper.
Impact to consumers
In order to really impact your core consumers and target media, always have a complete understanding of the video content’s purpose or intention. Is your goal brand awareness and education, illustrating a before and after scenario or demonstrating product movement and usage? Attention spans are very short, averaging to just eight seconds, according to the Microsoft 2016 survey. Video concepts need to be filmed with shorter segments in mind so they can be edited to 15 to 30 seconds long. Strong visuals must be the focus with as little voice overlay as possible since about 85 percent of Facebook Videos are watched without sound, according to multiple publishers.
For REKS Optics, the fashion video segments illustrate a stylish woman’s typical day of first choosing her outfit and running out the door for multiple errands. She needs sunglasses to keep up with her busy lifestyle and it is a bonus that she can just throw them in her purse without worrying about scratches or damaging them. Video content is the closest consumers can get to seeing how the product moves and fits without actually trying them on in person.
Include call to action
Keeping in mind that you only have eight seconds on average to deliver your intended message in your video campaign, include your call-to-action within that time frame or have that information in the caption. Does your video encourage views to shop your new online collection? Include the name, release date and direct link to the collection in your caption. Are you retargeting consumers who have visited your site before? Include a special promotion code to track the effectiveness of the advertisement and include the price or discount in the marketing copy to entice purchase considerations.
Measuring results
Facebook videos live fast and die young, unless you extend their reach with an advertising budget, but even so, in three to six months, that video will no longer have the same level of impact, and it will be time to create a new concept capitalizing on current trends and data received from your brand’s online messaging analysis from consumer feedback.
Facebook’s Advertising Analytics and social listening tools are extremely helpful in clearly reading website clicks, purchases and views metrics. Social media users also aren’t shy about telling you how they really feel about your company, customer service, offer or culture in the comments section so reading, responding and reacting to those comments will help your brand consistently adapt to consumer demand and feedback and maintain trust.
Video marketing isn’t just a trend; it’s shifting to the main online marketing tool to demonstrate and sell products and brands. To effectively convert and compete, brands must consistently produce creative videos to captivate their ever-changing target demographic.
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Stephanie Siewert is Social Media Manager based out of Marketing Maven's L.A. office.
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