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6 Tips for Using Video as a Brand Building Tool

Posted by Andrea Keating on May 10, 2018

The world is a challenging place for brand builders these days.

Not only are there more competitors in almost every industry than in the past, but technology has also changed the face of marketing to the point where the tried-and-true formulas don’t always work like they used to. Plus, it’s much easier for consumers to voice their opinions to millions of people on the internet—and some of those sentiments can undermine a brand and its marketing approach.

So what’s one way to reclaim the results that marketing strategies once produced consistently? Using video to build your company’s brand.

Why All the Fuss About Video?

Consider these facts from Wyzowl’s The State of Marketing in 2018 survey of hundreds of marketing professionals and consumers:

• Each person watches an average of 1.5 hours of video per day.
• When given a choice between video and text on a web page describing a product or service, 72% choose video to get the information they’re looking for.
• 81% of those surveyed said that watching a brand’s video has convinced them to buy a product or service.
• 97% of marketers report that user understanding of their company’s products or services has increased thanks to video.
• More than four out of every five businesses already use video as a marketing tool.
• 85% of respondents claim that they would like to see more video from brands this year.

While companies have been using video for other business functions for quite a while, some have not yet fully embraced the medium’s potential for crafting and strengthening their brand. So how should they go about accomplishing this goal?

Here are seven suggestions:

1. Think about video at the beginning.

Because video is so popular among consumers, it’s vital to include this option when you are first shaping your brand. While your marketing team is brainstorming ideas, approaches, and tactics, they should also be asking themselves, “How can this be communicated with and/or augmented by the use of video?”

“Each person watches an average of 1.5 hours of video per day.”

Too many firms set their brand in stone and then try to shoehorn it into video as an “add-on” to their execution strategy. Then they wonder why they’re not getting the return on investment on video that so many of their competitors are experiencing.

2. Identify the characteristics of your brand and see how they intersect with the desires of your target market.

When developing your brand, you should be asking questions like, “What is it about our brand that is truly unique? Why does our brand deserve to be chosen over our competition?” Once you get your answers, then you must ask, “Who is our target market? What are the things they care about?”

Finally, look for the overlap between what your brand offers and what your audience desires—and then focus on those concepts when molding your video strategy. Google frames these as “micro-moments,” or the times when consumers say “I want to do this,” or “I want to buy that,” or even “I want to go here.”

3. Collaborate, collaborate, collaborate.

It’s becoming rarer for insular, siloed marketing teams to come up with effective marketing strategies. So make sure that you solicit input from colleagues in other departments, the C-suite, and especially sales or customer service. Because video is so omnipresent, it’ll be easier for them to offer solid ideas which are tailored to the medium.

Also, be sure to involve the video producers in this process. Since experienced production crews have created dozens (or perhaps hundreds) of brand videos, it might behoove your team to get their take on your brand ideas. They’re likely to see your marketing approach in a different light—and they’ll know how to use video to communicate it to your potential customers.

4. Show how your company and/or its products or services change people’s lives for the better.

Some marketing channels are well-suited for the conventional sales approach; video isn’t.

Instead, you should use video to appeal to the emotions of your viewers. Leverage the less tangible benefits of your product or service. Then show your audience how your company can help improve their lives—by solving a problem, improving their quality of life or work, or giving them peace of mind.

Few people will remember your product specs or their quality ratings. But if they’re inspired by a video in which your product is featured, your brand will stick in their mind for a long time.

5. Use video to showcase your expertise.

This is sort of a combination of #2 and #4. Take the aspects of your brand that set you apart from everyone else, and then demonstrate your proficiency in these areas by sharing your knowledge with your target audience.

“Some marketing channels are well-suited for the conventional sales approach; video isn’t.”

The most logical way to do this is through a “how-to” video which empowers viewers by teaching them how to solve a particular problem. You can also entertain them through a series of comedic videos or by presenting aesthetically-pleasing footage of something related to your brand, product, or service (like photos taken by your new digital camera, for example.

6. Build up your video library consistently.

Don’t just think in terms of making a one-and-done video strategy. Instead, play the long game and slowly but surely build a library of content that serves to backstop your brand. This gives you the freedom to pull shots from previous videos to create new content—and you might also stumble upon a theme or motif that appeals to your audience that can be utilized to support a series of videos.

Common places to archive these videos online include YouTube, Vimeo, or Metacafe. Once you create these channels, fold them into your social media marketing strategies to maximize the impact of your videos.

To summarize:

When building your brand, determine why it’s unique, what your target audience wants, and how video can complement your overall marketing strategy.

Get as many people involved as possible when formulating video ideas.

Utilize video to highlight your expertise and demonstrate how your brand improves people’s lives.

Make a long-term commitment to video marketing and archive your content for future use.

Finally, while some video content can be produced on your own, you should partner with a professional video production company for the videos that are more complex and/or those that will be used as cornerstones for your brand promotion efforts. After all, you don’t want your video content to become famous for the wrong reasons.

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