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What Are Some of the Best Marketing Videos of All Time?
In our constantly evolving digital landscape, there’s one thing that’s remained true for the past few years; if your brand isn’t creating video, you’re falling behind. Brands need video for relevancy – it functions as a central aspect to outreach and dominates social strategies. According to Hubspot, video marketing is using videos to promote and market your product or service, increase engagement on your digital and social channels, educate your consumers and customers, and reach your audience with a fresh medium. Consider this: More than 50% of consumers want to see video from brands, which is more than any other type of content.
Beyond entertainment purposes, video present on landing pages can boost conversion rates by 80%, says stock-image supplier Depositphotos. More than that, simply mentioning video in the subject of your email increases the open rate by 19% and 90% of customers say that watching videos helps them make buying decisions. Video has proven itself to be a versatile marketing tool – there are endless creative choices ahead of your marketing team when it comes to incorporating video – and if you’re looking for inspiration, you’ve come to the right place.
What are the best marketing videos of all time?
Let’s be honest – for most brands, going viral is the gold standard. Content campaigns are typically marathons, not sprints. But getting millions of views on your videos isn’t something you’d be quick to turn down. With the deep sea of content available to us, it’s hard to pinpoint one campaign that supersedes all others, so we’ll take a look at several videos that hit the mark and made the sought-after viral status for their brand.
1.) Always: #LikeAGirl
In the world of marketing videos, there’s a wide scope of categories that your brand’s video can fit into. There’s the product videos, unboxing videos, comedies and beyond. But one genre is truly seeing a renaissance: the social cause video. Many brands have movements that they support, and they can showcase this through creative marketing. In the case of Always’ #LikeAGirl, the female-focused brand wanted to demonstrate a goal of keeping girl’s confidence high during puberty and after (as a brand dedicated to menstrual hygiene products, it’s a perfect alignment). The director of the #LikeAGirl video, Lauren Greenfield said:
“When the words ‘like a girl’ are used to mean something bad, it is profoundly disempowering. I am proud to partner with Always to shed light on how this simple phrase can have a significant and long-lasting impact on girls and women.”
The use of the hashtag also encouraged widespread responses from viewers, while resonating emotionally. The intent to go viral was there and they succeeded.
2.) Lyft: Undercover Lyft
Comedy is another great way to make a mark on your viewers and get them to happily share your content. The magic in Lyft’s Undercover campaign is that it feels authentic, utilizes a celebrity in a lighthearted manner and inspires conversation. Commonly asked – how could you not know that he’s Shaq? With other videos featuring DJ Khaled and Alicia Keys, it’s no surprise that this campaign got people talking about Lyft.
3.) Google Android: Unlikely Animal Friends
It’s fair to say that most people are huge proponents of cute animal videos. But what if there’s a lot of cute animals? And what if these cute animals are friends with other animals, that you wouldn’t expect them to be friends with? That gives us Google’s Unlikely Animal Friends video campaign. A bonus here is that it utilizes user-generated content (UGC). UGC is another growing genre of marketing videos, due to its affordability and its brand lift (increased interaction with the brand). According to Hubspot, user-generated video ads lead to an 82% brand lift among those who viewed the ads. With a clear brand message at the end: “Be together. Not the same. Android,” the video resonates with a feel-good sentiment that is bound to leave an impact on viewers. It also exists as perfect content for widespread sharing.
These are just a few examples of incredibly successful video marketing campaigns that went viral and got people talking. Of course, there’s certain qualities and attributes within these videos that leave an impression and make us remember. For brands looking to follow their lead, there are certain things they should remember when starting their video campaign.
What type of videos resonate with consumers?
You might make the assumption that the key to going viral is incorporating cute animals or a celebrity to your campaign, but there’s a lot more to consider when brainstorming. We’ve outlined some tips here for creating content that both resonates with your target audience and spreads like wildfire.
It understands its target audience
Even if you want everyone talking about your brand, it first needs to resonate with your target audience and make them feel strongly enough that they want to share with friends, family and co-workers. In the early stages of campaign creation, determine who your target audience is. Include questions like: Who do I want to connect with? Why will they care about my campaign? What are their values? What can I do to make them want to share on social networks?
It connects emotionally
As seen in Always’ #LikeAGirl campaign, there’s power behind making your audience feel something. In a lot of examples of viral video campaigns, the products never take center stage. Instead, the focal point is reaching their audience and making them feel something strongly enough that they have to share.
While controversy is not something typically encouraged in marketing, especially when it can deter either loyal or potential customers, Nike’s 30th Anniversary Campaign definitely struck an emotional chord with viewers and succeeded in going viral. Nike took a risk and decided to focus on a smaller target audience by featuring the controversial NFL player, Colin Kaepernick, and relied on the emotional and political response of viewers to keep it’s brand name in the media and all over social platforms for weeks.
Neither of these campaigns focus on the products that they are trying to sell, and instead focus on inspiring consumers and creating a positive relationship to the brand name. Of course, Nike took a risk – losing some consumers, but attracting others.
It’s creative
A campaign isn’t likely to go viral if we’ve seen it done before. It has to be new, attention-grabbing and innovative. Consider what sets it apart from previous videos.
It’s timely
Consider the date and time that you’re sharing your content. Marketers use major events and holidays to leverage their campaigns. The Christmas season, as well as the Super Bowl, the Oscars and presidential races are all optimal times for advertising. For social platforms, timing is also important. Determining what time of day your posts do best may help you decide when to post regularly. People may frequently check their phones during their morning commutes, so you may decide that you will share your video content early in the day for your social campaigns.
It’s easy to share
The internet and social media make sharing incredibly easy. Within seconds, and by a click of a button, you can share a video to all of your friends and followers. You need a lot of this for your content to go viral. That means your company should be publishing the high-quality videos you produced on as many platforms as possible, and ensure that sharing, embedding and downloading capabilities are available. Call-to-actions or hashtags are a great way to encourage people to send it to friends or get people to start speaking about your brand.
How can a viral video fit into your overall marketing strategy?
Don’t get too fixated on the idea of viral. While it’s a good goal, and would be a wonderful turn of events, you can’t guarantee anything. Instead, focus on your overall plan and work to create powerful branded content – first and foremost. Here are some tips to building a robust video marketing strategy that will deliver results, viral or not:
- Decide what kind of video content you’re going to be producing, and how it fits into your current branding.
- Consider how video works on specific social platforms. Twitter is great for short clips or teasers. Facebook can be good for hosting longer videos. Instagram has a successful story feature. Consider your target audience and where they are most likely to spend their time.
- How can you incorporate your new video with pre-existing content, or are you starting entirely fresh with a whole new campaign?
If you’ve taken a marketing class, you’re familiar with SMART goals. But make sure to attribute these to your video campaign. Be specific. Make sure your success is measurable. Determine obstacles and decide if your goals are achievable. Make sure your video is relevant for your brand and with your current marketing campaign. Finally, set a concrete deadline and have time-related ambitions.
How much are companies spending on video?
Audiences are consuming digital content at a higher rate than ever before. According to the 2019 Video Advertising Spend Report, marketers report an increase for digital budgets by 25%. Media and Entertainment is in the lead for spend, up 75% and Fashion and Apparel is second, up by 45%.
78% of direct-to-consumer brands that have marketing budgets over $1 million are looking to increase their ad spend on digital video in the next 12 months. In 2018, the average amount spent on digital video was 14.2 million, which increased by 25%, resulting in an average 17.8 million spent in 2019.
Marketing video trends to look for
- Video ads on streaming platforms. As many consumers turn away from cable, brands are looking to advertise on sites like Hulu and YouTube TV.
- Mobile-first video content. Marketers are considering a mobile-first approach, recognizing that over half of video content is viewed on mobile.
- Shoppable videos. These support the consumer journey. Instagram features shoppable video posts for business pages that allows them to shop directly from the post. TikTok is also testing shoppable videos in 2020.
- AR/VR/360-Degree Videos. Incorporating interactive videos in your marketing campaign is a new concept, but has found success through Snapchat. Adidas also hosted an AR experience at their flagship store in Paris that showed customers how their brand converts plastic into shoes, says media platform a.list.
Your brand and marketing videos
Video has become a huge component of a successful marketing campaign. Crews Control recognizes the potential behind innovative, well-produced video. No matter where you’re located, we have a production team that will be able to bring your vision to life. On top of that, we have post-production teams that can see it all the way through.
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