The Magic of a Brand Video Marketing Strategy
Have you ever seen a mind-blowingly fantastic video? That video that holds you captive from the beginning till when it ends? Maybe it’s a comedy skit that makes you laugh your guts off, a movie trailer that brings out all the adrenaline in your body, or even a heartwarming story that leaves you with tears in your eyes.
What if I told you your brand can do the same thing, too? What if I told you there is a way to connect with your customers on such deep emotional levels using videos? What if I said that through this medium alone, engagement, inspiration, and sales rates can be taken through the roof?
This is what a successful brand video marketing strategy is made of. But they cannot be made by simply taking out our phones and pushing record.
Serious thought must be given to crafting each idea with creativity and even video marketing wizardry. So sit back and relax (grab some popcorn) because today, we will explore worlds filled with unforgettable brand videos!
Table of Contents
Why Brand Videos Are The Hottest Trend
Every brand is trying hard to keep up with the video marketing trend in today's era. Well, no wonder they are! Because according to research:
- People are more likely — 27 times — to click on online video ads than standard banners.
- 86% of businesses use videos as a core marketing tool.
- Over 82% of total internet traffic was video in 2022.
However, don’t just take dry stats at face value. Recall your own experience as a customer for a minute.
When you watch an Old Spice comedy sketch or a GoPro epic adventure, you bond with those companies without realising it. Such videos shape your perception of the brand in a way that sticks with you emotionally and memorably.
And this is where strategic video marketing gets genuinely magical. Brand videos can captivate viewers deeply, evoke strong feelings and make an indelible mark on them. If done right, this can:
- Make your brand feel human and foster emotional connections
- Showcase products creatively through demonstrations
- Tell stories that resonate with customers on an emotional level
- Stand out from other online ads visually while still being part of thematically
The benefits for your bottom line cannot be underestimated when you get it right because we live in an increasingly visual world where most things revolve around videos nowadays. So, what steps should one take when creating a killer brand video strategy?
Finding Your Brand's Video Marketing Mojo
Before digging into an effective video strategy, you must first nail down who you are as a brand. And no, I'm not talking about creating some mumbo-jumbo corporate mission statement.
I mean figuring out the genuine personality and core values that define your company's unique identity. What sets you apart from the competition? What characteristics do you want to shine through in your brand's “voice”?
Maybe you're all about being clever, edgy and irreverent to attract a younger crowd. Or trustworthy, wholesome family-friendliness is more your vibe.
This reflective work is critical because it guides your videos' tone and style. It shapes how you tell stories, inject humour, choose visual aesthetics, and connect with your target customers.
For example, chances are Dollar Shave Club's famous”Our Blades Are F***ing Great” viral hit wouldn't fly too well for, say, Gerber Baby Products because their brand voices are total opposites!
Once you've nailed your brand's fundamental identity, it's time to strategically map out the types of videos that align with it and resonate with your particular audience. Here are some of the most potent formats to consider:
Product/Service Demos
Instead of just describing your offering with some bulleted lists, show people how it works through engaging demo videos! Make it relatable, tell a quick story, and sprinkle in some personality. Not only is this more memorable, but demos can:
- Quickly address common customer pain points
- Alleviate purchasing concerns by seeing it in action
- Set clear expectations and reduce product returns
Company Culture Videos
Today's consumers crave authenticity and human connection from brands. Culture videos that offer a relatable behind-the-scenes peek into your company can:
- Showcase what makes you unique and inspiring
- Help customers align with your mission and values
- Attract top talent to grow your all-star team
Educational “How-To” Videos
Don't just push your products or services – provide genuinely helpful knowledge related to your industry! Informative, easy-to-digest how-to videos position you as a trusted expert while:
- Solving real customer problems and pain points
- Keeping viewers engaged with your brand
- Capturing prospective leads further up the funnel
What kinds of videos would best ladder up to your specific brand persona and business goals? Map out several options upfront as part of your comprehensive strategy.
Message First, Production Second
With your brand voice solidified and target video types selected, it's time to start storyboarding some actual video concepts and messaging. But don't just dive straight into production!
Many businesses invest cash into videos with slick graphics and Hollywood-caliber crews…only to miss the mark on what truly resonates with customers. That's a colossal waste of time, money and effort.
So before you start brainstorming scenes, hiring actors or any of the production nitty-gritty, figure out the core narratives and key emotional triggers you want to hit.
Ask yourself:
- What specific messaging aligns with our brand identity?
- What are our buyer personas' biggest challenges or desires?
- What feelings do we need to tap into to inspire action?
Get inside the minds of your target audience and explore creative angles to grab their attention from the get-go.
The Power of Story-Driven Videos
Remember, humans are hard-wired to be captivated by great stories from our earliest days. Our brains crave narratives with clear protagonists, overcoming obstacles, and satisfying resolutions.
So, structure your brand videos around a central story rather than just rattling off some dry statistics or features. Make your customer or end-user the “hero” of the tale empowered by your product.
For example, an outdoor apparel company like Patagonia knows its audience values adventure and environmental stewardship. So their “Worn Wear” video campaign spins a compelling tale of people embarking on thrilling trips while embracing sustainability.
Through evocative mini-stories like this, products are seamlessly woven into the message in a non-sales-y way that aligns with core brand values. Genius!
Of course, not every video needs an epic, three-act narrative arc. You can captivate attention through shorter vignettes, comedic sketches or animated explainers. The key is honing in on specific emotional triggers, pain points or desires that matter deeply to your customers.
Speak Directly to Your Audience
As you craft that perfect message, another powerful strategy is speaking directly to viewers using conversational language and personal pronouns like “you” and “your.”
That immediate second-person approach puts your audience IN the story or scenario you're depicting. It's like you're having a one-on-one chat to empathise with their challenges and rally them to take action.
Which instantly feels way more engaging and relevant than a distant, clinical voice lecturing them with corporate jargon. Personalised messaging like this is crucial for making real human connections.
So, get inside the minds of those buyer personas you mapped out earlier. Picture sitting across from one individual customer as you're writing scripts, planning shots, and deciding on an overall tone. What would you say to understand their world and motivate them truly?
Captivating Visuals & Execution
OK, you've done the crucial upfront work of defining brand ethos, choosing video types, nailing your core messages, and storyboarding emotionally compelling narratives.
Congrats – you're already miles ahead of most brands who just try winging it with a fancy camera and big budget! But as you kick into production mode, the visuals and technical execution ultimately determine whether your videos truly dazzle or fall flat.
So, let's quickly run through some tips for stepping up your cinematography game:
Quality Counts (But Doesn't Need to Break The Bank)
Sure, epic Hollywood-level production value with sweeping aerial shots, CGI effects and all the bells & whistles looks wildly impressive. But unless you're a multi-billion dollar corporation, the content of that calibre is usually overkill for most brand videos.
The good news? Any business can produce a clean, crisp video that looks highly professional with relatively inexpensive gear like a DSLR camera, essential lighting equipment, and user-friendly editing software.
- 24.1 Megapixel CMOS (APS-C) sensor with is 100–6400 (H: 12800)
- Built-in Wi-Fi and NFC technology
- 9-Point AF system and AI Servo AF
Lighting & Framing
What separates amateur videos from quality, engaging brand films is thoughtful lighting and camera work. Correctly positioning key lighting sources, utilising fill lights, and experimenting with creative angles/framing can give your shots incredible polish.
- 【Illuminate Your Creativity】 Torjim softbox lighting kit is made of high-quality PET fabric and a foldable nylon cover, which has high reflectivity, softer and even light, and a wider range of illumination. The inner baffle of silver particles built into the lampshade makes the light cast evenly, which maximizes the soft light ability and eliminates shadows.
- 【Energy Efficient Bulbs】 Softbox photography lighting kit is equipped with 85W energy saving bulb, 3000-7500K daylight CFL lighting bulb, which can save up to 80% energy, the bulb not only can work in low temperature environment, but also the bulb life is beyond your imagination. While saving electricity, it also provides constant and even light, providing a good photographic environment.
- 【Sturdy and Reliable】 This studio softbox is equipped with a tripods with independent locking knobs, made of high quality aluminum alloy, and the sturdy locking system ensures that your items are not affected by any wobble during use. Experiments have proved that the tripod can easily resist scratches from hard objects, providing excellent safety, reliability and sufficient stability for your lighting softbox.
For example, don't just plop an interviewee in front of a flat, evenly-lit background. Use backlighting for depth, play with high/low angles for visual interest, and ensure faces are well-lit with soft, flattering illumination. Little touches like this elevate production value tenfold.
Location Matters
Whether shooting indoors or out, scouting the suitable environments and backgrounds for brand videos is critical. You want settings that align with the narrative, authentically showcase your products in action, and avoid appearing drab or distracting.
Secure unique locations with visual texture and interesting architecture for a more professional polish. Or better yet, embrace real-world settings like parks, coffee shops, offices or homes to lend an organic vibe that customers can relate to.
Editing Brings It All Together
Remember to consider the impact that solid editing can have on creating cinematic, memorable videos! Work with a skilled editor to:
- Maintain a tight, well-paced narrative flow between shots
- Incorporate animated graphics, text call-outs and effects
- Precisely set tone and atmosphere through color-grading
- Overlay music and sound design for a more substantial emotional impact
Even a visually stunning brand video can fall apart without a deft editing hand to unify all the raw elements. Mastering this stage is just as important as the actual filming.
Optimising Video for Discoverability
So you've put tons of love and effort into crafting a kick-ass brand video centrepiece for your marketing arsenal. But now, to ensure it doesn't just sit around gathering virtual dust bunnies! You need a solid promotion plan to see those videos far and wide.
Optimising the video files with enticing titles, tags, descriptions, and thumbnails is critical for jump-starting views on hosting platforms like YouTube and Vimeo. Be sure to:
- Include your primary keyword in titles and descriptions
- Leverage long-tail keyword opportunities for better rankings
- Wrap titles in brackets or with special characters for pop
- Use captivating custom thumbnails (no blurry, auto-generated ones!)
This primary video SEO housekeeping may seem nitpicky, but it allows new audiences to discover your beautifully crafted content in the first place.
Piggybacking on Popular Search Terms
Do keyword research to find piggybacking opportunities on hot, trending topics for even more video visibility. Then, craft ancillary videos around those high-volume terms that you can naturally pivot to promote your main brand stories.
For instance, you sell sustainable beauty products, and your latest video is a profile of your eco-friendly sourcing methods. You could create separate short clips ranking for queries like:
- “What is Fair Trade Beauty?”
- “Is [Industry Jargon] Safe for Skin?”
- “Easy DIY Face Mask Recipes”
Then, drive viewers from those discoverable tertiary videos back to your showpiece brand film. It's a savvy way to expand your potential audience through related topics!
Cross-promoting through Paid and Owned Channels
Of course, you'll also want a multi-pronged promotion strategy beyond relying on search engines. Consider:
- Sharing teasers or exclusive behind-the-scenes snippets first on owned channels like email lists and social followings to generate buzz
- PutTarget hyper-focused paid promotion on Facebook, Instagram, pre-roll ads, and any other platforms where your buyer personas congregate.
- Partnering with influencers for elevated product placement or sponsored content that feels more authentic and trustworthy
You maximise visibility and brand recognition from every angle by saturating your beautifully crafted brand videos everywhere online.
Measuring Success & Iterating
The last (but certainly not least!) pillar of an effective brand video marketing strategy is putting solid measurement practices to truly understand what content performs best and refine your approach over time.
Sure, views and shares are great vanity metrics to track. But you'll want to dig deeper with smarter KPIs like:
- Overall engagement and watch-through rates
- Referral traffic leads and revenue influenced by videos
- Completed viewing percentages at critical points in the funnel
- Overall virality and earned media value generated
By linking videos to hard business metrics, you'll understand what narratives, styles, and promotion avenues resonate most powerfully with your audience. Then, you can double down on those elements while pivoting away from underperforming areas.
And remember, measuring video ROI is a continual process – not a set-it-and-forget-it situation! Tastes and trends constantly evolve, so stay agile and iterate your strategy based on new data and insights. Change up your creative approaches, formats, targeting, you name it.
After all, the end goal is delivering brand videos that don't just entertain and inspire in the short term but keep your audience coming back for more and translate to tangible business growth over time.
Conclusion
Creating an exceptional brand video marketing strategy is a challenging feat. Pulling off requires careful planning, creativity, and severe production effort.
However, the potential payoff in audience connection, customer loyalty, and bottom-line impact makes the bar well worth clearing for any business willing to dedicate natural resources to doing video right.
So embrace the power of sight, sound and motion to share your brand's authentic identity with viewers in an emotional, memorable way. With the RIGHT approach, you can cut through dismal online engagement and forge long-lasting bonds with the people who matter most.
Make them laugh, think, and shed a happy little tear! That's the real magic of an unforgettable brand video.
Brand Video Marketing Strategy FAQs
What is a brand video?
It refers to anything that can be used as video media to show a company's identity, personality, offerings or core messaging. These include demonstrations of services/products, profiles on company culture, educational how-to’s, and narratives aimed at connecting with viewers on an emotional level.
How does a corporate video differ from a brand video?
Corporate videos are typically more formal and educational in tone, designed to explain the basics about what a business does (mission), offers (services), etc. In contrast, brand content tends towards creativity with an emphasis on fostering deeper customer loyalty through emotional resonance.
How much money should I set aside for making my own branded films?
There isn't one answer regarding costs because this will depend significantly upon several factors, including but not limited to complexity, simplicity, animated/live-action, etc. However, as a rough guide, most companies allocate between 5%-15% of their overall marketing budgets towards producing such materials yearly.
What is the optimal length for videos?
There is no definitive answer when figuring out the ideal length for each type since different ones require various lengths depending on the target audience & distribution channels used, among other things. Generally speaking, keep short social promos within 30-90 seconds. The max duration should be around 1-3 minutes, while those longer than 3 minutes may not pass off as shallow, so go between 3-7 minutes if possible. Nevertheless, base everything around the story since that will dictate the best run time.
Can we do all the editing/producing work ourselves?
Yes, anybody can make even simple ones these days, thanks mainly to the availability of cheap editing tools and the essential equipment required. Still, where the need arises, i.e. polished cinematographic qualities, then working alongside professionals like videographers/editors/animators, etc., would be highly advisable simply because they know how to bring out the best production value possible.
Where are some good places for hosting/sharing brand videos?
Standard hosting platforms include YouTube, Vimeo & your website. Remember to distribute through email, social media networks (Facebook, Instagram, etc.), digital ads or any other platform where you think there might be potential viewer traffic. It could even go as far as setting up its own video hubs or branded content channels.
Last update on 2024-09-11 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
