If you are a brand that is looking to grow with the latest tools then you need to incorporate video for more effective storytelling to the audiences.
As per a lot of studies and research done on the subject of branding, it is found that the clients prefer watching a video about a certain product more than they enjoy reading about its key features. They rightfully should as videos show movement and the customer can see your product actually being used in it for a better idea of the usage.
With the advancement of technology, audiences have limited attention spans now which means that they tend to lose interest easily and quite often.
Here are 6 tips for creating effective branding videos for better marketing
1. The production and post-production should be great
Production of the video is the first step and make sure that it is the right one. Post-production matters to help bring the video to life. You need to first know the story that you are trying to tell through your video. Make sure that you have a proper script written, a director and all the equipment ready beforehand. Having a solid production and post-production is quite essential.
Some things that you should keep in mind during production are:
Be sure about the target audience
Know that your audience is not a fool
Customers have more choices in the market to choose from
As a viewer or a customer, if someone is clicking on the video of your brand, they would expect you to sell yourself to them so make sure you do just that during the production phase as it decides that for your brand. The video does not have to be straight out of a movie. However, it does not mean that you produce a low quality video and upload it on your brand’s main web page for customers to be put off.
Post-production comes at a much later stage when making brand videos. The process of post-production involves editing and making final changes to the overall video so that it is ready for the customers to view it.
Here a few things you need to keep in mind during the post-production:
Edit, edit and re-edit
Make sure that you are not losing track from where the story first started
The video should not be too long
Making videos is an art and only a skilled person will be able to do the job for you as a brand. Make sure the person you are hiring as a director, script writer, editor, graphic designer, animator, all depending upon the kind of video you would like to be made, should be a professional who has skills and experience to add to the video. Otherwise, it will be just another amateur piece of work on the internet.
2. Make sure your brand’s voice is heard
If you have planned to make a video to market, you need to make an effort to put everything together about your brand in the video, without cluttering it. Why does everyone hum that jingle from the Nike advertisement? It is because it was catchy and
appealed to the emotions of the customer which then convinced them to get those latest shoes.
If you are a fairness brand, make sure that you are clear about selling the fairness cream to your targeted age group of women or men. However, you also need to be updated with the latest trends. In such a case, if you are not tone-sensitive while making the video and using words such as black or phrases like, ‘become white using our fairness cream’, you should know that it is offending the sentiments of one group by trying to please another. Make sure you use the right kind of language throughout.
Chances are that your video might get reported and would be asked to take it down if you do not use the right kind of tone while conveying the message. The video should be concise and to the point. No one has the time and patience to look at a 10 minute long video.
3. Give the customer an option of sound off view
Most virtual platforms on the internet, except for some like YouTube are configured for the video to play automatically once you click on it to view. Your visuals should be so captivating that even when the sound is off, the audience should be able to understand what you are trying to sell to them and where the story is headed.
Even if you plan on sticking to a script which you should so that you do not lose track, the sentences should not be long and the emotions of the actors should be convincing enough. This is really important as such videos are mostly used to appeal to the emotions of the customers in order for them to invest in your brand. Make sure whatever music you are using is royalty-free and goes with the theme of the video.
In this case, your customer will be judging your storytelling skills so make sure the script is well worked on and not approved overnight. If you are selling a cooking oil, even if you are showing a relationship between a mother and her son, at the end of the day, your customer should be convinced that the mother-son duo bonds over your cooking oil rather than any other cooking oil that is present in the market.
4. Be more inclusive with the video
As a brand, it is your duty to assure your customers that you want them to be a part of your business regardless of their color, caste, age, ethnicity, culture or race. If you have an apparel’s brand, try to have models that speak different languages and are of color so that your brand could reach a wider clientele through the video and this marketing strategy actually works for you.
Another way to be inclusive and sensitive towards your customers is to make sure that you add closed captions in the videos, too. This is a tried and tested method which gets the message across to audiences who have hearing aid problems.
Captions work great for customers who cannot play the video while sitting in a room with many people or who just do not like listening to the music or sound of it and would rather prefer to read. Instagram is a great platform if you are planning on uploading the video there as it enables you to be more inclusive and add captions for all such customers.
5. The thumbnail should be chosen wisely
Choosing a compelling thumbnail is quite essential as it is the first glance of the video your customer will be seeing on the home page. An appropriate thumbnail also adds to the aesthetics of the video, if you are planning to upload it on platforms like YouTube, Facebook or Instagram.
Think about it like that, your prospective customer might be scrolling through their Instagram feed and there comes your brand’s video. Just by looking at the thumbnail, they would be forced to play it and the next thing you know, you have a customer for life!
If you are a cosmetics brand and the client is a makeup hoarder, they will stop and watch the video on Facebook, just by looking at the thumbnail of that irresistible ruby red lip color that they saw on the thumbnail of your brand’s marketing video. This is not a huge thing but, it really makes a lot of difference if you think about it in the long run.
Here a few useful tips for choosing better thumbnails that might help you out:
Use a good color scheme
Use catchy phrases or text instead of images
Ask a question that your customers might be thrilled to answer
6. Use testimonials if need be
Many times, customers are more convinced about a product when they hear the reviews from another person rather than just relying on what you are selling to them. The thing is they can clearly see a real person sitting in a testimony and hear their views about the brand.
You can also add the human faces behind your brand like the people working in your team who can explain better to the customers how they dedicatedly work day and night to bring together the final product. This would work well if you have a food business. If you show your customers how lovingly you make food for them, keeping the standards high, chances are that this will attract them even more.
You can also make use of infographics and show your customers how many people voted for your brand and recommend it to others already. You can show your audiences the different surveys and interviews that you might have conducted for the specific product that you are selling.
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