Video is Everything

The more you invest in purposeful, targeted, and consumable video, the more you’ll do for your business.

We’re all constantly watching it — on Youtube, Netflix, and Instagram. At work, at home, and really no matter where we are. We can’t get enough. At this point, it’s so woven into the fabric of our existence, we almost don’t realize how entrenched it really is. 

It’s not a trend, a tactic, or an experiment. When it comes to marketing, video isn’t just a side show. It’s the main attraction. 

The more you invest in purposeful, targeted, and consumable video, the more you’ll do for your business. 

Let’s look at why video is blowing up, and how you can integrate it intelligently into your marketing strategy. 

Video is even bigger than you think.

Setting aside whether or not video is a massive ROI generator, let’s first look at the sheer volume of content being produced and consumed. 

• Every day on YouTube, people watch over a billion hours of video and generate billions of views.

• On Instagram, over 100 million Instagrammers watch or record Live video each day.

• Facebook video viewership is up to 8 billion views a day. 

So the consumption is huge. 

But are brands getting in on the game? The stats say they are: 

• 94% of businesses see video as an effective tool.
• 87% of marketers are using video in their activities

So not only is video a new paradigm in content consumption, but organizations are leveraging the medium to market to their audiences. The size and scope of video being put out there might be enough to convince you to start participating. But before diving in, you probably want to know whether those organizations are getting results, or gambling away their marketing funds on a “new” thing. 

Good news: video is incredibly powerful.

At BX Films, we’ve been talking for years about video’s ability to make people think, feel, act, and notice. 

It’s captivating. It’s emotional. It’s entertaining. 

It combines music, voice, and moving images that capture a story like nothing else. It can tell that story in 6 seconds or 2 hours. It can explain, move, delight, compel.

It’s easy to intuit why video is so powerful, but the research is even more conclusive:

• People prefer video over other types of content from brands
• 90% of customers say video helps them with buying decisions
• Enjoyment of video ads increase purchase intent by 97% and brand association by 139%.
• Video attracts two to three times as many monthly visitors, doubles their time spent on the site and has a 157% increase in organic traffic from search engines.
• Viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch it in a video compared to 10% when reading it in text.

Not only is video everywhere, and brands are taking advantage, but we know video to be a proven marketing tool. 

Which means…

This powerful, everywhere medium should be central to your marketing strategy

Even just a few years ago, video was seen as a singular tactic, as a sort-of one-time awareness play. It was viewed as the thing you needed for your home page (which you should still do, since it increases conversions by 80%.)

But the fact that customers are clamoring for it means that for your organization to become truly customer-centric, you should be communicating to them in the ways they interact with best, at all points in the customer journey.

Your sales team can incorporate video into their emails to increase open rates.
Your social team can combine live video, animations, short brand clips, testimonials, and more to create a compelling mix of content on your feeds. Your onboarding team should definitely use videos to educate, train, and answer customer questions.

Here are a few more ideas of videos you can use:

• Brand awareness
• Campaign Ad
• Explainer
• Mini-documentary
• Entertainment
• How-to
• Product
• Event
• Expert Interview
• Case Study/Customer Testimonial
• Live Video 
• 360° and Virtual Reality Videos
• Augmented Reality (AR) Videos
• Personalized Messages

By sprinkling these throughout your marketing efforts, you’re not just reaching your target audience once, but through their entire customer journey. 

(via Hubspot)

Once you do that, how do you know it’s working? 

To measure effectiveness, first define effectiveness

Do you want people to be inspired? Learn something new? Do something specific? The key to getting people to do one of those things is to know your goal ahead of time.

It’s often helpful to think about what you want to accomplish with each video by looking at it through the customer journey. 

Here are a few ways you can use video in each stage (shoutout to Hubspot for much of this info):

Attract

Since awareness and brand loyalty are low at this stage, the whole goal is to establish an emotional connection and show how you can solve the customer’s problems. Brand videos, campaign ads, and shareable social videos let you express your brand personality and delight customers. Thought leadership, how-to, and explainer videos show how you can help them solve a pain point. 

Convert

Once you’ve garnered interest from your target audience, you want to fill in their understanding of your company, product, and/or services, while keeping up the excitement. Landing page videos, product demos, how-tos, explainer videos or webinars can all serve this purpose. 

Close

It’s easy to overlook this stage, but consumers often change their mind based on last-minute information. To draw them into the sale, giving them a way to visualize themselves interacting with your product or service is your aim. Testimonials, in-depth product videos, culture videos, or even personalized messages work well here. 

Delight

The most forgotten stage of them all, the post-purchase experience! Sure you made the sale, but this stage can turn mere buyers into brand loyalists. If it’s conducive to your product or service, a thank you or onboarding video is a great first post-purchase experience. Educational or training videos can make sure their experience is a smooth one. And what are typically top-of-the-funnel brand videos can remind them why they work or bought from you in the first place. 

Pair the right metrics to analyze whether you’ve hit your goals

Because video should be integrated into your entire marketing plan, you should have different metrics to evaluate its success as a contributor to the entire customer journey.  

Impressions are great, but not always the most relevant.
For instance, the play rate can be used to determine how relevant the video is to your audience. Watch time can help you know whether people are hooked by the content you created.

Tracking clicks on call-to-action buttons can help you figure out whether your video was successful in helping people take action. 

A few metrics you may want to be tracking:

• View count 
• Play rate
• Ad recall
• Watch time
• View-through rate 
• Brand interest lift
• Completion rate
• Clicks
• Conversions
• Demos/Trials
• Sales
• Social sharing
• Comments

So you’re ready to start making video. There’s just one problem… producing great video is hard! 

If that’s what you’ve been thinking this whole time … you’re right, producing great video IS hard. At BX we’ve devoted our entire working lives to the medium and we’re still learning. 

BUT. 

Two things. First, not all video has to be well-produced. Live video, testimonials, reviews, and more don’t have to have high production value. In fact, at times it’s better for them to feel more organic than uber-professional, especially on social. Second, with a little help, we believe anyone can ratchet up their video skills to produce compelling, shareable content. 

To spruce up your skills we recommend starting here. 

But what if you’re ready to hire a video production company and start making killer video? Where do you go? And how do you know if you’re getting a great product for all that money? 

How to evaluate quality video and video companies

The reality is that mediocre video will get mediocre results. Your video doesn’t have to go viral for it to get results (and even going viral doesn’t guarantee sales) but it does have to be good. 

When you’re doing your research, here are some key factors to evaluate:

• It might seem like a no-brainer, but your first step is to check out their portfolio (here’s ours). Every production company has a different style, different specialty, and different level of production. So don’t just ask yourself if you like the videos generally. Does their aesthetic work for your company? Are they more adept at brand videos, explainers, or both? Ask yourself these questions, knowing the best predictor of the future work is past work. 
• Case studies and testimonials. The process is almost as important as the end product, and when it comes to shoot day, timeliness, and communication, it’s critical to trust the video company you’re working with. 
• Proof of results. You like their videos, but part of producing great video is producing video that is targeted to get specific results. For instance, when we worked with Libratone, they saw a 600% increase in sales, and we blew away every other metric they had.
• In general, you get what you pay for, and video companies usually have a specific budget range they typically work within. Make sure you know the range of products they’re willing to take on to see if you’re a good fit. 

On that last one, it’s often difficult for people not immersed in video to understand the difference between a low-quality, low-budget video, and a high-budget, high-quality video. At BX, we divide professional video into three buckets, that correspond with quality, and by extension, price. Take a look:

Basic

In this tier we’re able to create solid videos, but focusing on cost rather than quality. This tier cuts costs by operating with a minimal crew, lesser talent, minimal equipment and simpler post-production. The risk of this tier is that the lowered production value will constrain and restrict the concept. This tier is comparable to basic YouTube style videos.

Example: If the concept calls for an aerial shot, you might not get one… 

Standard

In the standard tier, the increased budget enables us to operate with a better crew, better talent, better equipment and a more sophisticated post-production process. This tier provides great video while cutting a few corners to keep the budget efficient. This tier is comparable to great looking corporate videos.

Example: If the concept calls for an aerial shot, we might use a drone… 

Premium

In the premium tier we don’t have to think about cutting corners for the sake of budget. The adequate budget allows us the full crew we need to make the video cinematic and of highest quality, using a full crew, the best equipment and a post-production process that creates a premium look. This tier is comparable to movies and premium grade television and aims to ensure viewer engagement.

Example: If the concept calls for an aerial shot, we can use a helicopter!

You got this. 

If you’re just starting with video, it seems like a lot. We get it! The good news, is that video is ultimately a fun, rewarding, and profitable endeavor for any organization, and we can’t wait for you to experience all of it. 

Of course, we’d be more than happy to walk you through it all, even if you’ve never created a video before. With BX, the process is seamless, creative, and dare we say, fun. 

Drop us a line for more info, to get to know us, and work together on your next video project.

The reality is that mediocre video will get mediocre results.