My thoughts exactly... on
VIDEO AND AUDIO MARKETING
Make a Charity's Christmas Video
Do good, feel good, look good. Find out how you could fund a charity's christmas video. Come on, Christmas is for sharing.
I'm writing this on a very hot (30+) day in September.
But right now photographers are busy shooting Chritsmas promotions.
Copywriters and designers are putting the finishing touches to Christmas brochures.
And you?.. What are you doing?
I'd like to urge you to think about making a charity's Christmas video.
THINK BACK TO LAST YEAR
For the second year running, Sainsbury's wanted us to remember 'Christmas Is For Sharing'.
(Preferably their Christmas advert with all of your social media connections.)
They dedicated their main Christmas advert to the message of sharing. To benefit not themselves, but a chosen charity and cause...
Have a watch, then read below to find out how your business can share the love too.
Here, they only show us their logo right at the end as we're glowing in the positive emotion the film has given us and they fleetingly tell us they're supporting Save The Children and child literacy.
John Lewis took a similar angle with their Man On The Moon ad bringing Age UK to the fore once you went to their website.
I like it... but your business can do better.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
Use your marketing budget, whatever it may be, to help make a video for a charity instead.
DO IT FOR CHARITY!
If you have the cash to spare and the heart to give, why not offer to fund a video of a charity‘s christmas Santa fun run, Santa’s visit to a hospice, you get the idea. Ask everyone in your office which local charity should benefit, pick one and contact them; ask how you can help. Do it soon.
It doesn't have to be 'epic' but it does have to be genuine.
You will make a difference to the charity and those featured will feel special and to a certain extent it may go viral on a local level and if that’s where your market is, brilliant. Just have your name at the end, or if appropriate subtley in the background during it (I’m talking a volunteer wearing a xmas hat with your logo on it, or balloons, not a giant billboard)… the key is.. this isn’t about you. You may benefit yes, but that shouldn’t be why you do it or it’ll backfire. Doubtless the charity will also mention you in their newsletter, blog, own social media, maybe even local press. Think about it: loads of people sharing a heartwarming video online that benefits that charity, but that you played a part in?
Of course this shouldn't be your only marketing spend for Christmas if your business benefits from seasonal trade. But it will sure feel like the nicest part of your budget. It also means any business can do something in the spirit of Christmas: so businesses like solicitors, accountants, estate agents... you know, the ones with no particular spending boost linked to Christmas, just because no one's thinking of them, doesn't mean they can't think of somebody else.
DO GOOD, LOOK GOOD
This example was part of a post I wrote on 7 Stylish Ways Barber Shops Can Use Video... it isn't from one particular salon, but rather a united effort of stylists from a local community. They joined together to give haircuts to the homeless one Sunday at their busiest time of year... just before Christmas.
This documentary style feature is a special heart warming video that reflects well on all of the people and companies involved.
If you do this, please share it with me, I'd love to know. And if you need any help throwing some ideas around, get in touch. Bring mince pies.
Come on.. Christmas is for sharing.
**This post was originally posted for Winter 2015 and has been updated for Christmas 2016 - Festive marketing, it's the content gift that keeps on giving**
Coveragebook have it covered
When your product solves a pain point... use it to emotionally connect with your audience with video.
When your product or service exists to solve a problem, make sure you use video to visually and emotionally get that point across.
Here's what Coveragebook are doing so well.
What I love about this...
- the tweet is being promoted to anyone following people to do with PR
- the tweet itself is encouraging you to share it with friends in PR to help them out, notice that? It's not hard-sell at all
- the video doesn't launch into how lovely their software is straight away... instead it draws out just how insanely painful the current way of doing things is
- instead of making this short and punchy they really have let the process play out; if you're not interested you'll soon skip on and that's fine, BUT if this pain point resonates with you, you'll carry through to the Coveragebook solution and you'll be sold
- break it down: we get one minute of pain, then they say 'check this out, it'll blow your mind'... well, you're not going to stop watching then are you?
- the same video is used on their homepage and the call-to-action at the end is directly in the player itself, when you click it you get a sign up page for their free trial
- the video on on their home page is hosted using Wistia, so other than the call-to-action they'll get a stack of useful marketing metrics that they can make the most of
- and check out that call-to-action itself (below) - all of their language is on brand, it's so friendly, cheeky, subversive - disrupting the norm just like their product
In fact my only beef would be that there seems to be an aching void of white near the end of video that lingers for 20 seconds or so (or, there is as a I write this). Which kind of feels a bit sloppy when you're trying to impress people. BUT if people were suitably impressed hopefully they'll already be clicking through to your site by this point or signing up for a free trial.
BUT that's not the only way these guys are using video
They make it really easy to get up and running with their product with a range of video walkthroughs (below) that take you through the product in a friendly, visual way.
How does this relate to your business?
- how can you show the pain points and the solutions?
- think 'how will the viewer feel' when they're watching? How will they connect?
- how can you use twitter (or Facebook) to reach an audience that could be interested?
- what else can you get across in a video that will be helpful? Can you make How-to's? or FAQs?
Find Your Story - IAG Cargo
When your product might seem a bit dull, your stories are key. See how IAG Cargo use lion cubs and David Beckham to pull us in.
The team at IAG Cargo haven't thought outside the box with video marketing.
They've thought inside it.
You see, the cargo air-freight industry in itself is dull. Even the cargo industry can see that.
BUT… the real story is in the cargo itself.
What is in that box?
With both of these videos they draw us in. We see the care taken each step of the way.
We see the precious cargo itself, we see the humans who take such care and pride in their jobs.
The underlying message is ‘the leading x company trusts IAG Cargo with x… so why wouldn’t you?’
You’re unlikely to remember a video, let alone share it unless there’s an emotional connection to it. David Beckham? Animals? We’re not jut filling boxes, but ticking all of them.
The actual branding of IAG Cargo (and their airlines) is very subtle, this still feels like we could be watching a documentary on TV.
Look at the titles and thumbnails of the videos. These are very clickable.
The stories lend their light, intrigue, inspiration and positivity onto the brand itself.
When your product's a bit dull. Let your stories shine.
Think about it for your business. What are your stories?
Sadlers Wells Video Email Tactic
Love the way Sadlers Wells are using video combined with email marketing to sell their shows. Get your videos to perform for you!
I received an email from Sadlers Wells, the dance theatre folk today. And was immediately struck by how heavily that email used video to help sell the shows. 5 out of the 7 listed.
Clearly dance is a very visual product and video can do so much more than a description, static photo and theatre critic quote. It can move you. And hopefully move you to click 'buy'.
Check out how they go about this and how you could do this with your business (whatever it may be!). Combining video and email is well worth making a song and a dance about.
Above: the sequence from my inbox to the box office
What's great, is if you click 'Read More' on the email, it takes you to the web page where the video is a still image that says 'play clip' or 'buy tickets'. BUT if you click 'Video' from the email, then when the web page opens it autoplays the video. Nice.
AUTOPLAY
The auto play click through, means the transition feels seemless. It removes the chance of us getting distracted by something else, we're drawn straight in.
SHORT & PUNCHY
The videos are quick, to the point and visually enthralling. The original trailer for the Motionhouse show 'Broken' that I've featured here actually has a YouTube trailer of 2m33. But Sadlers Wells (who could easily have just embedded that) has a shorter, punchy edit of just 49 seconds. If I'm reading their email on my lunchbreak, I can watch the trailers for 3 shows from their email in the time it'd take to watch just one long one. Makes total sense.
EASY TO CONVERT
Remember that a video can only do so much. You need a good landing page to convert people. It's easy on the Sadler's Wells site to see how we can buy tickets with the big red button next to the player.
EASY TO SHARE
On completion of the video we see a series of 'share' buttons so we're prompted to share and given easy ways to do so. Again, this makes it easy for us to continue our purchasing journey. I could share this video with friends/family I might like to ask to come with me, or give myself cultural cudos by tweeting 'how cool does this show look?!' or, well, by using it in a blog post...
HOW CAN THIS WORK FOR YOU?
Clearly if you have a visual, emotional product: show, seminar, band, conference to promote then it's clear. But frankly, if you have products, the benefit of having product videos (click that link - I've banged on about it before) is really powerful, combine that with an effective email strategy and it's even stronger.
EMAIL AND VIDEO TOGETHER
Any business should recognise the power of nurturing leads using their own (growing) email database. Using video is a big tool in your armoury. Putting obvious thumbnails for people to click on is key. Autoplay when the site loads - briliant.
SALES METRICS
By using the likes of Wistia or Vidyard for your business video hosting you're able to benefit from amazing metrics. Unlike YouTube or Vimeo, these hosts tie into your email marketing platform (Mailchimp for example) and even Marketing Automation Software and CRMs. This means you can see exactly who from your email list has watched your video, how long for, maybe with repeat viewings... ie how hot a lead are they? And for that matter, you can see which videos/products/email thumbnails are working best so you're not just doing it on a hunch.
Making a video is only the beginning: it's the overture; it's how you put that video centre stage and let it perform for you that matters.
Great Social Video - Good Eggs
Co-op hatched the perfect Facebook video strategy for Easter. See how they did it.
The Co-operative Food's Facebook video stragey in the run up to Easter has been brilliant.
It's been eye catching (stopping me in my scrolling-tracks), enjoyable, serial and shareable.
THE CONCEPT
Each short video shows someone in need of help.
Members of the public are filmed with secret cameras coming to their aid, before being surprised with Easter eggs for being such good eggs. It's a social eggsperiment.
Each video is only about 20-30 seconds long and concentrates on one scenario, but here's a compilation that's pinned to their Facebook page to give you the idea.
THE GENIUS SOCIAL SHARING STRATEGY
The cracking part of this plan is when they encourage viewers to 'nominate the Good Eggs in your life by tagging them in the comments and explaining what makes them so great!'
Genius!
So, sure, they pay for a load of Facebook views by promoting these to everyone's feeds. But they get so many more by people sharing this, not just with the usual 'likes' or 'shares' but by socially tagging their friends/family.
Not only that, but the love and warmth people have for their 'Good Eggs' shines equally on the Co-op for their part in this.
I mean, this doesn't even expressley say this is a competition does it? People are doing it because it makes them feel good and the brand is inextricably linked with that emotion.
WHY THEY'RE PERFECT FACEBOOK FODDER
- short
- cut straight to the action so they grab our attention
- make sense with no audio
- have multiple story lines (so we can engage with each one plus we don't feel repeated to)
- make us smile, so we want to hit 'like' or 'share'
- make us want to interact, by tagging (and therefore sharing even deeper)
These short videos have the same effect when shared on Twitter (which they did of course) but the link on the tweets drives people to the Co-op website, which then directs them to Facebook.
THE ONLY CRITICISM
This is their web copy:
Number 3! It just feels really lame to invite people to like and share the videos. It kind of breaks the magic spell. You want people to share or like your content because they want to. In writing this as an instruction, it sheds light on the fact that, when all's said and done, this is a marketing campaign. Don't break the spell. People won't share because you ask them to unless perhaps it's a charity.
All in all though, hats (or Easter bonnets) off to the Co-operative Food team for hatching such a social video plan. It's brilliant.
You can see all of the videos in this YouTube playlist.
Samaritans - 360° Storytelling
Check out the new immersive 360 video from charity Samaritans. The use of video and audio drives home their message of 'listening'.
The Samaritans have launched a new campaign called 'We Listen'.
Check out their 360° video and you'll soon discover their message.
That 'listening' is very different to 'hearing'.
360° video isn't just used as a gimmick. It serves a real storytelling purpose.
The combination of allowing the viewer to be distracted visually, moving the camera to see others in the cafe, along with the distraction of all the other conversations and sounds of the room is brilliantly done. For the best effect, I'd suggest listening with headphones.
If the video doesn't load above, try watching it on their YouTube channel
(or the YouTube app on mobile devices).
It's short. It feels authentic (far from glossy). It strikes home the point on two levels.
If we need someone to listen to us ,Samaritans are there for us... but also, it kicks us as humans to remember that when someone's talking to us we really should be 'present' for them, to actually listen.
There's only one thing I'd suggest though: the text at the end is very hard to read. It's too small with those contrasting colours. Always worth bearing those things in mind when we create videos, how big will the player be, can people clearly catch your call to action.
I love this effective use of 360° video. Not for the sake of it, but as a key part of the message.
You can find out more about this Samaritans campaign, including the poster reach in conjunction with the UK's rail network here.
Increase Conversions With Full Width Homepage Video - Interview
Tim Brown from Snap Agency shares the huge success their clients have had with full width auto play homepage video and shares tips on how best to make it work.
Could adding auto-play full width video to your website make a difference to your business?
I caught up with Tim Brown from Snap Agency in Minneapolis.
I kind of wish I hadn't because he puts my hair to shame, but I'm really glad I did because Tim shares the huge difference auto-play full width video made when added to the homepage of one of their clients as part of a site redesign.
Check out our short conversation and/or read more below.
So, it's Deneen Pottery in Minnesota that were the focus of conversation with their auto-play homepage. Notice how, in just those 10 seconds or so, the video tells us everything about that company. Handmade. Care. Authentic. Mugs. Customised.
"We had an undeniable lift in conversions after implementing that site and video was a key piece of that. 80% increased conversions!"
PRE-EXISTING FOOTAGE
Tim told us that Deneen already had a video made and that this footage for the auto-play was actually lifted from it. See? They didn't have to go out and shoot something fresh, it's just a smart edit from existing footage, maybe you could do something similar?
Speaking of which, let's look again at their 'About Us' video.
If anything, I'd suggest this video should still feature on the homepage. Even if it's a thumbnail saying 'see our story'. It's such a good video, it shouldn't be hidden.
In just 90 seconds we hear and see everything.
The family story. The love and care for the product. The pride. The product itself. The team who care. The dog. (Don't underestimate the dog - it's a star on their social platforms).
With this video we start to feel a relationship and respect forming between us and the company. The human connection. It's hard not to fall in love with what they're doing and wanting to have part of that for ourselves.
SOCIAL VIDEO
In our conversation I touched upon how the Deneen team have their videos clearly set out on the Facebook page as well, including this key 'about us' story piece.
But it's their Instagram I love. Wonderful, colourful. A real mix of the faces and the family behind the company intercut with the products. It's warm, it's friendly, it's approachable. The videos here give us a super short snapshot into what they're up to, like signing a limited edition run of mugs, or dipping the mugs into the dye/paint gloop (I'm not a mug pro).
TRY IT FOR YOURSELF!
So give it a go! It's not hard at all.
You need to save out your video in a few different formats and let the developers do the rest. Don't forget Tim's Java Script tip in the video above. And try not to make the video too busy.
Here's one I worked on recently where we used an animation instead of filmed video.
And to show he's not all talk. Here's Tim's own site (where he blogs brilliantly about digital marketing by the way). See, how that auto-play video emphasises the personal connection he will make with a client along with knowing his code... In fact my only criticism is that it's cropped so we don't see his magnificent hair. Hey, maybe even he has bad-hair days too. There's hope for us all yet.
Want to chat about how you could do this for your site?
Got a great example you'd like to share?
Get in touch here or on Twitter @sfolland
7 Stylish Ways Barber Shops Can Use Video
It's scary walking into a barber shop the first time. But if you like it, you'll be back forever.
Video can show you're a cut above the rest.
Here's the thing with hairdressers and barber shops.
You move to a new town/city. You nervously tread the streets looking for a place to get your hair cut. Eventually, you tentatively open a door and step in... but if they do a good job, the chances are you'll be opening that door for the rest of your life.
First impressions count.
Pulling in customers with fringes in from the fringes is all important.
Now, they can see what your barber shop is like before they walk past, by searching online.
Or... you can interrupt their social feed by appearing in it with a paid ad.
After a pair of clippers, a comb and that weird jar of Barbicide, video is fast becoming a key tool for any hairdresser.
For this post of choice cuts, I've concentrated on male focussed 'barber shops'.
Seen a great example elsewhere? Please do get in touch here or tweet @sfolland.
THE FULL TREATMENT
Schorem Barbers in Rotterdam have created an impressive catalogue of stylish videos that perfectly capture what it's like to visit them. So long as you're a man of course.
THE WHOLE CUT
Cut & Sew in Dublin have had big success with this semi 'how-to' video, which shows their skills and what the place looks like, though not while open, so it doesn't have so much atmosphere as it could. Still, pretty mesmerising.
(By the way, did you get an annoying pop up advert during that? Yep - that's why you should post to YouTube but never embed to your site with it)
DIY - Twitter
True Gents in Hitchin did a DIY film job for their Twitter feed to promote their February special offer of a free wet shave. They then pinned this to the top of their Twitter page.
This kind of video doesn't need to be perfectly finished, it's great to see it raw, it captures our attention in our social feeds.
Keep in mind, on auto-play in your feed this would play silently - works really well.
THE SHORT BACK AND WIDE ANGLE
BarberBarber give us a perfect glimpse into their place. The custom thumbnail is brilliant to grab our attention and get a key message across without even hitting play. I know this is promoting their YouTube channel, but I'm still surprised they don't have a version of this on their homepage, sums up this expanding brand perfectly.
INSTA-STYLE
Now, I've had to switch over to a female salon for this example. But there's no reason why others couldn't make use of this tactic.
Instagram is spot on for such a visual business to capture what they're up to. Hugo Salon even have their Instagram feed embedded on their homepage, that's how key it is.
As part of their video strategy they make 'how to' videos for their blog (How To videos are always hugely popular on YouTube) but create these ultra-trimmed Instagram versions (where you're limited to 15 seconds. **UPDATE**: As of Spring 2016 the length expanded to 60 seconds) to promote the full length cuts and work as stand-alone content themselves. I'm thinking of going for the first one, what do you think?
FACEBOOK AD
Ali Barbers in Essex popped up in my Facebook feed last year because they paid to promote their video to, presumably, an audience of local men. (My broadband must link to Harlow as I always get adverts suggesting I get things there).
The video is soundtracked by a custom song they had produced for a radio ad campaign.
Facebook ads are incredibly powerful for targeting a specific local audience. It clearly shows the kind of barbers they are, what to expect and, subtley when they're open. If people you know 'like' it, it will also appear in your feed.
DO GOOD, LOOK GOOD
This isn't from one particular salon, but rather a united effort of stylists from a local community. The joined together to give haircuts to the homeless one Sunday at their busiest time of year... just before Christmas.
This documentary style feature is a special heart warming video that reflects well on all of the people and companies involved.
AND WHAT WOULD SIR LIKE TODAY?
This post is looking at barber shops, but of course if you have any physical establishment that you want customers to walk into, this holds true for you too. Bars, sweet shops, beauty salons, butchers, health centres...
You've got more than just your window onto the street now, so let people enjoy the view.
How to avoid video own goals when rebranding your company
Here's the 3 key things to ask your video producer for now, that will save you time and money when rebranding later on.
When I was 18, I got a new passport.
When I was 26, excited to be jetting off with this Australian girl I’d met… We opened my passport and there stared this 18 year old version of me.
I had rebranded by this point. But my old packaging was there to haunt me.
She would either laugh. Or run.
Be prepared for rebrand
Companies rebrand. It happens. They mature. Fashions change.
Just recently Uber and The Premier League have done it. Maybe you will too.
Here’s three scenarios:
1. You rebrand. Your business changes its logo, colours, font… but all of your videos have the old branding
2. You make videos that include a member of staff… who then leaves - maybe under a cloud of bad PR, or maybe they switched to a competitor
3. You change one of your products, or drop it from your range, but… yep, your videos still reference it and are out of date
Now, in a perfect world your original video producer will still have the edit sessions and all of the footage and can take out the old branding, put in the new, etc.
But what if you can’t contact them?
What if they’ve closed down?
What if the original marketing manager who booked them has moved on and now no one can trace the company?
What if the production company can be found but they no longer have your originals?
All of the above happens. More often than you might think.
The solution
In the past year I’ve been asked a few times to salvage/re-edit videos because of these reasons. But here’s the thing, it’s far from ideal. You end up using editing tricks to make the best of the situation or have to charge more because you need go through frame by frame masking old branding…
3 ways to protect yourself
- Ask for a copy of the raw unedited footage, ‘the rushes’, of your video
- Request an edit of your video without any graphics
- Get a copy with no music on the soundtrack
When you have a video produced, do all of these three things and you've protected your business from its future marketing self. Without any real hassle you can put in new graphics, cut bits out (easy, because without music, no one can tell what you cut) and keep your videos up to date.
Repurpose
Another benefit of keeping clean footage like this, is at some point you might like to repurpose it, to use it again in a different promo.
You know you filmed that model having her hair done for 2 hours and yet only 10 seconds is your video… what if you could take a different section and make a cool video for Instagram or a How To for YouTube? You can only do that if you’ve got the originals.
Make a new one!
I realise the crux of this post is telling you don't need to make a new video. Of course, there are good reasons to make a fresh one. Video styles change. Viewing habits change (make it short and snappy now!). Publishing platforms change. So don't rule it out.
But I also appreciate the costs and logitsics involved. So if you have videos already, it's better to be armed to quickly re-edit rather than start from scratch.
Embed from anywhere but YouTube
I've said countless times that you shouldn't embed on your site from YouTube and for a variety of reasons. But for this post let's take one important point to do with rebranding. On paid-for hosting sites like Vimeo, Wistia, Vidyard etc, you can swap the file over behind the scenes.
See what I'm saying? You keep your embed the same. Everywhere your video has ever been linked to, like other websites or social media, the url stays the same... BUT you've swapped the old video file to be your new branded video file, so your image is refreshed.
With YouTube you have no choice but to delete the old video and upload a new one. All links go dead. All embeds need to be re-coded.
Be prepared for makeovers
Don’t feel stuck with your old identity.
Don’t feel you have to pay a lot of money to the government just to be issued a new a passport so you don't lose the girl of your dreams. I mean,... not have to pay to have a brand new video made and lose the customers of your dreams.
If however, you do find yourself in this situation, just contact me. I’m happy to take a look and advise what you can do with what you’ve got. I’ll be like the Gok of video for you. Just get in touch.
Top Testimonial Videos - YouCanBookMe
Check out this masterclass in how current customers can help you sell to new ones from YouCanBook.me
It should go without saying that real customers talking enthusiatsically about your products/service are incredibly powerful.
And yet, too many companies still don't spend the time and, let's face it, money to get out there and film their customer experiences.
Here's how scheduling app YouCanBook.me do it pretty much to perfection.
I'll break it down for you from content, duration and even placement on the webpage.
CAPTURE EXPERIENCES
That word is key. The reason these videos by YouCanBook.me are so good is that they've gone out and captured the stories. We can see the difference their product makes to real businesses.
Plus, as you watch this first one, notice how we don't just see the effect YouCanBook.me has on the driving instructor, making his life easier, but importantly, the effect it has for his customers - we hear from them too.
See all of the videos on the YouCanBook.me site - I've only put two in this post
Short duration
Notice the way their web copy (below) says 'watch 1 minute videos'.
It can be tempting when making a testimonial video to do just that. Make A. Singular.
They could have filmed these four customers and cut them together as one long video, but the length would have started to lose the audience.
Yet faced with four short videos, the audience is actually likely to watch all four one after another. It's a bit like this: if someone gives you a sandwich that isn't cut up, just two slices of bread one on top of the other it would seem like a huge job to eat it. But cut into halves... or better into quarters? That's why buffets are SO moreish. Why you'll eat so many Celebrations in a row but wouldn't eat Mars Bar after Mars Bar. Well, not in public at least.
DIVERSITY
The other benefit of using more than one story (other than the fact it shows you didn't just get lucky with one person) is it shows the range of benefits and can show a range of demographics.
The viewer can choose to pick the testimonial that relates to them the most to view first. There is diversity in these videos - and I'm not just talking race (in fact there could be more done there); there is age, gender, nationality, type of business, formal/informal.
PRODUCT?
Notice they don't actually show us the product in action, it's all about the impact. Now, this is particularly smart for a software company where, no doubt, they will constantly be refining and redesigning their product. So, these videos will never age in that respect.
However, I would say testimonial videos are a great way to subtly show your product in action, so do what works best for you.
If you're a farm shop, it makes sense for us to see people enjoying a roast dinner with your product at a table of smiling faces. If you sell roof boxes it makes sense to see the family packing up their life into one as well as them enjoying their holiday.
It's the product and the effect it has. It's just for a software company it can very quickly date your video, so either leave it out, or make sure the editor keeps those files and can easily switch in new footage. (I worked on a case just like this for a software company last year who rebranded).
But even though there's no visual of the product in these four videos, we do hear the speakers mention specific features of the app that they like.
HOMEPAGE PLACEMENT
These videos are easily found on the homepage, not hidden away.
And the homepage is five simple pages rolled into one.
- Introduction (with explainer video)
- How It Works graphic
- Testimonial videos
- Impressive clients
- Pricing plans
Look how, in just a couple of scrolls you are greeted my customer stories. Face to face with people using the product.
In fact, these might be what you watch first as the 'how it works' video is a button, not a thumbnail so you might scroll past and then come back to it.
The thumbnails themselves are customised for a face we can relate to and an obvious 'play' symbol. They actually open a pop-over embed so the video plays nice and big across the page. We also have a key quote shown so even if people don't watch them all they can see the main points.
The balance of limited but powerful copy, graphics and videos make this a website well worth studying and learning from.
And one of the key ingredients really are those testimonial videos.
So get thinking, who can you speak to?
Who will speak for you?
Make the videos short, personable, diverse and telling the actual story of the product in action.
Need help thinking this through? Get in touch.
Yep. You can book me too.
Personalised Videos - Interview With Idomoo
Video interview with Dotan Ginsbourg from Idomoo about the power, possibilities, logistics and future of personalised videos for brands.
Tesco, o2, Barclays, Lloyds, BT, Vodafone, Sky, Exxon Mobil.
When brands like that are using personalised videos you know it's worth taking note.
And who are they making them with? Idomoo.
I caught up with Dotan Ginsbourg from Idomoo UK to talk about the possibilities, logistics and future of this growing marketing trend. And found out how a big brand tactic like this can be used by SME's.
Watch our chat and also take a read below for a summary and some of my thoughts.
For transparency: Idomoo have not paid me for this post.
Not even sent me cake.
Here's a summary of our conversation.
What's the essence of what Idomoo can do? Well, as Dotan told me, they "can take almost any creative and data personalisation and combine it together".
Agnostic to delivery
"We're agnostic as to where the data is coming from and agnostic as to the distribution" - so email, in an app, IPTV."
How? Because the personalized video is stored and in some cases even rendered live in the cloud.
3 levels of personalisation
"We can take basically 3 levels of personalisation. One is voiceover, the second is text and the third is scene selection. Meaning your video is a combination of different scenes, text and voiceover combined together according to pre-defined logic. So based on your profile, based on your behaviour, the brand can grab your attention, hold your attention, give you valuable information and then give you personalised click-to-actions. These campaigns are extremely effective in terms of engagement, conversion and customer retention."
the brand can grab your attention, hold your attention, give you valuable information and then give you personalised click-to-actions
4 steps of customer life cycle
"The 4 steps in a customer life cycle: acquisiition, welcome, in-life and retention and we're doing projects around those four steps".
The acquisition might come via your own CRM or data you've purchased.
Welcome? Well, for example Barclays are doing all of their onboarding with new customers through personalised video.
In-life? That's things like up-grading. Whatever your product: be it your phone, your insurance...
Retention: the brand can approach you in a friendly, emotional, personalised way.
I'd go further. What about the fifth step in the customer life cycle? Advocacy.
Engaing in such a personalised way is more likely to make a customer a cheer leader for your brand. If a video really catches their attention, they're likely to talk about it with someone and spread your brand's name and message.
Results are everything
Results are everything. Because it's digital it's very easy for the brands to track and measure the effectiveness of the campaigns, be it open, click through, voucher redemption, sign up, downloads, etc.
"Less people are interested in either generic communication or something that's not digital. So we can do digital, video and relevant to you. And this is where it's very powerful."
Cost?
There's one crucial ingredient to personalised video that influences the cost of course. THE VIDEO. Any production company will tell you it's the 'how long is a piece of string' scenario. Clearly if you're filming or animating something there is cost involved. If you're including actors, even celebrities, the cost is going up further. Idomoo don't actually produce the videos. They're not marketers, they're not storytellers, they're technological wizards.
So there's the cost of your creative agency, the video production cost and finally Idomoo's.
As Dotan says, if you compared their element to other forms of marketing, then they'd be more expensive than sending an email, less expensive than sending a letter. LESS EXPENSIVE THAN SENDING A LETTER.
"We're creating an opportunity for the brand to convey a message to its customers. Because this is a major challenge. Less people are interested in either generic communication or something that's not digital. So we can do digital, video and relevant to you. And this is where it's very powerful."
How smaller brands can use Idomoo
"We work in two ways. One is working with big brands with agencies... but we also work in a 'self-service mode"
So after filming "you'd upload your scenes to the platform... you can then integrate data according to placeholders that you're defining with Adobe After Effects. And then through the platform you basically generate the videos, that creates a personalised url and then you can distribute it: integrate it into an email campaign".
"Agencies can do personalised videos in a manual way, but the downside to that is that it's very expensive. It's not in scale. So they can do one thousand; we can do ten million. And because it's manual and not automatic, there's always the risk of error. Because we give them a platform, an engine, technology, this gives creative agencies and brands a very interesting opportunity".
"This should be... part of an omni-channel communication plan.
We have enough results to support that."
The future?
Dotan, as you'd expect, believes personalisation will expand further and even spread to TV.
"You know, I don't want to watch an ad that's not relevant to me, so that's an area that will grow."
Also some sectors simply aren't doing this yet, so there's catch up to be had: "We're doing our first project with a big travel brand, but the rest aren't doing that."
Dotan certainly sounds confident, "I'm now in my second year. First year: we've tried to define this as an innovative approach. Now, we're not innovation, this should be 'business as usual', part of an omni-channel communication plan. We have enough results to support that."
Want to try this?
Not gonna lie. I'm excited to try this. Want to work together?
One of my clients are already thinking about what they can do. They should be the first in their sector. It's going to make them stand out from the crowd for sure.
Don't let yourself play catch up in years to come. Why not look at what you can do to personalise your videos? To offer something that's not generic, that's relevant, that's going to make a difference to your customers and therefore to your business. If you've not done so already, check out my original post where I give some food for thought as to how SME's can personalise videos.
This isn't the only way to make video, far from it, but this is a fresh way to cut through the noise of direct marketing, be it post or email to really connect with your customers.
PS. (In case you missed it earlier)
Idomoo have not paid me for this post.
5 Great Examples Of Twitter Video for Chinese New Year
Brands jumping on Twitter's #chinesenewyear hash tag with video - But are they just monkeying around?
When scheduling content across the year, the likes of Chinese New Year are bound to jump out for marketers.
So here are five examples of brands using Twitter video in a pretty smart way for the Year of The Monkey. Erm, and then one from the UK Government.
Each using the topical trending hashtag #chinesenewyear for discovery - but what else are they doing well?
Jamie Oliver
- Direct clickable link to an article about ginger on Jamie's site (from the video itself)
- Works brilliantly silent
- Engaging, fun, shareable
- Great click-bait title
- Re-purposed - notice that this content, whilst being used for Chinese New Year is actually totally evergreen (the music is SO Chinese right?). There's no mention of Chinese food anywhere in the actual video. But it doesn't feel like they've crow-barred it in. Smart.
- If my wife's reading this, please send biscuits
Biscuiteers
(Why send flowers when you can send buiscuiteers!)
- Short and sweet
- Eyecatching
- Using one of their products (the iced dragon head)
- I'd never heard of this brand, so it goes to show it works, I was intrigued to stop, watch again, watch again and then click their Twitter bio to discover more. Shame there's no click-through though.
Waitrose
- Evergreen content again: this is great use of video they already have being scheduled for a particular calendar event with the #
- Makes us aware that Waitrose TV exists, a place for more recipes like this
- Pretty long though, this feels more like a Facebook/YouTube video, a shorter version snapping through the processes, leading to us clicking through to the actual Waitrose TV site would have been better
Morrisons
- specific Chinese New Year content here and because of the monkey only works this year, I hope, since they went to the trouble, that they made extra versions with toy chickens, dragons, etc
- fun, Twitter friendly video, works well with no sound
- shows us the ingredients we can find in store
Digi
- eye catching
- fun, shareable, but WTF?
- bit long for Twitter, but totally engrossing
- link through to site and competition
Digi are a Malaysian mobile phone company. They've created this content to encourage us to 'score big points' with our Chinese families this year by using their correct titles when speaking to them (using our Digi mobiles of course)
You owe me one for figuring it out for you. Fun though, right?!
It links through to a page with more on Chinese New Year, further video and a chance to win an iPhone 6s
David Cameron
- good use of subtitles
Okay, that's kind of the only plus point.
It's long, pretty dull, but nice to hear him say 'Fire Monkey'.
You can keep watching but, like me, you'll be gutted the Cabinet don't appear doing a Chinese Dragon dance behind him towards the end (missed opportunity for Osborne!).
And man, did they open him up to a LOT of responses like this.
And this is the cleanest.
Cancer Research Videos
Great examples of a charity using video and social media together. Join them.
I don't have to tell you what a horrible thing cancer is.
Just ask anyone and they'll have been affected in some way it seems. I know my family has.
It's an absolute arse.
Which is why an organisation like Cancer Research UK making the most of the power of video, makes me happy. I'm writing this on World Cancer Day, which is where we start...
Video made for Social media
Their Tweet below is a perfect example of creating a video for Social.
- it works brilliantly silent
- nice clear message
- short and shareable
- bright, colourful, bold, eye catching
- a clear call to action
Yes, you may well hear sound on this, but mute it. See how powerful a visual it is?
Here's another example from Facebook.
It's said you have 8 seconds to grab someone's attention. Notice how the first 10 seconds is bold colur, text and emotive visuals? If you've grabbed my eyes by then, I'll click to unmute and hear what is said after that... This is definitely going to stand out as I absentmindedly scroll, scroll, scroll.
Structured YouTube
Their YouTube channel is a hub for inspiration and information.
They've made perfect use of YouTube's playlists so they can categorise their (many) videos. Different types of cancer, fundraising ideas, research...
A charity making the most of the power of online video, far far beyond what a TV advert can do.
I love it.
You can donate to Cancer Research UK here.
5 Great Examples Of University Videos
What will universities learn from these 5 great examples of educational explainer videos?
Every businss needs an explainer video.
Universities are no different. In fact, probably more so.
Think about it. You might only have a few choices of company to pick from normally... but when choosing a uni? The whole of the country, if not the world, is on offer. The 'customers' are making insanely emotional, life changing and expensive decisions and they begin remotely, miles from what you have to offer. So for a university, the video 'first impression' is key.
Here I share five of my favourite key marketing videos for universities. What I mean by that: all universities have huge numbers of videos, but if you could pick just one video to be an overview for a whole educational establishment, this would be a great one.
University of Sussex
What I like:
- short: just a minute long
- cool look: this is made in a really fresh, modern 'stop-motion' style that will appeal to its audience
- cool sound: the music, again suits the target audience
- text: you can watch this with the sound off and still get the message (crucial when sharing on social media or for your audience watching on a mobile device)
Oddly, I can't find them using this on Facebook or Twitter and it's not the 'feature' video for their YouTube channel either. Crazy. Maybe they're holding it back to launch as part of some big marketing campaign. Hope so, as this video should not be buried.
There's another very good example in a similar style from University of Oxford. They make great use of their video. As you can see below, it has a good position on their actual website (someting universities often seem to struggle to do), pride of place as 'feature' video on the YouTube Channel and nice and clear on their Facebook page too. Full marks.
University of Leeds
What I like:
- cool - both the style of edit and music align with their target audience
- testimonials - it has voices of students talking about Leeds, but because we don't see them it doesn't slow the video down
- student life - we actually get a sense of what it might be like to be a student
- more films at end - this is part of a series of films and we're encouraged to view them at the end
Below, you can see how they encourage you to keep exploring. It's a fun way of keeping people watching. If all of this content was in one film it would be too long, it would deter viewers, but lots of short form pieces one after another, you probably will. Using the in-built YouTube facility to click the screen to view is smart - there's no temptation to watch anything else until you've seen all of these.
University of Bristol
What I like:
- tour - we get to see a LOT of the uni and city
- pace - whilst it's not that short (3 min), it does have great pace, keeping our interest
- authentic - this isn't a polished advert like so many others, this is very much real
- call to action - the whole video acts as a call to action, to sign up to an open day, see it for yourself
- voices - real opinions from current students and potential ones (and unfortunately, parents - I think they'd have been best sticking to students - cooler)
- passion - there's a lot of passion that comes across from those involved, it's infectious
The quote from a visitor, "Bristol's website is good but seeing it in real life's a lot better" sums this video up.
Cleveland Institute of art
This example is nearly 10 years old, but is exceptional and well worth a view.
What I like:
- knows its audience - they're an art institute and the whole concept embraces that
- creative - it's a totally fresh way of showing the detail (keep in mind, this was 2007)
- tone - the way this speaks to its student audience is perfect
It's remarkable that a video this long (5m 30) is so captivating. Yes, it's a bit too long, certainly by today's standards and please please please don't all copy this and start doing the modern day version of 'white board video animation'. PLEASE no. But, what can you do that perfectly encapsulates what your institute is about and talks to your audience in their voice?
Which leads on to...
Imperial College London
If you have a niche educational establishment, like CIA above, you really are in luck.
From the States, to the UK. From art... to science.
What I like:
- knows its audience - people who want to change the world through science
- inspiring - it intrigues and excites those it's targeting
- making a difference - the last quarter where it shows the actual difference their students/work make in the world is brilliantly done
I wouldn't normally suggest being so over-the-top in the 'inspirational' video style and music stakes. But you have to admit it totally suits the institution and who they're appealing to. It doesn't feel over the top. You're not going to this uni to have a laugh at the bar (though I'm sure you could), you're going to make a difference in the world; there's nothing wrong with being serious.
So there you have it: 5 videos that universities can be inspired by when inspiring students.
Here, I've only covered what I consider to be the main event. Uni's have plenty more options available: testmimonials, course specifics, campus and accomodation tours, student union, the town/city/area and so on. But just as every business should have an explainer video, every university must have a key, central piece of video marketing from which these others can spin off and orbit around. They make a world of difference.
Want to make a difference with your own explainer video? Get in touch!
Live Q&A videos for your business
Follow the recipe for Jamie Oliver's live Q&A videos on YouTube and Facebook success and serve them up as part of your content marketing.
I'm hungry. Got a hankering for turkey. And mince pies.
I've just finished watching Jamie Oliver's first Christmas LIVE Q&A - streamed on YouTube (his FoodTube channel) and Facebook.
In it he spoke directly to his audience, interacting with their messages (as has proved so popular with Periscope streaming), answering their questions, even controlling his own camera...
Yes. He's Jamie Oliver. Yes. He has a huge media team... but the reason this works well is because actually it's done on the cheap: it's raw, live, personal, authentic and there's no reason why you couldn't do it too. Read on to find out why you should bother.
I've embedded the video below, I clearly don't expect you to watch it all, so basically it runs likethis: hello - fun - wait for enough viewers to join - start answering questions - end with a plug for his magazine, TV show and upcoming live streams like this about Christmas.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
The recipe for Jamie's success is pretty simple. Get ready to share your knowledge, give tips, do short demos. Let's face it, this is really a cooler version of a webinar right? No powerpoint in sight.
It still helps if you have a theme or a topic (so here it was 'christmas showstoppers') to focus the video and inspire your audience.
WHY YOU SHOULD BOTHER
- You help build that connection with your audience: they're your customers/potential customers; engage with them.
- You show the human side to your business, literally, if you're friendly and knowledgable chances are we'll want to buy from you.
- In receiving questions you'll get an insight into what your audience actually wants to know; whilst you might not answer all of them live, you'll end up with a stack of content ideas for future videos or blog posts; it's like a collective brainstorm meeting.
- You will end up with answers/facts that you can use in further social activity and blog posts, either as text or shorter excerpts of the video, like this:
REMEMBER
It doesn't have to be perfect. This is Jamie Oliver, seasoned pro and it's not perfect, in fact it'd be boring if it was. So don't stress about it. Have a bit of a rehearsal so you know how the gear works and figure out how you'll filter questions, maybe have a few already lined up in case the interaction starts off slow.
If you don't try this, you'll never know.
Want help getting started? Get in touch. Especially if you've got some mince pies.
Personalised Video from Tesco
How do Tesco make their personalised videos?!
How can you get more personal too?
Okay. Let me share with you my latest Clubcard statement.
No, wait! Really. Watch this.
Hell yeah! 9 coupons. Living the dream.
The fact is I have numerous 'loyalty' cards. I get sent numerous postal statements and emails from them... and do I really read them? Here, Tesco have found a way to bring a stale, all-too-regular communication back to life. They're reminding me what I can do with all their perks and for that matter what their store looks like (minus the screaming kids).
How did Tesco do it?
Okay, so from a technical point you might be saying 'Hello Stephen! How have Tesco made their Personalised Clubcard Statement video?'
They're using Idomoo - a video marketing service that can mix video with a company's CRM data to create incredibly personalised videos in real time.
What does that mean? There's various versions of this technique where coding meets video, but basically Tesco filmed a live action video and put in it some 'placeholders' for text to be generated from data in their Clubcard CRM. One of the placeholders is even audio so the man says my name (although no one calls me Stephen unless I'm being told off so I thought the man was going to rebuke me for using more than 5 items in the quick-checkout).
It really could get even more personal that it has done. After all they know my eating habits and because it's done in real-time they know what the weather's like where I am (they know exactly where I am)... so they could have made a video where the man subtly walked past a load of Ben & Jerry's on offer or said 'on a day like today, we thought you might fancy our freshly baked mince pies and hot chocolate, come on fatty!' etc
What does THIS MEAN for your business?
The key thing to take away here is this:
Online video is NOT a TV advert. It's not a billboard. It doesn't need to be generic to a mass audience. It's being watched by one person on one device.
A PERSON... so talk to them.
There's no reason why you can't be more 'Personalised' in your approach to making videos. You might not think you have the resources to do what Tesco have done with Idomoo but that doesn't mean you can't get personal with your videos just by making different edits combined with targeted email marketing.
This will definitely set you apart from your competition. Not that many brands are doing it.
So think about it.
No really. Think about it. What do you offer? What do you know about your customers?
Depending on your CRM, I bet there's a lot you can do.
Let's say you're a car dealership. You know I bought an estate car 2 years ago. Instead of bombarding me with texts and emails and post telling me there's a Sale event on... why not send me a video saying you hope I'm still enjoying my estate... but have I considered upgrading to this 4x4 and SHOWING me a family enjoying it, followed by a link to easily book a test drive?!
Okay - what about an optician? You know I bought a pair of glasses 3 years ago. You know they were a desinger brand. How about showing me a video of men (yep, not women) wearing cool designer brand glasses that are new in store? Quick link to book an appointment.
I work with a big B2B corporate who have the vision to make individual videos for use in their pitches. So they appeal directly to that particular client they're trying to win. It's a lot of effort, but it works for them and the value in return is huge.
I could go on. But really, use your imagination because I've got a 9 coupon spending spree to be getting on with.
Of course if you'd like to bounce ideas off each other over cake and/or ice cream, please do get in touch! Call me Steve though, not Stephen.
Apple Watch Proves The Power Of Video Marketing
When it comes to marketing, the folk at Apple know what they're doing.
And with the launch of Apple Watch they put a whole lot of love into a video marketing strategy, take a look:
Check out the Apple Watch videos for yourself.
Like I say, you can do this too. Pair up a strong strategic email campaign with video and you're on to a winner. Want to chat about it? Get in touch.
PS. Notice how they remade the Aluminium one with the UK spelling and voiceover? They're good.
Osmo - Play the video - Play the Product
How the ingenious iPad toy Osmo promoted their 'Play Outside The Screen' device with perfect on screen storytelling.
No voiceover. No fancy graphics. Just the story. Just the experience.
“Perfect storytelling.
This doesn’t feel like an advert, it feels like an experience.”
A big hit on Christmas Day 2014 was the arrival of Osmo in our house.
Not a new Sesame Street character, but an ingenious toy that enables kids to play 'beyond the screen' with their iPads.
But what made me buy it?
Their video:
It's great. The way it tells the story of the product: the parental set up, the boxed games, the collaboration between kids (though mine would fight a litlle more I'm sure, it's almost like these kids are actors!), the emotions: pride in solving puzzles, the 'woah' cool nature of the dinosaur section... all shot in a stark white studio that reflects their brand and fits perfectly on their site.
And notice, there's not a single word of voiceover, nor on screen graphic overlays. This doesn't feel like an advert, it feels like an experience. I'm sold on the story, I'm sold on the product. Sometimes it pays to strip it back and keep it simple.
As a footnote from a marketing perspective: the way I discovered the video was by its continued appearance in my Facebook stream, so hey, that worked too.
Podcast Sponsorship
You don't have to be the one creating the content.
Find a podcast inline with your business and you'll find a passionate, dedicated audience ready to hear your message.
“You don’t have to be the one creating the content...”
Like much of the world, I was a Serial addict.
Gripped by a podcast that became a global phenomenon in the latter stages of 2014, picking up an audience of millions in just a couple of months as it followed the investigation of a real life convicted murderer and a possible miscarriage of justice.
Why mention it?
1. You really should listen. It’s a sublime piece of audio production and storytelling.
2. There’s a lesson here on what businesses can do, because no Serial listener could fail to tell you which company sponsored it from the beginning: MailChimp.
And as Serial's popularity went through the roof suddenly audible, Squarespace (incidentally a web company I only know about because of their long time sponsorship of the Answer Me This podcast) and others lined up to be associated with it.
Yes, sponsorship is a marketing tactic as old as time, but that's because it really is effective.
This could be you too.
I mean, sure if you’re after a global digital audience, this could literally be you - contact the makers of Serial, sign the cheque for series 2.
But what I mean is… you don’t have to be the one that is creating the content.
Just like Mailchimp, you can capitalise on sponsoring somebody else’s.
“Find a podcast whose audience is your audience”
Find a podcast whose audience is your audience.
There is pretty much a podcast for every industry and every interest on iTunes and it doesn’t matter if the podcast isn’t huge audience wise, what matters is that it’s a good fit.
Have a listen and if you enjoy the podcast and like what they’re doing, why not support it? Contact the producers… you won’t pay a huge amount for a podcast that isn’t raking in a huge audience, most will be glad to have your interest if they’re currently unsponsored.
Podcasts can provide reliable audience data (unlike TV, radio and press): it may be a smaller audience, but it'll be engaged and it'll be targeted.
Podcasts tend to be listened to without 'fast forwarding' through the ads (unlike TV and press): your message will be heard, no doubt about it. But remember, it's all about brand awareness.
Don't expect a massive spike in profits immediately you jump on board and above all, stick with it - the best effect is drawn from repetition.
Everyone who has heard Serial from the beginning will tell you Mailchimp’s name, in fact they’ll doubtless know their tagline 'Send Better Email' and be able to lip-sync the voices that say the company’s name at the start of each episode.
Rather aptly, for a post was inspired by Serial, I think sponsoring a podcast has got to be a marketing technique worth investigating for any business.
Upddate - February 2016
Since writing this piece podcasts have the sponsorship of them have boomed. Sponsoring a podcast you'll find companies from small ambitious start ups to the might of Ford.
And I too have my own podcast sponsored. The particular company I chose to go with contacted me, liking the quality of the show and recognising that my audience was also their intended audience.
So, who's your audience?
