Luckily, most of the marketing managers or marketing agencies I have come across are eager to take a creative approach to their business, and explore various avenues as to how their company can be active and seen by the outside world. It’s gone far beyond an advert in the paper and your name in a directory.
At MWS we do the same, we may use our skills in video for our own marketing purposes, but we also produce blogs, whitepapers, put on events, do networking, use social media and email out monthly newsletters.The choices are expanding and it’s only going to broaden.
So, naturally the main pressure of a marketing agency or manager is to invest their available budget in the most effective strategy. Which of these avenues is going to make money, and which can I prove is going to be a long-term success?
Video is undoubtedly a more costly form of marketing than writing a blog or producing whitepapers. Although we all spend a fair amount of time watching videos/TV programs/films, it can be difficult for people in business to have faith in how video can enhance success. But I would like to explore the root cause of this and perhaps introduce some new perspectives on how video is long-lasting and effective.
The root cause I would like to think about is this misconception: People tend to see video as the end product. It is seen as a tool to justify to business and potential customers that they have ticked another box of marketing. If it’s on the website its work is done.
Video is not just a product, it’s a solution. Whilst video is something you commission to make and we can give you, it’s so much more about what you do with this video that will show you the real benefits. Being on the website isn’t enough. It’s almost the same as buying a car, it may have all the necessary features and look good, but if you’re only going to keep it parked on your driveway it isn’t going to take you places, even though it can.
So where can video take you?
Your car can take you to your friends close by and your local shop, just as video can be sent to your existing customers or current providers. These are people who know you, understand some of your work, and also you may receive encouraging and positive comments about your video, just like the new car will get noticed. It’s another way to engage with them and find out how their business is going, perhaps get feedback, perhaps arrange a meeting. In risk of sounding slightly cringe-worthy, it’s “taking them for a drive”.
For slightly longer and unfamiliar journeys, video has a place to interact on a more engaging level alongside your other strategies. Approaching someone you haven’t met before with a video is that window into your company’s personality, and fits in nicely with the other sales approaches. The phone call gives your business a voice, the email, blog, and whitepaper shows your business’s thoughts and ideas, the video shows the image and personality, and the website is the platform. These are all great tools to give a potential client as close an idea as possible of who you are and what you do.
Similarly, within the potential marketing routes, video can be part of other forms. You can embed a video in an email, in a blog, on your website and social media, project it as part of an event, shown on an phone or tablet in meetings... Just as the great new car is noticed by strangers in other locations, people take an interest in the look of it, perhaps want to find out more about it. They might want what it’s showing off too.
A lot of content marketing experts are emphasizing the importance of being customer-focused rather that inward facing. Whilst video can be an external or internal solution for any business, internal for instance being training or company news, the external video is necessary for this potential customer to feel that you have approached them at many angles, and as multi-sensory as you can.
Don’t let your video rest on your website and age. Keep it active through as many channels as possible, think about what you can share about your business, maybe update past videos. Just make sure your video is going places! The more active it is, the more the success of the message will far outweigh the initial investment.
Gemma.
