Building Your Marketing Strategy Foundation
Creating a marketing video is fun. It’s fun because at the end of the video production process you have something tangible and exciting to share. Even better… it’s a marketing tactic that checks all the boxes you need for your marketing strategy foundation.
This is something that occurred to me recently as I listened to one of our clients speak about branding at a Wisconsin Business Owners luncheon. It’s kind of funny because he wasn’t a client at the time but has since become one after I met him that day.
Rob Grede is a marketing veteran and the author of Naked Marketing. I actually happened upon his book in a local book store over the weekend and it made me reflect on what he talked about on the day we met.
A Solid Marketing Strategy Foundation
Rob talked about three things we need to do in business to create a sound marketing foundation… create awareness, establish credibility, and maintain the brand. I love hearing that because video happens to be a great tactic for all three.
If you have PR or marketing experience, you understand the power of video. It allows a company to tap emotions and earn trust, and here’s how you can put video to work for each of those three pillars.
Create Awareness
Video is great for grabbing attention. Research shows us that people’s eyes are drawn to video on a website. Email campaigns are more effective when they include a link to a video. And video is the social media share king. So if creating awareness is important for you, video is the way to go.
It can be done with a single video, or you can use the Star Wars video marketing strategy and create multiple videos. Use them to launch a new business, product, service, brand… just about anything.
Do you have an existing brand you’d like to highlight? Maybe a product or service that’s been around a while but needs some marketing love? Video can help you refocus attention on it.
Establish Credibility
Creating a video is a great way to establish credibility because it can do something the written word and photos just can’t do. It allows viewers (i.e. prospects) to see what you do and how you do it.
You can write about your business all you want… you can add photos… but it pails in comparison to showing people in a video.
Mrs. G and I are currently getting bids on remodeling our kitchen. A salesman came by the other day and talked about their construction process. All I could think about is how much easier and credible it would have been if he had a video to show us how they do things.
Take it a step further. It’s one thing for you to talk about your business. What if your prospects could hear from your current customers?
Enter the video testimonial. We all know how valuable a testimonial can be. Real people telling your prospects how you helped solve their problem.
Gold. It’s hard to top that when you’re trying to establish credibility.
Maintain the Brand
Okay… you’ve done the heavy lifting and established a solid brand. Congrats… but your work isn’t complete because now you have to figure out how to remain on top.
This is one of the often overlooked benefits of video. The more people watch, the more they trust.
Trust… one of the things marketers covet the most. It’s so highly valued we now have Edelman’s Trust Barometer. This is a big reason I often advocate for a video series instead of producing one giant video.
Videos grow on people the more they watch. Each time they click on a new video, they’re alloing you into their lives. They’re growing more and more familiar with you and your business. They’re beginning to trust what you have to say.
Think about TV news anchors. Most people who watch TV news grow attached to their favorite anchors. Why? They don’t know them personally.
The reason why is because they watch night in and night out. The anchor becomes a familiar face, a trusted voice. They might not know them, but they feel like they do. Businesses can use this phenomena to their advantage while maintaining a brand.
Homework time… think about some of your favorite brands right now. When you’re done here, head to the brand’s YouTube channel and check out what’s going on there.
I’m confident they’ll have a YouTube channel because any major brand worth its salt is producing videos.
And that’s the point, isn’t it? Corporate America knows what a valuable tool video can be to maintain a brand, so it has incorporated the tactic into its marketing strategy.
Summing Things Up
Creating awareness, establishing credibility, and maintaining the brand can be a great starter strategy for any business wanting to improve on its marketing. They’re three legs to a stool that will provide a solid foundation for a business.
It’s nice to know there’s a terrific tactic that you can pair with each of the pillars.
–Tony Gnau
Tony Gnau is the Founder and Chief Storytelling Officer at T60 Productions.
He’s a three-time Emmy Award-winning journalist, has led T60 Productions to winning 18 Telly Awards for its corporate videos, and is the author of the Amazon #1 Bestseller “Lights, Camera, Impact: storytelling, branding, and production tips for engaging corporate videos.”