There is no shortage of online video campaigns highlighting businesses, products and services. But what separates the successful campaigns from the not-so-successful?
Lily Yao, marketing director at the American Marketing Association, said business owners who want to launch a video campaign must be sure to “identify and communicate the target audience of the campaign and ensure the firm has experience/case studies in reaching that audience via YouTube videos. The creative expertise is essential in partnering with the right firm to produce videos that will resonate with the target audience.”
Ilene Richardson, CEO and founder of the Norwalk-based advertising agency Imaginary Content, emphasized the importance of remembering who the video is meant to reach when designing a video campaign.
“You want to make sure you’re speaking to your intended audience in a way that’s going to essentially drive conversion, because that’s what all businesses want,” Richardson said. “They want more customers. So, if you are a business marketed towards kids you want to be aware that you’re speaking to the parents, but get the kids stoked. Or if you’re a new restaurant that just opened up you need to know who you are appealing to. Are you more for families? Or are you more for foodies? Make sure you’re creating content that focuses on your brand and the audience you want to reach.”
Richardson opined that video is best viewed as content, rather than a simple advertisement.
“Once you have content you can figure out who else might be able to use it,” she continued. “If you’re a hair salon, can you partner with a beauty supply store? If you’re a restaurant, can you partner with a local photographer and show their photography on the walls. There’s lots of ways this content can be further maximized. If you’re a Stamford business, maybe the city can spotlight your video on their website, there’s lots of ancillary benefits to having that content, whether it’s on your website, and then on your socials.”
Richardson also noted that YouTube may not always be the ideal outlet for every brand seeking to tell its story. She also pointed out the most important thing for many small and medium businesses is to ensure authenticity and consistency, particularly on platforms their customers are already on regularly. She used a salon she frequents as an example.
“They have one of the assistants who is constantly updating their socials and it’s not a belabored experience. They’re shooting people whose hair was just done and highlighting that, and it’s great content,” Richardson said. “It’s literally just the woman who answers the phones comes over and takes a quick video a couple times a day or week, and you don’t even see their face, it’s just the back of their head and the beautiful color job or cut. It serves them very well.”
Joseph Hughes, the founder and head creative at Burning Treehouse Film Company in White Plains, has built his company around providing area business owners with everything they need to produce video content.
“I’m a big believer in the power of video,” Hughes said. “Particularly in the Westchester County area where there are a lot of small-business owners and medium sized business owners who are looking to expand and create their own destiny in a way. They’re really starting to understand that video is a huge component of that. Social media is also a huge component of that as is having the ability to tell your story the way you want it to be told.”
Hughes said he had originally worked for a marketing agency producing videos but decided to focus on just the video production side of the equation when he went it alone.
“Video kind of cuts through a lot of the flack of ad buys and the question of ‘is this person going to engage with this, is this person going to see this?’ Because we do live in a very digitally advanced world. If you can find a way to convey your message in a very short period of time and a concise way, I think people are more likely to respond to that,” Hughes stated. “Video has this ability to enter someone’s consciousness in a way that is better than anything short of a conversation with another human being.”
Hughes noted that local filmmakers can provide an excellent opportunity for businesses considering a video to explore their options.
“We’re everywhere,” he said, counting himself among their number. “We are looking for projects and we’re looking for opportunities to be creative and share our talents with the world. So, any local business owner out there, look for storytellers you can work with. Because there are other people like you out there who maybe don’t fit into the traditional molds of the world. Your team is out there, so don’t give up, there’s somebody who can help you find that authenticity. That crazy idea that you’ve had in the back of your head while you’ve been sitting in your cubicle is not so crazy. There’s value in pursuing that.”
Jeremy Steinman, director of sales and marketing at Peekskill-based Presentation Multimedia, said companies that are interested in pursuing video need to be willing to fully commit to the medium for the best results.
“I think first and foremost, you have to prioritize video,” Steinman advised. “I think having the mentality and comfortability to be in front of the camera is something that is maybe easier for younger generations, but as more and more business owners are looking to get savvy with their digital marketing it is imperative that they and their team feel comfortable in front of a video camera.”
“People are not reading anymore,” Steinman added, noting the fit between video and the modern attention span. “They’re looking for stories, they’re looking for experience, they’re looking for things that look and feel the way they want, and that is best shown through video. You’re going to see better engagement in any sort of campaign you run with video in comparison to any sort of static imagery.”
Steinman also stressed that a campaign would not work if the videos felt inauthentic.
“You don’t have to be Brad Pitt to be successful at a video shoot,” Steinman said. “People want to talk to people, and especially for small to medium sized business where we are competing with larger retail establishments, the personality and service at a smaller business is really what’s really paramount. We should not be looking to present ourselves in a way that isn’t authentic to who we are as a business.”
