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Of all the brands nailing content marketing right now, arguably, Red Bull is the undisputed leader. These guys have transcended from being a single product energy drink brand into a world-renowned and globally acknowledged publisher of media, TV, print and film. From their up-to-date YouTube channel to their television broadcasting, sponsorship of some of the world’s most famous sporting events and having their own Sky Channel, magazine publications, journalism, radio channels and lastly, creating high-end documentary films. They are doing it all, and they have us gripped. But how?! And what’s the secret to their success?

Red Bull was launched in Austria back in 1987 by Austrian entrepreneur Dietrich Mateschitz after a visit to Thailand where he found the energy drink Krating Daeng. At that point, the idea of a carbonated energy drink in Europe had not been heard of nor thought about. The launch of Red Bull signified the beginning of a new product and the beginning of a whole new drinks category. Now, Red Bull has the highest market share of any energy drink product in the world and sells almost 7.9 billion cans every year worldwide (wiki).

How do I hear you say? Red Bull found their audience and customers very early on. In 1988 Red Bull sponsored their first-ever sporting event, “The Red Bull Dolomitenmann”, one of the most challenging relays on the planet. They discovered that the extreme sporting industry depended a lot on the adrenaline, energy and excitement of all people involved and that their product was perfectly suited for this type of audience, thus finding their “niche” and their ideal customers.

They then began to market the absolute sh*t out of it, making a name for themselves in the extreme sporting industry and soon becoming the thrilling epitome of youth and sporting culture that we know them as today. Red Bull got their logo out wherever they could, on TV and at extreme sporting events, and promoted their energy drink to sporting athletes who would then promote the Red Bull brand. Not long after inception, Red Bull had lift-off. They already had 100% market share because no other energy drink had been launched in Europe at that time, so they were very exclusive and therefore very desirable. Soon, they were not just seen as a drinks brand but as a culture and lifestyle brand.

Red Bull now own multiple sports teams across the world in Europe, USA and Brazil. They sponsor incredible sporting events from Formula 1 to the Snowboarding Olympics, work with hundreds of famous athletes. They have their own Red Bull sporting businesses like Red Bull Cliff Diving and, own two F1 Teams. They even have their own track racing game on PlayStation 3. It’s safe to say that they have killed it! People follow them for their content and updates on their activities, like a subscription to a streaming service. They have 10.2 million subscribers on YouTube, 14.9 million Instagram followers, 48 million likes on Facebook and 2 million followers on Twitter. Their videos on YouTube get ½ million views, with their most viewed videos standing at 155 million, 92 million and 47 million.

The secret strategy? Well, let’s start with Red Bull’s audience. They know their audience intimately and consistently put them first. Quite simply, from start to finish, Red Bull has always put their customers at the heart of their business and focused on making content that they know their customers will enjoy. It’s not just about filming, sponsoring or hosting sporting events. For Red Bull, it’s about creating moments and experiences they can share with their unique audience. They film TV content like Red Bull Rampage 2021, host events like these every year, and make them accessible to everyone and anyone.

They also film documentaries for their YouTube channel like “The Fearless Swedish Free-rider” that are interesting and enjoyable to watch by anyone.

But, their most popular content is stunt videos like the “Felix Baumgartner’s Supersonic Freefall” or their most viewed video from the free-running series “Last Call for Mr Paul”.

Red Bull constantly goes above and beyond (quite literally) and creates content that is mind-blowingly brilliant and better than most of the content produced by major publishing organisations. By putting their customers first and listening to their audiences, they have become the most talked-about brand of our generation. Where their customers go, they go, from music festivals, concerts, art shows to reporting on the latest and trending sports, skate parks to mountain biking, free-running in car parks and paint-balling – they’ve been everywhere, and they’ve done it all!

Sell an experience, not a product

.Red Bull’s marketing strategy is to sell an experience, not a product, and this is something that any business or brand can do. Creating content for your customer and putting the audience first is a strategy that can work for any company. There are many other brands out there that have started to adopt this Red Bull method and become publishers instead of just selling “products”. Volvo is one such brand. They created a documentary series on YouTube titled Human Made Stories: Defiant Pioneers, which features five episodes that look into different human stories like this one titled “Nemo Gardens”, about a man in Italy building an underwater farm.

Patagonia quickly established itself as a publisher on YouTube, uploading interviews, documentaries, short films and long films about the planet, sustainability and people. Patagonia’s Workwear series on YouTube has 15 videos and is still being updated today with new videos, these feature interviews with people who wear Patagonia’s workwear as part of their jobs.

Nike is another brand that is identified through its content. Yes, they sell shoes, but they also share experiences and promote a specific identity. Their YouTube channel also has a lot of documentary content going up onto it that is interesting to watch, like this Waves Not Cycles | Nike x Patta

More and more brands are implementing Red Bull’s strategy, becoming publishers and creating video content for use online. However, no brand has or is doing better than them. They nailed this part of their marketing very early on and have set the tone for any brand to follow and replicate. But, looking at all the brands out there that are following suit is a good sign that the Red Bull strategy works. For businesses that aren’t implementing this strategy, we suggest starting small and working your way up to it. Start with some customer testimonial videos or behind the scene footage of your business and factory, documenting the way you do things and the way your products are made. Just get your content out there to the customers that want to listen and see how they respond.

If you want to know more about audience-first content, you can read our blog >>What is Audience-First Content?

If you want to know more about audience first video content and documentary filming, you can visit our other blogs:
>> How Brands Can Use Documentary Style Video in Content Marketing.

Blurred Lines. How Branded Content is Transforming Traditional Broadcasting.

3 Easy Steps to Get Sales with Video

Video is dominating the digital marketing space at the moment and the statistics speak for themselves. According to Google nearly 50% of internet users look for videos related to a product or service before visiting a store and video ads have an average click-through rate of 1.84% – the highest of all digital ad formats. (Business Insider). But what’s the best way to drive sales for your business with video?

When it come to sales, Google describes the consumer marketing journey in its own framework “See, Think, Do”. In short, these are the 3 phases a customer goes through before buying your product. First, it is awareness of your product or service. Next, they signal an intention to buy and finally, they buy.

Whether you are a B2C brand selling a consumer product or a B2B business selling a service, you need to create a funnel of interest and leads at the start of your consumer’s journey and then guide them through these 3 steps before asking for a sale. The best way to do this is with either an online advertising campaign, an email marketing campaign or a mix of both.

1. Inform

Run some general awareness video adverts on either Google, Youtube or Social Media. This is for the people that don’t know you and haven’t even heard of you. Get them familiar with your business through targeted video adverts. Identify your audience first, decide where the best place is to reach them, then create adverts that softly introduce you to them. Don’t try to strong-arm them with a sale at this point. Brands that use video marketing grow their year-over-year revenue 49% faster than brands that don’t. (Wirebuzz)

2. Educate

Often, your ideal customer doesn’t know they have a problem that you can solve so begin to educate them. Let them know about the value of your product and why it is a good fit for them. In their buyer journey, when they are in Google’s “Think” phase, they will be seeking out information before making a decision so this is a great time to educate them. In fact, searches related to “how to” on YouTube have grown 70% year on year. (Google) Either send videos to your prospects via email (if you’ve captured their information) or re-market to them via Google or Facebook pixel. As I’ve talked about in a previous blog, think about creating videos that focus on the problem rather than the product. For example, if long distance runner is having a problem with blisters and your product solves that, then create content that unpacks “why” blisters happen in the first place, then how your product helps.

3. Offer

Buyers love a deal so run a promotion and deliver the promotion in a video. Run these videos as either 15 second adverts to the same audience you have raised awareness with, re-market to your existing audience or email them directly. Remember to have a finite time-frame on your offer and a definitive cut off point. The video should have a very strong call-to-action so prospects know how to redeem the offer. And remember to keep your videos nice and short. Nearly two-thirds of consumers prefer video under 60 seconds. (Insivia)

A recent survey by (Buffer) found that 73% of marketers said they’d create more video content if there were no obstacles like time, resources, and budget. But always consider that if you create a well-structured video marketing campaign just once, it’s much easier to then replicate it. It will be worth the time, resources and budget you may waste on less effective strategies.

If you want to talk to us about how to drive sales for your business using video then drop us a line at info@smallfilms.com

The word branded content gets banded around quite frequently but what does it actually mean? How does it specifically apply to video? And how can I use it to win more customers?

Wikipedia (always to be taken with a pinch of salt) defines Branded Content as “the practice of marketing via the creation of content that is funded or outright produced by an advertiser” as opposed to “content marketing” which “is a form of marketing focused on creating, publishing, and distributing content for a targeted audience online.” Surely then that’s different to advertising which Wiki describes as “Advertising is a marketing communication that employs an openly sponsored, non-personal message to promote or sell a product, service or idea”?

Confused? You are not alone. I’ve sat through many talks with industry leaders who often find it hard to put their finger on the true definition of “branded content”. The lines between advertising and content marketing are often blurred, but one truth remains; branded content offers value to the audience but serves the brand that created it.

If you are interested in what counts as branded content and how to define it then here’s a series of examples from the Haagen Dazs Youtube Channel…

This is their advert. No two ways about it. They are showing the product and pushing their agenda.

But then look at these three videos and their different forms of branded content.

This film was made by well-known filmmaker Morgan Spurlock. It’s a mini documentary that is sponsored by Haagen Dazs. So its branded content right? Seems simple enough.

https://youtu.be/CAtYWU3m8uY

And what about this video? It tells the story of the Jam Stand company. Seems like a classic bit of content marketing; an interesting story about these entrepreneurs, with a bit of product placement toward the end.

https://youtu.be/-KkuIXclbfI

But then it gets slightly confusing. This video is an amazing 360 VR experience looking at the plight of the honey bee. Its a great bit of content that adds value for people watching. But it was commissioned by Haagen Dazs to shout about the social purpose work they are doing so it’s strongly pushing their agenda. So is it branded content or a clever bit of advertising?

Ultimately semantics aside, there’s one thing that unites all three pieces of branded content; they all put the “Audience-First” by offering value to the audience rather than being just a straight-up advert. And when you are creating video, this part is critical if you want to generate more interest in your company, greater customer allegiance and sales.

So how do I create branded content for my business?

Its actually quite simple to create your own branded content. It just takes a bit of planning and a strong understanding of your target audience.

Think about your customer demographics and what interests them. Then start to build a content plan around that. Remember, you are putting your “audience first”, not your company agenda. So all the videos need to be informative, educational, interesting or entertaining. Don’t push the company agenda too heavily. Give your audience something first and then be grateful when they give you their allegiance.

For example, if you are a tech company that’s developed a new app to help people find car parking spots then what content would your customers find useful? A video guide to all the different ways you can pay for parking? Videos with insider tips on parking in major UK cities? You can even start to look at concepts that are less directly aligned with your company’s purpose like “DAB Radio Stations reviews”, “How to avoid road rage” and “Cheap fuelling spots in the UK”.

If your company has a social purpose or passion that you are aligned with, then explore creating content around that. So if your Parking App company also campaigns for the promotion of electric cars or you back an environmental charity then why not start a web series interviewing interesting people about those subjects?

Back when I worked in the TV industry in the development department, we’d cook up ideas for television series in a brainstorming meeting. Once we’d considered the TV channel we were pitching to and its tone of voice, as well as the viewer demographic we were appealing to, we’d come up with ideas that we thought they might like. We’d then plan out every episode of the series with post-its on a whiteboard until we had a well-formed plan to pitch to the commissioners at the TV channel.

The same plan of action should be taken when creating a branded content plan. Think of your Youtube channel as your own TV channel and you need to create different TV series to populate that channel. How frequently do you want episodes to show? Once a week? 2 per month? And how many months will the series last before you assess its success?

Why bother when I can just run paid adverts?

The online landscape is saturated with advertising. We are bombarded with it day in, day out. People are becoming desensitised to advertising and we’re learning to tune it out. Not to say that online adverts don’t have their place; they absolutely do. They are great for brand awareness, direct calls to action and can even go viral in their own right. But if you want to cut through the noise and engage your customers on a more meaningful level then you need to be creating your own branded content video plan.

I truly believe that brands can be the driving force behind meaningful video content that adds value to people’s lives. And the good news is you don’t have to be a multi-national conglomerate to do it. In fact, for startups and SMEs, branded content can be one of the most affordable and effective ways of generating new business. So what are you waiting for?

If you want to talk to us about how to create branded content for your business then drop us a line at info@smallfilms.com

If you are an SME and haven’t heard of the term ambush marketing, then you may be missing a trick. It’s a high impact, cost effective way for brands to hog the limelight and is frequently being used by the likes of Pepsi, Burger King and Nike to generate huge sales. And the good news is that you don’t have to be a big brand to use ambush marketing. It works for emerging brands too. So, what is ambush marketing and why is it so effective?

Imagine you want to hold a street party but can’t afford it. Then you find out your neighbor is hosting his own street party with a band and an expensive sound system. So you invite all your friends over and pass the party off as your own. Before you know it, your neighbour’s guests have even ended up at your house. You’ve got the street party you always wanted and didn’t have to pay a thing. #partyambush.

Now imagine you are Coco Cola and you’ve paid a fortune to sponsor the World Cup. But then Pepsi, who hasn’t paid a penny in sponsorship, decides to rebrand all their drinks cans with pictures of the England World Cup team. They win sales from Coke without the hefty price tag of official sponsorship. Catch my drift?

The most common form of ambush marketing takes place surrounding key sporting events where brands would ordinarily have to pay for sponsorship like the World Cup, Wimbledon or the Olympics. But it can also be used for other key calendar events like Movie Releases, Royal Birthdays, Festivals OR to hijack big marketing announcements from other brands like Apple or Tesla. And that marketing can manifest in print, TV, digital, radio or a brand’s packaging.

So how can emerging brands use ambush marketing effectively? And what about video – how can you use it to amplify an ambush marketing campaign?

1. Be Direct

In this game you need to be proactive and keep a beady eye on your annual calendar. There are many events that pop up throughout the year which you could create some awesome content to generate buzz. Form connections through imagery, colour and slogans whether that’s Union Jacks for a Royal Wedding, rainbows for London Pride or in the case of Blue Kitchen restaurant this year – create a social media video.
During the world cup they create this video which referenced Maradona’s famous “Hands of God”. So even thought Blues Kitchen has no official connection to the present world cup they formed a strong association that would have resonated with their audience.

Your ambush doesn’t just have to be inline with a specific event – it can stem from anything that is current or trending. You need look no further than social media for the latest meme or hot topic. Do you remember when fidget spinners first came into town and how everybody went crazy for them? Well Burger King took that trend in their stride and produced this awesome Gif…

As an emerging brand this is exactly the type of trend that could you easily to create some content around.

2. Be Fearless

To make an omelet you have to break a few eggs. So to stay ahead of your competition, you’ll have to risk putting a few noses out of joint with your ambush marketing. Look at what your competitors are doing or any bigger brands that you could ambush and then form a marketing campaign around their events. For example, in 2012, Nike piggybacked off London Olympic fervor with their own TV campaign called “Find your Greatness” despite the fact that Adidas were the official sponsor, not Nike.

And an example of an emerging brand jumping on a big brand’s bandwagon is Mous – they timed the release of their indestructible phone case with the arrival of the Iphone X. They even ambushed the long queue outside the Apple store and filmed some video content with the hopeful Iphone owners putting their indestructible case through its paces.

3. Be Predatory

Look for opportunities to have a dig at your competition. Here’s another example from Burger King where they hijacked the cinema release of the Clown horror film “IT” and used it to poke fun at their main competitor McDonalds with the slogan “Never Trust a Clown”. They created this piece of video content to promote the campaign.

And Android released this advert for their Smart watches just before the release of the Apple Watch, making the point that as an Android smart watch owner they have different styles so you can still be individual but with Apple, you only get one choice.

http://youtu.be/EMB2LbpHVxk

As an emerging brand there are so many opportunities lying in wait for you to do your own ambush marketing campaign, whether that’s piggybacking off a major event, jumping on a new trend that’s doing the rounds on social media or having a dig at some of your bigger competitors with a counterintuitive video campaign. Just look at the calendar and for anything you can take advantage of, then start your scheming! Be the predator, not the prey.

advertising ambush ambush marketing ambush video brand film branded advertising branded film branded video branded video content competition content marketing corporate video digital marketing online advertising social marketing social media social media advert video marketing World Cup

Video content is King

According to a recent study by Forrester Research, 1.8 million words of text is worth 1 minute of video in terms of impact. Whether such a comparison is really accurately quantifiable, it’s clear that video is rapidly overtaking text as the most dominant form of digital content.

In a fast-moving world of Social Media, changing technologies and ever more selective consumers, it’s the attention-grabbing, story-telling and engaging qualities of video that make it the most effective and shareable way for brands to communicate with their audiences. Indeed, by 2021 it’s predicted that a staggering 80% of global consumer internet traffic will be video.

Social Media has changed the way we consume video content

There are no two ways about it then – consumers love video and businesses are quickly having to adapt by making video a central part of their digital marketing strategies. So far, so straightforward. But it’s not quite as simple as commissioning a video, sticking it on your website and sharing a few links across Social Media.

The evolving digital landscape is creating more and more ways for audiences to consume video content and an increasing number and variety of Social Media platforms are at the forefront of this. Each Social Media platform has its own audience, character, features and functions, not to mention technical restrictions and conventions about hosting video. Audiences have different expectations and consume video differently according to each platform. Forward-thinking brands can take advantage of this by considering these Social Media nuances when planning their video distribution strategies. You can stay one step ahead of the competition by carefully adapting your video content to have the maximum impact on each Social Media platform.

To help you get started, here are our top tips on how to use video content across the most popular Social Media networks:

Facebook Tips

The stats

Using video to get brand engagement on Facebook is more important than ever. Facebook generates more than 8 billion video views per day (source Bloomberg) and views of branded video content have increased 258% since 2016 (Tubular Insights). Square video gets 275% more views and 482% more shares than regular.

The tone

Facebook is primarily a personal network of family and friends. Of course, businesses make great use of it for marketing purposes but consumers are largely using it in an informal way. It’s great for B2C and any video content you post should be friendly, entertaining and sit well in users’ feeds alongside casual updates from friends. Don’t post anything corporate or specialist and keep the tone light.

The format

Square video is outperforming regular video in terms of engagement, perhaps due to the increase in internet usage on Mobile phones.

Facebook videos autoplay and the majority of people watch without sound – make sure your video is captivating in the first few seconds to stop users scrolling on by – and don’t forget to add captions or text overlay and an attention-grabbing thumbnail and title.

Videos under 2 minutes long perform best.

Upload your video natively (rather than posting links to other video platforms) because the Facebook algorithm rewards native video.

Go live

Facebook’s algorithm also rewards live video as it is the most engaging type, and what’s more when brands post live video, it also seems to increase the reach of their non-live video content. Facebook live videos are viewed for 3 times longer than uploaded recorded video and get 10 times as much engagement. Live videos should be longer than recorded videos (but less than 15 minutes).

Advertise

Reach a highly targeted market with engaging video advertising on Facebook. Video ads receive 10 to 30% more views than other image ads (although often with a higher CPC).

Twitter Tips

The stats

Twitter is the channel for short, fleeting updates and therefore hasn’t emphasised video as much as some of the other social media channels. However, 82% of Twitter users say they watch video content on the platform (Bloomberg). Twitter reports that Tweets with video are 6 times as likely to be retweeted as Tweets with static images, and 70% of US marketers said they were confident they could drive sales through Twitter video advertising (www.emarketer.com)

The tone

Twitter is great for business networking and connecting with influencers and customers. The tone should be more professional than Facebook, but avoid overly spammy or salesy content. You can be more businesslike in what you post, but be conversational too as ‘real-time’ interactions are common.

The format

Twitter supports MP4 or MOV format video and you can post landscape, square or vertical videos. Square and vertical perform best because 93% of Twitter video views are on Mobile devices (Adweek). Films can be no longer than 2 minutes 20 seconds. Between 30 and 45 seconds is the optimum length however so the platform is ideal for posting teaser clips to longer format video content on YouTube or your website.

Go live

Live video marries really well with the real-time immediacy of the Twitter platform and posting live video via Periscope is a great way to promote business events, conferences, product launches etc.

Advertise

Video advertising now accounts for over 50% of Twitter’s revenue and video website cards or video app cards can drive viewers directly to your website.

Instagram Tips

The stats

While primarily a photo sharing platform, the amount of time users spend watching video on Instagram has increased 80% year on year since video feature was launched in 2013 (Instagram). The main demographic is 18-29 years old (59% of this age-group uses the platform) and video advertising gets 3 times as many comments as photo advertising. 35% of Instagram users are creating and viewing video via Instagram stories (Mediakix).

The tone

Instagram is a friendly and informal platform used predominantly by the Millennial and Generation Z demographic. Its visual nature encourages active engagement and Instagram posts get the highest brand engagement of any Social Media platform (Invespcro). It is a really useful platform therefore for informal visual storytelling, communicating brand culture and identity, and for creating an emotionally engaged brand community. It is also very effective for showcasing products and online shopping for retail brands.

The format

Instagram video must be less than 60 seconds in length. Use vertical video in Instagram stories, and landscape for timeline video. An Instagram story video can only be 15 seconds in length, but you can add as many stories as you like, or make a longer story by posting multiple 15 second chunks sequentially.

Go live

Live video on Instagram can be up to an hour long and is available for your audience to watch (in full) in the stories and live section at the top of the screen. Live lends itself to seasonal stories and events or time limited promotions. It can also be a great way to increase engagement with your audience by means of live Q&As and chat.

Advertise

As we discovered earlier, video advertising on Instagram generates 3 times as many comments as photo advertising. As well as standard video ads between 3 and 60 seconds long including room for 2,200 characters of text, brands can now use carousel video ads by adding up to 5 videos to one ad, along with up to 2,200 characters of text.

Instagram TV

Instagram has recently launched Instagram TV, a long form video app that’s also available within Instagram. Videos on the app will be vertical in format and can be up to an hour long, suggesting that Instagram is vying for YouTube style content.

Linkedin Tips

The stats

75% of business executives said that they watch work-related video weekly (Cisco Systems) making professional networking platform Linkedin ideal for hosting business videos. 38% of marketers use video on Linkedin and 55% of business owners said they would continue or start to share video on Linkedin in 2018. Linkedin users are also 20 times more likely to share a video than any other type of post (Linkedin). 61 million Linkedin users are senior level influencers and decision makers and Linkedin is the top channel for distributing content for 94% of B2B marketers.

The tone

As a professional networking, B2B and recruitment platform, Linkedin suits a corporate and formal tone and is the place to demonstrate industry expertise and personal thought-leadership to your audience. 50% of US internet users with a college degree use Linkedin so your content should be value-adding and informative. Video can be used professionally to showcase projects, conduct interviews, show case-studies and post how to’s and demonstrations.

The format

Linkedin enabled a native video function recently and it now allows members (not businesses as yet except via advertising) to upload videos natively between 3 seconds and 10 minutes long from the app or web in either vertical or horizontal formats. Vertical videos will be cropped to square and videos will autoplay silently in the feed. The platform has also recently added sticker and text options for video. Native video will rank higher in searches than video links to other platforms. Although you can’t livestream, you can post a video as soon as you have recorded it and you can also share it to your company page.

Advertise

Linkedin has recently rolled out business video advertising in the form of Video for Sponsored Content and Company pages. Businesses can now pay to showcase their companies with video on their company pages and can sponsor highly targeted B2B video content that will autoplay in audience feeds.

YouTube Tips

The stats

The daddy of video hosting platforms, YouTube has a staggering 149 million viewers per month. (Statista). More than 1 billion hours of video are watched daily and more than 50% of YouTube video views come from Mobile devices (YouTube). YouTube also reaches more 18-49 years olds than any broadcast or cable TV network, and whilst time spent on YouTube by this demographic has increased by 74%, TV watching has decreased by 4%.

The tone

Although a lot of YouTube content is perceived as being entertainment based, it’s very much worth businesses having their own YouTube channels to raise awareness and build brand identity and engagement. Google has a strong bias towards YouTube videos in searches (as opposed to videos hosted on websites or other platforms) (Stone Temple) and 70% of people say they watch YouTube videos to ‘solve a problem’ and 86%, to ‘learn new things’. YouTube is therefore a brilliant tool for brands to use to explain how their products and services work and to educate and inform on industry issues.

The format

As a video hosting platform rather than a Social Media platform, you can upload all sorts of format and length videos to YouTube as long as they don’t exceed 20GB. However, ComScore reported that the average YouTube video length is 4.4 minutes, and Wistia research has shown that while you will keep 60% of viewers watching to the end of a 4 minute video, you will retain 75% of viewers of a 1-2 minute video. Shorter still seems to be sweeter on YouTube. 95% of YouTube video ads are audible (Google) – both vision and sound are important on this platform.

Go Live

Live streaming is possible on YouTube (and now also from your desktop) if your ‘account is in good standing’ and is verified. It’s a useful feature for vloggers to share live updates and for businesses to share live video of events/launches etc.

Advertise

YouTube accounts for a quarter of digital ad spend in the US. There are three video advertising options, the most popular being the 6 second bumper ads which appear before, during or after other videos and cannot be skipped. YouTube say that ’70% of bumper ads drive a significant lift in brand awareness.’ The second type of advertising is TrueView which is adverting that plays before, during and after videos, but which can be skipped after 5 seconds. The advertiser is only charged if a viewer watches for 30 seconds or engages with the video. Discovery ads appear when a viewer is browsing content on the web or YouTube and can be any length. The advertiser is charged when a viewer clicks on the ad.

Snapchat Tips

And a final word for Snapchat. Although the least used Social Media platform for video marketing, Snapchat’s popularity amongst the under 24’s should not be underestimated. For businesses targeting this demographic, they can make use of Snapchat stories to post 10 second temporary stories, and can take advantage of Snap Ads to get their video advertising content placed in users feeds.

If you would like help with producing video for different social media platforms, contact us here.

Small Films are video content specialists. By combining strategic minds with creative flair we create powerful stories with video that deeply resonate with audiences, supporting our clients to achieve their ambitions in growing their organisation, brand or campaign.

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In the fast-evolving world of digital marketing, the way we consume content is changing. With less reliance on desktop and laptop computers and rapidly expanding mobile technology, consumers can choose exactly when, how and where they access the internet and interact with online content. To grab the attention of this busy on-the-go audience with a short attention span, only the most engaging, flexible and value-adding content formats will continue to make the grade. With recent research showing that 1 minute of video is worth 1.8 million words (Forrester Research), now is the time to say goodbye to text – and welcome to a golden age of video marketing.

This is all very well for the large global brands, but what if your brand is small, or new? Smaller businesses can be put off by the perceived expense and technical issues involved in creating regular quality video content, so is it really worth the effort? The stats would seem to suggest that it very definitely is.

A Cisco report predicted that by 2018, a staggering 78% of global consumer internet traffic will be video. Adding video to your website landing page has been shown to increase conversions by 80% (Invisia), and to engage audiences to reduce your bounce rate. The average user spends 80% more time on a website with video (Mist Media). What’s more – looking at the the ultimate metric, 76% of businesses report that video has been good for their ROI (Wyzowl).

The numbers speak for themselves, but if you still need convincing have a look at our top reasons why video content is king in brand marketing:

It can provide useful information on your products

Consumers want enhanced information on products and services – particularly new ones. Explainer videos are a brilliant way of adding value to the customer experience whilst at the same time positioning your brand as helpful and knowledgeable. Your brand becomes not just a service or product provider, but also an expert information resource. And that’s good for sales. 74% of viewers who watched an explainer video went on to purchase the product or service (Wyzowl).

It can shape and reinforce your brand identity

As part of an integrated branding strategy, video content is the most effective way of getting across your your brand identity and story. Video appeals to all of the senses – you can use sound, music, attractive visuals, narrative, emotion, humour and mood to convey what you want people to ‘feel’ about your brand. And how they feel has a huge impact on their consumer behaviour. If they feel connected to your brand through your authentic use of video, they will develop trust and form a relationship with your business.

It’s the most engaging of all content formats

Research at Diode Digital showed that 60% of online viewers will watch a video before reading any text. Video advertising also has the highest CTR of all digital format advertising and consumers are much more likely to click on video than static banner ads (Sizmek). Social media platforms are increasingly being optimised for video content, and video is shared a huge 1200% more than links and text combined on Social Media. (Simply Measured). It’s also beneficial for brand recall. 80% of consumers can remember a brand video they’ve watched in the last month (Hubspot).

It’s great for brand SEO

Google owns YouTube so it’s not surprising that video content often comes high up in searches. In fact, your brand is 53x more likely to be at the top of Google search results if you have video embedded on your website (Moovly). Make sure your videos are SEO optimised to aid this, using keywords, SEO titles, and back-links to your products and other pages.

It can revolutionise your emarketing

Embedding video content in your enewsletters can transform their impact. Hubspot reports that click-through rates can be boosted by 200% – 300% by the addition of video content.

It’s flexible and works well on all devices

Video content works equally well on everything from PCs and laptops to tablets and smartphones and is particularly suited to a dynamic, out-and-about audience. With increasing mobile device usage and the growth of m-commerce, video is the perfect medium for reaching the mobile generation.

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How brands can use documentary-style video in content marketing

But what is documentary-style video content exactly?

Imagine a documentary you see on television about a subject you are passionate about… it could be anything from rock climbing or emerging music artists to disaster relief or homelessness. Now imagine a brand has taken the initiative to create that documentary content and distribute in online for free without a strong advertising agenda. It’s the newest form of video content that is emerging and there’s a very good reason why it is so successful. Rather than creating a commercial that relies on a big advertising spend to distribute it successfully, by creating free, short-form documentaries, the brand will not only have the potential for massive organic sharing on social media but also to lift its image in the eyes of its customers.

But why is this style of video content suddenly becoming so prevalent?

Video is King

It’s old news that video is the undisputed King of content marketing. Research shows that 60% of online consumers will watch a video before reading any text and video has the highest click through rate of any form of digital advertising (Sismek). Video content is also highly engaging – it is shared across social channels a whopping 1200% more than just links and text combined (Simply Measured). The stats say it all. Any business that is serious about marketing will be taking advantage of video’s many benefits, particularly when it comes to communicating their brand identities and stories.

Cut through the clutter

But in an online world where the moving image increasingly dominates, how can brands cut through the visual clutter and stand out from the crowd? This year, almost 80% of internet traffic is predicted to be video (Cisco). As the quantity of video increases, consumers are becoming more discerning and selective about what they choose to watch, and social media algorithms are changing to weed out the more spammy branded content and click bait from our news feeds. The average modern consumer is advertising savvy and likes to consume media proactively. Consumers are now deciding how and when to interact with their brands of choice and are increasingly rejecting traditional overt marketing and advertising methods.

Quality over quantity

Brands then, need to keep on their toes to reflect the changing online consumer environment when it comes to creating content that their audience will want to engage with. Video is great – but just producing lots of standard video content is no longer enough. The challenge now for brands is to achieve quality over quantity. Video content creation is moving into a more strategic and thoughtful phase. As the emphasis shifts towards longer form, more meaningful and memorable content that consumers actively want to watch, and that social channels reward, documentary-style branded video is coming into its own.

The rise of the documentary-style branded video

‘Storytelling’ is the marketing buzzword du jour, and video content naturally lends itself to this method of communicating brand identity. The documentary-style branded video takes this idea a step further. If stories are universally appealing to audiences, a short film or documentary style video offers a bigger and better vehicle for delivering them than a traditional short-form video. Reflecting the move away from overt marketing, documentary-style video provides a way for brands to use other people’s stories to indirectly communicate something about themselves. By using the longer-form story-centric format, they can make the most of dramatic and emotional elements thereby attracting and retaining viewers. It gives brands a chance to be creative, to target particular audiences with specifically tailored content, and above all, it helps them stand out from the crowd.

The brands leading the way in documentary-style video

These forward-thinking brands are showing how the investment can really pay off in terms of profile and engagement:

Volvo – Human Made Stories

Documentary-style content is an effective way of aligning your brand with certain values. Last year Volvo partnered with Sky Atlantic to produce a series of inspiring short films centring on the emotional impact of human innovation. ‘Nemo’s Garden’, the first in the series, tells the story of an Italian father and son who come up with a system to grow crops in the ocean in response to the problems caused by climate change and the declining viability of existing farmland. The stories have compelling emotional and dramatic impact – and effectively communicate Volvo’s commitment to innovation, along with its human and progressive values.

Coors Light

The beer giant recently moved into documentary-style film to differentiate itself from other similar popular beer brands and to shift away from its light and jokey image. In a series of real-life stories celebrating diversity and focusing on overcoming adversity, Coors have been trying to assert their authenticity and market their product ‘in real-life settings and scenarios’. The first spot, ‘My Climb. My Story’, features Shezi, An LA Based fashion designer who is battling a tumour. The film documents his fight back to fitness and the re-launch of his business. The Coors branding is subtle and the product only appears in the final launch party scene reflecting the move towards more indirect forms of marketing content.

Stella Artois – Our Dream of Water

Documentary-style film making allows brands to tackle serious issues and communicate ‘socially-conscious’ values. Having been collaborating with water charity water.org on the Buy a Lady a Drink campaign, Stella Artois then partnered with National Geographic to commission an award winning film director to make a documentary highlighting the impact of the global water crisis on communities around the world, particularly focusing on women.

They further invested in documentary by then sponsoring the Women in Film organisation to provide four $25,000 grants to women film-makers making socially conscious documentaries, especially those focusing on water. This socially conscious branding is great news for charities of course, but is obviously primarily a shrewd marketing move by Stella Artois. Female beer drinkers are occupying an increasing share of the market and research shows that women are more ‘socially minded’ than men. Stella has clearly adopted a female targeted marketing strategy and is using documentary film successfully to achieve its goals.

Patagonia – Worn Wear

Outdoor clothing brand Patagonia uses documentary film brilliantly to express passion and authenticity through compelling storytelling. One notable film they produced is ‘Worn Wear’ – a documentary with a simple premise – the ‘stories we wear’. Starting with the founder explaining how his love for mountaineering led him to turn his passion into a business, the film goes on to feature Patagonia customers talking about the clothing they have bought, and how it has served them over the years and through different adventures. The whole film is beautifully shot, and emphasises the company’s integrity. They are not giving the hard sell – just illustrating the quality and durability of their products through honest human stories, whilst also communicating their brand values of wholesome outdoor activity and environmental awareness. A perfect piece of inspirational documentary marketing.

Documentary-style content without the price tag

There’s a common misconception that only the biggest brands have the budget and resources to create documentary -style content. That couldn’t be further from the truth. With advances in affordable camera technology and the growing talent pool, video is cheaper to create today than it has ever been in history. It means video production companies can create documentary-style content for any small to medium size business. For now, its mainly the big brands who have cottoned on to its value as a marketing tool.. watch this space as the smaller brands start to catch up.

Small Films’ founder George Hughes spent 15 years producing and directing content for TV broadcast including serious documentary. For more information about how Small Films can help you with engaging documentary marketing content, contact us here.

Small Films are video content specialists. By combining strategic minds with the creative flair we create powerful stories with video that deeply resonate with audiences, supporting our clients to achieve their ambitions in growing their organisation, brand or campaign.

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Red Bull: Kings of Content Marketing

written by George Hughes

Sell an experience, not a product

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1. Inform

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The word branded content gets banded around quite frequently but what does it actually mean? How does it specifically apply to video? And how can I use it to win more customers?

So how do I create branded content for my business?

Why bother when I can just run paid adverts?

How brands can use documentary-style video in content marketing