Tell not Sell – 5 tips on how to use video content successfully in the long term.

The Corona crisis hit the global economy like the fist of “King” Ryan Garcia, fast, precise, and before you knew it, you were on the ground. Many brands, SMBs, and entire industries, such as the hospitality and travel industries, didn’t have enough time to catch their breath before finding themselves on the floor of the boxing ring. 

Since then, managers and marketers worldwide have been trying to find a way to cut losses, establish new sales channels, and generate revenue despite closed stores, restaurants, and hotels. Now it is becoming evident which companies were quick to digitalize their business models. Those who had slept through this are getting dangerously close to being knocked out.

Moving Pictures Moving People.

Don’t go dark – a fatal mistake.

But if the streets, stores, cinemas, theaters, airplanes, and hotels remain empty and personal contact with the customer drops almost to zero, how can you place your messages to the customers? Many marketing departments have fallen into a kind of shock paralysis and have abruptly cut their marketing budgets due to a lack of sales. A fatal mistake. Brands that have recovered the most after past crises or recessions have even increased their marketing budget during the crisis. Marketing and authentic branding is not a sprint. It’s is a marathon. And as recent studies by McKinsey show, for 2/3 of customers, how brands communicate during a crisis matters a lot. This has a “huge” impact on whether customers remain loyal to the brand after the post-Corona era. 

Your best brand ambassador in a crisis is video.

By 2022, 1 million videos will be streamed per second. The video share of total internet traffic worldwide will then be 82%. The Corona pandemic has given the already ongoing video hype another powerful boost. Brands should now take advantage of this.

Video platforms are experiencing the most significant increase ever, YouTube reports only on SmartTV devices has watch time increased by 80% in the last year, to around 450 million hours every day. And GEN Z video app TikTok has seen growth of almost 75%, cracking the 200 million users per month mark, and is hot on the heels of US rival Snapchat.

87% thrilled about content from their favorite brands.

Brands can use the rapid increase in media consumption to their advantage. In Q1 2020 alone, global digital and video advertising impressions increased by 182% (Source: Nielsen). Research shows that 87% of potential customers would like to see a video from the brand they are interested in. Additionally, 46% of viewers end up taking action after watching a compelling video advertisement.

Content builds relationships, relationships are built on trust and trust drives revenue.

To build real relationships with customers, it’s essential to create quality and relevant video content. Good news: quality video content is rewarded: 63% of consumers said they would watch videos in their entirety from start to finish if the content were relevant. (Adobe Digital Insights 2020) These completion rates are a really meaningful indicator for branded content, as they significantly impact the viral performance of ads. To illustrate: More than 97 percent of customers say that video content helps them better understand the brand, which is proven to lead to increased purchase intent..

5 Tips on how to use video content successfully in the long term.

Strategy first! 

Do your homework. Video content is too important just to get started quickly. It’s not just about making videos for the sake of making videos. Define a clear goal. 

The power of video, if done wrong, can become a fatal own goal. But with the right strategy, video can be the most important and successful tool in communicating with customers.

What is your story?

What do you want to tell? What is your story? The main focus here is the relevance of the content. Your potential customers are asking: What’s in for me. Avoid too much self-promotion. Use real storytelling with real protagonists. Don’t overload the videos with information. In the best case 1 video – 1 message. 

Think about recurring formats. So the viewer has a reason to come back again and again. Place value on visual storytelling. The visual language must fit your brand.

Telling instead of selling!

Your videos should strengthen your brand, the brand core values should be cleverly told via storytelling. This is not the place for discount promotions or the like. You should use separate ads for that. The point here is to build a strong relationship with your customers that will last for years.

If you do it right and credibly and your customers like the content you’ve created, trust will become your strongest sales tool.

Create your own content universe!

In an age where we watch videos anytime, anywhere, on any device, your content should be designed for all channels. One size fits all will not work. Videos for your corporate TV or LinkedIn need to be told differently than for Facebook or YouTube.

As a brand, become a broadcaster yourself. Create your own content home for your content. It shows video on a landing page increases the conversion to more than 80%. 

Mobile-first! Most video content is consumed on mobile. Therefore, think about optimizing your content for Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat & Co. Not only the dimensions (keyword: vertical content) of the videos, but also the usage behavior differs significantly between reels, posts, and stories. If you pay attention to all this, mobile content can become the turbo of your communication, it is an incredibly viral medium, 92% of mobile users share videos.

Make memories!

Mobile-first! Most video content is consumed on mobile. Therefore, think about optimizing your content for Instagram, TikTok,

It’s essential to create content with a purpose, and not just during a crisis. This doesn’t mean that the videos can’t be entertaining. Use video content as your stage! Especially in times of Corona, it is the only possible brand experience. Surprise your fans, followers, and future customers with well-made, serious, relevant, and entertaining content that can be shared, told to friends, and create memories.

Because if there is no memory, there will be no loyalty and therefore no customers after the pandemic and that would be the K.O.