With COVID and this year’s election dominating the news, it’s important for companies to let internal teams and customers know what else happened in 2020. What newsworthy coverage did top teams get? Did the company receive new funding or sign some great new partners? What were the big milestone moments that need to be shared? Video can be a true differentiator when it’s used to not only market your organization’s products or services, but to market your company’s culture as well. 

It’s no surprise with this year’s shift to virtual that video is everywhere now, from the splash page on your website to everyone’s Facebook and LinkedIn feeds. In fact, 52 percent of marketers worldwide name video as the type of content with the highest ROI. But it’s not just a necessary content type, it is also an invaluable tool that can be used as a definitive teamwork and company culture asset, which can make all the difference.   

Photo by Marcos Rocha on Unsplash

Year-End Wins

Whether it’s an effort to revitalize a company’s homepage, recruit a targeted pool of new hires, or close much-needed deals, video is a useful platform to diversify a company’s marketing strategy. In particular, a year-in-review summary video, shared on social for customers and prospects alike, can promote a company’s achievements and extend an organization’s culture, making wins the focus of discussion as the year comes to a close. Highlighting the “Best of 2020” moments and releasing them to your community can be truly motivating as we prepare for exciting new challenges that await us next year.

Whether you are utilizing your own video resources or partnering with an external team like N6A, take the time to outline exactly what the last year held in terms of what major accomplishments should make the cut. A dedicated external video team can easily break down the barriers between a company and potential viewers through a mix of customizable messaging designed with the brand in mind, matching custom fonts, colors, logos and assets to produce something that represents a company’s exact style and culture for all to see. Just remember to keep focus on the positive elements including exceptional media coverage, product announcements, new partnerships and key client-adds or testimonials. 

As an alternative, we all know 2020 has been a tough year, so producing a leadership-led video outlining the plans and strategy initiatives of 2021 is another great way to give employees and customers alike a better sense of what your company is working towards in the coming year.

Who’s Who

While it’s novel to have the higher-ups talk about a company’s accomplishments, a truly great video asset lets the people speak for themselves. Consider crowd-sourcing content from your employees, giving them the chance to express how they overcame 2020 challenges, took part in community outreach techniques, or expanded major diversity initiatives within your organization. By giving employees a voice, the company culture is defined by the cohort driving that culture. 

As such, creating a video highlighting core values or challenges from an employee POV also gives companies the opportunity to share a customer story directly from employees throughout the organization. These options work incredibly well as internal pieces, but also for social channels to promote the outstanding people that work at the company for hiring initiatives.

Another possibility is to create a video focused on new employee introductions. It can be challenging in the WFH era to meet and greet new faces at a company. While you may see some fresh new faces on a Zoom call, it just isn’t the same as learning or hearing from colleagues directly, so it’s a great opportunity for companies to put together a video once a quarter to highlight new faces, roles they will play, and, more importantly, let them express something about themselves or show personality beyond a face in a digital grid of faces.

Being able to communicate clearly why a company does what it does, with the people doing it, is incredibly important — especially via video channels. Let N6A help tell your 2020 story and get in touch with us today!

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Of all the video marketing trends and strategies of the past few years — livestreamed video content continues to be one of the fastest growing and most effective tools available to marketers today. Especially now in 2020, as things continue to shift toward “all virtual, all the time,” livestreaming has helped companies build credibility and raise brand awareness, as well as providing an effective way to engage audiences across multiple platforms. Whether its a gated video webinar, a weekly coffee chat series or robust virtual event, customers want to experience content as it happens.

According to a study from Vimeo/Livestream, 80 percent of audiences would rather watch live video from a brand than read a blog, and 82 percent prefer live video from a brand over standard social posts. 

When compared to traditional “edited” video marketing content like case studies and product demos, engagement analytics make it clear — audiences love the raw authenticity and in-the-moment nature of a livestream.

For some companies, it’s even possible to repurpose and amplify live video as a cornerstone to their overall content marketing strategies. A single recorded livestream can be transcribed and re-purposed as a blog post, the audio can serve as a podcast, and quick clips and images can even be used for social media posts.

Getting Started

While there are many different strategies to develop live content, many brands find success in producing thought leadership content that positions themselves as a credible resource in a given industry. Live, topic-driven interviews and engaging panels or Q&As are perfect examples of this. Audiences tune-in and look to your team as being experts in the field. Sound familiar? 

Marketing webinars and podcasts have followed this exact model for years. The difference is usually the barrier to entry. Marketers have a long history of gating webinars behind a registration that can often be a deterrent. Think of what you want your videos to accomplish. If your goals are increasing community engagement and brand awareness, break down the gate and focus on a multi-stream/multi-platform approach.

Keeping up the Pace

One thing to keep in mind: live videos can’t be used with a one-and-done approach. In order to build an audience, it’s crucial that your company produces content at a regular cadence — weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. Think of your new live content plan like producing a TV show. You’ll want to release new episodes every week, promote upcoming guests and content, and remind viewers when and where to tune in. 

Once an episode airs you can even create shareable snack-sized clips from your stream that, once amplified on social media, promote and encourage more people to watch even after the stream has aired.

Keeping the Brand Strong

Try to find the underlying theme to your content and develop a series name and style. If you need ideas, research your target audience and look into what types of content they are more likely to engage with. 

When it comes to visual identity, think about what can grab your audience’s attention compared to other content in their feed. Design a logo or an animated intro, create something that compliments your company brand and don’t be afraid to make it fun!

Planning Ahead

Planning is key — line up guest speakers and topics a few episodes in advance to give plenty of time for promotion. If you are interviewing a guest, be sure to utilize their network and encourage them to share your series as well. 

Plan out a “run of show” for each episode, and keep the energy up by mixing up the format every 10-15 minutes. Instead of having a 40-min interview, open with 15 minutes of questions, transition to 15 minutes of audience driven Q&A, and then back for another 10-minute closing story or walkthrough. Varying segments will keep audiences tuned in longer, which improves your discoverability by encouraging social network algorithms to display your content more often.

Piquing Your Audience’s Interest

Speaking of algorithms, when you go live, always encourage your viewers to actively engage with your stream. Put out a call for audience questions and display them on the screen, prompt them with open-ended questions or polls to get a feel for what they are thinking, or just directly ask them to like and subscribe! 

Every single interaction increases the chance of your stream being displayed on their public feed that’s visible to their entire network. Even if those views don’t come in the 30 minutes you are live, keep in mind that your video will remain on most channels collecting views and being shared long after your stream ends. 

Photo by Kon Karampelas on Unsplash

Tracking Your Progress

Lastly, when it comes to production, there are plenty of great platforms out there that can help you livestream with remote guests, track analytics and engage in chat across multiple channels at once.  There are a handful of great services to help with technical aspects of the process, and we’ve been able to successfully stream across Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn. 

If you are just getting started, N6A offers turnkey packages that support developing your series, designing your livestream brand, and producing your show’s content so you can focus on hosting. For more information and a free consultation on planning your next livestreamed event, reach out to us today!

The post Livestreaming is a Must-Have for Your Video Content Marketing Strategy appeared first on N6 Powered by KRMA | Fully Integrated Digital Marketing.

In Part 1 of our two-part video content marketing series, I took a look at how targeting specific personas, leveraging the right platforms and destinations, and working toward clear-cut goals will solidify your video marketing strategy. 

The video medium is easy to digest for those audiences, and is a powerful tool to build engagement and trust across multiple channels to compliment your other forms of content. But it’s also incredibly complex. In this second part of our video marketing series, I’ll conclude by taking a look at other best practices for those looking to add video to their overall marketing strategy.

Know Your Format

I’d love to recommend the latest 4K cinema quality cameras, and $100,000 worth of equipment you need to buy to produce top-notch video content. The reality — especially now during COVID — is that quality is not only a lot more flexible than it used to be, but easier to achieve for rookies and veterans alike. If your budget is tight and you’re limited on resources, the best camera is the one you most likely have in your pocket right now.

A “content is king” mentality matters now more than ever as creators use iPhones, limited lighting, and basic sound gear to create engaging content regardless of Hollywood-level equipment and quality. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I’ve seen expensive multi-camera big-budget shoots flop with less than a hundred views, while a video shot on an iPhone gained views well into the hundreds of thousands. 

But there still needs to be some quality control. A simple cheap desktop USB mic can go a lot further than your tiny Macbook microphone. A video with great content but poor sound quality can make viewers close the tab quicker than anything you’ve seen. The same is true for a steady shot — a simple tripod is all you need.  

If you do want to make a splash with video, spend your big budget on tentpole pieces like case studies and company overview videos along with videos that end up embedded on your homepage.

Know Your Amplification Strategy

Engagement is equally important as the video itself. Of course, you want people to watch. But what you really want is for them to find your content so valuable that they want to engage with it beyond a single view.

Providing easy links for distribution is a good start, so always make sure your video player has a “share” link visible. Written metadata for your videos is incredibly valuable for SEO, so take the time to write keyword-packed titles, descriptions, and text anywhere you can depending on what platform you use. 

Encourage people to comment by asking engaging questions or for their feedback. Comments organically build a sense of community, so engaging with your audience and starting conversations can be valuable to your brand. It’s also okay to remind people to like and subscribe for notifications without sounding like some amateur vlogger —  just remember not to overdo it.

If you have a video series or a themed set of content, make sure to group it together in a playlist. If your viewers find and like one piece of your content, you’ll want them to keep the party going by watching and finding additional content that’s valuable to them. 

Also, caption everything. Not only is it important for accessibility, but having a written version of your video is a small step to big engagement. Some platforms like LinkedIn will actually autoplay your video content muted in a newsfeed, so having captions can help potential viewers into discovering your content without ever clicking play!

Be Authentic

Your video content doesn’t have to be perfect as long as it’s authentic. Your viewers are real people who want to hear from similarly real people — so own those imperfections and just tell it like it is. I actually prefer not to script videos when I can, and simply make a list of points I’d like to hit along the way. 

You don’t need a fancy backdrop either. It might be tricky now during COVID, but I recommend shooting your videos anywhere the action happens — particularly in your office. It breaks down any artifice, making it better to see your team working and have a little bit of ambient noise than to film in an echoey empty office conference room. 

Lastly, authenticity comes across when letting your customers speak for themselves. Video is a great way to show potential customers what your existing customers think straight from the source. Case studies and testimonial videos build a connection by letting your new viewers hear how great you are without you actually having to tell them how great you are.

These are just some of the best practices to use when assembling a video content marketing strategy. The best video content you can create are the ones your viewers — mostly your potential buyers and clients —  want to find. They may not garner the most views or become the biggest trending video out there, but if they convert or drive engagement they will be exactly the kind of content marketing you need.

Looking to incorporate a video strategy as a part of your marketing content mix? Reach out to us at [email protected]!

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Video is easy to digest, can build trust with your audience, and can be used across multiple channels to compliment your other forms of content. When it comes to marketing strategies, video is one of the more effective ways to boost engagement. In fact, marketers who incorporate video into their campaigns experience 34 percent higher conversion rates than usual. 

Capitalizing on video marketing isn’t just about having it as a single piece of the puzzle, it’s about using it as a complex tool to boost your entire marketing strategy. In this first part of a two-part video marketing series, I’ll take a look at some of the best practices for adding video to your overall marketing plan.

Photo by Seth Doyle on Unsplash

Know Your Audience

Video marketing can be very powerful, but only if it’s planned out. Simply creating your video content and publishing it to YouTube in the hopes that you get a bunch of clicks just won’t cut it. Like any other marketing content, it’s most important to know who your audience is, what they are searching for, and how you can best provide valuable content to them at every phase of their journey.

Simple and easy enough — your video marketing audience should be closely tied to your content marketing audience. Just because the asset is a video makes no difference. 

Know the Destination

One main detail to focus on is where that audience will be viewing your content. Is the video hosted on your own site? Can they find it on YouTube or native to LinkedIn? Is it an Instagram video? You may want to adjust your content based on engagement levels for that specific platform depending on who you want to target.

I also prefer to mostly use social channels like Facebook or Instagram to tease full-length video content. Do you have a really awesome four-person panel on the future of your industry? Share a quick clip or highlight and then drive people back for the full thing. Viewers on those channels typically don’t have time for a long commitment, so give them a taste of what you want to show them. 

Unless it’s long-form content like a webinar or discussion series, most marketing videos — including case studies, product overviews, culture videos, and more — should get their point across within a two-to-three-minute window. But mix it up often to keep viewers engaged if you decide on long-form content.

In particular, I never like to send people to a YouTube page to watch a video. I’m not saying YouTube isn’t important, because it totally is for discoverability. But the sooner you can get people to your site watching video, the sooner you can tailor their broader experience to keep them on your site. If the video is important enough to share —  it’s important enough to share within the reference and context of your own page. 

Know Your Goal

Ask your team: what do you hope to achieve with each video asset —  are you trying to build a community, gain brand awareness, propel the buyer’s journey with late-stage content? It seems simple, but mapping out why you produce video assets is key to determining how you can measure its individual success and the overall video strategy’s success as well.

Good video marketing doesn’t actually feel like marketing. But the best video marketing content has a specific focus and is produced with that focus in mind. Video is not a one-size fits all medium. Case studies, product demos, an hour-long webinar — these are all technically videos, yet they all have different strengths. Knowing these strengths and zeroing in on your marketing goals for each will be key in determining and building a successful video strategy.

Still curious about more video best practices? Be sure to check back for even more insights when Part 2 drops this Friday!

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