8 Tips for Producing Successful Branding Videos

Video is a crucial part of the modern enterprise’s social media marketing strategy. To effectively capture potential customers’ attention in today’s marketing landscape, businesses must equip themselves with video content.

This is especially true for businesses in New York City. Creating well-thought-out video content may determine if an enterprise in such a highly competitive market will sink or swim.

If video marketing isn’t something a NY-based business has tried before, it can seem daunting. However, this doesn’t have to be the case. There are plenty of resources, consultants, and general advice available to aid in video creation and marketing.

1. Produce Videos in Series

Producing and releasing a video series built upon each other is a great way to get started with video marketing for several reasons:

• An installment of content fosters greater brand visibility over an extended period. The desire to know what will happen in the next episode will ensure that your target audience has a reason to look out for your content.
• Short videos tend to perform better on most platforms. For example, videos on YouTube perform better when they are under 10 minutes long.
• Sharing shorter clips in an episode fashion is quicker and easier to upload and download than a larger file size film.

2. Make Great, Attention-Grabbing Hooks

On average, the human attention span is eight seconds, which means that the video needs to entice the audience to stick around in those first few moments. This opener is often referred to as the hook.

Media marketing gurus advise providing viewers with a notion of value in the hook—something they believe they’ll gain from watching the video. Incorporating details that are amusing, emotional, or informative into the hook will make it more magnetic.

3. Prioritize Story Over Sales

It’s so secret consumers prefer engaging with content that tells a story they relate to or adds value to their lives. Instead of creating a video that thrusts branding at viewers, think of a concept that invites them to take a journey. The journey should help them understand what the company stands for and how the product or service offered is an extension of this.

Telling a story gives companies a human face and personality that appeals to the emotions of the videos’ consumers. Research has shown that our feelings control most of our decisions. So if you can hit that sweet spot with your content, you can influence their purchasing decision in your favor.

4. Adhere to Accessibility Guidelines

Be sure to consider the end-user carefully when producing and distributing your video content. Differently-abled audiences should be comfortably able to consume your videos. For example, deaf viewers should be able to understand what is happening in the visuals by the use of captions or a transcript of the video. Another option could be adding a video overlay with sign language interpretation.

5. Keep Mobile Users in Mind

Much of the video content we consume today comes to us via our various social media accounts. Studies have shown that the vast majority of us log onto Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. via our mobile devices. With this in mind, it would be foolhardy not to have the smartphone user in mind when conceptualizing branding videos.

6. Target Relevant Audiences on Facebook and Other Social Channels

Zeroing in on a specific target audience when creating video content increases its chances of having a real impact. Facebook allows the sharing of branded ad videos only with a chosen market segment. You can define your target audience by age group, geographic location, language, or gender. Only people who fit in your selected category will be able to view the video you post.

Facebook and other social media platforms also allow brands to define their target audience by their interests. Using this criterion will not prevent people with other interests from viewing the video. But it does increase the probability of the video grabbing the attention of the intended viewer and of them sharing it.

7. Add Clear CTAs (Calls to Action)

A clear CTA is an excellent way of ensuring that your video achieves its intended purpose. It will prompt the viewer to act on the information they have received from the video. The prompt does not have to be a request for the viewer to make a purchase. It could ask them to subscribe to a YouTube channel, like a Facebook page, or share the video with their circles. All these contribute to deepening the engagement of customers and potential customers with the brand.

8. Work With a Production Company if You’re Out of Your Depth

Many businesses work with production companies in NY to produce cohesive, successful branding video campaigns. There are many reasons you should consider taking this option, even if you may consider yourself handy with a camera.

One is that you stand to benefit from the company’s years of experience in this field. This experience means you will receive an end result of the required quality in a shorter period than if you were to struggle with all the shooting, editing, etc. They will also be more aware of current branding video trends than you likely are, making them better placed to create a video that will connect with a broader audience.

Video and Your Business Goals

Producing good quality video in the competitive Big Apple market can be intimidating, but if it helps you achieve your business objectives, it will be a worthwhile investment. To ensure this happens, you need to develop a video marketing strategy that clearly shows how this will happen. This strategy should tie in with your overall marketing strategy. Don’t rush to do a video just because everyone else is doing it.