If your brand needs to connect with a new audience – or even reconnect with an old one – there’s no better way than video. Whether you recently changed your core message, introduced an exciting new product range, or want to engage with an entirely new target market, video will enable you to stay relevant. Even better, your audience can enjoy, take part in, and share your message.
In this blog post, we’re going to share tips on doing exactly that. We’ll walk you through how to define what your brand stands for using video; reflect your customers’ needs; and when and how to communicate with them using video.
(Re)Define your true voice
Do you have a sneaking suspicion your brand has lost its voice or become confused about what it stands for? Or, you might feel that you simply don’t know how to find and connect with a new audience.
The good news is that with a little thinking, some research, and a carefully planned video marketing campaign, you can reclaim what your brand stands for.
We’re going to let you into a secret – producing a video makes you sit down and consider what your brand is all about. It sounds basic, but during the day to day running of a business, it can be hard to find time to consider your core message.
It’s natural that as a business develops, its message changes. The pre-production phase of creating a video is an opportunity to think about your brand, products or services, your target audience, and their interests.
Understand your audience
To make your video relevant, you need to understand your audience. If you’re struggling to understand what makes them tick, then get out there and talk to them! Conducting audience research will be invaluable not just for your video, but for your brand’s marketing strategy.
As a general rule, being a brand that’s relevant to your target market means speaking their language. It also means your video should aim to reflect their interests, hopes, and needs.
Once you can confidently answer the following questions about your audience, then you’re ready to start planning your video:
- What age range does my audience fall into?
- What do they enjoy doing?
- Where do they hang out online and offline?
- What are their values?
- What are their aspirations?
- How will they use my product / service?
- How will my brand make a difference to their lives?
When you’ve cracked understanding your audience, you’re perfectly placed to produce a video that appeals to your target market. Use your video to capture leads for your business by educating your audience, connecting with them, or converting them from prospective customers into buyers. Whatever type of leads you want to create, just make sure that your message matches your viewers’ needs and interests.
Videos are lead magnets. In fact, 70% of B2B marketers think that video is more effective than any other content when it comes to converting leads.
To ensure that you have a good understanding of your audience and are targeting the right leads, it’s a good idea to track your videos’ performance, know how many leads converted into paying customers, and the revenue that was generated. Our Definitive Guide to B2B Video Marketing ROI has lots of detailed information on keeping tabs on your ROI.
Reach out to your audience
Once you understand your audience, you’ll have a pretty good idea of where they can be found online. It goes without saying that having a social media presence is absolutely essential. There’s lots of info on how people are using social media platforms to consume video in our post The State of Social Video in 2016.
With SproutVideo, you can easily post your video to social media sites. Thanks to the sheer volume of content competing for users’ attention on social media, it’s more important than ever to ensure your video connects on a emotional level with your audience.
Whether it makes them laugh, cry, or even feel angry, it must say something that grabs their attention within seconds. Do this and viewers will engage with your message. Head over to Completing Your Social Media Plan with Video for 11 good reasons why you need a prominent video presence across social media.
Reaching out to your audience at the right time can make the difference between making and not making a sale. With one of SproutVideo’s marketing platform integrations, you can send email addresses captured by the SproutVideo email gating feature straight to your account. Then, you can set up a highly targeted marketing campaign based on your prospects’ viewing activity. One great example of using this integration is to send out an ebook containing a discount code after someone watches a product demo video on your website.
In Conclusion
No business wants to be considered irrelevant. No one wants to keep sending out a message that isn’t resonating with their target market. For business owners who want to stay relevant, evolve and connect with their customers, it’s essential to get in front of their target market and listen to them. Understanding what makes them tick is one of the most important elements of an effective, engaging marketing campaign.
Using video, it’s possible to show your target market that you’re in touch with their needs. What’s more, you can engage with them at just the right time and place. It’s a great way to make an immediate, personal connection; rather than communicating at the customer, you’re communicating with them.
If you have any thoughts to add on using video to stay relevant, share them with the SproutVideo community in the Comments section below or on Twitter!
