There’s no getting away from it. Making branded video content that actually delivers is really hard. And while marketing teams and agencies celebrate the launch of their next video campaign with great fanfare and gusto, the cold hard reality is the majority of video projects deliver lacklustre returns despite the big investment it took to bring them to life.
And that’s frustrating. For marketing teams, who have put in a significant amount of their time, energy, and budget, it's often a confusing and irritating process.
And you know what, that word process is a really important one. It's not a word that conjures great excitement. But in the world of video marketing it’s so important. The typical process – agency briefing, creative ideation, pitch presentation, production, activation – is setting brands up to fail.
There are a number of reasons a video might not deliver for you. And we have talked about the most common ones before. These problems are all rooted in a dysfunctional process that makes delivering stand out video content much harder than it should be.
Why is that? Well, the way the process works often deprives creatives and filmmakers the vital information they need to craft ideas that will deliver BIG for the brand they’re working with. This in turn can lead to you being underwhelmed. We've created our workshops to help nail these vital things, before we get cracking on ideas:
Know who your audience are
Start simple. But vitally important. Who are your audience? Too often marketers, senior stakeholders and other voices in the room bring bias. Your agency should be an advocate for your target audience in every piece of creative work you review.
Know what makes them tick
One person's mindless entertainment, is another person's conversion content. That z list celeb that you vaguely recognise could be the key to unlocking a new audience. If you're not in their head, you need to get in there. Emotion-led content - not necessarily the crying kind - is what's going to change hearts and minds.
Know where they hang out & why
No need for that 'TikTok row' on your channel plan spreadsheet if your audience isn't scrolling. You don't need to be everywhere, you just need to be where they are, at the exact right time, with the perfect message. No pressure...
Know what message will get their attention
So often it feels like video is shouting into a void, just hoping someone from your target audience is listening. You need to shortcut all that by nailing your messaging, testing, learning, testing again. Oh, and cutting out those 8 'extra' messages that someone thought should be woven in.
Know how to make your brand stand out
When was the last time you took a long, hard, dispassionate look at your competitors, the wider industry, or compatriot brands? It's grunt work, it's unappealing, and too often it leads to instant (unfair) dismissal of other's work, or copycat content. We're going to find your white space.
Know how to tell your story
That 85 page brand story that's 5 years in the making? Glorious. It won't mean anything unless you know what role you play in your audience's life and how best to show them your brand is the answer they've been seeking.
Know an agency who knows you
It’s all well and good writing a brief and sending it to an agency to work on. But without a proper understanding of you and your brand, it’s a big ask for them to create a content that is right for your brand at that stage. You need to work with an agency that has been through a proper process of understanding your brand and what makes it tick.
So there you have it, it’s only by knowing these things and making them inform the creative process that you can truly walk on set with confidence your video will deliver game-changing results. And don’t get us wrong, this stuff takes time and effort to gather, distil and disseminate into useful insights for creatives.
And that’s exactly where our content workshops come in. We do the important grunt work for you, and then you get to spend a day helping to shape and develop those vital building blocks for your next campaign. It's fun, its insightful and will ultimately deliver you a programme of game changing video content for your brand. Find out more about our workshops here.