Author: EJ Panganiban

It can be challenging to make sure your content is reaching and engaging your intended audience. In the era of scrolling, users spend just three seconds viewing ads on desktop and even less on mobile. Research studies provided by Mobile Marketing Association (MMA)* state that while static ads and video ads have the same likelihood of being seen, video ads are twice as likely to create an emotional response with less exposure. This means that video is one of the most effective ways to get the attention of your target. Because of this, it is more important than ever to have a solid strategy that integrates videos into your campaigns—here are some things to keep in mind in order to increase efficacy and engagement.

Strategy

Before you begin creating any video content it is vital to clearly understand your objectives. What action do you want the user to make? Are you looking to increase traffic to your website, increase overall brand awareness, attract new followers, create conversation starters or maybe you want them to purchase a product? Moving forward with a clear understanding of your business goals will increase the effectiveness of your video campaign and create more engagement with the audience.

Content Types

What type of video content will work best for your campaign? Viewers are looking for authenticity through relatable content and personalization. Quality content comes from understanding your audience’s interests and reaching them on multiple channels. Content topics can range from discussions on the latest issues, industry insights, learning opportunities, product reviews and giveaways. Video offers various delivery channels and can be in the form of tutorials, interviews, vlogs, demonstrations, live videos, webinars, testimonials, brand storytelling and influencer user-generated content. Integrating a multi-channel approach in your video content strategy is a crucial step to reaching your audience and goals.

Best Practices

On average, your video should be two minutes or less. Rather than making one long, complex video that covers multiple topics, you can create multiple short videos in a series to expand over the length of your campaign. This form of micro-content is easy to consume and keeps your message concise while also giving your viewers additional opportunities to engage with your business. Adding motion into your content doesn’t have to be complicated. Simple animations and gifs create dynamic video content that are timely and budget friendly to produce.

Accessibility of your videos is important particularly when reaching a large audience. Videos often preview or begin playing without the sound on most platforms, so it is important to make sure that a video transcript is added to allow the viewer to receive your message even with the sound off. Multicultural marketing is a great way for your content to remain relevant and connective to your audiences. Crafting your campaign messages to the native language of your various audiences adds authenticity and adding subtitles allows non-native speaking audiences to clearly understand the content.

Just like any digital content, your videos should be search engine optimized. Video SEO will allow your video content to be indexed and ranked based on relevant keyword searches. Having a good optimization strategy gives your videos a higher likelihood of registering during searches. Adding tags to your videos and crafting compelling headlines and descriptions will help increase your search results.

Understanding the differences between each of the social platforms will help you adjust your video for optimal performance. Each platform has different requirements for video dimensions, video length and viewing orientation. These requirements are constantly being updated and improved upon, so it is essential to be aware of these changes to keep your content optimized to the platform.

Creating authentic and compelling video content against a solid marketing strategy will add value to your viewers and drive engagement with your business. Take advantage of the growing demand for video content and find out how DCC can help you craft your next video campaign and social marketing efforts.

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https://www.mmaglobal.com/news/mobile-marketing-association-reveal-brands-need-first-second-strategy

Color plays an intricate part of setting the visual tone of how your brand is perceived by your target audiences. Color can represent and elicit an emotional response as well as have an effect on your behavior. Your brand archetype, core values, message strategy and target audiences provide valuable context when selecting your color palette. First, it is important to define who you are, what you stand for, and what sets you apart as a brand. Color plays a significant role as a visual language, so it is crucial to clearly understand the cultural differences and demographic breakdowns of those you’re reaching. 

Color theory acts as a guide that allows us to understand how different colors are perceived. Color psychology allows us to understand the various ways color can affect behavior and emotions based on culture and context. Not everyone relates to colors in the same way, however there are a few universal connotations that may be used as a general guide when selecting your brand color.

Red: A bold and dynamic color often representing passion, love, energy and is described to stimulate appetite. Red also connotes action, ambition, anger and determination.

Orange: A secondary color that combines the energy and passion of red with the joy and positivity of yellow. Orange attracts attention, shows fun and activity. It also promotes communication and motivation.

Yellow: A bright and positive color. Yellow connotes youth, positivity, hope, fun and optimism. Yellow, in a different context, also is associated with fear, anxiety, caution and danger.

Green: The secondary color of green often represents ideas of balance, harmony and nature. It combines yellow’s positivity and blue’s dependability to imply stability and growth.

Blue: Blue is known to convey trust, integrity and loyalty. Blue is a very soothing, reliable and peaceful color.

Purple: Purple combines the power of red, with the dependability of blue. It connotes imagination, creativity and spirituality. Purple often is used to represent luxury, opulence, power, mystery and magic.

Video content is a powerful marketing tool that more businesses are utilizing to connect with their audiences. Here are 5 quick tips to create great video content for your business.

1. Understand your options

It is important to be aware of the different types of videos your business can create before you begin filming.

• Brand Videos ⁠— Build brand awareness and understand what your goals are. Understanding your audience is crucial in creating a compelling brand story in your brand voice.
• Video Interviews ⁠— This content showcases interview sessions with thought leaders and influencers within your industry to create brand loyalty as a trusted source of current industry news and insight.
• How-To/Educational Videos ⁠— Creating instructional videos through a step-by-step process. Creating how-to or educational videos help teach and engage your audience. This style of video can position your brand as a voice of authority in your niche—as your business becomes known for delivering quality content. You can become a go-to reference for your audience, building brand awareness and trust.
• Product Demonstrations ⁠— Product-focused videos that walk the audience through an unboxing, the “ins and outs”, and actual performance testing. These videos are developed from a customer facing perspective with the product playing a key role.
• Customer Testimonials ⁠— Videos that highlight other satisfied and loyal customers. Their experiences with your brand/product/service provide valuable insight for your potential customers.
• Live Videos ⁠— Videos that provide an inside-look to your company/business or events/tradeshows. Live streams encourage audience participation with comments and engagement.

2. Know your audience  

Understanding your audience is the core of creating your video marketing strategy. Doing your research and creating a customer persona for your brand/product will help you effectively target your demographic. Monitoring audiences engagements and comments to current  content strategies will give you a better understanding of what messages resonate and appeal to them.

Learn how to identify your audience.

3. Craft your narrative

Begin by first settling on the main overall message. It is important to be able to clearly describe the core moral of the video into a simple statement. Great storytelling finds a way to relate to the audience through experiences, lessons learned, and anecdotes.

4. Recognizing multiple platforms

Digital media can now be delivered to your audiences via multiple sources, and it is important to understand which video platforms will be the most beneficial to your business. Every social network requires your video content to be optimized for different distribution channels. While traditional platforms such as TV and YouTube require videos to be filmed in horizontal wide screen mode, other platforms such as Snapchat and Instagram prefer a full picture mode instead.  It is, also, important to recognize that individual social platforms are now creating their own native video functionality in order to allow for easier video integration within their platform. “Live videos” are becoming a new content delivery channel among certain platforms and audiences.

5. Know your hardware

As the landscape of different delivery platforms continue to change, it is inherent for businesses to look at how capturing video content is achieved. Traditional delivery methods of TV, YouTube, and a company website can still require the use of professional video recording equipment when creating video content. With technological advancements in personal mobile devices however, filming high-quality footage for social video content is becoming the standard. It is becoming easier to create quality content with the tools that are already available at your fingertips.

Tips for taking video with your phone.

As Creative Director at DCC, I lead our creative team and provide guidance to ensure that our messaging strategies and creative concepts exceed the goals and needs of our clients. My role is to also push the team to constantly educate themselves on the emerging technologies, trends and capabilities so that we can always be delivering the most strategic and innovative options for our clients.

My love for art and design began when I was a young child. I fell in love with the colorful and unique packaging art on cardbacks and boxes from all the toys during that time. All the great character designs and backstories for these toys made for an easy transition into comic books and videogames. The art and storytelling nature from these mediums drove my passion and creativity within my own art. I strove to develop my skills in illustration, sculpture, painting, concept art development and storytelling. I wanted to pursue a career that embraced my love for the arts and used my talents. I’m very fortunate to be involved in a career that challenges my creative thinking process, allows me to use my skillset and provides me the opportunity to expand my talents into new and different mediums.

Art/Design gives us a way to communicate and express our needs and desires to those around us. Great design can connect individuals around the globe through its visuals and storytelling. Art/design, paired with a complete understanding of the behaviors and motives of the target demographic, can be used to great effect in influencing and engaging your audience to reach certain goals. It is also important to understand how different mediums of art and integration with technology can drastically affect how a messaging strategy reaches the intended audience. Businesses constantly looking for ways to engage with their audiences often underestimate how art/design can connect them—at a more meaningful level—with their audience to help build brand equity and brand loyalty.

I believe it is crucial for businesses to have a complete understanding of their brand. It is important for them to realize that a brand goes beyond a logo or graphic mark. A brand is made up of multiple components—image, messaging strategy, company core values and company personality. All of these elements work together to make one cohesive unit. Captivating and relevant storytelling of the brand message—when told with a deep understanding of these components—is what brings the target audience to you, rather than constantly adjusting your brand position to find the right audience.