Every business has a story to tell and visitors (potential customers) to your website are thirsty for video content. Google likes text for SEO purposes, but people want to consume video.
Did you know that visitors will stay 2.6x more minutes on your site if you have videos? (Wistia)
That means you have that much longer than your competitor to convert leads into sales. And video doesn’t just have to live on your website. Social media engagement increases by 43% when you post video as opposed to simple text or even photos. (HubSpot)
Telling your story through video lets you craft the right message to your audience. You can compartmentalize all that your business is and all that you value into a single :30 second video and share that with the world.
Video evokes thought, emotion. It conveys who you are as a business, what products or services you sell. It convinces and persuades your audience to act upon your call to action. It’s an incredibly powerful sales tool. And video production can be cost effective with some foresight and planning.
Throughout history, humans have communicated through story telling. We’ve taken messages that were passed down from campfire chats and told and retold those stories for generations. We’ve written and read scriptures, scrolls and plays from ancient times and used them and adapted them for inspiration, education and entertainment. Accounts of great battles, heroic feats and bumbling, comedic errors fill the world’s books, cave walls, airwaves, servers and our minds.
Every day, an average person will receive up to 10,000 marketing messages, stories, advertising and branding impressions. How will you ensure that your message is the one that sticks? The one your audience will remember and act upon?
This is an incredible example of a very well produced, very effective brand story…
Yeti is a company that sells coolers. Thick, well-insulated, bear-proof coolers. Outdoor enthusiasts love this brand. Yes, their product changed the industry and keeps your beer cold for a long time, but, Yeti evangelists don’t just love Yeti for their products. Yeti has done an incredible job at building their brand. They’ve built customers for life by telling stories. Engaging, interesting, emotional stories…that mostly have nothing to do with their products!
Sure, you’ll see a Yeti cooler or tumbler or hat sprinkled throughout the video, but the Yeti stories series of short films don’t push product down your throat. No, these stories are about individuals and the incredible things they do in the outdoors. Yeti has produced an entire series of short films, documentaries really, about athletes, hunters, fishermen and every day people that love living adventurous lives outside.
This approach to brand storytelling is genius. After watching these stories, you, the viewer, walks away knowing the Yeti brand. You know what type of people the Yeti founders and employees are. And you feel connected to the brand.
My favorite Yeti story is called 180 Out. Picture this: a snowy ranch somewhere out West (likely Montana). Droning, mysterious music starts up with slow motion shots of horses, snow, cold. A man enters and is working the ranch. He’s feeding the horses, working with them…it’s cold. The background voice-over is this man telling his story of helping people during the 9/11 attacks. His time there inspired him to enlist in the military. So far, we haven’t seen or heard mention of a Yeti product, but the visuals, the music, the recounting of Micah Fink’s heroics in New York draw you in.
At this point I don’t want to give the entire video away, so you can watch it below to see for yourself the power of a strong brand story.
Memorable, well produced, well thought out. Your messages need to evoke emotion. You need to connect with your viewers, your potential customers. You need your audience to walk away feeling like they know and trust you a bit better with each message you show them, serve up to them in an ad, push toward them in a social media post.
This thirst for video doesn’t end. Audiences crave video constantly.
By 2021, 82% of internet traffic will be video content (Cisco)
YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Skype, Vimeo, Netflix, gaming, video file sharing…in some fashion or another, a great majority of content consumed over the internet will be video. That amounts to a million minutes of video transmitted through networks every second! (Business Insider)
And if you don’t have engaging video content, your chances of staying relevant will drop. There isn’t a magic number as to how many videos you need or how often you need to release new content. Each business in each market will be different, but rest assured, you do need to be delivering on a regular basis. In an earlier post, I wrote about 5 essential videos every business needs to have. In my opinion, these are must haves for every company.
Branding shouldn’t be about selling products or services. Branding is about sharing and showing your intended audience who you are as a company. Branding is every interaction your customers will have with you. It’s an experience. Yes, it’s your logo too, but that logo is just a visual representation of your brand. Every time someone calls on the phone, visits your website, comes into your office, sees your name in a directory, interacts with your product or service…it’s all a part of your brand essence.
Your business’ brand is it’s soul. You have to bear your business’ soul to the world honestly, ethically and fully to win the hearts of your people. You’ve likely heard of “tribes.” Groups of people that believe so wholeheartedly in a brand that they feel like a member of an elite group that “gets it.” They are what we like to call, “brand evangelists.” People like that will sing your praises. They’ll share your social media posts, they’ll wear your swag, they’ll tell all their friends about how great your business is and that’s how you grow.
Powerful word of mouth from trusted sources that carry your message forward in a positive way. Brand story videos are the vehicle that will deliver and enhance your message.
We have monthly video packages to help businesses produce and promote their brand stories. Find out more and schedule a call with one of our Producers.
We can’t wait to start telling your story.
