The Brand Forum Team, Bord Bia – Irish Food Board
Video is increasingly generating momentum when it comes to consumers consuming content online and this is a big opportunity for brands. Consumers are telling us they would rather watch a video about a product than reading about it. The video landscape is vast and keeping up with what is trending will help brands maximise opportunities. Brand Forum’s recent video optimisation workshop advised companies how best to distribute video assets and can be summarised as follows.
Objectives: clarify what you want to achieve from your video. Ensure objectives are linked to overall brand objectives. Consider: awareness – reach/video views, engagement – likes, shares, comments & feedback on YouTube/FB, dwell time, number of posts on blogger websites, brand love, advocacy and subscribers.
Audience: Who is your target audience – where are they, when, what content do they like and what interests do they have? Targeting is the key to success. Craft a persona and build lookalike audiences. Establish who will bring the most revenue to your brand.
Content: Categorise your content throughout the year to create a content ecosystem; Hero (your hero moments, mass media, integrated plan across multiple channels), Hub (your ongoing push content through various channels throughout the year), Help (Think about all the questions brands have about your brand, what do they want to know about you, any issues or perceptions you need to overcome?)
What type of content is needed? Is the content required to drive brand love and affinity? Ask why your consumers would care and why they should share? Or is your brand providing functional content that is relevant to their lives, something they need or want to know? What is in it for the consumer / what value does it bring / how useful is it to your consumers? Can it help define your brand?
Instant impact – you have less than two seconds for someone to notice your thumbnail, e.g. Jamie Oliver, food tube identity. The shorter the better – 20 seconds is optimum – send consumers to your web site or YouTube channel for the full recipe.
Platform: Always upload the highest quality video in the proper aspect ratio for each platform is key to your success for your own assets and each time the video is embedded on another site. When shooting video be clear if your priority is social channels or main desktop, for those on a limited budget, this will dictate how the video is shot. Consider your options – gif, canvas ad on mobile etc. And don’t forget what device you want to push your content on – mobile or Desktop or both?
Portfolio: Ensure your video is not stand alone content and tactical activity. Draft a video strategy. Ensure videos are linked to one another and linked to your brand story. Consider creative cut downs, search copy, posts copy and links to help tell the brand story and or benefits. Ensure the timing of your video is apt, e.g. 20-40 seconds on Facebook.
Amplification: Great content deserves solid amplification. Help consumers find your video, use title description tags and annotations to make your video work harder. Once you know your video is getting traction and you are clear that you have exhausted your owned channels, support your video with paid media. All social media platforms have their own proprietary advertising options, allowing specific targeting, delivering direct to a focused audience, at the right times and on their preferred platforms. Be smart with your investment and make sure it gets to the right people with the least amount of money, thereby enhancing visibility, improving engagement, and maximising return on investment for your video.
Optimise: Once live you need to optimise. Look at your analytics, make changes based on those analytics – search, format, annotations, timing, etc. and link back to your objectives. Don’t wait until your campaign is over.
And finally some considerations for content creation:
- Spontaneous Stories: share activity from live brand-related events;
- Leverage employees to feature in videos, on-site or at brand-related events/shows, demos, etc.
- Live Stream Q&A from owner / senior management to build trust and connection with the target audience
- Video Podcasts
- B2B – Personalised one to one videos from salespeople to follow up via email
- Video in the email, which has proven to increase open rates.
The full workshop presentation from this brand forum event can be viewed here.
For further information on Bord Bia’s Brand Forum and recipe video service, click here and, or email: Niamh.MacHale@bordbia.ie
Sources: Animoto, 2015. Google, 2018. Brand Forum Video workshop facilitated by Carole Ann Clarke Consulting, plus contributions from YouTube / Google and Storyful.
