In a previous post, I described how much marketing has changed since the era of the "Mad Men." Most of these changes seem to take control away from us as marketers and place this control in the hands of the fickle consumer, whose likes, pins, and reviews now drive a lot of demand for our products. Social engagement is on the rise, and it can be critical to growing demand for your products and services.
An Adobe Digital Index report shows that in 2013 referred website revenue per visit was up, with Twitter, Pinterest, and Tumbler taking market share from Facebook. People are listening to their friends on these networks before heading to a website and increasing numbers of them are buying when they get there. This is especially true for the Millennial generation.
Viral videos may build brand awareness, but other types of video build brand engagement and improve conversion. So how do we, as marketers, create content that is more likely to be shared, liked, commented on, etc., in a way that is right for our objectives?
Create content your most valuable customers and influencers will want to share
Think of your audience. Who are your most valuable customers? Are they young adults, busy working moms, heads of households, "silver surfers"? What are their interests and ambitions? How do they want to be perceived in their circles? What are you creating to help them achieve that? They are saying something about themselves by sharing your content. Help them be the star. Create informative, entertaining, effective video content that they want to share with their networks. Make it easy and obvious to share over all social networks and by email. Your brand will become a star along with them. Dove has a video with an important, emotional message, but the brand is only seen in the last few seconds.
Have a story to tell
Highly sharable content is emotional, usually funny, sometimes sad or heartwarming, perhaps shocking, but should stay within your brand principles. Have a clear story to tell. For example, most stories start with a likeable hero who encounters a problem or challenge, overcomes that challenge, and then achieves a better future. How can you tell your story in a way that is engaging, without being too promotional (an immediate turn off)? The Pepsi "Uncle Drew" series has many of these elements.
Not all videos need to go viral
These steps will help get more views for your video, but do you really need a video to go viral for it to be successful? There are different uses for video, depending on where the customer is in the purchasing cycle. Sure, a widely viewed video is good for brand awareness and to gain potential customers. But of all those viewers, how many are actually going to convert on your site?
Videos should also be produced with the specific intent to increase conversion and brand loyalty. For instance, once customers know that you are out there, they will want to learn more about your product before they decide to buy. Here is your chance to give them an informative video describing the distinguishing features of your offering. For example, a clothing retailer could show a 5-second catwalk video of a model in every dress on the site. Such a video is hardly a candidate for mass appeal, but it is exactly what will get that prospective customer to convert to a paying customer. It is also the type of video they will feel good about sharing with friends they know are interested in what you have to offer.
You can also use video with existing customers. Give them extended instruction in the use of your product, perhaps at the same time building interest in your other offerings. This type of content is not meant to go viral but is meant to be shared, and will be highly interesting to potential customers and will promote brand loyalty. The Orion Telescope Company does this very well with an extensive collection of videos.
How do we capitalize on the success of any video and push it further?
It is not enough to get a lot of traffic. You need to get the right traffic. What are the characteristics of the top customers already buying from you? With modern analytics you can easily and quickly determine what your customers responded to and what they ignored. This is where technology has given us new tools and opportunity. In the past, this information was expensive, hard to get, and probably obsolete by the time you got it. You would hope it worked in your next campaign.
Now you can get performance information in minutes. Don Draper would love this! You can A/B test, find the most effective content, and update your campaign in real time. It is an essential component of successful online marketing. The companies with the top 20 percent in online conversions prioritize testing and optimization in their campaigns. They try alternate versions of content and track which ones are shared the most. These results in turn suggest more tweaks that are tested and improved again. They constantly build on success and continually grow their conversions. Their videos work because they are targeted and focused, not because they are widely viewed.
A good content creation engine allows you to start from a single high-resolution master video and easily create recuts to test different introductions, calls to action, and content mix. You can make longer versions to target to tablets and shorter versions for smartphones. Use testing and analytics to find the high-performing versions and watch the conversions increase.
When you use these ideas to get exposure for your video and then optimize its success, you can regain a lot of the control that seemed to be lost in the Web 2.0 revolution. You control the response by crafting what goes into the video, how it is presented, and who it is presented to. Modern analytics allows you to see the response in unprecedented detail and record speed. With these tools you can guide that fickle consumer and be less at the mercy of their fleeting attention spans. Welcome to the new world!