Harnessing Video Storytelling for Your Brand. Credit: Unsplash
If you’re here reading this right now, you’ve probably heard from someone about the wonders video storytelling can do for your brand. Perhaps you’re not fully convinced; let’s do a quick survey. Go on Twitter and find random storytelling videos of other brands you are in competition with. Check the engagement (views) on the videos compared to their tweets engagements. That should show you just how much videos thrive in this present day and time.
As a brand, you should know that one of the best ways of getting to your target audience is through videos. But why is this so? A certain brand owner reading this might wonder. In this piece, we’ll show you why video storytelling is that powerful. Also, we’ll explain various tips on how video storytelling could help your brand.
Why StoryTelling is a Powerful Tool for Brand Marketing
Before we go into the expansive details of using video storytelling for brand marketing, let’s explain why this tool is a great choice. To start with,
- Humans just love stories
Remember when you were a little kid, and your eyes always lit up when you heard the mention of a story? That’s exactly how most of your brand’s target audience is wired. Whether grown or young, we as humans are addicted to stories. It’s built into our blueprint. We just love them. This attribute makes video storytelling a compelling choice for your brand marketing.
- You Control the Elements
Using texts and print to advertise might have their own strongholds, but one major disadvantage is that you can’t control how the viewer receives the message. In video storytelling, there are so many elements in your control. The ambient music, the tone, the type of animation, and so much more are in your control. This helps to control the perception of the viewer a lot more.
- Leaves a Longer Lasting impression
Videos naturally give a lasting impression on viewers more than other types of media. There’s a higher tendency for viewers to remember a funny video they saw about a brand than a witty text. The longer you stay in the brains of your target audience, the higher the chance of word-of-mouth marketing. More visibility gives you a higher chance of smiling to the bank.
- The Stats Speak for Themselves
Even if you don’t believe these points, you can’t really argue with the stats. In 2018, a survey showed that 73% of consumers say there were influenced by a brand’s social media presence before deciding to buy from them. One of the best ways to improve your social media presence as a brand is through creative storytelling videos. Also, the same survey showed that 88% of marketers claim to be satisfied with the returns they get when investing in video marketing.
These few points should have helped sway your doubts (if you have any) about video storytelling’s effectiveness. Now that we are here, what questions must you ask before you embark on a video storytelling project? Find out in the next section.
5 Questions to Ask Before Making A Storytelling Video
If you want to make a storytelling video for your brand, various elements need to be present before you can embark. To make sure you have all the right criteria, it is important to make a checklist to help set your priorities straight. Here is a list of questions you could work with:
- Who is Your Target Audience?
As a brand, any attempt made at visibility should be to find your target audience. They are the most important part of any brand marketing strategy. So, you need to ask the right questions. What generation of consumers uses your products or services? Are they from the Gen Z generation, or are they Baby Boomers? What type of content will connect with your audience best? What social media platform do they use the most? These questions help to create the perfect client persona and give a blueprint for your storytelling video.
- What is Your Goal?
What you plan to achieve with your storytelling video is important in planning the video. Your goal could be to launch a new product. Or you could aim for better brand awareness. Or perhaps you want to launch a new brand identity. The video’s aim is also important in determining how to proceed with the video making.
- What Tone is Best?
Do you want to go with a motivational story? Or you’re looking for a more humorous outlook? After highlighting the goals for the video, the tone is the next factor to ascertain. This should be pretty easy once you determine the goal of making the video.
- What is the Perfect Video Length?
Irrespective of what message you’re planning to pass, your story should not be longer than 2 minutes. If there’s one thing people hate more than boring stories, it’s long stories. We all have a short attention span, so keeping it short and snappy is the goal. So, you should make your ideal video length between 1 minute and 2 minutes.
- What Can You Do Better than Your Competitor?
As a brand in business, you definitely have competitors. Looking at what your competitors have done to help better your own is not a crime anywhere. This stands as long as you do not copy their creative content. If they have any videos you notice are doing well, you can find a way to mirror them and even do this better. This way, your competitors can also serve as a blueprint when starting your video.
Now that we’ve set the blueprint straight, it is time to get into the video-making process itself.
10 Tips for Effective Brand Video Storytelling
If you’d like to harness the effectiveness of video storytelling for your brand, we’ve explained some tips below that would be very useful in your journey:
- Write a Killer Script
There can be no video without a script. The script is the framework for how the video would turn out. Devote time to making sure the script turns out well. What should be the location of the video? Who/what should be the characters of the video? There should also be a beginning, a middle/climax, and an end. Don’t forget to add the call to action. Making a great video but not making your target audience curious about your brand or services is literally a waste.
- Grab their Attention Right from the Start
The attention span of humans is shorter than ever. This is why you must give your target audience the reason to keep watching your video within a few seconds. As a copywriting coach once said, the essence of the title of a copy is to make the reader read the next line, and the essence of the next is to make them read the next. You can apply this to your videos. The first five seconds make them want to watch the next 5 seconds. Keep them engaged.
- Strike an Emotional Chord with the Viewers
One of the benefits of storytelling we mentioned earlier is how video storytelling helps you control the narrative better. So, use that narrative to your strength. Humans are emotional animals, and we rarely forget whatever impacts us emotionally. If your product targets mothering women, a video showing how the child grows in different stages could leave mothers with a teary eye that makes your product come to mind whenever they need that particular push.
- Add a Twist
We’re all suckers for nice plot twists in any story. Give your audience a nice surprise or laugh with a well thought-out twist. How you’d achieve this twist would depend on the type of video you’re making. While there’s no one-solution-fits-all approach to incorporating twists in videos, you can gain inspiration from competitors.
- Make it Short
59% of viewers in as survey claimed they wouldn’t watch a video if it’s too long. Passing your message along in the shortest time possible is important. Your storytelling video should not be longer than the entirety of two minutes. In fact, between 60 and 90 seconds is considered the holy grail length for any type of video.
8MediaGroup: Your Video Storytelling Expert
Before we go ahead, you should know that video storytelling as a brand marketing strategy isn’t a walk in the park. Knowing these factors can’t replace the years of experience the experts have. This is where the 8mediagroup comes in. A Washington DC company focused on producing resonating results through video production, 8media group can handle any type of video content you wish to provide. Now, let’s get back to those tips.
- TV Shows Give Good Inspiration
Are you feeling lost for ideas? Then, a good place to find some would be on TV. Many TV shows have good story arcs which you can work with to make your video a blast. Also, you could use settings from old shows to invoke nostalgia with your audience and strike that emotional cord we spoke about earlier.
- Don’t Forget the Visuals
While you might think finding the right words for your storytelling video is important, never forget that visuals matter just as much. Some people might watch the video even without listening to the words, so you need to be able to communicate even with the visuals only.
- Fly Your Emblems
There’s no essence to a video that doesn’t regularly point back to your brand. Make sure you make constant references to your brand. If you have any specific colors, you could use them on the characters. However, do not make your brand overshadow the story.
- The Litte Details Matter
A storytelling video is not all about the story or the visuals. The smaller things could be what the audience falls in love with. It could be the background music, the little popups, animations, or some special effects that were just relaxing to watch. Always remember the little details.
- Get Your Video to the Audience
All the tips above would be put to waste if no one gets to see your brand video. Push your videos on all platforms you know your target audience is conversant with. Get it out to as many people as possible. Using paid promotions is the best way to go about this.
Some Amazing Storytelling Videos for Inspiration
To wrap this up, we found some videos online that could influence your creative juices. Enjoy!
- The Bells Scotch ‘Reader’
This video is a great example of using emotions to sell products. The video details the struggles of the father of an author. This man was illiterate but went through the whole rollercoaster of learning how to read just to read his son’s book. After reading the book, they bonded over glasses of Bells Scotch, of course.
- Ariel’s #ShareTheLoad
This Indian Ariel video addresses the social construct that exists in many societies. Crafting a beautiful story, the video questioned the gender roles of society and why a woman should be so burdened. If you’ve never seen this ad before, you’ll be very the product reveal at the end will surprise you.
- Wimbledon’s ‘In Pursuit of Greatness
Wimbledon went through the history lanes with this animation video. Showing the game’s evolution from 1877, they took us through the various evolutions, from the change in broadcasting to even highlighting the change in color of the balls. They also showed many greats of the game over the years—a perfect illustrative style with rousing music in the background.
Conclusion
Video storytelling could become the game changer for your brand if done right. Depending on the goal of your video, it could turn people into your followers, and customers or even get you some word-on-the-street credibility. However, you need to hit that sweet spot with your target audience, and you might have the next viral video.
