Why Video Content Is The Best Way To Build A Brand
Video content is everywhere right now. Scroll through your social feeds, visit a website homepage, or scroll through your inbox, and chances are you’ll be hit with moving visuals before anything else. It doesn’t matter whether you’re looking for something to buy or simply searching about a topic that interests you, it’s video content that will catch you first.
There are obvious reasons for this. Of course, video content looks really great and instantly commands attention. However, its value goes way beyond the surface too. Video is actually one of the best ways, if not the best way, to build a brand and make sales. Let’s explore why.
Proves Your Expertise
We’re living in an almost scary world where AI is everywhere and pretty much anybody could cobble together a website or stick up a social media profile and claim they’re an expert. However, if you can show as well as tell people that you know what you’re talking about, you’re instantly miles more recognisable than everyone else. Video content is great for this.
Whether through explainer videos or case studies, video lets you demonstrate that you know what you’re talking about in real-time. Your audience can quickly get a feel for not just what you do but how you go about it, instantly verifying that any claims you might be making are credible and true. This matters because this kind of trust is key to building a brand that people can actually believe in, engage with, and ultimately buy from.
Brings Products & Services To Life
Almost every brand is striving to disrupt people’s routines and better the traditional ways of doing things. We’re not talking about changing lives here, but rather becoming your audience’s go-to thought when the time is right. To do this, you need to be able to help them visualise what life would be like with your product and service, and there’s no better way to convey this than with video content.
Take our client, Agile Comms, as an example. Their brand message is centred around being flexible and making their clients’ lives better with fuss-free communications. One of the ways they do this is by kitting businesses out with impressive video conferencing solutions, yet it’s hard to convey what these solutions are like in practice without physically showing people. A demo is simply not possible for every client due to location and logistics, but a simple explainer video (see below) can overcome this challenge and bring the kit to life without the need to physically play with it. Over the duration of just a short clip, it’s easy to quickly imagine what life would be like for your business with one of these solutions and hard not to conclude that would be a positive change. Then the purchase cycle starts; mission accomplished.
Opens Up New Sales Channels
This type of video content can go one step further and become a direct sales tool too. When published organically in the right places, you’re opening up your brand to be discovered by an entirely new audience. Let’s use the Agile Comms example above again. Prospective clients might’ve heard of the type of solutions they provide but never come across the brand name before. Video can bridge this gap and offer a great introduction by providing a true feel for how the brand operates and how its services work. That’s a seriously good first impression and type of sales pitch that’s only really possible through a face-to-face meeting or, you guessed it, video content.
Plus, this type of video content can be monetised and become an income source in its own right. It’s a win-win, with your videos directly making money whilst also providing a tool that you can use to sell what you do.
Shares Knowledge For Free
Video content isn’t all about sales, though. Products and services are expensive, and you have to find ways to offer value up front to survive. If you are only ever asking for money, people will disengage. However, producing free and informative video content related to your expertise can solve this problem.
Tutorials, product explainers and reviews are all great examples of the type of free video content you can use to build your brand. They break down why a product or service is worth exploring further, while simultaneously showing that your brand is generous and trustworthy. Sharing knowledge for free in this way almost acts as a teaser to show people what they will get if they then do business with you. Done well, and they’re much more likely to buy from you when the time comes.
Shows Your Human Side
It’s very easy for the people behind a brand to get lost in stock imagery and polished copy. Video, on the other hand, is a quick and easy way to bring the human elements of your brand to the fore. It gives your audience a genuine way to get to know you and what you do, and quickly conveys a true sense of how your brand communicates in real life.
Showing your human side via video can be tricky and, when done badly, can often become a bit cringeworthy. It’s much better to stick to what you do best and add a bit of personality to your explainer videos as opposed to creating tangential ‘about us’ content. Your audience is probably way more interested in getting to know you by seeing and hearing you talk about what you do and getting a feel for your offering that way than hearing you blabber on about your favourite colour and what your guilty pleasure is.
How To Get It Right
Given that video content has so much power in brand building, working out how to get it right can feel pretty tricky. Fortunately, nobody is saying that you have to use video absolutely everywhere; in fact, overusing video can go as far as diluting your brand.
The key is to think about which elements of your brand you’d like to build from the list we’ve outlined in this article and then create videos that target that. Keen to convey your personality and expertise? Get stuck into behind-the-scenes content. Want to open up an income stream and boost sales? Consider monetised demos and explainer videos.
Of course, if you need any help, then we’re always on hand. At Fuel, we’ve got years of experience helping brands grow through carefully considered video marketing. We can help you work out where video content fits into your wider video strategy and ensure the content produced truly reflects your brand identity. Don’t hesitate to get in touch if you want to chat it through.
In short: When deployed correctly, video content can be one of the most powerful ways to build your brand. A carefully planned combination of how-to videos, explainers and case studies helps to prove expertise, bring your products and services to life, and show the human side of your brand.
