7 Video Marketing Strategies to Increase Brand Awareness

No marketing tool available to you today has more power than video. The seven types we share here are primed to increase brand awareness. Discover why you should consider using all seven video marketing strategies. And because 'why' loves its companion 'how,' we'll weave some 'how-to' ideas in as well.

1. Short Form Videos

Video bytes. They've replaced sound bytes. Greg Bobolo tells us on the Innovative Advertising Solutions Blog, "Though there is a place for long-form video content online, short-form video represents the hottest growth category in digital media, with an exceedingly high penetration rate for those in the 12- to 44-year-old demographic."

How do you make short form videos that increase brand awareness? Create unique, imaginative experiences for users. Recognize that the typical mobile video experience is "intimate, with short, but intense spurts of usage." It's also viewed on a smaller screen, so zooming in tightly "on people and products shots" and "catching consumers in the first 3 seconds of a spot, are crucial to success."

A great example of a short form video is the Berlin City No Need to Negotiate commercial we produced. This commercial is fifteen seconds long and grabs the viewers attention immediately.

Will Kassoy, CEO of AdColony, also recommends to "Use apps that use newsfeed and streaming formats. They're perfect for increasing brand awareness as long as you focus on integration not interruption," which can be a critical aspect for production quality and branding.

2. Tutorials & Tips

Has trying to understand a user's manual ever frustrated you? Eliminate the frustration for your users by creating video tutorials. One video can clear up what a thousand words can't. And that video might just introduce your brand to someone who never heard of you before.

For example, Magnum Manufacturing created two one minute videos on how to install their headache racks and uploaded it to YouTube. When someone searches YouTube for 'how to install a headache rack', their videos are in the top ten results. Most competing videos are longer-far longer. So not only is Magnum creating a tutorial; it's producing a tight short-form video at the same time.

Your videos don't have to be short. However, they should always be focused on a single topic. This makes them easier to find through organic search. It also packages the information in a way viewers grasp easily and retain longer.

3. Customer Generated Content

Why not let your customers create content for you? There's a ring of authenticity when customers are excited enough about your brand to share their experience with it. And it's content that naturally fits into social media.

Magnum Manufacturing Inc. has been using this strategy successfully.

On December 4, Jon Boulter shared a short video on Facebook, "Magnum body is all lit up for the winter season." This fun short video shows Jon's Magnum body playing a colorful nighttime light show. It was just right for the Holidays. Magnum posted it on December 9, 2015 with the message, "Our version of a holiday light show. Thanks for sharing Jon!"

In addition to sharing customer generated video, Magnum Manufacturing also shares photos from its customers. It has even run Truck Photo Contests. This non-video content complements the customer generated videos.

4. Project/Product Updates

Increase your brand awareness by producing short videos that keep your audience up-to-date with what you're doing. Take this short video from our client T.J. McCartney for example. 

There's nothing complicated about it.

What makes this effective? Updates help stakeholders feel connected without having to be in the same room. When a community is involved, it fills the need people have for being bonded-in the know. When you're trying to develop buy-in to a concept, updates foster the sense that the concept works.

When a video captures the candid quality you feel in T.J. McCartney's project update, it resonates. It makes your brand worth talking about.

5. Television Commercials

Yes, commercials still work. In fact, Will Kassoy suggests that it's a good idea to leverage the time and money you've invested in creating video for social media by using it as a springboard to drive further engagement. He says, "Why not take a short-form mobile video and turn it into an ad, and why not seed that ad across other mobile platforms and apps?" Why not also seed the ad across more traditional lines as well, especially when your market is primarily local?

If your brand lends itself to poking a bit of fun at yourself, use humor. It is incredibly effective at making a commercial memorable. For example, check out this car dealership commercial that takes advantage of this methodology.

You've hit the mark if your commercial "tickles the funny bone, makes you laugh out loud and call a person in the other room...'Hey, you've gotta come see this commercial...' However, be careful. You don't want your humorous commercial's punchline to overpower your product.

Steve Olenski shares a reader comment with us in his Forbes article What Make a TV Commercial Memorable and Effective? The reader says, "I seem to remember product on the powerful serious spots. There's influence in a commercial "that pulls at the heart strings, or even at times rips the heart right out of your chest with power, energy or fear, causing you to pause and think. Makes you say "wow!" They only come along so often."

Beware when "Product is not always the most memorable part - think of how many times you've said, 'I saw this great commercial, don't remember exactly what it was for, but..." There's a trend where commercials don't seem to have any relationship to the company. They entertain, yet when the punch-line comes the linkage to the brand is so dissociated it doesn't stick.

6. Community Events

Host community events and turn them into videos like Berlin City Auto Group did.

Events like this send multiple messages about your brand. 1) You care about things that matter to your community. 2) You're willing to invest in those things.

Choose something your business can be passionate about. It doesn't have to be education! Plan the event so there are memorable filming opportunities. And then be sure to edit the video.

7. Entertainment

Entertainment depends on using creative ways to capture your audience's interest. News can be entertaining if you choose a visually interesting way to convey your information. Your company history can be entertaining.

PowerPoint slide decks and screen captures aren't going to do it. Save them for tutorials (if it's appropriate).

Focus on producing video that comes from the essence of what your brand is about. Produce your video from the qualities that are most important to your brand. Know who you are.

Once you have a clear vision of what your brand is about, choose scripts and scenarios you feel comfortable with. You don't have to use humor. When you do, don't use Chevy Chase slapstick humor when Tim Lee's cerebral humor is a better fit. It's better to be comfortable with the genuine persona of your brand.

Finally, in your quest to entertain avoid ridicule. Make your entertainment enjoyable for as many of your video viewers as possible.

PS - If you're looking to further explore video marketing, please take a minute to read our video marketing starter guide. Built to educate marketers, and small business owners, on the basics of building effective video advert campaigns. From creative concepting to ad creation, this guide will help you get started.   

Sources: inma.org | adage.com | forbes.com