Video strategies are all about compelling audiences to consume content. An effective, well-thought-out plan can help your production be seen, generate leads and help your business grow. As a video strategy company, we plan, shoot, and edit a lot of content with different video strategies every day. Here’s a brief rundown of some of the most common ones.
Editorial
These are videos that have an editorial narrative and/or message. They are not driven by the strong rhetoric or emphatic calls to action seen in a lot of TV ads. Instead, they produce interesting, unbiased content that the audience can engage with and take something from – without feeling they’ve been given the hard sell. These types of videos are popular amongst our clients and are typically sent out to their customers via email or social media campaigns. You can check out an example of an editorial video strategy in our video for Thomson Reuters here:
Thought Leadership / Educational
This video strategy is more tactile in its approach – as it positions the client as an expert in their field. For example, an educational video for the insurance sector will position the client in such a way that they are portrayed as highly skilled and knowledgeable about their insurance product/ service and the market as a whole. This is usually conveyed through the presentation of statistics, an authoritative speaker and some strong arguments.
Like editorial videos, they are usually sent out to customers via email or social media campaigns. Our videos for Spencer Ogden and Reuters Place, below, are examples of thought leadership / educational video strategies.
Brand Video
Brand videos feature a video strategy that conveys to your audience what kind of company yours is, what it stands for, your overall values and why these values matter. This summarises the company as a whole and aims to leave the audience in a position where they fully understand what you do.
This is particularly valued by some companies whose products/ services appear complex on paper. Brand videos take these tricky topics and simplify them so that they’re easier to understand. At Definition we appreciate that brand awareness is often at the top of every marketing managers list, this is why a well-considered video strategy is so important to us and our clients. If a lead understands a company but just needs a gentle nudge to seal the deal, this is where brand films really help.
Social Video
Social videos exist to create a buzz on social media channels and have become increasingly popular in recent years. They promote brand awareness and aim to drive traffic to a specific place like a website, telephone number, or towards a hyperlink with the sole intention of generating leads. Unlike the aforementioned video strategies, social videos are a lot more direct in their approach. They’re extremely short (think 12 seconds or less), eye-catching, and instead of quantity of information, they rely on conveying their message in the fastest way possible. Check out our three social videos for GoToMeeting, below, and you’ll see what we’re talking about.
Explainer Video
This video strategy is less intense than social videos, but by no means less effective. In fact, explainers are one of the most popular video strategies requested by our clients at Definition. These videos are generally 60-90 second videos that – per the name – explain what a business does. They’re often animated and tend to live on the homepages or landing pages of our clients’ websites. Explainer videos are great for lead conversion and they are usually featured in email campaigns. Occasionally, explainer videos are also edited into shorter social videos for the purpose of lead generation too. Here’s an example of an explainer video we did for Confused.com last year.
Hype Video
This video strategy creates excitement around a company, product, or service. Hype videos usually feature on social media channels alongside social videos, rather than on a client’s website or landing page. They also feature at a lot of events such as conferences, speeches and launches to create a buzz amongst attendees. Here’s an example of a Hype video we recently made for a client of ours called Ems.
Event Video
Event videos fall under two categories, videos for an event, or videos of an event itself. The prior usually features a pre-recorded / livestreamed video from the people who can’t make the event. The latter is a video of an event which is edited and shared at a later date in full, or as a highlights video which updates those who didn’t attend and also aims to create a buzz about the event. Here’s an event video we did for Moorhouse to show off their ‘Barometer for Change’ event last year.
Product Demo Video
Unlike the other video strategies mentioned here, demo videos do not aim to sell a product, rather they seek to demonstrate how a product works. This is particularly useful for products that are complex to operate, they give potential customers an insight into its key features as well as a step-by-step process on how to use it. These are typically featured on a webpage rather than on social media channels or company landing pages. Although they do not actively seek to provide lead generation for clients’ businesses, they can sometimes persuade a customer into purchasing the product once they have already shown interest in it. Here’s a demo video we did for Cambridge University Press to give you an idea.
Client Testimonials / Case Studies
Case study videos sing the praises of a company’s products/services without coming across as pitching a hard sale. Case studies usually go hand in hand with an explainer video and once a lead is generated, these videos can push them over the line to purchasing the product/service on offer. Typically, they feature on websites but may also be used on social channels in shorter form. Here’s a case study we filmed for Xero.
Now you know the different types of video, what they’re used for and how effective they are – why not give our MD a call to discuss your next video strategy?