TV advertising has, historically, focused on exposure. But to be successful today, brands need to harness the power of video marketing, which should be focused on engagement. By focusing first on those most likely to care, your brand can generate insights and mobilize advocates to make your whole marketing plan better.
According to content marketing research, 76 percent of B2C marketers have a YouTube channel, but only 49 percent are using it effectively. Why? Because marketing is undergoing a sea change and the TV advertising strategy that earned senior marketers their last promotion can’t be repurposed into a video marketing strategy that will get them promoted to CMO. Online video presents opportunities that television simply doesn’t. For example, YouTube is patronized by a hyper-engaged, highly-connected younger audience who craves the two-way communication that online video offers. And unlike TV, YouTube lives everywhere because it’s accessible on hundreds of millions of mobile devices globally. So, a significant percentage of brands must unlearn what they have learned about successful TV advertising strategies before they’ll be ready to learn ways to improve their video marketing strategy.
Flipping The Funnel From Exposure to Engagement
Last year, Google’s Engagement Project created the “Flipping the Funnel” infographic, which illustrates how dramatically the paradigm has shifted for senior marketers. In the old model, which many of us learned in our college marketing courses, most communication is one way – because that’s how mass media like television, radio, newspapers, and magazines worked in the 20th century. As a result, brands needed to reach lots of people and then winnow them down to the consumers who matter the most. In the new model, brands invite their audiences to take part by interacting, commenting, sharing, and creating. Brands get real-time feedback when ideas resonate and audiences help spread the message.
Ben & Jerry’s Is Successfully Flipping the Funnel
For example, Ben & Jerry’s is an expert at bringing its ice cream brand to life on Instagram. Focusing on its key themes of flavors, fun, values and community, Ben & Jerry’s was one of the first brands to join Instagram in February 2011. “It’s our visual storytelling platform,” explains Ben & Jerry’s digital marketing manager Mike Hayes. Ben & Jerry’s Vermont heritage is also a key part of their story, but now that the brand has a global presence, they use Instagram to connect with people around the world and to source photos from Instagrammers enjoying their ice cream in faraway places. In fact, at least half the photos and videos that Ben & Jerry’s shares through their account today are from community members, many of whom compose their shots using the framing techniques modeled by the brand. One favorite: a shot of a cone or cup from the POV of the person about to enjoy it, with a fun backdrop that identifies where they are. As Hayes sees it, “We’re a curator of our brand story now.” Ben & Jerry’s does all of their account management in-house, from shooting images and videos, to reviewing Instagram photos posted with Ben & Jerry’s related hashtags, to selecting the best of the best to share in their own feed. Hayes doesn’t point to a complicated formula when asked how the brand has become so successful on Instagram. “Other marketers ask us what the secret is,” he says. “It’s helped being on the platform from the beginning, but the secret is respecting the community and providing value to them.”
7 YouTube And Video Marketing Strategies For This New World
This seven part series explores seven ways that you can improve your video marketing strategy. Here are the topics covered:
- Making YouTube videos part of your overall content marketing strategy.
- Ten fundamental principles for creating content that people will love.
- Developing a programming strategy and scheduling video for a year.
- Optimizing your content, playlist, and channel to ensure you reach your audience.
- Amplifying your video with social media to improve discoverability.
- Promoting videos with paid media to reach your target audience.
- Defining key metrics to measure the success of your strategy.
Yes, even I have learned a thing or two from Ben & Jerry’s marketers while tasting Boston cream pie at Flour Bakery + Cafe paired with Hazed & Confused. Hey, who said writing for Momentology couldn’t be a tasty assignment?