Why you need video on your website –
It is 50 times easier to achieve a page 1 ranking on Google with a video. There are some caveats to that bold statement. You need to optimise your online video content by being smart with keywords and you should host it on YouTube for maximum impact.
But if you get those bits right, it’s an impressive statistic.
Given that a strong brand video can sit on your website for years, it is an efficient way to keep you on top and a powerful means to tell the story of your organisation.
What is a brand video?
A brand video is not about a specific product or service. It’s not necessarily about anything your company does or sells. Rather, it’s about what you stand for. Your core values.
And those never go out of date.
Think of a brand video as a superhero origin story. What made the original 2002 Spiderman movie connect with audiences wasn’t the big set pieces of a superhero Spidey battling the Green Goblin. Rather, it was our personal connection with the very human Peter Parker. While most of us have never taken down a super villain, we can all empathise with Peter’s internal conflict: to use his powers for personal gain or make sacrifices for the greater good?
And it may have become a cliche now but who didn’t tear up at Uncle Ben’s dying advice, ‘With great power comes great responsibility’?
Your own values should be the hook for your brand video. And if you can come up with a catchy tagline even better!
So a brand video is a film that shares the roots of your brand. It’s about the history, the struggles, the journey and, most importantly, the underpinning values that make your organisation unique. It’s about building trust and an emotional connection with your audience.
Nike Campaign – Dream Crazy (2018)
Brand Video on a Budget
There are lots of examples of big budget brand videos and taglines – think Nike ‘Just Do It’ and their various YouTube video series like ‘Dream Crazy’ and ‘Unlimited Courage’. Their brand values appeal to everyone’s inner hero. That part of us that wants to take on the world and be all we can be. Their hero’s story is the inner struggle between our fit self and our lazy self!
But you don’t have to break the bank to bring a powerful brand origin story to film.
Your film should capitalise on what makes your organisation stand out: the people who work for you, your attention to detail, your local knowledge. Whatever your core values, using simple interviews with leaders and staff will bring the human touch to your company, convey your organisation’s unique personality and will resonate with your audience.
By following some basic storytelling principles, these interviews can be crafted into a short video that can pack an emotional punch every bit as powerful as a big budget production.
In the saturated world of online video, big budget brand videos are becoming ever more elaborate. Done poorly they can seem over the top and audiences switch off to their cliches.
People connect with a real human story so find your inner superhero and share your unique journey with the world!
An authentic voice will win out over corporate sheen any day.
