How to make an impact with your video content strategy

TravelDigitalCreativeStrategyInside AccordWhite papers

17 Nov

Discover everything you need to know before venturing into video.

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Video has always been important, but it’s now becoming a vital component of a brand’s offering. If you are looking for a way to level up your content marketing strategy, then video is something that’s worth seriously considering.

Whether you’re just starting out on your brand’s journey or are looking to update or modernise a more traditional campaign, we’re here to help.

Read on to discover the importance of having a video strategy, some of the most prominent trends, and how Accord is able to help your business.

The importance of having a video strategy

There is no avenue of business that you would go down without proper research and strategy, so why should introducing video to your marketing plan be any different? Your marketing strategy is not a collection of single channels, but an ecosystem that is most effective when it’s working harmoniously, each avenue with a purpose.

As video isn’t a marketing channel but a style of execution, establishing where it should live within your existing marketing strategy is key: it could be creating dynamic OOH displays, improving your organic social media offering or expanding your website.

Because the scope of video integration is so broad, creating a robust strategy is essential. Depending on your goals and how you want to amplify your existing marketing campaign, the planning stage is key to ensuring you are creating elements for the right channels, talking to the right audience and tapping into the right video trends.

British Airways’ latest TV ad features very little of the holiday experience itself but instead is centred around the satisfaction and reassurance that comes with booking with BA and their flexible policies. Kuoni, who have cleverly created a ‘travel is on’ message using the middle letters of their brand name, have built OOH and press ads devoted to their Which? Provider status - showcasing proof that listening to customers gets you moving in the right direction.

And Kuoni do practise what they preach. Their Flex system is a new feature that enables users to cancel or change their holidays for any reason up to 35 days before travel. Similar to Kuoni, Black Tomato have created a State of Flex solution, enabling travellers to cancel or postpone holidays free of charge up to 30 days before departure. Both of these brands are great examples of the industry listening and reacting – flexing their offers for the new cautious consumer and doing so with pride.

Innovative, emerging video trends to consider

The ways video is consumed are ever-changing, and especially online, we can see a wealth of emerging trends that might steer away from more traditional advertising values.

Relatability > quality
Every length has a purpose
Story-first narratives

Relatability > quality

We’ve often thought of advertisements having to be inspirational, but when it comes to video, relatability is key. No longer are customers looking for brands that share content that’s head-and-shoulders above the norm, in fact, they’re off-put by it. We’ve all become so used to ignoring ads whilst browsing the web, from waiting five seconds for the ‘Skip Ad’ prompt to appear before videos on YouTube, to scrolling past paid ads on social networks like Instagram without even consciously realising we’re doing it. It’s no wonder brands need to find a way to cut through the noise - except, the way to breakthrough isn’t by standing out at all, it’s by fitting in.

This is a trend that’s being led by TikTok. Their mantra for brands, “Don’t Make Ads. Make TikToks”, asks for brands to be more creative, more authentic, and create content that connects with audiences in ways they wouldn’t have considered before. Whether your content is being promoted with a paid budget or uploaded organically, it needs to fit into the feed.

Every length has a purpose

More than ever before, we are seeing that the length of the video being produced is incredibly significant. From snappy 6-second TikTok to 60-minute YouTube videos, it’s not simply enough to make one, you need to make a video that fulfils its desired purpose.

Audiences are looking for short videos on social media that make them laugh and in-depth explainer videos delving into complex processes in easy-to-follow steps. It’s not enough to simply target the right audience; you need to be targeting them at the right time of their purchase journey with the right kind of video content to fulfil their needs – this is why a robust strategy is so essential!

You might even find that not worrying about length at all is best, as the appetite for live streams has expanded in recent years. Nowadays, we’re moving away from ‘live’ content with on-demand entertainment more popular than ever – Netflix anyone? – but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a place for live content. There is no doubt that the events of 2020 led to the resurgence of live video, as people looked to tap into a shared experience whilst unable to leave their homes. And now, in ‘the new normal’ it’s not gone away with live stream video platforms like Twitch seeing around 60 million hours of live content being watched every day.

Finally, something that’s developed as a result of the need for relatability and content length tailored to purpose is story-first narratives. People don’t just want to be sold anything any more, they want to feel a connection to a brand. We have to remember that we aren’t just selling a product or a service, we’re selling solutions, chances to make memories, triggering emotions and more. And video is the best place to encapsulate this.

Video can tap into our senses in a way not many other channels can, and it is able to speak to us on an authentic level. It’s a way to increase brand awareness, build your brand story, resolve audience issues, demonstrate value or even just make people laugh.

How to measure the impact of your video content strategy

So, you’ve decided on a video marketing strategy that’s tailor-made to fit your goals – how do you know it’s working? It’s about more than just views. Yes, having a wealth of views is great, but what’s more important is who is watching the video and how they are engaging.

Analysing metrics like engagement rate, click-through rate, conversion rate, social shares, watch time and more can help you learn how well your video is performing against your marketing goals. This data will also help inform the future of the strategy, whether that’s the marketing channels that are working best for the video you’re creating or the executions that your target audience is most receptive to.

What Accord can offer

We’re here to offer a joined-up approach and a one-stop shop for all of your marketing needs. We can work with you to integrate video production into your marketing strategy, helping to guide you in terms of channel choice, assisting with production and helping measure results.

Whether it’s working from existing assets, stock footage or original live-action shoots, our Creative Team is on hand to build bespoke video solutions, tailored to your marketing strategy. From ideation to production and distribution, Accord’s in-house Video Studio has the expertise to make your next video campaign a success.

If you’re looking to build video into your existing content strategy, need a production crew for a new project or just want to find out how video might work for your brand, get in contact with Accord Marketing today to find out how we can help you.