This next video is different than what we’ve normally listed in our “Best of” series, but it’s just such great storytelling.  PBS knows what they’re doing when it comes to compelling content.

Anyways, I thought of this scene when I came across some interesting, recent stats from Unruly, a video technology company:

• 25% of a branded video’s shares happen in the first 3 days
• 66% of a branded video’s shares happen in the first 3 months

Sounds impactful, scary and needs interpretation, especially since “shares” power views and overall reach.

“Our videos have only a 3 months… till.. They’re dead?”

“No.  They feel fine.”

What Unruly is referring to (mostly) are videos that rely on mainly paid media to get them “seeded.”  Also, they’re videos that have been designed-to or hope-to, go viral.   Think Old Spice ads or Dove’s recent “Real Beauty Sketches” video.  The paid media jump starts the sharing process.  It’s obviously very effective… and isn’t cheap.

Contrast this to the video content you are probably more familiar with–your product showcase videos, brand storytelling, testimonials or video case stories.  Most of you are more likely to be involved in producing these than something like the next Old Spice Ad.

But distribution is important to any video content.  We often advise people that their distribution method or channels (paid or free) can be as important as the message itself.  Good distribution makes for good video strategy.

And repetition is key.  Your video content isn’t dead after 3 months.  If it’s relevant, it can’t be dead.  If your story still brings out the value of your brand or service, it still works.

So keep pushing it out to your free (earned) channels.  Tweet it, Pin it, Facebook it, put it in your newsletter.  Keep doing outreach, etc.

Remember, just because you haven’t shared it in a while doesn’t mean it’s ready to be lumped on top of a pile of dead bodies.

This is the silliest stock photo I could find.

Only few of us are fortunate to work in an industry with signing bonuses, unfettered vacations, flex hours and the open encouragement of office flips-flops, but hey welcome to high tech.  These are all standards in the digital workplace.

Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft are forced to battle it out for top coders and smart techies.  To win, companies must take every opportunity to connect with recruits.  Show their culture, workforce and philosophy.

Even though we may not all work in tech, we can all learn from their recruiting wars.  The lesson:  woo top talent by connecting with them.

“The reality is in today’s marketplace, recruits want to connect to an organization,” says Tim Koirtyohann, a 15-year human resources consultant with EbenConcepts.

Connecting with potential recruits can happen in several places on the web, of course but doing it in a way that can convey your company’s personality is key, and video can help.

“It’s not the story our parents told us about getting up and going to work and earning money for your family.  It’s about being part of a community and there’s no better to way communicate that than in video.”

Recruits will obviously research companies under serious consideration for their services.  That means those outfits that offer the most compelling content are going to have an advantage.

“If you’ve got a Monster.com ad, you just can’t connect in the same way you can if you have your employees telling the story of what it’s like to work for your organization (and) how you’re making a difference in the community.”

Check out this recent

example from Apple.  It highlights a diverse workforce overcoming challenges on well-known products.  And it works very well.

How do I showcase my company to recruits?  Here are a few tips:

1. Testimonials  –  Recruits want to see and hear from current employees.  Why did they choose your company?  How will the culture allow them to thrive?  Perhaps most important though, how have they specifically helped your clients succeed?  Think Video Case Story here.
2. Big Projects – Nobody joins your organization to do the monotonous or mundane.  Tell them about your biggest projects.  Show them what you did and how your company used its unique skill set to achieve success.
3. Demonstrate Culture – Over-the-top caricatures of your culture never play well.  And don’t try to rehearse or act out a casual or funny interactions.  You’re not actors.  You’re a business.  However, do try to incorporate open spaces, artwork and the personality of your office in authentic ways.  Challenge your employees to be candid.
4. If you work with a video company–make sure they understand your brand, your personality and what makes your company unique.  Also, embrace the video company’s objective point of view.   They haven’t spent months or years inside your company and neither have your potential new hires.  Make sure your video company knows to be honest with you, even if its brutal honesty.

Good luck.

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This last one really isn’t marketing piece per say, but I think it’s the only use of Vine that should be applauded.  Very creative.  Very funny.

111

Video testimonials are key to any video strategy.  So, why hate on them?  Because I think we can do better.  Here’s why many video testimonials fail and of course, how to do them better:

1.     No business posts negative testimonial video.

According to research, 75% of us trust online reviews.  That’s awesome, but video testimonials are not online reviews.  Online reviews are submitted solely by the customer.  Usually, YOU the marketer or business owner shoots and posts testimonials.  Your prospects know this.  They’re not naïve.  They know you wouldn’t post video of a customer ripping your service.  Web visitors may indeed watch the video but it won’t compel them.

2.     They don’t address the “pains” of potential customers

Many video testimonials are thrown at us as a “one size fits all” tool to evaluate a business.  Chances are your prospects or audience fall into more than one category or segment.  For example, if you’re a social media consultant, your clients might be B2B and B2C.  Each segment often requires a different approach.  Throwing one video at them, expecting it to work for all categories is unrealistic.

3.       Bad Questions & Bad Answers

“Did you like ABC Company?”  Answer:  “Yes. They’re great. They’re really friendly.”

This tells us nothing.  It’s not the speaker’s fault however.  It’s the interviewer.  In our experience, good questions make for good answers.  Remember, the objective is for them to provide perspective that’s valuable to your audience or prospect.  Yes or no questions usually will not accomplish this.  So, don’t be afraid to “lead the witness” to get what you want.  Tell them what you’re hoping they will talk about.  After all, you’re doing it for your company, not the interviewee.  It’s got to be on message or it’s a waste of everyone’s time.

To sum up…

TELL A STORY.

Brand your video testimonials differently.  Call it a “Video Case Story.”  Let prospects know they’re about to hear about an experience instead of just a random opinion.

This means you need to think of it like a story.  (see Kevin’s article on Telling a Story with Video)

Here’s a formula that will help you.

Intro + Pain + Your Company’s Process to Cure Said Pain + Outcome + Endorsement = Video Case Story

Focus your questions to make sure responses speak to each of these elements.  Help them keep it brief.  Coach them, if needed.  Remember, they want to sound & look good too.  Also, if your prospects fall into more than one category or segment, do a Video Case Story for each.  Speak to their specific pain.  The more relevant a message is, the more effective it will be.

If done well, your Video Case Story should help them identify with the person being interviewed, which is what it’s all about.

One important component in any video content strategy is video length.

There’s a lot of stats, blogs, etc. out there that present a one-size-fits-all guide to this.  But hold on.

When discussing video length, what we’re really asking ourselves is:  Will viewers(prospects) watch enough of the video to drive them to the next desired action?

Many, if not most viewers(prospects) will not watch your video all the way to the end.  Not going to happen.  Sorry.  Just the nature of the thing.  Facebook, Pandora, email, phone calls, kids, bosses, etc. are always just the blink of an eye away.  Not to worry.  ”Video abandonment” isn’t necessarily a bad thing.  If a prospect has seen enough and is ready to move on to more content or to fill out a contact form, that’s good, right?

Anyways.  There is a lot of  hard data out there about video length.  It will tell you that at about :30 seconds your audience will be eroding at the rate of 30% every 15 seconds and that if they’re still hanging around by about the 1 minute 15 second mark, you’ve got a good shot at keeping them until 2 minutes.

So, after reading those stats, many of us will think that really short is best.  Maybe.  Maybe not.  Those stats represent an “average video.”  Unless you’re planning on producing an amalgam of every online video out there, you’re going to need to interpret those stats carefully.  You need to consider the process by which your targets finds your video, the context in which they watch it and their state of mind when they click play.  Here’s some Q’s & A’s to help you break down your opportunity:

1. How did they(prospects) get to your online video?  The more interest they’ve shown(clicks, opt-ins), the more invested they’ll be because your content will be more relevant to them.  This might mean you have more latitude when it comes to video length.  Also, the deeper in your website the video is, the more latitude you might have, but this is a very very rough guideline.

2. How specific or niche is your video content?  The more narrow the appeal of the topic, the more relevant it will be to those who seek out the video.  Definitely gives you more video length latitude.

3. Is your message or brand in the pleasure category?  Pleasure brands include companies like the local bike shop, car clubs or even funny videos on YouTube.  People love watching them… from start to finish.  Trouble is, most of us aren’t marketing “pleasure brands.”

4. How important is the content to your viewer?  Be honest about this. I know of a fertility clinic in California that uses a lot of online video.  Each video is about 17 minutes long and each video is viewed almost in its entirety.  I’m pretty sure you can guess why.  Important topics to those needing that kind of service.

5. Is your video a narrative or real content?  I know this is more about messaging, but you should consider it when thinking about length.

Is your video a “how to?”  Is it a demo?  Does it tell a story? If your video’s ending is key to the overall message, then viewers may stay longer but don’t take this for granted.  Keep it relevant and concise.  Never hold viewers hostage.

(for more on messaging, see our article on Telling a Story with Video)

The bottom line:  video length guidelines should be set based on viewing context and not solely by business category or content objective.

If you find yourself unsure, just put yourself in the viewer’s shoes and be honest.

Don’t be afraid to fail.  Above, I warned you that many viewers will not view your videos in their entirety.  That sounds like a warning about failure.  Not necessarily.  I think most of us would agree that a bad lead can be more costly than no lead at all.  If the prospect wouldn’t hang around to finish a 1 minute video, then they weren’t a prospect… yet.

When a technology company discovers its own breakthrough, company leaders must also share the message.  But too often that story seems to get lost in a Tolstoy-sized white paper mess.  Big on data.  Skimpy on story.

If you can’t tell a compelling story of your technology, you’re missing out on a chance to create demand. (see an earlier post on Telling a Story w/ Video)

To help with this article, I asked Kyle Flaherty to weigh in.  Kyle is considered by many to be a thought leader when it comes to marketing technology.  Currently, he’s the VP of Marketing at 21CT, providers of investigative analytics and pattern-detection solutions that weed out cyber attackers and fraud.  Before, he was with IXIA | Breaking Point.

“Technology is only boring if you don’t tell the story correctly,”says Flaherty. “If you have a poor storyteller, it doesn’t matter (what’s in) the script.”

That’s why it’s important your team understands storytelling — or work with someone who does. Flaherty says video is a decisive tool to bring your technology’s story to life.

“The onset of using video at IXIA Breaking Point was really taking something that is very sophisticated, can be very complex and telling a detailed story,”says Flaherty. “You can do that in data sheets, you can do that in white papers, you can do that in web pages, but they’re long and people’s attention spans have really diminished.  Video actually allowed us to tell that story in an easier way.”

Tech buyers are certainly listening.  And watching.

Just look at these recent findings by IDG Research Services for tech-related video:

95% say they view tech-related videos via the internet.
82% post, forward, or share video content.

Tech buyers also take actions after watching tech-related videos:

72% researched products and services after a watching a video.
54% visited a vendor website or contacted a vendor for more information.
46% purchased a product.
45% looked for a product in a retail store.

Video is about more than just strictly sales though.  It’s about connecting viewers to your brand.  The great brands are the ones that tell the best stories.  And the ones that keep clients coming back.

“It’s not just about generating demand,”says Flaherty. “But it’s actually wanting to be (a part) of that brand.  You want to be a part of Apple or Salesforce or some of the other major brands that are doing such great marketing not because they just provide great solutions — which they do — but also because you want to be tied into that brand.  Video specifically plays such a huge role in extending and communicating that brand promise.”

Unfortunately, I’m many years older and unfortunately this practice of torturing employees is still common.

The video isn’t really the problem, though.  It’s merely a symptom.  The real cause is a lack of understanding of how to build a healthy internal culture.  Your internal culture is a HUGE part of your brand.  How your employees act or feel affects how your company is perceived.  So yes, bad corporate video is bad for your brand.

Here’s another perspective from Tracey Nelson.  Tracey is veteran brand builder and co-founder of Austin-based Maven Marketing Solutions.  She says, “Whether it’s an executive or a shipping clerk or anything in between, that employee will be associated with your brand.  The more you can do to affect what that employee says and feels about your company or brand, the better off you’ll be.  Every employee you have is a marketing tool.”

And, it’s not just about the employees you have.  It’s also about the talent you wish you had.

If your corporate culture video falls flat, then your ability to retain talent may also flat line.

The solution:  DON’T DO BAD VIDEOS.

These corporate videos can be engaging.  They can be inspirational.  They can be full of authentic personality.  Don’t be afraid to be gutsy.  I think it’s better to aim high and hit middle then to shoot low and ruin someone’s day.

If your only option is to do the video yourself, that’s ok.  Don’t be intimidated.   (see Kevin’s article about Telling Stories with Video)

If you can bring in an outside video company, that’s better of course.  Just make sure whomever you bring in understands your culture and appreciates your brand goals.  Lean on them.  They should help you raise your game and not just be there to hit the record button.

For fun, here’s an example of when doing a corporate video goes terribly wrong (and racist too, I’m pretty sure).

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This is one of ours, and we think it’s pretty good.

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I think approaching your video content with a “viral” attitude is essential.  What do I mean?  You should always make an attempt to be bold or at least discuss it.  Bold doesn’t necessarily mean silly, funny or high budget.  It doesn’t mean you have to destroy things (even though we did).  To us, BOLD simply means doing it differently than the rest.  There’s always a place for that.

Here’s our version of BOLD.  And to be honest with you, we wanted to get silly and a bit self-indulgent.  This is what happened.

NSFW UPG.  Enjoy.

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Outtakes  NSFW (very)

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Here’s more of our silly video marketing content.  Here’s the sober stuff.

If you’d like to incorporate any inappropriate or more straight-laced video content into your video strategy, just contact us.

Also, our video strategy blog is pretty serious.  No curse words, usually.

Thanks,

UPG