With so many stories out there, how do you get your target audience, prospects, and clients, to pay attention to what your brand has to say?
People love stories and according to science, the brain is hardwired to consume stories.
Storytelling works in marketing. Just Google the works of advertising agencies who’ve successfully pried precious money out of people’s wallets via their heart. Coca-Cola, IKEA, Microsoft, and a host of other global big brands have mastered the art of making people forget that they’re being sold a product or service via storytelling. Their most effective medium? Video.
Video has a singular ability to carry stories through all sorts of challenges and across boundaries.
A single video, for example, can be translated into an unlimited number of languages. It can be repurposed, duplicated, and watched anywhere, anytime, on any device with or without sounds. But above all, videos can transmit exact communication messages — and nothing will be lost in translation because videos don’t just tell, they show.
Why is video the perfect vehicle for brand storytelling?
Trend: It’s what people are not just watching passively online, but are actively searching for. According to KPCB: Online video accounts for 74% of all online traffic and it’s expected to rise.
Effectivity: If the end goal of brands is to make an emotional connection, what better medium to engage all the senses but video? Video can give a realistic or fantastic depiction of characters, moods, places and time, depending on the story, and marketers are cashing in:
52% of marketers affirm video’s impact on brand awareness.
93% of marketers use video in their campaigns.
51% of global marketers name video as the content type with the best ROI.
Marketing pros report 49% faster revenue growth for video users than for non-users.
The 4 “E”s of Video Marketing
When broken down into its simplest form, a story, after all, is a connection of cause and effect. And that’s exactly how we think. We think in narratives all day long — whether we’re recapping a great weekend in our minds or reflecting on a recent “fire” we put out at work.
Effective video narratives should be most, if not all, of the following:
Engaging. As human beings, we’re hardwired to engage in storytelling. In fact, our species has been telling stories for over 40,000 years. However it’s delivered, your core message must resonate with your audience.
Emotional. Whether it’s through laughter, surprise or tears, evoking emotional responses can help you connect with current and prospective customers.
Educational. One of the goals of every video should be to share with your audience something about your brand — from a core value to the value of your services — that they didn’t already know.
Empathetic. Videos show and tell, making them an effective tool for developing trust and evoking human empathy.
Script Your Next Success Story With Video Marketing