Video is an integral part of the buying journey for consumers in the digital world. In fact, 50 percent of people on the internet watch videos and product demos before purchasing anything.
That’s right. What once was the latest marketing trend has now become a marketing staple. And it’s not hard to see why.
From demonstrating how a product or service works to getting up close and personal about why you got into your business in the first place, video marketing can reach audiences more granularly than any other medium can.
If you’re ready to see how video storytelling can revamp your marketing and outreach efforts, you’re going to love today’s article. Today, we’re sharing six ways you can use video storytelling to create a connection with your audience.
Ready to learn more? Let’s begin!
Share your brand story
What inspired you to create your business? Was it the smell of peppermint oil on your grandmother’s hands every Christmas when you were a child? Was it the very real problems you felt as a recent college grad trying to figure out your next move?
Whatever it was, use video marketing to share your brand story on your website, landing pages, and on social.
You can also send your video to email subscribers as part of a strategic email marketing series—a great way to nurture your top-of-the-funnel prospects.
Let’s break down how creating your brand story video could look like.
Let’s say you created an AI writer tool after years of struggling to come up with fresh content ideas in your role as a content manager.
Now, you have a tool that can generate unique content based on user preferences and needs, and you can’t wait to share it with other content heads that may be facing the same challenges.
In this case, you can use your video to share the trajectory of how your tool came to be—from your content role to the ideation phase to the eventual creation and launch of the product.
Use your video to hone in on the challenges you experienced before the tool and how much time, energy, and resources it’s helped you save since creating it. Bonus points if you can bring in some happy customers to gush about their experiences, too!
And that brings us to …
Share a series of customer success stories
When it comes to elevating your brand’s influence, there’s nothing quite as powerful as social proof and user-generated content.
That’s why it’s essential to bring your customers in on the journey when shooting your video content.
So, reach out to some of your VIP customers and loyal fans and ask them if they’d like to be part of a customer video series where they share how your brand has added tremendous value to their lives. After they participate, feel free to offer a discount on some of their favorite items or send them a gift.
For instance, let’s say you run a SaaS business and you’d like to promote your CMS platform. In this case, you could reach out to some of your happy web developer subscribers and ask them to join your video series. After shooting, consider offering a discount off next month’s service or foot the bill on their subscription for a few months.
When planning your customer series videos, have customers focus their message on the benefits of using your CMS and the real outcomes they’ve seen as a result.
Surprising your customers with gifts after they participate can help you collect honest reviews, reward them for their time, and stay out of unethical territory.
Shoot videos that tug on emotion
A video showing how your latest invention helps communities in rural areas get access to emergency supplies. Or a collection of happy brides describing how your skin care products helped them feel confident on their wedding day. Videos that tug on emotion, grab attention, and don’t let go.
Here’s one we love by AirBnB:
Some of the emotions you might consider influencing in your videos include:
- Happiness
- Joy
- Fear
- Sadness
- Belonging
- Anger
- Frustration
- Guilt
- Sorrow
- Surprise
- Enthusiasm
- Excitement
- Anticipation
When choosing emotions to highlight, do so with intention.
Tie them to a specific goal and purpose.
For instance, if you’re shooting a video about how your career coaching service helps mid-level professionals move into executive roles, you might tug on frustration, anticipation, and excitement.
Here’s how that could work:
- Tug on frustration to demonstrate the challenges professionals face when they feel stuck in their roles.
- Highlight anticipation to show how eager professionals feel to land a new promotion.
- Use excitement to share how elated professionals feel after getting their new promotions.
Center a video story around a crucial pain point and how your brand solves it
Audiences connect with brands that help them feel seen and understood. And what better way to make an audience feel that way, then to solve their problems?
When you center a video story around a crucial pain point and how your brand solves it, you:
- Present yourself as the “key” to your audience’s problems
- Establish yourself as an expert in your industry
- Give prospects a closer look into how your offer applies in the real world
- Help prospects envision what it’d be like to use your product or service to solve their pain points
For instance, maybe you created an article highlighting 12 of the best startup books to help your newbie entrepreneurial audience learn the nuts and bolts of creating a startup. In this case, you could spin the article into a video, sharing how each book has helped you and other startup entrepreneurs with no experience create thriving businesses.
Or, let’s say you started a job search platform that caters to a variety of ages, people, and skillsets. What makes your platform extra special? An array of jobs for 17 year olds and entry-level workers.
In this case, you could create a “day-in-the-life” video that follows one of your teen customers around for the day. Your video could break down what it’s like to keep up with daily chores, a full load of classes, and mitigate the challenges of saving for college. You can also have the teen share how difficult it was to find an entry-level position before they came across your job search platform.
Finish the storyline by having the teen describe how easy it was to use your platform, score interviews, and how it eventually led to a paying job they love.
Go behind-the-scenes
There’s something exhilarating about being able to see how a process happens from start to finish.
Whether it’s the fine art of pastry-dough making or observing a conveyer-belt system packaging old-fashioned soda bottles, it’s no secret that getting a peek behind the scenes helps you feel more connected to a brand.
So why not take your audience on the same journey?
Share how intricate your manufacturing process is when you create your personalized linen suits. You can even go back further by showing where you source your fabric from and how carefully thought out each design is before production happens.
If you just launched a photo editing tool, shoot a video breaking down how your own marketing team uses the tool. Highlight how you can create campaign posters, change the background on photos, and post-process images after a product shoot.
If you sell tickets to fun events in Tulum and other places around the world, create a video compilation sharing clips of some of your most raved-about experiences. Help prospects imagine themselves attending by adding in a variety of wide, medium, and tight shots and including scenes that evoke the senses—think sizzling fajitas, beating drums, and a sparkling, colorful sunset.
Use avatars to demonstrate how your product or service works
Get creative by using avatars and computer animation to create a demo video breaking down how your product or service works.
Take a look at the video below by TSplus, for inspiration.
In this example, TSplus produced a detailed video describing how its remote support software provides administrators and technicians access and control to equipment from any location. With a clear overview of how the product works, prospects can envision what it’d look like if their teams were to adopt the tool.
Animated demo videos work well for just about any industry or use-case. But they’re especially effective when you sell a more complex or technical product or service like TSplus does.
Wrap up
Video storytelling has become a necessary skill for brands and marketing teams that are serious about forming meaningful connections with their audiences.
As video continues to influence decision-making, the demand for this medium will continue to soar.
If you’re ready to use video storytelling to revamp your marketing and outreach efforts, we hope today’s article has given you the inspiration you need to get started.
And that’s it for today, friends. To your success!
