How to Use Video to Supercharge your Brand

(This article has been updated since its original publication in 2020)

Merriam-Webster defines supercharge as, “to charge greatly or excessively (as with vigor or tension).”

Vigor is the key word to highlight when it comes to producing evergreen video content that will influence decision making through your customers' journey. And great news: video is your biggest opportunity to supercharge your brand right now. Whether you run a one-person business from your home, have a small startup that’s just getting off the ground, or work for a giant multinational corporation, there are countless ways to use video to your advantage.

Humans are highly visual, so we find video content more engaging, more memorable, and more popular than most types of content available. There was once a time when video as a means of storytelling and advertising was a nice option; whereas now, it’s a necessity.  

2023 Video Stats from Demand Sage:

• 64% of customers globally make purchases after going through the brand’s social videos.
• 94% of marketers claim that video has improved customer knowledge of their goods or services.
• 78% of consumers claim that seeing a video influenced them to buy or download a piece of software or program.
  
  

How Should I Approach Planning Video Content?

Just like with any form of content marketing, we’re striving to produce content that is not only engaging and helpful to your buyer, but also content that is exactly what your competitor is ignoring or failing to deliver. And, equally as important, you should be pre-determining videos at all three stages of the HubSpot phases: attraction, engagement, and delight.

For instance, in the attraction phase, you should be focusing on how to earn people’s attention — in an organic way. Meaning, how are you solving their problems or questions with video?

Should it be a brand video that gives a 360 overview of what your mission is, a customer testimonial video, or an explainer video? And once you have earned their attention, how are you making it easy to engage – is it by using personalized video, maybe interactive video content that lets them choose their journey, or even something as simple as a welcome video that focuses on opening the relationship, not just closing a deal.

But wait – it gets even more exciting in the delight phase, where our goal is to empower customers to reach their goals. This is where really creative ideas can be developed, such as augmented reality or virtual reality, to help immerse your customers in your brand, customer testimonials, webinar resources, community-based initiatives, and even video case studies that fortify your personas’ trust in your ability and brand.

When it comes to attracting new customers, these are really the baby steps that are paramount in kicking off a video strategy. It may sound overwhelming, but mapping out exactly where video will serve people in their journey will make the process much more fruitful. And you will have content that is timeless, helpful, and authentic to telling the overarching story of your organization & brand.

Let's Begin with the Attract Stage:

This stage lays the foundation for the rest of your plan to take shape, so it’s really important to understand who your audiences are and how to best reach them. They may be completely new to your brand, or they may have heard of you but don’t know much about you. That’s a great opportunity for you to shine through video.

1. Brand Story Video: The art of storytelling has been the same since time immemorial. And with modern technology, we have the power to tell visceral and complex stories in under a few minutes.
   
   A well-structured, well-shot, and well-edited brand video will add more personality to your brand and show potential clients that you’re a live human being and ready to connect with them. Remember that the end goal is to inspire positive emotions with what you capture while also engaging enough to keep their attention.
   
   According to OneSpot, 92% of consumers want brands to make ads that feel like a story when consumed (2017).
   
   
2. Customer Testimonial: Word of mouth makes for great advertising – and video takes word of mouth to the next level. Why? Because a video is hard to fake. It creates trust by using a real person, willing to associate their name and face with your product or service.
   
   Tip: It’s crucial to encourage a relaxed atmosphere when you’re filming your testimonial, so your subject speaks naturally. Social proof is a powerful decision-making factor for your customer base. And while I'm on the topic of customer base, in order to maximize the social proof value, you’ll want a subject who is representative of that base.
   
   
3. Explainer Video: This type is used to increase your brand recognition, customer loyalty, and number of sales. You can do this by pairing animation to captivate and educate your audience, and a powerful call-to-action button in the video that will move your customer towards completing a conversion. Ideas for distribution can include posting on your website, uploading to YouTube, promoting on social networks, and sharing to your email list.
   
   According to Wistia, a video in an email can boost a CTR of up to 40% (2019).

Now, On to the Engage Stage:

This one is all about personalization. You want to focus on opening the relationship and finding ways to individualize your customers' journey. You should make it easy for them to understand what you offer and how to buy from you, while also deepening their trust in you to deliver.

1. Welcome Video: What’s friendlier than saying hello? Not to mention, we all know the impact of a stellar first impression. The beauty is that you control every aspect of the impression by producing a welcome video. This video will serve to introduce yourself, your organization, and a daring mission statement or overall purpose of your brand or organization. Remember, you have complete control over the content, so do some deep digging.
   
   What’s the critical information or component you would not want to miss upon meeting your ideal persona, and boom! Write that into a script and hit record! It could be a heartfelt sentiment welcoming them to your site, a thank you for their time, or even a call to action to connect beyond your site or email.
   
   
2. Personalized Email Video: Everyone likes to feel special. This method is a surefire way to ensure you increase email conversions, boost interaction, increase event attendance, improve customer satisfaction, and truly engage your prospect. I’m talking 1 on 1. Why does this work so well? As motivational guru Dale Carnegie wrote, “A person’s name is to her or him the sweetest and most important sound in any language.”
   
   People crave deeper connections. A personalized email video is the most fascinating way to fast-track a relationship and build on your customers’ trust. If you need one more reason to try this out, Vidyard integrated video into HubSpot in 2019, making it even easier to personalize your email in real-time.
   
   
3. Interactive Video: This method keeps savvy storytellers in awe of the unlimited and raw potential. It can include 360-degree immersive video, or my personal favorite, audience-decided story arc videos (sometimes called “choose your own adventure”). You may have seen the interactive episode of Black Mirror, which gave audiences complete control over the outcome of the story.
   
   This technology isn’t new, but is certainly budding. You can find multiple platforms online, such as WireWax or Hapyak, that not only allow you to create story arcs that are customizable but also add functions such as links, e-commerce functionality, quizzes, slide show presentations, and more to your videos.

Finally - Last, but certainly not least: The Delight Stage

We are setting intentions at this phase to help support and empower your customers to reach their goals. The big outcome here is that we convert your customers into promoters organically!

1. Thank You Video: Let’s be honest. The last thing anyone is expecting after making a purchase of your product, or investment in your service, is a “thank you.” And that’s the secret: to be thankful when they’re not expecting it. This is your opportunity to not only show your gratitude but to point your new customers towards your helpful resources, customer review portal, or even for upsell opportunities. This can be filmed professionally, or even with a smartphone! Get creative, and get thankful!
   
   
2. Video Updates: An easy way to create additional value for your customer. The fact is, if they really like your brand, they’re probably already following you on social networks or have subscribed to your email updates. Take advantage of that! Anytime you want to announce a new feature, product, or service, upload a video to announce it. Again, this can be filmed with a smartphone and should be less than a minute. We’re aiming to go that extra mile and remind customers why they MUST come back for more!
   
   
3. Customer Submitted Video Contest: How do you get authentic video about your product or service? Ask for it! This is a method that has been wildly successful in the music industry where artists ask their fans to submit them dancing, singing, or rocking out to a track, and a professional editor combines everything into one cohesive video. I truly believe while it has its place in the music industry, it can be fully adapted to a B2C or B2B context.

How, you might ask? Think of a feature that truly makes you stand out or an element of your offering that makes your customer scream in joy from its ability to make their life easier.

Now, use the power of video to communicate your need for selfie-style recordings of your prospect celebrating this awesome feature, in exchange for a chance to win a prize. Once you’ve submitted the ask, collect your submissions and compile them into an un-filtered and honest contest video that will excite your audience, as they are the subject matter!

Now that we’ve covered the inbound bases, I hope you feel invigorated with options, and feel the ability to supercharge your brand with video content – today! Remember, you can integrate video into all campaigns, including account-based marketing, digital ad campaigns, and more.

Remember: we have the power to shape our customers’ journey, and with video, you have unlimited potential for strengthening their connection to your brand. It really comes down to taking that first step into awareness of how you can help, and at which stages you can offer that help.

That’s how companies disrupt the market in a sea of competitors.