Why You Should Be Using Video For Brand Marketing
See why Cofounder of software development company, Cuttlesoft, identified video as a sales enablement tool to share their capabilities and personality.
With shorter attention spans and an influx of media content, video has become a crucial way to capture attention and share your brand message. As we’ve seen an increase in requests for video content, we know that having video as part of your brand marketing strategy is not just a nice to have at this point, but a NEED.
Here’s why. According to the latest survey from WYZowl, 94% of marketers say using video has helped increase user understanding of a product or service. Additionally, 78% of marketers say video has directly helped increase sales.
Through the art of video, we are here to share solutions on how you can bring this into your strategy without sacrificing authenticity and quality.
We got to work and chat with Frank Valcarcel, the CoFounder of Cuttlesoft. Frank sheds some light on how adding video to his overall strategy provided more value than he could have ever imagined. Frank went into this project with the O Hello team knowing that video can capture the audience's attention quicker than traditional media. The result was a video that struck a balance between education and personality while speaking to two desired audiences.
WATCH HOW WE DID IT:
Q&A with Frank, CoFounder of Cuttlesoft:
Taryn (O Hello Media): Why did you and Emily (Cofounder) identified video as the most valuable asset for sales enablement?
Frank (Cuttlesoft): Attentions are getting shorter and video seems to be the best way to capture an audience's attention and maybe keep it for an extra second or two, but it is also the most natural way to capture our brand personality, unique selling propositions, and culture. It’s the only way to really show off everybody's best qualities that comes across in a short amount of time. So where copy and graphics and/or other traditional media can't convey so much in such a short amount of time, the video really does do that for you.
The Takeaway: Creating a brand video really captures your brand’s unique selling propositions, brand personality and culture in a short amount of time.
Taryn: Talk to me a little bit about what the process was like working with us (O Hello Media) for this particular project.
Frank: It was great! You know it. So we started with a nice casual lunch, we had a conversation about goals and what we wanted to see. The one thing I’ll call out and that stood out a lot was that you wanted to figure out what my vision was. I think you figured out early on that I’m particular and a little bit of a perfectionist and had a vision in my mind. You had told me many times as we worked on it that “I know what your vision is and I got you” and I believed you every time. Process-wise we started off with a casual conversation shared thoughts and ideas. You gathered information on us. We had ideas of what we wanted in the video but you formed your own for yourself after learning about us and the valuable traits we should include as well. And then because of the pandemic, there were some things we had to just roll with. I think the pivot with the way we ended up shooting everything still turned out fantastic. And that's where your dedication, seeing what I saw and making sure the final product matched that, really made a difference.
The Takeaway: Tuning into the brand’s vision is an essential part of the O Hello Media team’s process. We are with you at every step of the creative journey no matter what curveballs are thrown our way.
Taryn: What was your initial goal for this video? I am interested to know where that goal started, how it evolved and then was if it was achieved at the end of the deliverable.
Frank: Oh yes it was absolutely achieved and more so. The original goal was obviously to get more video content for everything. Anything from advertising to marketing to brand awareness, showing off the team, and having something that was versatile. When we first chatted we were in this position where we have to market to both potential customers and potential employees. So this video I think strikes a great balance and that was always our goal of being able to highlight the culture, the way that we work, the value of working with and for Cuttlesoft. So that both audiences got the same message but it was delivered in a natural way for them.
The Takeaway: Video content can be versatile from the audience it speaks to, to the use case. O Hello Media’s priority is to identify your content goals and produce a video that meets them.
Taryn: Have you leveraged the video in email correspondence with potential clients yet, and have you seen the fruits of that effort?
Frank: Yes. I think there have been a couple of clients that really appreciated it. I know that one was a project we closed and in the closing, the video helped. Going back to the whole point, it had to feel authentic. This client got to meet with a couple of other team members and walked away impressed with their communication skills and their ability to ask very engaging questions and dive deep. And then those two team members are in the video. So by meeting them first and then watching the video it sort of was another boost that this team really has their stuff together, they really care about what they are doing deeply and they do quality work.
The Takeaway: Leveraging a video asset to share with potential and existing customers can help boost customer trust and interest in working with your business.
Taryn: What were the most important elements that you wanted to convey in this video? What were your main points of focus?
Frank: Our process, highlighting our team, showing the humans behind the actual work that we do, the personality. We run a company called Cuttlesoft, there is a lot of personality here! And professionalism. We wanted to make the impression that this team is creative, this team is personable, this team is empathic - all of our core values but also we do very very good work, and here are the fantastic and wonderful people that do it.
The Takeaway: Video is the best way to highlight your brand in a way that feels authentic and captures your brand personality.
Taryn: Outside of your team naturally exhibiting and embodying your core values, was there anything about the process that helped bring those personality elements to the surface?
Frank: You know yes. I feel like that was a direct result of us changing our plan. Initially, we were going to have talking heads. It was going to be everyone here at the office and we weren't going to have the remote employees which were unfortunate because they are the longest tenure. And we were talking about how can we make it authentic, ie. don't share the questions, let's make it very off the cuff. And we were trying to make people feel they had privacy and answer in their own way. We didn't get to do that and instead we shifted to everybody talking from home, we had to because of the pandemic. And so I think that was almost better if we would have done it here [in the office] regardless of all of the technical things we were talking about implementing to make sure people had a private space to answer honestly and openly, they still would have felt some pressure. You would be in a room with all of your peers. And so knowing that they got to do it in the comforts of their own homes and on their own schedule and own time and prepare for it on their own. It wasn't like let’s all get dressed to the best and show up to the office super early and do interviews all day. That probably took the pressure down quite a bit and so that authenticity, honesty and transparency came through even more so as a direct result for us having to switch around.
The Takeaway: Pivots can be a good thing! Shifting the video production from in-person to remote allowed for the Cuttlesoft team to feel more relaxed during filming, giving the audience a more authentic look into their company operations and team.
Taryn: How do you feel the video helps to differentiate you from your competitors?
Frank: It's that personality of the company that comes through. It's that direct communication from the people that work here. Obviously, there are a lot of things that we do just like our competitors. When you are building software there are only so many ways you can do it if you are doing it right. So the difference has to be with the people that the client works with. It helps build trust, it helps highlight the team, humanizes the team, in that way it does differentiate. We may do things the exact same way or build the same technology as somebody else's. The one strong differentiator is that nobody else has an Emily, a Marissa, or Micah.
The Takeaway: Creating a video in and of itself helps create brand trust and tells your audience what makes you different from the rest. It gives a visual glimpse into your company culture, the people behind the screen/phone and allows the customer to connect human to human.
Taryn: How did O Hello Media support you in bringing this vision to life and what we were able to do to help that?
Frank: I mean you all did everything. From the beginning, from your commitment to understanding what our vision was and more so what expectations we might have. I think I told you I can help do these things but I need you running everything else and you did it smoothly. I never had any worry about organization or planning. You took care of it all. If we had tried to do this ourselves, even with the help of contracted work it would have taken so much longer and may not have ever achieved the level of quality that I think you are able to deliver for us. You nailed it.
The Takeaway: O Hello Media helps facilitate your goals and vision, make it a reality, and deliver quality output.
TO PUT A BOW ON IT:
The benefit of adding video to your marketing budget has been proven time and time again that your business goals will be met exponentially. Plus the benefits of having a video can expand across multiple parts of the business and does not need to just sit with the marketing team.
By adding video you will start to see:
An increase in user understanding of your product or service
Increase in site traffic and average time your visitors spend on your page
An increase in sales
A great ROI
Generate more leads
A reduction in the number of support calls
There is no time like the present to add video to your strategy. We want to help you become the marketing hero by providing a cost-effective, customized, and timely deliverable to not only meet your goals but to exceed them.
Do you need professional and creative help to create your groundbreaking video?
