Don’t you love the way an amazing movie makes you feel? I’m sure you’ve had the experience of bursting out of a darkened theater into the bright light of day inspired to change the world. A great film can make you laugh, make you cry, and, sometimes, make you feel like you can accomplish anything.
Isn’t that what our marketing should do?
Mike Moran and I recently had a conversation with writer, director, and producer Vern Oakley of Tribe Pictures, who shared some insights into how to make video work for your brand and how to tell your story more effectively. The video was created by The Conference Board and is being shared with permission.
Here’s what we talked about:
- How to get the C-suite to buy into video. Building a high-performance culture depends on getting people from all around your organization to understand the value video provides, both for your customers and your employees. Think about companies like Google or Apple and how consistently they tell their story using video. As Vern says, “people do business with people.” And video communicates your company’s values incredibly effectively. If pictures are worth a thousand words, video works like a novel to tell a great story about your brand and your business no matter who your audience may be.
- “Video reveals truth at 30 frames per second.” You can’t easily hide when it comes to video. They say the camera adds ten pounds. Well, it also shows an authentic view of who you are. As we talked about, United got tons of negative attention because of the video showing a passenger being dragged off a flight. Did they counter that with something equally transparent? Nope. They sent a tweet. Funny how that didn’t work out for the airline. Nothing can tell your story — for better or worse — as effectively as a video. Why not use it to tell that story in a bold, engaging way?
- Video drives emotional responses more than any other medium. Vern talks about several types of ROI, none more powerful than “return on inspiration.” As he notes, imagine you can get every single employee (or customer), one percent more inspired. What would that bring to your company? A great video, just like a great film, can help your audience feel like they can change their world. Wouldn’t you love to drive that type of emotional, inspired response from your audience?
If you’re interested, you can watch the entire interview with Vern Oakley here:
The rise of video is inevitable. According to the 2016 Mary Meeker report, video will represent fully 74% of internet traffic this year. And in a recent earnings call, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg said, “Video is a very big priority… [in the future] a lot of the content that people share will be video.” By “a lot,” he means a massive volume of content, with that same AdAge article noting videos posted to Facebook have grown by almost 100% between 2015 and 2016.
Seems like a big deal. Why not put it to work for you?
Video is here. Now. And it works to help tell your story, emotionally and effectively. You might not be looking to win an Oscar. But that doesn’t mean you can’t use video to win some gold for your business. Why not give it a shot and see if you can generate a positive return on inspiration for your business today?
