Creating a great video to promote yourself and your business isn’t easy. Without the proper strategy and planning, so many promo videos simply miss the mark. So what exactly is the recipe for success? We’re sharing the secret in a two part series, using our most recent Iconica promo video as a real life example to provide some context.
The first thing you need to do, before you start down any creative path is establish…
What are you hoping to accomplish by creating the video? Do you want to educate your clients? Establish yourself as an expert/authority? Or simplify your value proposition…
For us at Iconica, we came to the realization that many of our clients aren’t aware of the wide range of services we provide. They may have used us for branding, print or website design, but may not realize that we offer social media management, digital marketing services, photography or video. We wanted our current and prospective clients to know that we are truly a one stop shop for all their creative marketing needs.
Essentially, who is your audience? Establishing up front who you are crafting your message for will help you stay focussed. If your target audience becomes too broad, or you find you have multiple different audiences all with different motivations, then maybe you need to be creating separate videos. Each video could be a slightly different spin on the same message to appeal to that specific audience.
For example, once we established that the goal of our video was to educate clients on all the services we offer, we realized that it would be impossible to create one video that would appeal to all our clients in different industries. Their businesses and what motivates them are all so different. Instead we created a plan for multiple different videos. Each one educating “could-be” clients on the wide range of services we offer, but all with a different style, message and visuals.
Understanding what motivates people is the first step to marketing to them. Figure out what is important to them first, and then you can craft your message.
For many of our REALTOR clients in the GTA, they want more listings, so they can sell more homes, and essentially make more $$’s. Plain and simple. But there is a ton of competition out there. So it’s crucial for them to be unique to set themselves apart from the rest of the pack. To do that they need an agency that can help them create unique marketing materials and leverage creative marketing techniques that will get them noticed.
While the obvious end game of any marketing effort is to make a sale, it’s important to be specific about what you’re actually trying to achieve. Whether you want someone to immediately buy your product or service, or simply build brand awareness for the future, it’s important to be specific about your goals.
For us, we simply wanted to educate current and potential clients on all the ways we can help them. We’ve had many clients in the past say, “Hey, I didn’t know you guys did property videos… copywriting… or google ads”. We weren’t going to miss out on any more business because people simply didn’t know we offered that.
Now that you’ve narrowed down all of the above, you’re ready to start the creative process.
Click here to read part 2 of this series!
J.P. Miles, Director of Photography & Video