Festive meeting talks video as WAM members commit to make 2021 the year of film

The last meeting of the year for Marketing WAM had a proper festive feel and took the opportunity to share insights around video and how to make it feature more in content and news pipelines in 2021. Marketing WAM Publishing Director Sue Souter set the scene with a link to the first ever You Tube video which went live in 2005. If you have not watched it it’s a gem! Click here.

“So 15 years later from that first faltering step the filming of our lives and its upload to multiple social channels is a minute to minute reality for millions of people,” says Sue.

“In fact we watch more than 1 billion hours of You Tube videos every day.  From cat videos to comedy shows to how to videos they all serve a variety of purposes and marketing people are not immune to the impact of a ‘viral’ offering.

“So how do you get your brand / company involved in film.

Here’s a few insights:

• First of all unless you are Coca Cola most of us working in the business to business sector are not trying to woo millions with our content. What we are trying to do is enrich a customer or target customer’s understanding of what we do and its benefits to grow our businesses and underpin expertise. So think deep not wide.
• Remember that a B2B customer tends to do more research into a purchase and often has to get buy in from seven or eight other team members. Video can work very well in reaching these customers at different points in the B2B sales cycle. So think of video as sales collateral not just as marketing background – how can it really move someone closer to buying?
• Pay attention to where your buyers are in the sales funnel.
• So they have never heard of you – how would a video introduce you?
  • They are close to the end of the funnel but need convincing – how would a video reassure someone they were making the right decision. Perhaps with a testimonial from a satisfied customer in a closely related field?  
  • The same old objections keep surfacing – how can video overcome them?
• Don’t forget most news stories can work on film, in fact 72% of people prefer to watch a video to learn about a new product or service. What did you last launch? Is it still selling? Can you revisit with a film director’s hat on?
• Think about that buyer again and then choose the best platform for your film. Most people would upload to YouTube – max two mins BTW – as it’s the 2^nd biggest search engine after Google  – but think about editing the video to a 10 second short for Twitter or Instagram if that is where your buyer sits.
• Resourcing a video pipeline. We recommend a mix of expert comms people who know what they are doing together with your own people  – everyone can contribute to the pipeline.  
• www.loom.com – video messaging for work recommended by Matt Galloway of Galloways Printers is a great way of using video to brief colleagues or present proposals to prospects. More on this at a later date.

Quick case study

Souter PR is working with a commercial flooring business called Kemtile and it’s hard for us to get to all the jobs they do in major food production companies across the UK.  So we have one or two really keen individuals who are capable of setting their Iphones up to record the laying of a hygienic floor which converts perfectly into timelapse footage – who does not want to see a floor laid in 30 seconds?  They are then using a mobile editing suite like Imovie or similar to edit, add logos and captions – with a bit of help from the marcomms team – and do a pretty fine job actually. Go to their Linked in page and scroll down to see recent video from them.

A video for every member in 2021

Marketing WAM has started its own film journey with its members at Bellway Homes this week interviewing Lin Davies about a the launch of a chic garden studio pod to sit in the grounds of their 5 star new builds at Heatherley Wood on Alderley Park.   We are offering this Out and About video Q & A to all members to showcase what can be done in just a couple of film and edit hours, to populate our film feed on the Marketing WAM site and encourage all of us to do more on film in 2021. Get in touch if you want to get involved.

Anyone wishing to know more about membership, can find all the details here, or call Sue or Jan on 01625 837237 or email. Follow us on  on Twitter @MktgWAM.