PlayPlay had the privilege of sponsoring the Content Marketing Institute's Visual Storytelling Event, where our VP of Marketing, Michal Barash, and Marketing Communications Advisor, Peter Blackburn, shared valuable insights. This event went beyond a standard digital summit, providing a vibrant platform for content marketing professionals to discuss challenges, share experiences, and explore the evolving landscape of digital marketing.
Missed the talk? Here’s the recording of our session:
Or read on to find out the key takeaways from our session on Mastering Marketing Strategies with Video in 2024 (and beyond).
The Future of Video Marketing: A Glimpse
Our discussion focused into the future of video marketing, taking into account the potential impact of emerging trends and technologies. We examined the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for enhanced video content creation, distribution, and analysis, and how data can provide valuable insights into audience behavior, content performance, and ROI.
We also discussed the rising trend of 'Storytelling 2.0', where brands tell their stories authentically through their customers or employees, and the implications of this trend for brands.
Most importantly, the discussion focused on the transformation in SEO and the evolving search behaviors of users, which has not gone unnoticed by Google.
Traditionally, search revolved around text-based queries. However, as content consumption habits shift towards visual and video formats, search engines have adapted. This marks the inception of the SGE revolution, a shift where AI technologies assist audiences in discovering and generating non-text-based content within search results.
This underscores the escalating significance of video, both in a broader context and, more notably, within the realm of search.
The Omnipresence and Potency of Video Content
In an age where audiences crave dynamic and easily digestible content, videos emerge as a powerful tool for simplifying complex ideas and creating deeper connections.
In fact, video is the top-performing content for audience engagement and data backs it up. In our research where we surveyed 500+ marketers, we found that in 2023:
- 1,200% more shares have been generated by video content compared to images or text.
- Videos generated a 200% increase in click-through rate compared to other types of content.
- 87% of marketers agree that video helps them generate leads.
We also found that the ability to create compelling video content is not just about having high-quality visuals or a captivating script; it's also about leveraging the right techniques, tools, and strategies. Michal and Peter highlighted the importance of leveraging modern video creation tools, like PlayPlay, that can empower teams to churn out professional-looking videos quickly and efficiently, and without requiring extensive technical skills.
Read on, to find out how you can become a video creator in the content content creator era, without little to no experience.
Authenticity: A Key Differentiator
First you need to understand that in this saturated market authenticity is what stands out the most. Authentic videos, whether they're backstage videos, product demos, tutorials, testimonials, or narratives, have a unique ability to strike a chord with your audience.
Why? Because audiences connect with content that feels genuine, relatable, and not overly promotional. This connection can significantly impact how the content is received, perceived, and shared across various channels, ultimately affecting a brand's image, reputation, and reach.
The good news is that authentic content is much easier to produce. A talking head video, recorded on your smartphone camera is often enough. All you need is the right message, and a simple editing solution to make all the impact.
Video Formats and Their Impact on ROI:
Considerable time was spent discussing the impact of different video formats on Return on Investment (ROI). ROI is critical for brands ensuring the effectiveness of their marketing efforts.
While the right video format can vary depending on specific goals, the target audience, and the platform being used – we shared valuable insights from recent research, into the types of videos that generally yield a high return. Unsurprisingly, product, trendy, and authentic video content performs best.
However, it’s important to note: there is no absolute 'no' when it comes to video formats. The secret to success lies in understanding your audience’s preferences, needs, and consumption habits, and delivering content that resonates with them, irrespective of the format or platform.
Crafting Impactful Short Videos
Platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels are promoting and often favoring short-form videos. This poses the question, can brand storytelling be done right in 1 minute or less?
The answer is yes! Short videos can be incredibly impactful and tell a powerful story that resonates with your audience. All you need is a clear understanding of your core message and editing to ensure brevity without compromising the essence or disrupting the flow of the story.
Our top tip: If you have a lot to say, why not break it into a series? Whether it’s a fun-fact or stat of the day, or even a top tips series – this short-form content helps brands perform on social, engage with their audience and make them return for more!
Context: The Backbone of Video Storytelling
The importance of context in video storytelling was a focal point. Michal and Peter emphasized understanding which story performs best in what format, being creative with content presentation, and ensuring alignment with brand and audience expectations.
Context plays a critical role in video storytelling. Every story is unique, and not all stories can fit into a 15-second video — and that's perfectly fine. The key is to understand your audience, choose the right platform, and align the story with your brand's overall messaging and goals. This will help you maximize the effectiveness of your branded video content.
And before wrapping up our talk, Michal and Peter shared five key strategies that can help brands master video content in the coming years.
The Five Golden Rules for Succeeding with Video in 2024
- Define your strategy for each platform: Each social media platform has a unique audience and content style. Understanding these nuances and tailoring your video content to suit each platform can significantly enhance its performance and reach.
- Be Dynamic: Dynamic and engaging video content is more likely to capture the audience's attention and encourage them to engage with your brand. To do this, include dynamic elements, transitions, music and text to help bring your story to life.
- Add Subtitles. Always.: Not everyone can or wants to listen to the audio of your video. In fact, adding subtitles to your video will increase the likelihood of your video being watched in full by 80%! So, don’t miss this opportunity!
- Make it consistent with your brand: Your video content should reflect your brand identity. Consistency in style, tone, and messaging helps reinforce your brand image and makes your content instantly recognizable to your audience. So make sure that all your videos include your logo, colors and fonts for a cohesive experience.
- Repost, using the most engaging video format: Reposting your video content in different formats that’s preferable to each social media channel can help maintain engagement and reach different segments of your audience.
For best user-experience, we recommend using vertical videos for TikTok, Instagram Reels and Facebook Stories, Horizontal for LinkedIn and Facebook posts and square for Instagram posts. This strategy can help extend the shelf-life of your content and maximize its reach and impact.
Leverage video in 2024 and beyond to increase ROI
Want to learn more about the world of video content marketing? Watch the full seminar delivered by PlayPlay at CMI's Visual Storytelling event to get all the insights you need to succeed in 2024 and beyond.
And remember, the future of marketing is visual, and video content is leading the way. So embrace video content, experiment with different formats and strategies, and let your brand's story shine!And if you need a helping hand in video creation? Try PlayPlay for free – a video creation solution made for enterprise. We make video marketing simple and accessible to anyone. Saving you time, money and the hassle!
