Aligning Video with Your Brand

Leadership finally approved that video you’ve been wanting to make. The budget has been established and the team has been assembled. But here’s the hard part, everyone gets in a room to start brainstorming and the world is your oyster. The options are endless, so how do you choose what tone your video needs to take on?

When brainstorming ideas, it’s important to understand the overarching goal, know your audience and then work toward creating a feeling. These three elements are crucial to setting you up for success from the beginning. Here are a few best practices to keep in mind too.

• Don’t just wing it, take the time to plan it out and write a script
• Create a visual storyboard
• Consider a series of videos
• Don’t forget the impact of audio
• Identify your target audience
• Listen to performance

But best practices can only take you so far. It all means nothing if you don’t connect with your audience. So, let’s take a look at how to align the tone of a video to the brand’s voice.

HUMOR

The World Emoji Day video below works so well for Simantel’s Facebook because it aligns with our company’s voice. Fun, casual, quick-witted and approachable – and plays well to our overall goal of showcasing our people. The perfect scenario for us to use humor. And it worked, our Facebook audience loved it!

HEARTFELT

We work with many brands with the lofty goal of improving the quality of life for many. It’s brands like the OSF HeathCare Foundation that allow us to take video content to the next level and create an emotional connection to the audience.

EDUCATIONAL AND TESTIMONIAL

This category comes in play for our clients like Caterpillar. Deeply rooted in research, we know that potential customers want a trusted advisor and a product that is tried and true. Educational videos and testimonials align great with products like CatÒ Technology Visionary. Take a look below.

LIVE VLOG

It seems that everywhere you turn you see a video of someone doing a tutorial, sitting in their car talking to the camera or just shooting a full video using nothing but their iPhone and an app. Here are a few guidelines that will up your game and make your video look more professional than the majority of home videos out there today.

• Shoot with your phone horizontally – it can play better on social media
• Find a window – camera equipment is better in natural light
• Be aware of your surroundings (we’ve all seen the hilarious memes of an unintended reflection in the mirror in the background)
• Consider editing your footage or adding animation, like Simantel did for last year’s holiday video

Not matter what type of video you choose to move forward with, these tips will help keep you focused on the main goal and push your video marketing to be successful.

Tip 1: Stick to your brand…but keep challenging it

Be true to your brand and don’t force it. If you’re not sure what your company’s voice is, think to yourself, “If Simantel were a person, they would be…” We also added keep challenging it, because it’s important to take risks and do the unexpected to garnish attention in this crowded video marketplace.

Related: Disruptive Marketing: The Hook vs. The Strategy

Tip 2: Different posts for different folks

Be conscious of where your video will be posted. What speaks well to your audience in one channel may not work for another. For example, the World Emoji Day video worked so well on Simantel’s Facebook page, because it aligns with our audience there. But we have a different audience following us on LinkedIn, with different needs for content.

Tip 3: Be honest with your content

The cardinal rule…don’t misrepresent. Consumers will see right through it. Whether intentionally or on accident. You can take the exact same piece of content and change the tone drastically based on how it’s edited or the music and audio you choose.

In the end, no matter what route you take, remember video still has to entertain. Otherwise people won’t watch or engage. If you are looking for a few thought starters and have two minutes, take a look at our video reel to see how our clients are adding video content to their strategy.