"I'm uninterested in superheroes. I am only interested in real stories, real people, real connection." - Jamie Lee Curtis How does a video marketing blog start with a quote from Jamie Lee Curtis? Because that quote is a bulls-eye. That's a marketing philosophy mic drop from an actress whose most memorable scene may be an awkward mid-life pole dance for Arnold Schwarzenegger. Connection is not made by beating your chest like you are the superhero going to save the day. Connection is made when you present your brand as real. It starts and ends with empathy, that ability to understand and share the feelings of another. That connection is made when your marketing shows your potential customer you know what's going on in their lives. Throwing around statistics, awards and accolades may work here and there. Saying you are the best and throwing up a bunch of videos and photos of your brand in the proverbial "fists on hips pose" may occasionally get some customers to act. More often than not though, when your brand is positioned as a guide that understands their needs; that's when a spark ignites the connection. Define your business by the value you bring to your customer, not the product that you sell. It's not about your product or service, it's about your customer. Think about it, if you go on a first date, do you get to the second date by talking about yourself all night? No. You get the second date by asking a lot of questions and getting to know the other person. You make in investment in them and your date sees that. It's not that different when it comes to video marketing. You talk to your customer and get to understand what they want and need. Ask them why they do business with you. You put yourself in their shoes. You empathize. Businesses who don't do this are trying to read their own label from inside the bottle. It happens all of the time. When we start off on a project and get to know a business, almost every single time, we discover something the business either dismissed or never even knew was something their customer valued about them. We do this by talking to their customers. We gain a whole new level of knowledge when we do this. So we put this into practice when we took on a project for Bopworks. They are a small business that makes jazz drumsticks. You're probably asking yourself, "What's so special about drumsticks?" Well a lot actually and how did we find out what was so special? We asked a lot of questions of their customers and identified the problems drummers face when using regular sticks and how Bopworks meets these challenges head on. We make a connection by using a customer at the beginning of the message to say "Hey, I'm just like you and I found a business that has helped solve my problems." We didn't position Bopworks as a superhero. We positioned them as a company that understood their customers are real people with real problems and at the end of the day, the drummer having a great gig is the hero of their own life. Media Masters is based in Austin, TX and produces video marketing content for small local businesses to large international corporations.
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2017 is going to be an exciting year for video marketing. It's never been easier to connect with potential customers. Digital marketing has opened a whole new world to businesses big and small. Videos targeting your customers and influencing their decisions is no longer a luxury, it's a necessity. Video marketing is now the standard. Social Times describes video marketing in 2017 perfectly; "Just as social media brought on a new way to communicate with consumers, video will be a powerful tool to ease pain points in an easy and efficient manner. In 2017, more businesses will move to adopt video as the new normal in customer service or risk getting left behind. " The question you and your marketing team will need to ask yourselves is not whether you are willing to risk the investment in video marketing, but rather are you willing to risk losing customers and being left behind because your competition is already using video to connect and convert with a huge ROI. Media Masters is based in Austin, TX and produces video marketing content for small local businesses to large international corporations. Forming the connection... What makes a great video? There are so many things, but one of the things often overlooked is what video producers call "spice". Sometimes there's such a rush to get a video done and posted, we overlook the spice. Like cooking, so many dishes are bland on their own and they need a little salt and pepper so you'll go back for a second bite. Sports provides so many examples of this, but there is one that comes to mind. It was 1988. I was in my dad's 1984 Ford Fairmont sedan driving back from the homecoming dance. The World Series between my Oakland A's and the Los Angeles Dodgers was on the AM car radio. We were on Main St., sitting at a stop light waiting for the light to change. A lame Kirk Gibson was summoned from the locker room by manager Tommy Lasorda to pinch hit. Gibson made his way to the plate, stood in the box and worked reliever Dennis Eckersley all the way to a 3-2 count and then the improbable happened. Gibson hit a walk-off home run to win game 1. Jack Buck's radio call sent chills down my spine, as goose bumps formed and the hair on my neck stood up. It was electric. A guy who could barely walk, just put a ball over the fence against one of baseball's greatest relief pitchers. It's one of the most memorable sports moments of the 20th century. We eventually arrived home and I ran in and turned on the TV. It wasn't until then, when I saw the replay that I realized what I had missed. The TV coverage painted an entirely different picture for me. In the video, I could see the shock on the faces of the fans as Gibson walked up the dugout steps, the limp in Gibson's walk as he made his way to the plate, that bounce in his stance before he took the ready, how effortless his swing was when he connected on Eckersley's fastball, the limp, the arm raise, the double fist pump, Tommy Lasorda running from the dugout with his arms raised, and the mob at home plate. After I watched it on TV, the electricity I had felt in my body before had turned to raw emotion and I cried. The video had stirred up my emotions. I was an A's fan. I should have been angry, but I wasn't. I was moved. This was just a raw moment that connected with me. And that's what happens when you add spice, a connection is formed and you remember the dish for its taste and you end up wanting more. The radio call was great, don't get me wrong, but the television broadcast was epic and left an unforgettable 8 minutes in my mind. And that is the power of video. Media Masters is based in Austin, TX and produces video marketing content for small local businesses to large international corporations. |
AuthorMedia Masters Archives
May 2017
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