5 Ways To Use Video in Your Marketing Mix

This week has been all about video.

If a picture paints a thousand words, then video redecorates.  It's the content we all want to consume and share and every marketing report we read sends us scurrying for our camcorders, (with varying degrees of success).

Before spending next years budget on your big picture production, it's worth considering a few key questions, namely
- what do you have to show your customers?
- what sort of customers are you trying to reach?
- what do you want your viewer to do as result of watching?  (Be careful with this last one, calls to action in video form won't be your usual "buy now" pitch)

So, what kind of video is right for you?

Thought-provoking
A commencement address with a difference.  This video is all about choice and decision making and reminds us that we're human.  A real inspiration.

Community engaging
With the explosion of Vine usage, it was inevitable that brands would incorporate it into their marketing mix.  Asos have cleverly put content production into the hands of their audience, asking them to showcase their orders.  It's a social media gift.

ASOS Unbox campaign using customer generated Vine footage

Showing personality - Poking fun at your competition
Here Samsung draw on the Apple following, to show how their audience are really the smart ones.  In doing so, they add personality to their electronics brand and become instantly more persuasive.

Creating visibility
The travel industry has always been keen to sell us the dream in pictures.  There are now annual awards for the countries who make the biggest impression.  Video is a great way to tell your story by letting your viewers picture themselves using your product and experiencing your service.

Educate by entertaining
Promoting rail safety could have been dull, but the cartoon nature and catchy music made this a Youtube success - there are now over 80 variations on this theme.  Praise indeed.

For all those not quite ready to make the video leap, remember there's always slideshare. Jenny and the Chicken is every bit as engaging in my book .......