For more than 30 years I’ve been using video to build winning brands, and while the delivery mechanisms by which video was delivered then have changed dramatically over the years, the relevance of video as a powerful direct marketing tool is more prevailing today than ever before. In my previous blog on Creating Targeted Videos That Sell (Part 1), I talked about the ways in which video ads help build brands on two popular social media platforms because of the authentic and immediate way that video engages people—especially in today’s culture of instant gratification. In that blog I shared excerpts from a recent conversation with Kurt Bullock, founder and CEO of Produce Department, a Facebook ad agency, who talked about how to target video ads to move different audiences from prospects to customers on Facebook and Instagram.

In Part 2, I’ll be sharing part of a conversation I had earlier this year with Susan Gilbert, with whom I am currently working to promote my new book, Video Persuasion. Susan is the founder of Online Promotion Success Inc, a digital marketing company. She was also a social media pioneer 15 years ago, back when it was often used for getting backlinks easily indexed for search engine optimization purposes. Her familiarity with the multitude of social media platforms and the ways in which they have evolved over the years has made her experience invaluable to me and to my clients as we navigate fresh ways to connect and motivate our audiences across these digital channels.

Real-Time Marketing

I’ve had considerable success over the years building brands by marketing directly to consumers. Beginning with the Juiceman juice extractor in 1989, I used direct response television to drive consumers to physical locations where we conducted educational seminars about the benefits of fresh fruits and vegetables. These real-time meetings, where the audience could interact directly with our spokespeople and our products, helped drive business from zero to $75 million in sales in just four years.

Over the summer, with Susan’s encouragement, I started using the new Facebook Live app, and it was like déjà vu! Seeing real-time responses pop up on my desktop monitor while I was addressing viewers was exhilarating, and it brought me back to that powerful sensation of immediacy and connection that I experienced in front of large seminar audiences three decades ago—for far less cost and effort!

Brand-building with Facebook Live

I am always looking for new and effective ways to build winning brands. What I like about Facebook Live is the ability to easily reach your target market with direct-to-consumer messages that are authentic and engaging because of the interactive nature of the platform. And while many early adopters are using these live broadcasts for personal coaching, I asked Susan to share some of the other ways in which she has assisted her clients in building their brands by including Facebook Live as part of their digital marketing strategy. Here are some of her suggestions:

• Teasers about a new product.

• News about what’s happening at your company—major milestones and/or other reasons to celebrate.

• An instructional tutorial about a task you already know really well, like a recipe.

• A product demonstration.

• Hosting live Q&A sessions.

As I’ve recently experienced, the live experience is really powerful. In my interview with Susan for my new book, where we talked about the growing range of social media options for video, she told me that viewers of Facebook Live videos comment 10 times more frequently than they do on videos that aren’t live because they are engaging with the host in real-time conversation. Today, video accounts for more than 73% of all internet traffic, with projections for it to go as high as 82% by 2021. “The bottom line,” Susan explained, “is that video should be utilized in social media marketing in one way or another, hands down.”

Of course, there are other social media platforms where the use of video is prevalent, like YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and even LinkedIn, a relative newcomer to platform building with video. Susan has coached me to utilize video on ALL of these platforms, with the understanding that the landscape changes on a regular basis. With this in mind, here are some tips she shared with me about how to make videos work on some of these other platforms:

YouTube: DIY, Do It Yourself, tutorial videos with answers to a commonly asked question. Video length can be considerably longer on this platform because viewers want to know the answer. Viewers also go to YouTube with the specific intent to watch a video. They are primed for the video-watching experience and likely have the time to watch it.

Facebook: Keep videos short and sweet. Facebook Lives are great at 15 minutes or less; though, if you have a strong following you can go longer.  People using Facebook (and Instagram) are usually on the go. Whether it’s in line at Starbucks or between meetings, someone on this platform wants high-level information, quickly. Use Facebook to send traffic to either a shop that you have set up on Facebook or to your website.

Instagram: This platform is growing fast. It skews younger than Facebook and is far more personality-oriented. Catchy titles are key to hook viewers, who are likely only going to stick around for a few seconds. It’s critical here (and on Facebook) to start with the end in mind.

Instagram Live: 32% of teenagers consider Instagram to be the most crucial social media network. The benefits of video here are similar to the immediacy and authenticity I mentioned earlier for Facebook Live. If your brand is aimed at the younger demographic, then this is the right place to post your videos.

LinkedIn: While this isn’t one of the big four for video, it’s a terrific platform for talking about the story behind your business or giving a quick explanation about how you got started in your business. These aren’t fun party videos but personality-oriented towards the LinkedIn audience.

Who is Your Target Market?

“What is the goal for your brand and do you want to gain more views on YouTube or have more visibility for your brand on Facebook? The two are not the same.” ~ Susan Gilbert, Founder & CEO, Online Promotion Success Inc.

While there is brand-building value on all of these platforms, Susan talks at length in my book about the nuances of each and the importance of keeping the end-goal in mind when deciding where to place your videos—and how to ensure the content length, tone, and style are appropriate for the platforms on which you are posting your videos. On platforms like Facebook and Instagram, for example, where users are typically on the go, getting your message out there about the benefits of your product has to happen in the first few seconds.

Whether you’re creating content for a 15-second video or a 30-minute product demonstration, we will all tell you that authentic content that solves a problem head-on is invaluable, and it will outperform videos that are over-produced and too slick every time because, with the latter, you know you’re watching an ad. What I find particularly thrilling is these are the same rules that drove sales for my early brands 30 years ago. While technology has changed in unimaginable ways since I started marketing direct-to-consumers, people’s behavior remains the same. We are all looking for ways to improve our lifestyle and we constantly seek answers for our own set of every-day problems. In today’s society, with a growing demand for tailored answers, fast—I am confident that video will continue to be the most effective tool in your marketing portfolio and the answers you are looking for to help you make great videos that sell are right in front of you.

FREE BONUS!

To get more great video marketing information, please visit my website at rickcesari.com and you can download, for free, my e-book on the three most effective types of online content. I go into great depth explaining this information, how to create it, and hot it can benefit you.

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