How to create and use multi channel video marketing

Depending on who you ask, many digital marketers will confidently state that video is king. As our visual demands as consumers continue to dominate marketing efforts, this channel is still steadily rising to become a favoured one by brands of all forms. Why? Because as our lives get more digitalised and our lives become more mobile, video is the one way we can consume the content we’re after easily, on-the-fly and in a few seconds. In an age of content marketing, getting your message across channels is important, and formats like the moving image can power it all up.

Because there are almost 18 million smartphones in Australia – almost as many screens as there are people – accessing video content is super simple for the average consumer. They also get the chance to view content from brands they value and trust, rather than feeling like they’re actively listening to an advertising pitch across channels they dwell on.

Many businesses will use multi channel marketing to reach customers – whether on social channels or various publications. Simply put, these holistic campaigns see one brand drive content marketing techniques through channel after channel, all in aims to reach as many people as possible. Because of this, it’s important to go about it strategically, and not make your end-user feel like they’re being spammed with your content marketing efforts. It takes a subtle approach and careful balance. It’s somewhat a fine art. While it may be tempting to cast your net far and wide, there are still a few things to consider when you’re gearing up for multi channel marketing.

Multi-channel strategies are all about linking these channels together through subtle connection, using content that is tailored for each specific platform and its audience. Instead of seeing one piece of brand messaging, that’s the same on every single platform, multi channel marketing slightly differs it by tailoring it for the specific platform it will be seen across. In other words, it varies enough to be highly optimised for each place it will be seen on. And it’s important this step isn’t cut out of the process – making your users feel like they’re seeing the same advertisement everywhere they go on the net will only drive them away.

What is multi-channel storytelling?

The answer to this question is twofold. Firstly – and most obviously – this is using the same story in your video content but using it across a range of channels; and varied just enough to be specific to that given platform. This can include YouTube, email marketing, a blog article, and a raft of social media channels or posts. It can also include traditional media like television. It might also mean thinking outside the box for video content you may not have considered, like digital billboards and signage in retail outlets and shopping centres. It can even be a mix of direct messaging or text messages delivered straight to your audience’s smartphone.

This means your video content is going to follow your target audience everywhere they happen to dwell, ultimately driving up brand awareness. It will be there while they are shopping, working, consuming media, on social media, checking emails – it is real-world remarketing where you are always reminding your target audience of your brand without seeming intrusive or like you are bombarding them.

And secondly – and it’s an important point – multi-channel storytelling can mean that the story may be interpreted differently, depending on the person consuming the content. By delivering video content across multiple places with the same visuals, tone and basic messaging, you can appeal to multiple demographics at once across multiple locations. Which makes this form of marketing essential to be ahead of the curve in the modern world.

Using different types of video in your marketing strategy

There are many different ways to create video content to market to a new audience and encourage brand awareness. To prevent your content from becoming repetitive and stale, you should mix it up and apply the right strategies each individual marketing campaign, like opting for specific types of visual content. Some of the most successful and proven forms of video content include:

Vlogs (video blogs): Just like blogging allows you to boost your standing as an industry thought leader, vlogging allows you to add a personal touch by talking about topical subjects in your industry in front of a camera.

Advertising: Video has become essential for advertising and more than 80 per cent of all marketers are using this type of marketing strategy to make their campaigns appealing in the modern-day. There are many platforms and apps that allow businesses of all size and scale to create eye-catching ads with overlays and other effects and it is easy to use platforms like Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook and Google to deliver these pieces to a targeted audience in your industry.

Testimonials: Getting a current or former customer to express their satisfaction with your business, brand, services and products is a genuine way to reach your target audience and promote yourself without using hard-sell tactics. The more reputable the person or business it is providing the testimonial, the more trust and confidence you will inspire.

Product reviews/unboxings: You can review the product yourself or you can enlist influencers or industry experts to do it for you to make it more reputable. Unboxing videos have become very popular throughout social media and other platforms, attracting millions of viewers and also delivering high engagement levels so you can communicate with your target audience.

Interviews: This is another great way to build trust and credibility by putting the real people of your brand in front of the camera. And it is a perfect way to develop engagement and a rapport with your audience by answering the questions that they have been asking about your brand, giving them the information they want in an engaging and easy to consume format.

Behind the scenes footage: This is the ultimate way to show your brand is genuine and credible. Take your potential customers behind the curtains to see how your brand operates, its people and its culture.

Tutorials or how-to guides: These are highly successful because they provide value to your audience, giving them something for nothing and giving them a favourable view of your brand right from the start. It is also great for SEO as these tutorials will appear towards the top of Google searches when people are looking for specific guides on how to complete tasks.

Live streams: This is a great way to open up a two-way dialogue between you and your audience on social media, which will make your viewers feel more connected to your brand. You can do live Q&A events, launch products, introduce your brand’s staff members – the options are limitless.

Webinars: This is a type of content that is rising in popularity. More and more people are seeking to learn and be educated through video content – and this has been accelerated because of COVID-19 which has seen more and more people seeking out educational snippets.

Events: Video content is the perfect way to promote your brand event, using imagery to entice people into wanting to attend that cannot be conveyed using words or static pictures.

Presentations: Another medium that has been accelerated because of COVID-19. The pandemic forced a lot of expos, roadshows and other presentations onto online formats and this could become the new normal for a lot of industries – perhaps on its own or perhaps in tandem with live presentations in the future. You can create an online video presentation using the free slideshow maker tools. These tools allow you to easily add your photos, videos, and text to create a professional-looking video.

Animations: This is a cost-effecting way to create visual content with many platforms and apps available to help you construct visually appealing animations that will convey your messages and your brand.

Contests and/or giveaways: Everybody loves a freebie and contests are a fantastic way to build your audience quickly and engage with your target audience. It’s particularly useful on social media.

User-generated content: This provides social proof that your brand, products and services are real and that your customers are satisfied. This increases your credibility by showing that you are delivering on your promises. Examples can be content of people endorsing your products online, or on social media, and recommending you to their friends or simply showing your product in action.

Personalised video content: When you start looking at email or messaging campaigns, you can tailor content to groups or even individual customers. Deliver your message personally, by name and you will find your audience is more receptive and more likely to respond.

How to create a successful multi-channel video marketing campaign

One of the key tricks here is to create a uniform campaign across multiple channels without duplicating the same content all over the place. What we mean here is that you don’t want to spam and frustrate your audience, rather subtly appear where they are during their web time, all with the same message but in different enough formats.

For example, a helpful DIY guide in a YouTube snippet is not going to be as effective when it is placed on a digital billboard or advertising screen in a large shopping complex. People simply won’t watch an entire clip when they’re out and about running errors – like everything, there is still a time and place.

What you want to achieve is the same messages, the same branding, perhaps slogans or catchphrases, the same colours palette, the same music – but with different enough content that it is tailored to the demographic and the exact platform they are viewing it on (e.g. that shopping centre advertising screen).

That means a strong customer focus is essential to make a multi-channel video marketing campaign work. You will need to do the research on your target audiences behaviour throughout these channels, what time of day they will be exposed to them and what they will be doing at the time. Nailing this part will mean you are able to take ownership of a highly strategic approach that your competitors may not be dominating.

The platforms and channels that work well together

To make your campaigns even more successful, you can link platforms that perform strongly in tandem with each other.

Think about the times of the day when people are likely to be using multiple platforms at once. For example, in the evenings, people are more likely to be watching traditional television while also using a second screen like a smartphone or a tablet. During the working hours, people will be using desktop and laptops, but are also regularly checking their smartphones. Radio and mobile devices work well together in the mornings on business days because people are commuting and catching up on the morning news.

Of course, these examples are general in nature so it is important to get to know the behaviours of your particular audience so you can not only tailor content to individual platforms but across multiple channels when people are most likely to be using them. An elderly target audience may not be dwelling on Facebook – for instance.

Take advantage of automation and scheduling software

We know – the thought of juggling multiple campaigns across several channels can be overwhelming. On the surface, it can seem like an enormous volume of work and there are only so many hours in the day as it is. Fortunately, there are automation solutions available that can simplify the process for you. Phew.

Running all of your video campaigns from one scheduling software platform allows you to manage this workload much more efficiently and also delivers a lot of other elements. You can access real-time data from all channels at once and tinker your campaigns to run when the audience is most likely to be engaged on a specific platform. So you can free up time to work on big picture strategies and also have data that is going to help you to manage and improve your campaigns now and into the future.

Use the data you are farming to your advantage

Whether you are using the data from your scheduling software, individual channels or a combination of both, you can create snapshots of consumer behaviour that will allow you to enhance these campaigns for your brand.

Using this data allows you to personalise campaigns so they are more likely to be effective and you will also be able to reach your target audience at times where they are more likely to not only be online but likely to engage with content they are viewing.

You can also use this data to create specific campaigns like tutorials and how-to guides, giveaways and contests, loyalty programs, win-back strategies and retargeting campaigns to further engage current customers, prospective ones and also to lure back ones that might have strayed.

Last but not least

The final point is to always be creative with all of your marketing endeavours. Not only does this tactic allow you to better reach and connect with your audience, but it gives you the opportunity to really ‘wow’ them and put as much distance between you and your competition as possible. Remember that it takes time and patience; Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither is a digital marketing Brisbane based strategy. But you can and will get there.