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Loading...By Rob Edmonds, NRG Digital
Friction inevitably slows you down. When it comes to reducing friction in your business or customer-facing comms messaging, one thing consistently cuts through friction: visual media.
The range of video media, images, infographics, adverts, TikTok, and YouTube videos is here to stay and is noticeable in every aspect of our work and social lives.
So how do you leverage the power of visual media to maximize the effect of your comms messaging and improve the success of your sales in your particular business?
Video and animation are great at distilling complex products and ideas into clear and concise messaging. And they have the great advantage of working well across multiple platforms.
Image: StockUnlimited
The Key Platforms
Website
Your website is often the first point of contact that people have with your brand. Video and animation can have a real impact here:
- Less written content is needed
- Website visitors stay on the site longer, as they watch the video
- People share video content far more frequently than written content
YouTube
As the second most popular search engine, globally, posting your content here when you can, makes absolute sense because it will help:
- Optimise your video
- Increase sharing opportunities
Social media
Having a social media presence is more important than ever and visual imaging can vastly increase your reach:
- Cut longer videos into 10 second snippets for social media use
- Tease longer content on your social media channels
- Direct users back to your website with links
The Power of Peer review
According to Edelman,
Trust is now the make or break difference for brands.
Source: Trust Barometer Special Report: Brand Trust in 2020
There is a clear shift in trust away from advertising and towards personal experience and advocacy. When was the last time you bought something purely based on an advert without checking the reviews?
Peer review is a fantastic way to build trust, unlocking deeper relationships between brands and their consumers, reducing friction, and ultimately shortening the decision-making process.
Video testimonials are an unrivaled way for customers to endorse a brand. Most people aren’t that keen to be on camera, so if your customers are happy to put themselves in front of the lens, that is a massive endorsement of their trust in you.
The problems we face individually often contain elements of shared issues and experiences. Tapping into those shared experiences through the medium of video allows the viewer to connect their own experiences with the solutions that your brand can offer. People instinctively recognize in others what they themselves are looking for, making the video testimonial extremely powerful.
Trust is important, because if someone trusts your brand:
- They are more likely to buy your product, even if it is more expensive
- They are more likely to respond to your communications
- They are more likely to recommend your brand to other people
Types of Video content
User Generated Content (UGC)
Some content really does need professional help to elevate it above and beyond, but UGC also has its place. With the improvements in technology that are happening all the time, you can still generate great content without the need for everything to be filmed on a movie set. This can be particularly useful with teams that are spread across the globe, or even based at home as many people will be for some time to come. UGC can also be great for social media and peer review to help in raising a brand’s profile or when building trust.
Explainer video
Video can also be a useful tool in terms of demonstrating products, explaining complex ideas, or talking about changes. Often, we think about product demonstrations being on a one-to-one basis in a physical environment. Using video and animation can be an extremely effective way to demonstrate a complex idea or product to many people at the same time, in many different locations. You can, literally, show your customers how to use your product to solve a specific issue, including highlighting the end results.
Case study
By teaming an explainer video with a customer testimonial, you can build a case study that marries up the benefits of a product demonstration with the trust you get from advocacy and endorsement.
Onboarding Processes
New customers, new suppliers, new staff. Every aspect of your business needs to have a streamlined and cohesive onboarding process, reducing friction at every level. Creating a set of cohesive assets across all of your onboarding processes, ensures consistency, alignment and elevates brand awareness.
Video and animation are particularly adept at achieving this – with the added bonus that by planning ahead, you can re-purpose and adapt them across many different situations.
Customer service and Trust
Great customer service improves brand loyalty and increases trust. It’s a win-win situation. You can help improve your ongoing customer experience by making your content easily accessible, not only when customers first access your product, but also further down the line when they are regular or returning customers.
In today’s highly competitive world, it can be challenging to increase sales and build trust in your brand. In addition, the pandemic has removed the opportunity for face to face meetings, making it even more important to visual media such as video/animation to connect with your audience. Using video in your business will help you to communicate effectively and authentically – engaging and inspiring your audience, wherever they are in the world.
Rob Edmonds is Founder and Creative Director at NRG Digital, a visual communications agency with a passion for all things creative. Their clients treat them as a strategic partner, creating authentic content that inspires audiences and elevates brands. Formed in 2002, the team has grown significantly, winning an Institute of Internal Communication (IoIC) award for Best Change/Transformation Communication in 2020. NRG Digital works across the UK, Europe and the US, supporting clients with their internal and external communications campaigns.
The views and opinions expressed in this blog post or content are those of the authors or the interviewees and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organization, employer, or company.
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