Adjusting Your Brand To An Online Marketplace Using Video

In case you’ve been living under a rock on Mars for the past few months, the world is adjusting to a little bit of craziness right now. The personal freedoms we’d normally have to go outside and, you know, do stuff, are limited at best. Even the ability to go to work has been hindered for a vast majority of people, meaning the globe is now adapting to a society where online business is the norm.

For some, this online-only marketplace is a small or non-existent adjustment. But for others, restricting your entire brand to operate over the internet feels like a tricky and tiresome task. Thankfully there are a few ways that branded videos can help ease the transition, giving reassurance to both you and your followers no matter what type of business you deal in.

1) when you’re promoting a cause

There are few clients better suited to an online marketplace than those promoting a cause, idea, or movement. That’s because the vast majority of social media rewards consistent, engaging content, and the best way to disseminate a cause into the social consciousness is through, yeah you got it, consistent and engaging content.

Video is your best friend in developing this content. This can include something as straightforward as a mini lecture series discussing the principles of your cause, or something as dynamic as pop science styled animations where a related topic helps ‘bridge’ your idea to a mainstream audience.

2) when you’re promoting a training service

If your business normally offers an in-person training service – for example a fitness course, creative lessons, or educational tutoring – adjusting these services for a virtual audience can seem like quite the challenge. But as many businesses have already started proving, streaming video can be a great way to continue running your service in an online capacity.

Offer do-it-at-home video versions of in-person products, like fitness video sessions over Zoom for gym members, one-on-one music lessons over Skype, or streamable video-on-demand tutorial courses. This can be especially effective for a ‘subscription’ style syllabus like a week by week fitness course where the content is pre-recorded, because content can be sold to multiple users and gain a greater time/expense ratio than repeated in-person classes.

This kind of ongoing video content has the added benefit of opening up a whole new customer base – those outside your local area who may not have heard of your business, those who live too far away to attend, and those whose physical disabilities might prevent them from attending your regular in-person classes. To welcome the influx of noobs you can even set up an introductory explainer video to outline all the benefits your online subscriptions offer.

3) when you’re promoting a physical product

If your customer base is used to in-person service, it’s essential to set up some short, easy to digest videos which explain the use(s) of your products. Placing these videos front and centre on your web site will help reassure new customers and provide a clear place to direct your calls to action on your social media pages.

These kinds of videos can vary in content – lean toward explainer video for new and unusual products, and creative tutorials with a quirky style and distinctive company ‘voice’ for more established products where you need to distinguish yourself from other brands.

And if your customer base is already buying your product online to ship, now is a great time to promote your ongoing reliability with video content. Be very clear about what products are available to ship, the ease of ordering online, and the feelings associated with receiving one of your awesome products in the mail.

4) when you’re promoting a digital product or service

If you’re launching your digital startup and are looking for ways to promote your new product, a short, visually catchy explainer video is a proven success method for grabbing attention and gaining understanding of what need your product is meeting. As your service was designed to be received digitally there’s little adjustment needed to prepare your customer base to operate with you in an online marketplace.

However, now is the time to emphasise and capitalise on that preparedness – unlike many other businesses you aren’t hampered by a lack of physical presence, and are ready to continue offering your services. Push your original branded video content out to your followers on a frequent and regular basis to show your reliability. Use this time to develop new content which explains how you’re growing and what you’re offering to your clients in their time of need.

5) when you’re promoting an event or experience

During a worldwide lockdown an event or experience-based package can be one of the hardest types of product to adapt for online consumption. Beyond the difficulty of actually holding the event there are added concerns around finding alternative revenue sources and promotion. In temporary and uncertain situations like these it’s most important to place your focus on continual brand presence, so that when in-person experiences become available again you will be fresh in your customers’ minds.

First, consider the viability of holding your event within a virtual space using video streaming. For example, various symphonies and bands around the world are live-streaming free concerts in lieu of cancelled performances. Established pub trivia companies are now holding their regular trivia events with a live-streamed host through Twitch or Discord, with team answers being submitted by Google forms or email. Seminars can easily take place over Zoom, with live question and answer segments to promote engagement.

Second, establish a solid routine of producing virtual content despite the inability to provide in-person experiences. Exceptional Kangaroo Island is a tour company (on Kangaroo Island unsurprisingly) who are making great use of live video content to provide value to followers even during extreme travel restrictions (https://www.facebook.com/exceptionalkangarooisland). By utilising their existing specialty (natural beauty and wildlife) they are promoting scheduled live broadcasts from various parts of the island, with a running commentary on the wildlife that appears. By promoting the broadcast in advance, the chance to see a live streamed ‘koala cam’ or bird watching session becomes an event to tune in for. In turn, the tour company solidifies itself in viewer’s minds as a reliable source of quality, ready to be patronised once the opportunity to travel opens up again.

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