While investing in branded video content is an effective way to communicate with your target audience, understanding the long-term value to your business of bespoke versus generic video is key to successful video marketing
Unless you have an in-house video team, you’ll find yourself choosing between ‘off the shelf’ freelancer websites or working alongside a branded content agency (like Content Creatures). Opting for the latter will ensure you have tailored and high-quality branded content, that is proven to deliver better ROI.
We’ve outlined in more detail why this is the case, focusing specifically on the new working environment that is, for many, more digital than ever before.
It gives your brand a unique voice
The first and more important reason to invest in animated branded content is the fact that it guarantees your brand’s voice and personality, style and tone, shines through in the video. We call this design-led storytelling.
In a previous article, we spoke about the power of branded content using video. One of the main takeaways was that brand storytelling has become increasingly popular with forward-thinking brands, as it allows them to tap into the emotions of consumers. This ‘emotional marketing’ inspires people to follow their heart and act quicker on a purchase decision.
Using animated video, you are also able to turn what would be a substantial amount of text into a short digestible video with a clear message. However, using a highly tailored approach for your video helps you speak more effectively to your audience and helps to tap into your brand image, your unique tone of voice and even allows you to have some fun with your brand personality.
A design-led storytelling approach also allows you to deliver your message in your own way while avoiding a harsh and direct sales approach, which is resonating less and less with people these days.
To use a classic example, every brand could communicate 2+2=4 to their audience; however, to make that message owned (so the audience remembers who said what and why) is what will make that message stay in the viewer’s mind long after the animation ended.
Design-led storytelling using animated video allows you to offer something that is:
– Highly tailored to the brand and ownable
– Distinct rather than generic, which suggests the product or service it promotes is designed around the consumer or customer
– It is crafted, well made and memorable
To build further on our last point, having branded content that is well-made is crucial for campaign success. Off-the-shelf video content has the potential to make a brand appear cheap and ill-conceived and these are, of course, not the values a consumer or customer looks for.
Plus, when people are faced with hundreds of ads each day that have an ‘off the shelf’ look and feel, it is a refreshing and entertaining change to have something that is uniquely crafted. Many people understand that video marketing is an investment that requires careful planning and execution. Therefore, spending time to deliver a premium product will speak loudly about your professionalism as a brand.
You can tailor your messaging
We mentioned above that video content marketing is a good way to deliver a specific message, but in fact, it is essential that your branded content finds a way to speak to the needs and wants of your audience. Otherwise, you will not achieve the desired results of your campaign.
In fact, a survey showed that around 48% of people want videos to reflect the specific products and services they own or are interested in rather than videos that have nothing to do with their needs or wants.
By investing in high-quality video content, you’ll be able to discover what this key messaging is and showcase this in a simple, yet professional way. What is more, you may even gain some unknown insights about your target audience through the deep dive into the planning of your campaign and branded content creation.
By working with a professional agency on bespoke branded content, you will benefit from focused advice and guidance. This includes how to better understand the needs and wants of your audience, what speaks to them, and how to achieve the desired outcome. This will help ensure the resulting video is the most effective it can be for the intended purpose.
It gives you a strong digital presence
Over the course of this year, we have seen many businesses transform to have a stronger digital presence. The trouble is that standing out online has now become harder than ever.
Many people have taken the path of simply responding to trends through this period. Doing this is great in the short term, as it gives you small, but effective bursts of increased brand awareness. But in the long term, if you are taking this approach each time you want increased visibility, it could make your brand seem generic and unimaginative. Knowing this, it’s better to focus your efforts more on premium branded content, which is there for the long-term and can help you build your product or services.
It is also good to remember that many brands are also investing in video marketing. In fact, around 81% of businesses use video as a marketing tool — up from 63% over the last year. But often, it comes secondary in their budget and is seldom prioritized. Therefore, you will find that choosing to put your animated video first will deliver a better return on investment that you anticipate. A well-made branded content video is evergreen that can serve your business for months, if not years.
You work with an experienced team
One of the reasons why 54% of B2B marketers struggle to produce engaging content is because they haven’t really taken the time to study their target audience.
If you choose to invest in premium animated video content, you will be working with a team who is experienced in delivering videos that drive high-quality views.
Their experience will help you with your digital presence, brand voice, and how you will be perceived online. This is supported through access to scriptwriters and other in-house specialists that can help you define your message based on your target audience and translate this into beautiful and bespoke video content.
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We are proud to be an award-winning branded content agency and animation studio which creates engaging content for businesses around the world.
Whether you’re looking for branded content, an animated explainer video, animated film for an event, or general video production services, we’d love to hear from you.