Brand building through video

Table of Contents

By Cathy-Anne O’Brien

If you could select only one public relations strategy to build your business, what would it be? For businesses in professional services, there are many approaches you could take to attract customers, but video content seems to be in a league all of its own.

Look no further than what the tech giants are doing. Facebook is doubling down on its video investment  after seeing a 32 per cent increase in video views in the first quarter of this year. According to YouTube, mobile video consumption grows by 100% every year. Ninety per cent of customers report that product videos help them make purchasing decisions.

What more do we need to know? Video has always been one of the best ways to sell products and services as demonstrated by the domination of television advertising, albeit cost prohibitive for most. Now the game has changed, and videos are accessible, arguably necessary, for anyone in business, particularly if you are selling your expertise.

Given these realities, BlueSky has been producing more videos than ever. From employee education to promo reels building a personal brand to offering tips on the anything from scoring the best online deals to how to find a good divorce lawyer, we’ve been creating impactful, entertaining and thoughtful pieces as of late, and here are a few learnings we want to pass along:

The message trumps the mechanics. Flashy high quality video footage has its place, but it isn’t a necessity for a video to be successful. Smart, edgy dialogue draws in the viewer making you memorable, shareable and engageable.

Show your personality. Forget the stiff corporate style and be yourself. Don’t be over scripted. In fact, don’t be scripted at all. Speak in a conversational style; take a lesson from all those successful YouTubers. Speak ad-lib. Sometimes it ain’t pretty. But it’s real, it’s approachable and it keeps people watching.

Say the right things to the right people. Well, this one isn’t a surprise. Develop an audience profile based on demographics such as gender, age, location, lifestyle and so on. But have you thought about what surprises your audience? What makes them laugh? Where are they when they view your video? These are the questions we now need to ask.

You can be an overnight success. I’m not talking about making a video go viral in one day, but this can certainly be a goal. I’m referring to how easy it can be to make a great video. It’s the quality of the information being shared that’s the most important, not the high definition video quality or the professional backdrop. In fact, over-produced videos have diminishing returns.

What intimidates many of our clients is speaking on camera without a script. What we’ve observed is after one or two shoots, this becomes a non-issue for most. They quickly remember that they are talking about a topic in which they are an expert. They know their stuff and in no time at all, they become a pro.

Interested in receiving our checklist for producing a killer video? Follow our LinkedIn company page and we’ll send you our tips.

 

Blog Posts by Keyword

Content Development

Effective, creative content is at the core of what we do. From B2B and B2C, our expertise spans article writing and storytelling, editorial planning, key messaging, video production and more. And we help ensure that your content gets seen. We amplify your brand’s story through an integrated, custom content strategy across digital, print, social and broadcast channels. We maximize owned, earned and paid media to amplify your message, making sure it gets in front of the right audience to drive the results you want.

VIEW OUR WORK

Corporate Communications

An integral part of any business, your brand reputation and corporate communication sets the tone with the public, your clients, employees and stakeholders – and we make sure you get the tone right. BlueSky helps you understand what matters to your audiences – both external and internal – and develops meaningful programs that resonate. We help clients with crisis and issues management, employee and executive communications, community relations and corporate social responsibility (CSR). Whether it’s a workplace fundraiser event, an annual report, infographics, HR video or speechwriting, we help you share your message with relevant stakeholders.

VIEW OUR WORK

Social Media

Social media demands an always on, two-way communication, transparency, and authentic interaction. More importantly, it demands strategy. We’ve managed social communities, developed social media guidelines and created engaging, impactful content, whether a short Instagram caption or long-form executive-published posts on LinkedIn. Through social listening tools and insights, we can make sure you’re talking about what matters most to your audience, and that your online and traditional PR efforts are integrated seamlessly and effectively.

VIEW OUR WORK

Public Affairs & Advocacy

Our in-depth experience providing integrated government relations, public affairs and strategic communications tailored to your needs helps our clients navigate the public policy process in order to successfully achieve central objectives. We work with you to better position your priorities within the current political landscape to ensure you’re able to gain the ear of key decision-makers and reach your goals.

VIEW OUR WORK

Influencer Marketing

When it comes to social influencers it’s not about who has the biggest audience, but about engagement, trust and authentic connection. We leverage valued relationships with nano- to celebrity-level creators, working collaboratively to ensure they deliver quality content that resonates with your target audience and is on-point with your brand messaging. Our winning formula requires a thoughtful approach that combines the right people, the right content and the right distribution to maximize engagement and drive impact at scale. You’ll see the results in our campaign evaluations – supported by numbers that exceed industry average performance.

VIEW OUR WORK

Media Relations & Media Training

In an environment that is increasingly pay-to-play, earned media remains the holy grail of coverage for brand credibility. Over the years we’ve developed solid relationships with traditional and online media, and we know the elements of success for securing interest from trusted journalists at top-notch publications. We excel at crafting tailored, compelling stories that help keep your brand top-of-mind across print, broadcast and digital channels. You’ll see the results through our media measurement and reporting and assess your share of voice (SOV) among competitors.

VIEW OUR WORK