In this opinion piece, Now We Collide’s managing partner, Keir Maher, says brands often get the need to for some video content but most haven’t the foggiest of who to get started. Here are his tips if you’re struggling too…

Many brands are now realising the value of content and specifically video content as part of the brand story and contribution to business success, but many are still unsure how to really use content to engage and entertain whilst still bring the overall brand message.

For content marketing success, content and content strategy needs to be at the heart of the marketing mix. Within this, video content strategy is becoming more important, driven by improvements in technology, video delivery and people’s consumption habits, video is now the key to content marketing success.

So when it comes to a social video content campaign strategy where do you start? There’s no silver bullet, no magic formula which guarantees success but here are some key considerations we have used which have provided the platform for campaign success:

1. Define both the overall business and marketing objectives for the campaign – This sounds simple but unless you have a really clear picture of what you are trying to achieve and the business impact you are trying to make it is easy to lose track of your goals and aspirations. Clearly set key performance indicators which are measurable and make sure they are consistent with the over-arching marketing and content strategy.
2. Take a people first approach – When creating social video content it is even more important that you think differently to the traditional interruption based approach – quite simply you need to put yourself in the shoes of the people you are trying to reach and ask “Will they WANT to watch this, will they be prepared to share it??”
3. Have a defined distribution strategy – establish how the content will be distributed across the social web and beyond, utilizing paid, owned and earned channels. Research is obviously critical to understanding the habits of the audience and how they are likely to consume, behave, interact and share content.
4. Make great content – This is important, this is what your audience are actually going to see, experience and engage with. If the content is not well produced and consistent with the audience expectations no amount of planning and distribution can save you. Have a clear understanding of what is required to make good quality content relevant to the audience and which people will share. Don’t lose sight of the fact that the video content is representing your brand and the values attributed to it.
5. Monitor performance and assess versus the KPIs – Digital provides many ways to monitor and analyse on-going campaign performance but with multiple sources of analytics it is important to have a plan for how you are going to receive data and make it easily digestible. There are many metrics by which a campaign can be judged – views, video completion rates, shares, paid reach, organic reach etc to name a few. It is important to know how the success of your campaign will be judged and monitor throughout your campaign to make sure you are on track to achieve your goals.
6. Be flexible – This is critical to campaign success, the ability to understand how your campaign is performing and modify the creative, content or distribution to enhance the campaign results.
7. Collaborate – Collaborating with multiple agencies and partners is the name of the game, the ability to work as a team to achieve a common goal. Clear communication and a willingness to collaborate with partners who can bring their own areas of expertise is important for campaign success.