7 min read  | Video

5 ways to make your next business video deliver ROI

When properly conceived and executed, video is a powerful medium for gaining traction with your customers. In order to get the right return on your investment, you'll need to thoughtfully and creatively address these five factors, essential for a successful video campaign.

1. Know your audience

In broadcast advertising and television commercial development, the audience demographic and slotted airtime are the primary drivers for crafting a targeted TV ad. The same is true for your next video—knowing who you want to connect with is key. Even more important is your understanding of what motivates them and where they are on their buyer's journey. Video lets you connect not just with facts, but with emotions. Putting effort into legitimate Buyer Persona Research is fundamental for developing this knowledge.

2. Tell a story

The worst business videos are the ones with poor narratives. It is vital to understand that you only have 6 seconds to grab someone’s attention. You want to hold on to it for the clip's entire duration, so having an engaging story is fundamental. This means you'll want to invest in a proper script and storyboard. Get these right and you’re on the path to creating content that really resonates.

Remember - needing to redo something again with video is expensive. The 'measure twice, cut once' principle really applies here. Make sure you're putting in the effort to do things right the first time.

3. Know what you stand for

A common issue we encounter at Aamplify is organisations knowing that they need a video. However, they don't know what brand promise to make in it. Your promise stems from your brand story, and what it is you truly stand for.

What makes video so powerful is your ability to communicate your brand story with pictures, words, voice-over, music and motion. That's what makes it multimedia. But, if any one of these elements isn't representative of your beliefs or the story you're telling, then your video is going to be 'off-brand'. You get the best results, by keeping all aspects aligned with your brand story.

4. Make sure you have the right stakeholders 

Very few people outside marketing have an appreciation of what it takes to deliver great video content. Traditionally, it was a tool only accessible by big agencies, with big budgets to match. Now that media creation has become increasingly democratised, there are a lot more chefs in the kitchen. Everyone wants to throw something in the pot.

Make sure you appoint a delegated authority to get the job done. This individual should be more than a financial authority. They should have the authority to speak for your audience or buyers, and to speak for your brand. Without this, you'll likely get caught up in endless edits and changes that could completely derail your budget and water down your message. This is especially true if there is a committee all chipping in their opinions. 

5. Design it to work in more than one context

A great way to squeeze the most out of your investment, is to design your video to be used in different ways and on different occasions. Shoot enough footage for a longer customer case study or testimonial for use in presentations. And re-edit it for a landing page, or to be used as a YouTube pre-roll ad. The key is to make sure you have planned this upfront, so you can capture what you need to meet all requirements during filming.

Want to create a multimedia campaign that inspires emotion? At Aamplify, we have the scriptwriters, videographers and designers to help tell your story to your audience. Chat with us to learn more.

Check out this video case study on how Deloitte NZ used buyer persona research to craft their brand story for private businesses.