Earlier this year we sent out a mini content questionnaire to some of our clients and peers. The aim was to understand the pain points that they all have when it comes to video marketing and what stops them from producing more video as part of their marketing collateral. The results were strikingly insightful and lead us to write this post. The most startling result we found was that 100% of respondents said they didn’t know the true return on investment (ROI) that they had achieved through their video production and marketing.

That got us to thinking… all this beautiful and powerful work that we and many other film producers create could be utilised much better. The power of the content isn’t being harnessed and as a result marketers are taking the “we must have video but don’t know what to do with it” approach.

At Third Aspect we make content that works. And we want to do all we can to ensure its used correctly… otherwise whats the point? This post talks about the ways in which you can leverage that video content. The aim – to ensure you get the best results from it and maximise your return on investment.

One things for sure – the best results come from investing in great video content. And you’re in the right place for that! To add further value to what we do, here are 6 effective tips to boost gains from great video content-

 

1. Set Measurable Goals

Without clear objectives you wont have any guidance in what or how to create content and you wont be able to measure its success once it is created. The foundation of any video project should be clear objectives.

Example of said goals could be-

  • Improving conversion rate
  • Educating your audience
  • Increasing brand awareness
  • Boosting sales

Once goals are set, the foundations are ready to build effective video content and we have something to measure its success against. The. First. and. Most. Important. Step. Complete

2.  Understand your Audience

Video isn’t about you, its about understanding your audience and their needs. Unless you consider how to provide genuine value to your audience, your content wont be useful for them or engaged with by them. And, ultimately without engagement, there’s no chance of getting a good ROI.

Think of your audience when developing the concept for content/campaigns

Think of your audience when considering how you distribute the content/campaigns….

3. Create a Distribution Strategy

In order to get a good ROI on your video, it needs to be watched. Deciding where to place your video content is vital. Now you understand your audience you’ll know where they spend their time and thats where your video must be placed.

This is something to consider at the beginning of the video strategy process because where the video will ultimately sit will determine what type of video will be made.

4. Use Call-To-Actions in Videos

So we know who our audience is and where to go to communicate with them. Now we need to consider how we want them to feel, think and what we want them to do after they have watched the content.

To do this always include a call to action (or CTA) at the end of the film. Don’t leave your audiences actions up to chance, tell them what you want them to do next. This could be visiting your site, booking with you, adding a product to a basket or filling out their details for more information.

You can then track and improve the effectiveness of your content by guiding a viewer towards your desired action- resulting in clear return on investment metrics.

5. Reuse Reuse Reuse Content

We repurpose all types of content and video should be no different. Good film production does cost money so make that money work the hardest it can for you and utilise all that beautiful footage you shoot.

Repackaging content for different channels, different messages and different audiences by re-editing existing footage into new content is vital.

This could be achieved by cutting content and slicing into small social clips or shorter content. Re-using footage for longer form branded collateral, updating existing brand films with new footage to freshen up content and repurpose it. Write blog posts around the video content produced or create case study real life examples of projects to share with a wider audience.

If you always keep in mind the audience you’re targeting with the content and what they react well to, the realms of repurposing are endless.

Take a look at our project for Avani Bangkok! We created a number of short form (30, 15 and 10 second) content for social media as well as an overall brand hotel film and a behind the scenes video https://www.thethirdaspect.com/portfolio/avani-riverside-bangkok

6. Data is Key

Return on Investment ultimately comes down to tangible results so be sure to keep track and record how your content is performing. A few key data points you should measure are below-

  • Recording Play Rate – a measure of whether the video was viewed once its loaded. An 80% play rate would mean it was watched by 8 out of 10 people when it was loaded. The higher the play rate, the more relevant the content is on the channel its been distributed because viewers are attracted to clicking play.
  • Click Through Rate – a percentage of how many viewers clicked on the call to action. If its 78%, then 78% of all viewers clicked on your CTA. The higher the click through, the better the job
  • Average Engagement- an average of how much of your video was watched in its entirety. An average engagement rate of 90% means that on average viewers watched 90% of your whole video. The higher the engagement, the longer your audience is watching and finding your message useful and enjoyable.

All these metrics are easy to track on all the major video hosting platforms… if you have trouble, let us know and we can provide guidance. Contact us here

Results like these are invaluable for you to track the success of specific campaigns and content. But they are also hugely useful for future video and film content strategies. Learn what went right and what could be improved next time.

…Thats a wrap

Charlotte Bottomley

Managing Director