Ready to create videos suitable for a luxury brand? Here are the foundational videos your brand needs to outshine your competition.
One of the most powerful aspects of video is its ability to expand your audience and move new leads down the sales pipeline.
In fact, 83% of marketers who’ve used video say it helps them with lead generation and translates directly into sales, according to a study by optinmonster.com.
Simple, clear marketing videos are proven to increase your digital reach and improve your audience engagement while simultaneously positioning you as a local expert in front of new people 24/7.
Whoa. That’s a tall order. But the results come naturally with a video marketing plan that includes these five essential video types.
Shine Brighter With These Foundational Videos
What’s A Foundational Video?
A foundational video is a well-produced, key piece of content that communicates the core messages of your brand with clarity and emotional connection. Consider it to be your digital first impression or your online elevator speech. It’s a crucial opportunity to engage and connect with your audience through five components: visible leadership, engaging story, strong production quality, appropriate length, and timeless content.
While there are many types of marketing videos available to your brand, these are the five types of foundational videos we suggest starting with.
1. Brand/Culture Video
As the cornerstone of video marketing, a brand/culture video is the perfect place to jump in. We recommend starting with this foundational video because it shows your audience what your brand stands for, and it tells the story of why and how you offer something different. While branding and company culture videos can cover a wide range of topics, their goal is typically the same. Help your audience get to know your brand in a way that builds connection, trust and loyalty. While the core objective remains the same, some common topics include: how we got started, about us, what makes us different, our brand values, why we do what we do, how we do what we do, and more. By kicking off your video marketing with a brand/culture video, you can reach new audiences while simultaneously building brand awareness with your most loyal fans. Plus, you can use it endlessly in your marketing, from the front page of your website to your email signature to your next social media campaign.
2. Explainer Video
If a brand/culture video is the place to start, then an explainer video is your next best step. Explainer videos do as they say. They demonstrate your expertise and help solve problems for your audience by explaining your products or services, as well as other valuable topics related to your industry. An explainer video puts you in the spotlight and your audience in luck, as you share your knowledge and immediately add value to their lives. An excellent way to bring explainer videos into your strategy is by creating one for each product line or vertical that you offer. Each video should offer a high-level overview of your product or service, so it still serves your audience as a valuable piece of content – without going into the hard sell. Your purpose should first and foremost be to add value to your audience, by demonstrating you understand the problem and can also offer a solution. That’s what makes this video perfect for the next phase of the funnel: the early discovery stages of the buyer journey.
3. Case Study Video
Once you’ve established a firm foundation of videos that communicate the core stories of your brand, as well as an overview of your services, you’re ready to start building proof. One of the best ways to do that is to share stories about and from the people you’ve already helped, and there are many great ways to do that. A classic testimonial video can be extremely powerful because your audience is hearing directly from a happy customer, which increases your credibility. We love creating these videos for our clients because it’s always a fun, positive way to build on their client relationships while sharing their brand’s unique value. In addition to the classic testimonial, a case study video can also make a big impact. In a case study video, you can share the story of a client (with permission) and demonstrate their success with facts, statistics, quotes, anecdotes and other types of evidence. The goal is to share examples of how you help solve problems for your customers, which is the ultimate stamp of approval for your brand. Case study videos are excellent for the justification and evaluation stage of the buyer journey, when your potential customers are considering whether your brand is the solution to their specific problem.
4. Thought Leadership
With brand/culture videos, your core explainers, and customer case studies in your back pocket, the next step in your foundational video marketing campaign is a thought leadership video or series. There are two really powerful ways to create thought leadership videos: you can either bring in experts who affirm your expertise, or you can position yourself as a thought leader by sharing your own expertise with in-depth video content. If you want to increase your credibility, an interview-style video is a great way to go. Bring in an industry expert, or an expert from an adjacent field, and lead a conversation that gives viewers a new perspective. For example, if you run an accounting firm, you could bring in a financial planner, or if you’re launching a wellness product, you can bring in a doctor or healthcare professional who will speak to the quality of your brand. If you’ve been in business for a while, however, you may want to position yourself as the thought leader. In this case, we recommend an in-depth video session, such as a recorded webinar or masterclass, because it gives you the time to really show your audience the depth of your knowledge, and it gives your audience the opportunity to dive in deeper. (Need more examples? See Christina’s online course here.)
5. Promotional Video
By now, you’ve built a solid foundation of video content for your brand. Each phase of the buyer journey has been addressed, and your audience should know your brand well enough to give it serious consideration. All that’s left is to give them the hook they need to actually commit to your product or service. That’s where the promotional video comes in. While there are many forms of promotional video – teasers, sales announcements, event invites, ads and more – the goal is the same. Get your warmed-up audience members to act now. A great promotional video is typically short, highly engaging and ends with a specific call to action. Most importantly, it should be exciting enough to capture attention and hold it for the duration of the video. While this type of video tends to be most effective at the point in the buyer journey when they’re ready to purchase, a truly engaging promo has the potential to pull people in no matter what phase they’re currently in.
Need Help With Production?
At SchlickArt, we believe a professional videographer should do more than just point and shoot. On a technical level, it should produce crisp, clean and compelling story-driven content. But when it comes to the level of service, we believe in going above and beyond. A video production company should help you feel comfortable in front of the camera, confident in your messaging, and assured that your video will accomplish your specific marketing goals.
In a SchlickArt video session, you can expect support with your creative vision, a streamlined and easy-to-follow production experience, expert on-camera coaching, zero pressure or time constraints, and professional editing services that make you look and feel your very best. No matter what type of video you’re creating with SchlickArt – foundational videos or otherwise – we’ll make sure you stand out from the competition with content you can be proud to share.
About Our Quality Video Marketing in Santa Clarita
With years of professional experience, Brian not only has an eye for crisp visuals and engaging shots – but also an ear for powerful storytelling. In his vision, foundational videos should communicate the why behind your business and present it to the world in the most compelling visual format possible. With a camera in his hand, Brian can turn a vision into reality and business-as-usual marketing videos into an opportunity to connect.
Visual Marketing Education
At SchlickArt, we know your marketing visuals are only effective if you actually use them. That’s why we help you create powerful photography and video – and then we teach you how to share it. With each session, we’ll give you our best tips based on your specific marketing goals. We provide the education and resources you need to brand your content, integrate it into your marketing strategy, post it with intention, and maximize engagement along the way.
If you want even more tips and resources, we have an educational blog, newsletter and video channel to help you dive deeper, as well as professional presentations, workshops, and coaching sessions if you’re ready to take action and level-up your marketing now.
About SchlickArt Photography and Video
SchlickArt, a boutique photo and video studio in Santa Clarita, started in March 2012 with the simple idea that empowerment creates a kind of beauty and authenticity that shines through every camera lens. Built on a philosophy — rather than a product, service or person — SchlickArt has rapidly evolved, meeting professional portraiture, business photo and business video needs as diverse as the community we capture. It’s the desire to take care of you, the client, that drives us at SchlickArt.