Video marketing is more popular than ever. As a medium for getting your message out to the world, it’s unparalleled in its ability to instantly engage a viewer and keep them interested in what you have to say. Video marketing for channel partners is no different. However, where you put your videos affects the process differently, depending on with whom you partner. Needs across different channel partners change your approach.
Here are some of the best practices you can follow in video marketing for channel partners:
Plan Ahead
It’s easy to think that all you have to do is to create a compelling video and get it out there for the world to see. After all, the internet is chock-full of video content across all channels and verticals. But a lot of it feels poorly-planned and haphazard; it’s stand-alone content that doesn’t carry the viewer forward to help understand more about the host company, and therefore, to a sale.
Before a video script is written, it’s vital to determine where the final product will fit into the overall ecosystem. Ask these questions:
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What do you hope to achieve with this video?
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Who is the video for?
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When should you launch it?
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Does it tie in with a larger campaign?
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What’s the focus of your channel partner in this instance?
These strategic considerations affect how the video will be received. Ideally, your video should lead the viewer to the consumption of other related content for both you and your partner. It should immediately convey your product or service, the nature of your partnership, and its strengths.
“Situating yourself in the context of the global marketplace definitely helps sell what you have to offer.”
Create a Story
The story is the difference between advertising and marketing. We’re bombarded by simple advertising all day long: a straight recitation of a product’s features without the context of why it should matter to you. If you want your message to have a lasting impact, you must appeal to the viewer’s emotions. The best way to do that is with a story.
Remember, though, that as you create your narrative, consider the overall messaging of your channel partnership. It’s likely that there is an associated value-added product or service that should feed into your video’s story; it’s not by chance that your video is showing up on your partner’s site for no reason. So, as you craft your script, regular check-ins with your partner will ensure consistent language is being used those benefits both parties, which should include a call-to-action that directs the viewer’s attention to the next step in the funnel.
Use Customer Data
Bear in mind that while your message is important, it has to be couched in the proper language for the viewer to get on-board. Do research on your target audience to understand what they want and how they communicate their desires. Nothing sinks a potential sale faster than the perception that neither party is on the same page.
Your website and social media channels are great for customer interaction. They’ll provide you with numerous examples of what customers complain about and how they go about stating their concerns. At the same time, you’ll want to incorporate the same information from your channel partner’s sources of feedback. This must be carefully sifted through to pull out the insights you need; you and your partner may have different users with different needs. This will make it more challenging to winnow down the feedback into only what’s useful for both of you. However, the result will be much better with focus.
Don’t Put Too Much Emphasis on Audio
Remember that you can’t always control the ways in which your potential customers will access your video. A popular method of display is at a trade show or conference, where videos play in the background at a booth or kiosk. Such locations frequently have the video sound turned down or off so that it doesn’t interfere with the face-to-face communication going on between people. This means that you need to ensure that your video’s message can still come across if the dialogue can’t be heard.
Providing a running caption of the script at the bottom of the screen is a viable method, but can make the video feel a little clunky. A more elegant method requires a bit more creativity from your video team, incorporating descriptive graphics and metaphors that run parallel to the audio. However, do take into account whatever brand guidelines your channel partner employs, if it’s a joint solution you share with that company. This can be quite challenging, but such is the nature of a partnership. Regardless of the actual audio, it’s a good practice to display key takeaway messages on screens as viewers are more likely to read text when it’s displayed. This will always help them remember your message far better than simply hearing words spoken aloud.
Integrate with Other Content
YouTube notwithstanding, you’ll want to complement your video messaging efforts by surrounding each offering with other, non-video content. Though people love to consume video, each type of asset – e-book, article, infographic, etc. – has its own strength and tells a different part of the overall story.
“If you embed your video on a page of your website, let it sit next to a case study or interview to give further information on what the video proposes.”
If displayed on YouTube, make sure the video itself hotlinks to other informational sources. When getting your message to the masses, there’s no such thing as too much of a good thing.
This may become more difficult when working with a channel partner, but when you realize you are doubling the size of your marketing footprint, it makes the effort much more rewarding. You need to ensure that you make minor adjustments in the language and tone of your message according to specific requirements while retaining the overall messaging as your partner’s tone may differ from yours. This task will become much easier if you and your channel partner have a joint venture with a single landing site for the campaign. When you collaborate and execute your video marketing activities in the right manner, you’ll reap the benefits and enlarge your customer base.
