Video Vantage: Episode 2 – Understanding Branding and Video Strategy

Video Vantage: Episode 2 – Transcript

Intro

Mark

Hello and welcome back. I’m your host, Mark O’Connor, and this is Episode 2 of Video Vintage – Your Insider Guide to Video Marketing. In the last episode, we discussed some of the key components of putting together a marketing strategy, and we briefly touched on the importance of branding. Today, we’re going to be looking at branding in a bit more detail, and to help me out, I’m delighted to be joined by branding guru and self-proclaimed social media addict Erica-Leigh Lawless. Erica is the owner and creative director of Candid Creative, a branding and graphic design agency, based in Dublin. Erica works with a whole range of different businesses such as the Local Enterprise Office, DTA marketing and the Irish Hotel Federation, designing bespoke branded content and overseeing the rollout across their respective business’s social media channels.

In fact, you’re looking at some of her work right now – the Video Vantage logo is one of her most recent creations.

Interview

Mark

Erica, thanks for coming on Video Vantage today. Can I begin by asking you what I think is a simple question, and some people may say a stupid question, but I think it’s very important. What exactly is a brand? Is it just a logo?

Erica

That’s a huge misconception that I think that a lot of people have, that they just when they think of branding, they think of a logo. But I’m going to use the analogy of a human body. So, the logo is just the face of this body. But we still have arms, we have legs, we have a heart, we have lungs. So based on those elements, what else goes into branding? It’s the tone of voice. It’s your mission statement. It’s your values, the benefits that you offer to the customer. And then, of course, it’s your visual assets. But branding is so important, and I don’t think people realise – it can be a deciding factor for customers, whether they choose your business over somebody else’s.

Mark

Over another competitor.

Erica

Basically, just based on the brand. So, branding also establishes trust with the customer. It gives them something that they can relate to rather than just a business. It gives it gives them personality, and if their value is aligned as well with what the business is offering, that gives them another reason as to why to buy from this business over another.

Mark

And that ties into tone of voice and as well, the values and tone of voice. Just explain what a tone of voice is for people who aren’t maybe aware.

Erica

So it’s basically how businesses communicate, you know. If it’s a professional business, say for like a solicitors practice, they have a very stern tone of voice. But if it’s somebody else who’s offering a product base, say, for example, greeting cards, it might be a little bit more of a friendly tone of voice.

Mark

Or tongue in cheek, perhaps.

Erica

Exactly, exactly. So all these factors and elements are included in your branding. So like you said, it’s not just a logo. It’s much more than that.

Mark

It’s one part of a bigger ecosystem. And is there one part of that system that’s more important than another, or do they all have the same weight?

Erica

No, they all have the same weight. You can have a really nicely designed logo, but if that doesn’t tie into the brand’s personality, the brand’s tone of voice, if it’s not consistent across all the different materials and elements, it doesn’t make a difference whether it’s an amazing design, if it doesn’t align with all these other elements.

Mark

And you mention consistency there, that’s very important when you’re talking about different types of content. So, where I come into this would be video content. So, the brand will have to align, how the brand is portrayed on video will have to be the exact same as it is on their website, a social media post, all type of stuff as well. So what can brands do, or clients do for their brand, when it comes to video production, how can they ensure that the right elements are in place for whatever video production company they might be working with?

Erica

So when you’re working with a branding expert, they provide the customer with a logo pack, which includes lots of different variations of your logo. You think it’s just one logo that you get, but you don’t. You get a sub mark, you get a brand mark, you get a word mark – for different applications across different platforms and marketing materials.

Mark

And different file formats then, as well. The stuff that would be looking for would be an AI file or a PNG – for better resolution. It’s easier for me to work with when it comes editing the video as well. Nothing worse than getting a JPEG!

Erica

Oh yeah! Or a JPEG in a Word document.

Mark

Yeah, exactly.

Erica

Yeah. So it’s extremely important obviously when you’re doing video production that they have these little brand marks or word marks that they can place on the video, like in the bottom corner or something like that. Or they might have a specific colour palette as well that they can use in the background of the video. So again, like we said that it is consistent across all channels. Your brand wants to be the same, whether they pick up a business card, or whether they visit your website, whether they visit your social media channels or even walk into your brick and mortar shop.

Mark

Yeah, they’re not getting mixed messages. Basically, everything’s the same. The same message all the time, that’s reinforcing itself. So it’s a good point to mention that in order to kick off with your project, you need all of these elements in play. So before you even start video production, if your brand isn’t set in stone, if you’re looking at a video straight away, it’s probably not the best way to be approaching it, and you need to have that figured out first.

Erica

Well, it’s just it’s just important to note as well that I think when people are starting their businesses, it is worth the investment at the beginning to work with a brand expert to develop your brand. A lot of people I know, at the beginning of setting up businesses, that their budget may be tight, and they may be more swayed to say “I’ll just go and get a stock logo”. It won’t stand to your business in the long run.

Mark

It cheapens the brand in the long term. So, having a good, solid foundation will set you up.

Erica

Yeah, exactly. Especially for a new business, it really is important that you you distinguish yourself. You want to solidify your brand, who you are, what you do. Because like we said, it is an important factor for the customer when it comes to their purchasing decision. Like if your brand isn’t aligned or it doesn’t look good, they might go and choose somebody else.

Mark

It’s less professional, yeah. And if it is just a stock image or a stock logo, they might have seen that ten times, with other, similar companies within the same space and say, “Well, these all look the same. What makes them stand out?” If they’re all like that.

Erica

That’s exactly it.

Mark

They are not invested in themselves, why should I invest in them? Yeah. And would the type of brands, and the tone of voice, and the overall message that they give out, would that inform the type of content that a brand would look to create? Like for example, TikToks, Instagram and Facebook. Is there a certain alignment across the board?

Erica

Yeah of course, of course. Like we said, you want your branding to be consistent. But I suppose, when we talk about different platforms – different content translates better on different platforms. The likes of Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn… they are promotional. So you’re going to be promoting your product or your service through your branding, or through video content and such. But then when we touch on the likes of TikTok – we want to be more authentic. Users on TikTok want to see authentic content.

Mark

So is user generated content better on TikTok than, for example, instead of hiring a production company?

Erica

Not necessarily, no. Because here’s a fun fact that I only found out the other day – TikTok suggests and pushes content based on video quality.

Mark

Okay. Very good.

Erica

So, you know, it is important to invest in in video services if you really want to perform well on TikTok. Or at the bare minimum, at least learn how to take a nice video, make sure you have your lighting and your sound is done well. Because we all know ourselves, when you see a professional quality video.

Mark

It stands out.

Erica

It stands out, and we can engage in it. And it’s easy to keep our concentration.

Mark

And it helps to build that trust in that brand because they are investing in themselves.

Erica

Yeah, exactly.

Mark

And speaking of TikTok, is that the trend the way it’s going now? Should every business be on TikTok now?

Erica

It depends. It really depends. Because like I said, users on TikTok and the age range for TikTok is 18 to 24. So still quite a young demographic. The majority of them are quite a young demographic on TikTok, and they really value authentic content. They don’t like overtly promotional content – they just keep on scrolling by. They want something that they connect with, that they can resonate with.

Mark

So you mentioned it’s very important for the brand to be aware of its audience – I suppose it needs to know where the audience is viewing content as well? What type of platforms are best suited for certain type of businesses, or is there a generalisation?

Erica

There is. It depends on the business. It depends on whether they are promoting products or services. And it also depends on who you’re selling to. So if you’re a B2B business, obviously LinkedIn is a space that you want to be in, because it is businesses talking to businesses. If you are supplying a product, to an age range of, say, 25 to 34, you’re more looking at Instagram or Facebook. But like, when it comes to video, say for example – 81% of adults use YouTube, which is the highest of all the social media platforms. 91% of consumers want to see more video content from brands. So it’s huge out there.

Mark

So the demand is there?

Erica

Absolutely. Especially in video content. Last year, more companies invested money into videos than they had ever done before.

Mark

And what is the return on investment? Obviously it’s going to vary across each business, but obviously there was a reason for it.

Erica

Yeah, it’s looking at about 60% return on investment, especially across Instagram Reels and TikTok.

Mark

And is that driving sales or just audience engagement?

Erica

It’s driving both.

Mark

It’s both of them.

Erica

It’s both. Because obviously you’re getting people engaged in the brands, because videos are so popular at the moment. And then you’re getting awareness, which will eventually lead down into the sales funnel.

Mark

But what type of content tends to perform on each of the platforms?

Erica

So actually across the board, the three categories, types of content that perform really well are interactive content such as quizzes, and polls. Behind the scenes content. So, people love to see what’s going on behind the business, you know, rather than just a promotional, what’s going on behind the scenes.

Mark

And is that because they’re interested in what the craft may be, and the service or they want to get to know the business owner as well?

Erica

It’s both, it’s both. They want to see how. If say, for example, they are buying a product, how they got their product, how it came to be, the process behind it. And then of course, seeing the personalities behind the business, because at the end of the day, people buy from people.

Mark

Exactly yeah, especially for smaller businesses. The brand is the person a lot of time. That’s why having that brand message is very important because it ties into the person as well, especially if you are dealing on the person to person basis.

Erica

Yeah, yeah that’s it. And I think then the third one, was again valuable content and talking about businesses, their own values and what they stand for.

Mark

Is that what you mean by valuable content? Is it valuable to the values that that brand represents? Or is valuable in terms of ‘Top Tip’ type information for the audience to be taking?

Erica

Yeah, I probably did a bit of a crossover there. So valuable content is information – things that the customer can learn from the business about the services they are providing, or, you know, kind of insights, that most people wouldn’t know. And then obviously then your values are what your business stands for.

Mark

Yeah, and all this is basically to drive the sales funnel, because you’re getting that information, you’re shown as expert in the field. And that will then eventually hopefully point towards a sale in whatever market that is.

Erica

Exactly, exactly.

Mark

Yeah. So it’s all part of the process, all part of the big business ecosystem. So yeah, and so many branding is very important because it’s the face of the company basically.

Erica

Yeah. Everything is working together side by side, you know.

Mark

So you mentioned LinkedIn in particular is quite good for kind of B2B services. Obviously I’m in that space as well. What type of video content are businesses looking for on LinkedIn?

Erica

So specifically on LinkedIn actually, Live Streams and Live Videos do really well. Because the likes of seminars, it’s open to people – they can view live, they can jump in, they can ask Q&As, they can really engage with that brand and ask questions. So Live Videos, specifically on LinkedIn, perform really well. And then say, for example, short form videos, which are 60 seconds or under, your platforms for them are TikTok and Instagram.

Mark

TikTok and Instagram, yeah. And I suppose you could always take elements from those Live Streams and repurpose them on TikTok and Instagram, as well. So you are getting a lot of content in one go – batch branding, basically, and batch manufacturing of video content is definitely a worthwhile investment, especially if you’re seeing 60% return on it as well.

Erica

Yeah, yeah it is. It’s huge and it’s worth investing. It is worth investing. And like you said, repurposing in that content across multiple channels, it makes the investment then worthwhile.

Mark

So no matter what platform we’re talking about, there’s a lot of talk about chasing the algorithm on social media. Can you explain what that is?

Erica

Yeah, I think the algorithm is, like people fear the words “the algorithm”! And what should I do when Instagram has changed your algorithm? It’s really not something to be afraid of. If anything, the algorithm is like a matchmaking service. Think of it that way.

Mark

It’s like Tinder.

Erica

Yeah, kind of! But it is. It’s going to show you what you’re interested in. And that’s what you want. When you’re on social media and you’re interested in art, you don’t want to be shown posts and videos about football if you have absolutely no interest in football! So the more you engage in a certain category or certain area, and it’s a huge benefit to business owners that when they’re putting out their content, the algorithm, they know that it’s going to be shown to people who are actually interested in what they’re doing and what they’re offering.

Mark

It’s direct marketing straight to them.

Erica

It is. Exactly. So it’s nothing to be afraid of. And there are certain ways then that you can target specific audiences, even down to your caption, the keywords that you use in your caption, and your hashtags. Think of your hashtags as like SEO for social media. And even down to as well the keywords that you put in. For example, the bio in your Instagram. People can search those keywords, and your content will appear and your profile will be shown to them.

Mark

So do you have an example of what would be a good title, a good caption, and a bad caption for a piece of content?

Erica

So, for example, Instagram is now leaning more towards longer captions. So, the more keywords that you can put in your caption, the better. But what you also want to do, is make sure those keywords match up on your website, for example.

Mark

Okay. And this is again keeping the tone of voice, and the messaging the same across the brand.

Erica

Exactly. It’s all branding, it’s all branding! But it is important in order to be found by the right audience too.

Mark

And if the captions are getting longer, is it easier to just throw in loads of captions and loads of keywords? Or is there a way of navigating around that – do the algorithms, you know, push that down?

Erica

Yeah, they will absolutely push it down. If you’re just putting in words for the sake of putting in words, just to try and up that word count, you will be penalised for it. So you want it to be authentic. You want it to be real.

Mark

So you have to stay up to date what’s going on? And like you saying, stay authentic, because the brand is, you know, real and authentic as well and it legitimises the business?

Erica

Yeah, exactly. And on the social media platforms, push that out more Like, the algorithm can easily read if it’s just a load of jargon being thrown into the caption… Be concise, be simple. Use the appropriate keywords, don’t overload them. And then the content will be pushed out to the right audience.

Mark

So I suppose the advantage of obviously using social media content is that you can reach a lot of people quite easily, but you can also track what’s working and what isn’t, and pivot then. Do you have any tips and tricks for basically like maximising a digital content strategy?

Erica

So, what you first want to do is, you want to be putting out content, and you want to do a mix of that content. So you want to do static posts, maybe infographics, short form video, long form video – and then assess the statistics at the end of the month to see which ones perform well, the user engagement. If you put up a five minute video, how many people are actually watching that full five minutes? Or if they’re watching two minutes, well then maybe put more effort into the 60 second short form videos.

Mark

What type of frequency should people be posting?

Erica

That’s a hard question! And it’s one that I get asked all the time. It really depends on how much time you have. You don’t necessarily have to be posting 3 to 4 times a day, seven days a week. You don’t – you can put up three posts a week, and you can still perform really well. People will want to see quality content rather than, you know, just your kind of basic, average thrown together content. Just put it up there so people can get on.

Mark

I guess coming up with quality content can be very time consuming then, as well. So as the business grows it’s probably in their interest to outsource elements of that – either to the likes of a Social Media Manager, who might in turn and look to other suppliers as well. What would be the general indication of when a business should do that? So, like, you know, are they spending too much time on social media and they’re actually losing out on actual business operations, then.

Erica

Yeah, that is exactly it, Mark. If they’re a small business, obviously at the beginning, they’re going to be doing it themselves, because maybe they don’t necessarily have the cash flow, the budget to be outsourcing it. But if it is taking up a significant amount of time, and the business is growing and like you said, you feel like you’re losing business where you could be focusing your efforts on other aspects of your business, then it probably is time to hand it off to somebody else.

Mark

So, Erica, we’ve covered a lot today talking about, you know, tone of voice, authenticity within a brand as well as chasing the algorithm as well. It’s a lot to take on board. How would you summarise it into, say, top three tips for companies looking at investing in their branding, or updating their branding?

Erica

So, my first tip for when it comes to your branding is: Brand for your audience, not for you. Your favourite colour might be hot pink, but it probably mightn’t be appropriate to the market that you’re trying to target. So, it’s important that maybe if you have the cash flow to invest in a branding expert, and they can advise you on, on how your brand can target your audience. My second tip would just be: Keep it simple. You don’t want it to be overly confusing. You want your branding to be simple enough that when people think of that product or service, that your brand is at the forefront of their mind. And number three is: Keep it consistent. That means across your social media posts, your videos, your marketing materials, even, like we said, to your brick and mortar store. You do all these three things and you will see the results.

Mark

So simple, concise and consistent. That’s the three takeaways from today.

Erica

That is the three takeaways when it comes to your branding!

Mark

I think that’s a great way to summarise our conversation today. Erica, for anyone who’s looking to get in contact with you and get their own brand refresh done, where can they find you?

Erica

So probably the best way that they can contact me is through email. So erica@candidcreative.ie – I’m an absolute slave to email! I’m there all the time. So if they want to reach out to me, that’s the best place to do it.

Mark

Well, thanks very much, for coming on the show today! I really appreciate it.

Erica

Thank you very much, Mark, for having me.

Outro

Mark

Towards the end of our conversation, Erica mentioned the importance of SEO and staying up to date with social media algorithms. But what exactly are they? How do they work and how does it all relate to video production? All will be revealed in our next episode, where I’ll be joined by technology and web specialist Alexander McGill. If you have any questions about any of the topics raised in today’s episode, please don’t hesitate to get in touch via the Media Mill website at mediamill.ie – until then, I’ve been your host, Mark O’Connor, and this has been Video vintage. See you in the next episode.