Consider what the end goal is when planning your branded video content strategy. There is almost an endless amount of things you may want to accomplish – develop an emailing list, funnel traffic to a landing page, promote awareness of a new service, grow your social media presence – but no matter what your desired result is, you need to prompt an emotional response in your viewers if you want to succeed.
This is because people don’t make choices (even seemingly unmeaningful ones) at random – our brains methodically process the pros and cons of our decisions in the blink of an eye before we make them. This is true of decisions as large as picking the right new home model or as small as choosing vanilla instead of chocolate ice cream. So, if your audience is thinking (knowingly or unknowingly) about every decision they make, how can you make your videos ease them in the right direction?
Your video content needs to evoke emotion in your viewers if you want them to act on your CTA. Whether you aim to make your audience feel warm inside, empathetic, scared of missing out, anxious, or over-the-moon excited, your videos must make them feel whatever you need them to for you to accomplish your goals. You just need to know how.
Have Them Question What They Already Know
Remember the Dollar Shave Club ad from 2012, “Our Blades are F***ing Great?’
If you don’t know the story of Dollar Shave Club, here’s a quick summary: the company was founded in 2011, went viral using that ad in 2012, and sold for $1 billion in 2016. Yes, you read that right – the company grew from nothing to being valued at 1$ billion half a decade after its launch. How did they manage it?
Now, we’re not saying that their famous 2012 ad spot should take 100% of the credit – their products are excellent, the brand is well-developed, and their customer service is great – but the viral ad was 99% of their customer base’s introduction to the company. For those people, this was the introduction to a new way of shaving which effectively changed their lives forever. The ad may have gone viral because of its humour and presentation, but it converted new customers because of its messaging.
The ad had shaving men question what they already knew about razors – the one-blade safety razors of the past had long been replaced by fancy, multi-blade razors which were getting out of hand in regards to their complexity. All the blades on the market had all sorts “frills” – features no one really wanted –and came with an unneeded amount of blades (sometimes as much as five or six). All the sudden, Dollar Shave Club came out of nowhere and made us question the shaving industry. Why were we buying these overpriced, overvalued razors? For many, switching to the simple, no-nonsense service of Dollar Shave Club was a no-brainer – evidenced by its billion-dollar sale in 2016.
You could argue that the viral ad by Dollar Shave Club is what kickstarted the recent “simple shaving” trend. All over the world, men are neglecting disposal razor cartridges in favour of safety razors, traditional methods, and easy-to-use services like Dollar Shave Club. This is what happens when a whole industry worth of customers questions what they’re doing – a powerful emotional realization of international scale.
Show Them What They’re Missing Out On
Certainly you’ve heard of the term “FOMO” by now – the term, slang for “fear of missing out,” was officially added to the Merriam-Webster dictionary in 2016 – proof that the world around us has an ever-growing fear of being left on the sidelines.
If there’s one thing you should know about FOMO, it’s that it can be used to the advantage of brands everywhere to great effect. In fact, “FOMO Marketing” is a growing term being widely used among marketers all around the world – using people’s fears, desires, and insecurities to promote your brand or service may seem devilish at first, but in reality, it’s commonplace. If you aren’t doing it, you’re likely missing out on loads of potential business.
If you’ve watched a YouTube video since 2015, then you’ve heard of Tai Lopez. “Here in my Garage” is an advertisement about Lopez’s self-help program aimed at achieving what Lopez calls “The Good Life.” The video quickly became something of a cultural phenomenon and has further propelled Lopez to worldwide stardom (his YouTube channel has nearly 50 videos with views in the multimillions).
Much of Lopez’s online growth can be linked to his excellent use of FOMO in his video content. He knows his audience well – millennials who want to achieve the riches and lifestyle that he has – and he uses this knowledge to its full advantage in everything he posts. Just watch one of his videos, and you’ll notice how right away – he always pictures himself with luxury cars, in and around his mansions, with models and famous people, and in other scenarios where only rich people would find themselves.
Lopez carefully curates his image in this manner because he knows it works. He knows that people want to live like him, so he shows us all the things we don’t want to miss out on in life and uses them to promote his services. While many people know deep down that his 67-step program isn’t going to make them rich and famous, they hold out a sliver of hope and sign up anyway. This is because the emotions related to FOMO are so strong that they can overtake our logical thoughts. It’s examples like Tai Lopez which make it evident that FOMO Marketing in video content is here to stay. While we’ve shown you only two examples today, there are of course loads of other ways that your brand or organization can use emotion-evoking video content to its advantage. Want to know how? Contact JustPixl today to meet with us and learn more.