So you want to start producing videos to market your brand. That’s a great idea! Because research shows that more than 50% of consumers want to see videos from brands compared to any other type of content. And we can see why! It’s entertaining and able to convey valuable information in a matter of seconds to minutes. People rarely have the time for anything more these days, or the attention span.
So what kind of videos can you create? There are about 12 different types of marketing videos to choose from – which is a topic for another day. Out of the 12, some of the videos we have done for our clients are live videos, brand videos, event videos, testimonial videos, and educational videos. In this article, we’ll talk about that last one – educational videos.
The benefits of educational videos for brands
Educational videos are a great way to build greater connection with your audience while indirectly showcasing your brand. Here are some reasons why you should consider creating an educational video as part of your library of marketing videos for your brand:
1. It answers the questions that your audience has
We live in a world where people know how to find answers themselves – through their finger tips on a search engine. People are now accustomed to literally typing in questions that they may have either out of curiousity or a real need. “Can autism be prevented?” is an example of a question that someone may have when discussing autism in a casual chat or that an expecting mother and her husband might have. You’d want the search engine to pull up your video which answers specific questions like that, instead of an educational video by another brand competitor.
Bonus tip: To get ideas for your content, you can run a public poll or survey on social media to ask people open-ended questions like “If you could ask anything about [insert topic related to your product / service], what would it be?”
2. It build audience trust, brand credibility, and topic authority
When you audience watches an educational video provided by your brand, they can see that you’re not all fluff and that you (the brand) really know your stuff. It won’t mean that they will immediately pick up the phone and purchase a product or request a service from you. This isn’t that kind of video. What they might do, is keep coming back for more videos like this, specifically produced by your brand. If your content is good and if it meets their needs and answers their questions, they’ll even subscribe to your YouTube channel (if that’s where you’re hosting all your videos) and whenever someone they know as a need for this same information, they’ll refer to your videos and your brand above any other brand. Trust has been built.
3. It gives your brand the chance to explain its cause and vision
Remember when you were a teenager, and your parents tried to explain the “why” behind what they do for you or why they have certain house rules? If you never really asked to know, your response would probably be to just brush them off. You would have still heard it of course (a million times), but you may not have valued it. Your attitude and frame of mind at the time, would not have allowed that. The same can be said of audiences. Many times, brands are constantly telling their audience why they exist and what their big dream and vision is for humanity – but no one really wants to keep hearing about you if you’re not able to first meet their need. An educational video can do both: meet their need (answer their questions) and then also give you the chance to share the vision of your brand. Eg. “… this is why we do what we do, because we believe that having a better life is for everyone…”, although that’s can sometimes be a bit hard sell as well. EAP Malaysia does it really well at the end of their video below.
4. It piques curiosity, encouraging leads
So we did say that an educational video isn’t going to result in immediate sales, but its very effective in piquing audience’s curiosity. After awhile, not only will people keep referring to your content to educate themselves on topics that are relevant to your products or services, but when they do have the need to purchase – there is a much higher chance that they will enquire with you compared to any other brand. Or at least you’ll be in their top preferred list even if they are hunting for the best quote.
Bonus tip: If this is what you’re anticipating or intending to happen, it would be a good idea to have a proper sales and marketing plan mapped out and include your educational video in your sales funnel. Don’t lose the opportunity to further connect with your audience. The video should also end with a clear CTA (call-to-action) and a good incentive. Eg. “To find our more, visit our website to get a FREE copy of our infographic on this topic.”
5. It creates awareness for your brand
There’s usually only a small percentage of people from your wide audience who convert into “leads”, “sales leads” and later “customers”. This is another topic altogether. But what we want to tell you is that, even if your educational video doesn’t generate any form of leads, that’s OKAY. It still achieves creating awareness of your brand and possibly its products and services.
6. It is timeless and shareable!
One of the best things about this type of video, is that the content is timeless. Because it is not directly promoting a product or service, neither is it covering an event… you can keep using it over a few years (until you feel the need for an upgrade in info). A good educational video will be able to keep answering your audiences’ questions over and over again, generating new audiences each time your video is shared by people.
Watch this example of educational video to get an idea of what we discussed. We did this for the Early Autism Project Malaysia, hosted by their Director, Jochebed Isaacs. Watch till the end to see their CTA!
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A Beginner’s Guide to Creating Visual Content for Your Brand
If you’re reading this on behalf of your company, here’s a FREE resource that you might also find useful. Click on the button below to download our free eBook. It has more details about lighting and also includes more secrets to how we achieve great brand and lifestyle images and videos for our clients. So the next time you work with a photographer or a production team, you’ll be able to better communicate your vision for your brand and work with them to achieve what you need.
