What Makes a Premium Explainer Video? Posted by John Holton on June 24, 2019 Explainer videos are an essential marketing and communications option for introducing your company or products to potential customers. However, not all explainer videos are created equal and many miss the mark. Continue reading for five examples of how you can create an engaging explainer video that gets your point across. Get the Length Right A great explainer video grabs your attention and keeps it until the very end. It’s likely that you have quite a lot you’d like to say but try to keep it concise by sticking to the key value propositions. The audience will remember the overall “why” of the video. Communicate what is possible with the solution – keep it short, but no shorter. Make Your Case Early You shouldn’t be waiting until the end of your explainer video to state your key message, even if it’s only a couple minutes long. The longer you wait to tell viewers what the video is about the more likely you are to lose their attention. It’s okay to have an intro where you set the stage or create tension but get to the key value propositions early. Develop a Narrative Despite how short they may be, explainer videos still need a strong story to be compelling, even if the viewer doesn’t realize there is one. Begin by presenting a problem. Then introduce your product as the solution and explain why it will help. Finally, close it out with a strong call to action that lets viewers know what they should do next. Choose the Right Music The choice of music will be critical for driving engagement as it sets the tone for the entire video. What do you want viewers to feel while watching? Excitement? Anxiety? Whatever it may be, choosing the right music is the surest way to get the reaction you’re looking for. Focus on Benefits Try to remember that this isn’t a product demo video. It will be tempting to list off every feature that your product offers, but it’s better to stick to the benefits instead. Benefits are what will resonate the most and compel interested viewers to learn more. A well-made explainer video can be one of the most useful tools for communicating critical information about a company and its products. For some specific examples of great explainer videos, check out Viewstream and our award-winning explainer videos page.
Viewstream Wins 8 New Telly Awards Posted by Priscilla De La Rosa on May 21, 2019 Viewstream videos won big at the 40th Annual Telly Awards. We’ll be adding eight Telly Awards to our collection! The Telly Awards are like the Academy Awards for business video. Of the nearly 12,000 entries, Viewstream was recognized for its creative work supporting the products and brands of some of the largest companies in the world. Viewstream was presented with two Silver Telly Awards for our work with Adobe and Accenture in Promotional Video. In addition, Viewstream was honored with six Bronze Awards for our work with Green Orbit, AT&T, Autodesk, American Global Logistics, Datacolor, Adobe, and Accenture in Promotional Videos and Non-Broadcast Craft. “Our primary focus has always been to exceed our clients’ expectations with exceptional creative work,” says John Assalian, CEO of Viewstream. “Winning more awards demonstrates the high caliber of our creative work. We have an amazing team and visionary clients.” If you want award-winning video, Viewstream would love to discuss what we can do for you. Let’s talk!
Digital Health White Paper: Reaching The Hospital C-Suite Posted by Priscilla De La Rosa on April 1, 2019 Viewstream is joining the digital health marketing game. Inside this whitepaper, you’ll discover how to accelerate marketing your service line or MedTech solution to hospitals and health systems. Uncover 4 ways to get noticed with this Viewstream white paper. Here is the link to our whitepaper to learn more: Digital Health: Reaching The Hospital C-Suite You don’t want to miss out on what Viewstream can offer your business.
Make an Impact with Video Marketing Posted by John Holton on March 25, 2019 A well-crafted video marketing campaign can be extremely helpful when it comes to promoting your brand and products. Keep reading to learn the top four reasons why video marketing can have such a big impact. The ROI of Video Engaging explainer videos can help move customers through the funnel and convert leads. Embedding videos on your site can boost conversion rates by up to 80%, and emails that feature video content increase click-through rates by as much as 96% [1]. Videos Help Boost SEO Videos result in users spending more time on your site, an important factor for increasing search ranking. Google in particular boosts websites that link back to YouTube videos [2]. Video sharing will also have the effect of generating more inbound links, another critical metric for SEO. Mobile Users Prefer Video More than half of YouTube video content is watched on mobile devices, and for Twitter, that number is over 90%! It’s just easier to watch than reading when using a mobile device. Given that over 47% of internet traffic is mobile [3], these platforms demand more attention from marketers than ever before. Quality Video Generates a Response Compared to text or audio, video is able to get the point across quickly and makes it easier to promote immediate action from viewers. When someone sees that you’ve taken the time and effort required to create a quality video it adds an extra level of authenticity to your brand. Quality video content can be an important asset for increasing brand awareness and promoting immediate action. Check out Viewstream’s Explainer Video page to see just how impactful video marketing can be, and contact us today to get started on your own campaign! [1] https://www.smartinsights.com/digital-marketing-platforms/video-marketing/measuring-roi-on-video-marketing-campaigns-infographic/ [2] https://www.stonetemple.com/how-youtube-videos-rank-in-google [3] https://www.statista.com/statistics/277125/share-of-website-traffic-coming-from-mobile-devices/
Top Tips for Social Media Marketing Posted by John Holton on February 20, 2019 The Latest Ad Formats Get Better Results While social media has opened up more avenues than ever before for reaching your customers, it has also raised customer expectations for engaging advertising. This means that even high-quality static ads no longer have the same impact that they once did. However, there is no shortage of alternatives to traditional static ads. Whether you incorporate video, use a carousel format, or create interactive ads (i.e. virtual or alternate reality), it’s time to elevate your social media marketing. Targeting the Right Audience is the Difference Between Success and Failure It doesn’t matter how good your social media marketing is if it’s not reaching the right audience. In a sense, content creation is only half the battle. It is just as important to make sure you’re taking advantage of all the targeting strategies each platform provides. That means targeting by geolocation down to zip codes, creating custom audiences based on email addresses you already own, creating lookalike audiences to expand your targeting pool, and utilizing any other strategies available to you. Don’t Be Afraid to Target the Audience of Your Competition You shouldn’t think of the audience of your competition as unreachable. In reality, they are one of the best groups to be targeted through social marketing. For one thing, you already know that these customers are interested in what you’re selling since they’re buying it from a competitor. Within any customer base, there will inevitably be individuals who are unsatisfied with the product or service that is currently being provided to them. If your offering better meets their needs, then making them aware may be all that’s required for them to convert. Tailor Copy and Creative to Each Platform Almost three-quarters of Americans use more than one social media site, and you can be sure they’re savvy enough to recognize when copy is pasted from one to another. When you use the same content on multiple different sites you just end up watering down your overall impact and run the risk of annoying users with repetitive advertising. By tailoring the copy and content to each specific social platform you have the opportunity to present users with multiple different perspectives on your central message. Leverage Organic and Paid Advertising The best social campaigns find a good balance between paid and organic advertising. By focusing too much on one you miss out on the opportunity to reach individuals and groups that would be better engaged by the other. Paid advertising allows you to target those who are currently unaware or uninterested in your company and would not seek you out on their own. However, companies that only use paid advertising can come across as cold and unapproachable. Making use of organic as well can solve this problem, while simultaneously driving traffic to your page and engaging people that you already know to have an interest in your brand. Get Your KPIs Straight This is another area where finding the middle ground between two extremes is critical. Focusing too much on one metric can result in missing out on data that would give important insights into the success or failure of a social campaign. At the same time, trying to evaluate too many simultaneously will result in mixed feedback about what is and isn’t working. It may take some trial and error, but it is critical to find the KPIs that are most linked to the goals of your social campaign while weeding out any that would drown out the more important insights.
Viewstream Marketing Trends 2019 Posted by John Assalian on February 8, 2019 Marketing evolves down funnel In the Customer Experience era, there is a growing need for content at the later stages of the funnel, including Customer Success, retention and sales enablement. The data shows the post-sales interaction impacts LTCV and marketers need to be included to generate high quality and brand coordinated content. The Revenue Org The great divide between Marketing and Sales is finally coming to an end—aligning in the “revenue” org. Carpe Diem! Video Video is the king of content, but other formats like eBooks, blogs, customer content, are just as relevant. Video is also a good format to try some new things. What’s in your content maps? One to one One to one Marketing is the new normal. ABM is what got us here. You ought to be targeting down to the contact level in your marketing. If you’re not tackling precision, personalized marketing, you’re still in the billboard era. Media Let the “marks” pay the price in social media. Savvy marketers’ arbitrage against the newbies by triangulating first party data, contextual targeting and firmographics. Don’t ignore the “legacy” online publishers. Publishers are hurting in the “brave new” social media world, where there are deals and audiences to be discovered. Personalization All our campaign data shows personalization generates better results. Personalization can occur at many different levels, including industry or firmographic segmentation. Customer Videos Viewstream has invented a new way to capture customer content using Facebook portals. It’s very high quality, and best of all significantly reduces the costs of video testimonials. Challenge Everything Viewstream has a new core value: Challenge Everything! This is the year to challenge the way things have always been done. Try new things. Iterate. Experiment. Exercise your marketing muscle! Let’s work on some new and innovative programs. Together.
The Secret to Why Viewstream Wins So Many Awards Posted by Priscilla De La Rosa on September 17, 2018 Viewstream had a successful night at the 39th Annual Telly Awards garnered us seven statues, including two Silver Tellys. Take a look below for three ways that Viewstream manages to achieve the award-winning quality of our work. 1. Focus on your KPIs Viewstream works flatter than other marketing agencies. What that means is that we cut down on the number of layers between you and the creative team. Every team member is fully aware of your goals and is able to gain a unique understanding that you can only get through direct communication. It’s with that understanding that Viewstream is able to create the highest quality tailored content, starting with your specific KPIs and building out from there. At Viewstream we take a customized, integrated approach to the way the team interacts. 2. Superior Storytelling It’s not just telling a story about your product, it’s finding the story that your product tells. At Viewstream we’re not looking to fit your product into a preconceived narrative. By taking a step back first and looking at all the facts and research, we can gain a deeper understanding of what you’re trying to market, to whom, and the benefits it can bring them. Once the structure of the narrative begins to come into focus you can be sure it’s based on qualities that are inherent to your product, vision, and company. 3. Modern Approach to Design The truth is a lot of videos are created by traditional video production teams. This may work for traditional video, but in marketing, it can lead to a lot of outdated looks. At Viewstream, our creative team works on more than just videos, producing award-winning content across mediums. This gets you a more sophisticated design look and modern visuals, thanks to creatives who pull their skills from multiple different disciplines rather than just video. Award Spotlight—UPS: Where Business Takes Shape Project Summary: Viewstream worked with UPS to create a video showcasing the services offered by their Logistics and Distribution division. “The motion design aspect of this, and most projects was essentially a two-part process. Once we had a basic concept and specific language that went along with it, we translated that into potential visuals -simplified stills and rough animations. This helped the team validate the new creative before going on to the next step, which is execution. In this step, the color palette, backgrounds, timing, and content was refined and inserted into the main timeline. Because we had an existing “blueprint”, this process was replicated much more quickly.” -Joel Yabrudy, Creative Manager We would love to discuss what Viewstream can do for you. Let’s talk!
Creating a Community with Your Customers Posted by Priscilla De La Rosa on July 23, 2018 A community is easily one of the most important concepts in marketing. By making your customers feel they are not alone in their experience, but rather part of a larger group that shares the experience with them, you engender a feeling of being an important piece of a larger body. Individual customers are the building blocks of a successful business, but by bringing them together and giving them a sense of being in a community you can connect with them in ways not seen in traditional business/customer relations. This will transform your customer base from a list of names into a useful tool that can be used to further your marketing goals. 1. Campaigns with Engaging Content Rather than using generic campaigns to throw a wide net, aim for content that can speak to your customers on a personal level. Find out what they need that differs from others, and make sure that your campaigns convey that you can give it to them. A company with an engaging campaign that can address a customer’s needs before they bring them up will feel. 2. Foster a Sense of Friendship As a customer of a large company, it is easy to feel like you are viewed as a statistic on a screen. You want your customers not to feel like stats, but rather like friends of the people acting as their points of contact. There are many ways to do this, and it can be as easy as having a conversation or asking them about something they mentioned the last time you spoke. If you remember that the customer’s daughter was having a birthday and ask them how it went, they will be reminded that they are talking to someone who genuinely cares about them and is interested in their needs. 3. Content and Community Hubs Sometimes the best way to create a community is to literally create a community. Have an online community hub that will bring together all of your customers in one space, allowing them to interact with one another on forums. This not only allows them to more easily find solutions to any problems they might be having but also connects them with other customers who share the same experiences as them. A lot of times all a community needs to grow is the proper space to grow within. Here is just one example of the type of community hub that Viewstream can assist you in creating: https://civil-community.autodesk.com/ 4. Hold In-person Events Having your customers communicating on a forum is a great way to plant the seed of a community, but to truly begin to build bonds it is important to have them meet each other in person. Whether it be a large conference or a small mixer, having your customers see each other face-to-face can be the catalyst that takes them from being names on a forum to true members of a thriving community. 5. Improve the Customer Journey Take a look at the journey a customer takes when using your company’s services. Does it feel like a cookie cutter approach that is applied to every new customer, or does it make them feel as if the entire experience was made just for them? In a real community, the specific needs of each customer are taken just as seriously as what is needed by every customer Viewstream is here to help you to create everything from your own community hub to campaigns with engagement as the main objective.
Viewstream Cleans Up the 39th Annual Telly Awards Posted by Priscilla De La Rosa on May 23, 2018 Viewstream videos won big at the 39th Annual Telly Awards. We’ll be adding seven Telly Awards to our collection! The Telly Awards are like the Academy Awards for business video. Of the nearly 12,000 entries, Viewstream was recognized for its creative work supporting the products and brands of some of the largest companies in the world. Viewstream was presented with two Silver Telly Awards for our work with UPS and Adobe in Promotional Video. In addition, Viewstream was honored with five Bronze Awards for our work with Workfront, Isobar, Wipro, Autodesk AutoCAD, and UPS in Promotional Videos and Online Commercials. “Our primary focus has always been to exceed our clients’ expectations with exceptional creative work,” says John Assalian, CEO of Viewstream. “Winning more awards demonstrates the high caliber of our creative work. We have an amazing team and visionary clients.” If you want award-winning video, Viewstream would love to discuss what we can do for you. Let’s talk!
Ultimate Guide to Blockchain Growth: Marketing in a Decentralized World Posted by John Assalian on April 23, 2018 The future is blockchain and blockchain is the future. There is no doubt about this. Blockchain will be the technology that an array of industries is based upon, including forming contracts, keeping track of ownership, distributing data, and yes, marketing! Blockchain is best known as the technology that cryptocurrencies are built upon, but they have nearly limitless uses outside of crypto as well. A blockchain is basically just a ledger that, instead of being stored in a single location, is distributed to all users so that each transaction can be verified by everyone who has a copy of the ledger. Large companies such as Walmart and JP Morgan are already investing in blockchain technology, a move that is mirrored on the start-up side as well with over $2 billion dollars invested into ICOs in 2017. It is only a matter of time before customers in all types of businesses expect the value of blockchain technology to be a part of their user experience. So, how do you approach the marketing of blockchain to various audiences? We set out to answer that question in our new eBook. Learn more about the future of blockchain marketing here: Ultimate Guide to Blockchain Growth If you are fanatic about marketing the blockchain as much as we are, Viewstream would love to discuss what we can do for you. Let’s talk!