Take a Picture, It Lasts Longer: Promotional Videos in Marketing Campaigns
In a visual world, promotional videos are becoming increasingly popular for both business and marketing. Incorporating video into a campaign strategy can extend your reach and target a different type of audience, so it’s no surprise that we often see a slogan accompanied by a YouTube link.
Storytelling with images is simple, to the point and can often convey a message much easier than mere words alone. Thanks to both web and digital marketing, we have a lot of options in choosing a route to show these visuals. Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest and Tumblr are all different mediums that campaigns can use to maximize their potential. Videos can help a business gain traction, create a community or hit home a message (or why not all three!) There are already some campaigns killing it when it comes to using images and videos, let’s check out exactly what they’re getting right.
Thirsty for Change
For a non-profit organization, it’s easy to get lost in the thousands of causes lead by the do-gooders and change-makers. That’s why Charity: Water is making quite the splash; A non-profit that focuses on providing wells and clean water to countries all over the world. The organization was started by twenty-something Scott Harrison and has grown a massive following, celebrity backup and entire communities of people rallying behind their mission of clean water for all
Image Source: charitywater.org
One of the companies most prominent, and arguably most successful, aspects of their campaign is their talent for storytelling and visuals. From their website, to their social media to their fundraising, promotional pictures and video are at the heart of everything they do and is centered on their mission. If you visit their website, you’ll see visual-heavy content, big images and very little copy. As you dig deeper in to the website, you gain more information about the project, but it continues to be graphics-led, including infographics and motion video. Another way that Charity: Water makes visuals a core piece of their brand is incorporating It into merchandising. They partnered up with some major (and cool!) companies like Soma, Pure Fix and Votivo to have their images and branding sold on phone cases, sweaters, water bottles and bracelets – with 100% of the proceeds going directly to those who need it most. Because of this, the Charity: Water project has found a lot of success with Millennials, which happens to be their main target audience.
The Millennial audience is a unique one because the values that they find of most importance seem to be varied and different. Authenticity, transparency, sense of community and fulfillment are all factors that play into gaining Millenial support, and Charity: Water is ticking all of those boxes. For example, if you have a birthday coming up, you can organize it so that all birthday gifts can be in the form of donations to bringing a well to a waterless community, and you can watch and be involved in the process from start to finish. This allows those involved to feel like they are doing more than just throwing cash at a cause. Pair this with the fact that Charity: Water adapts and grows with different forms of technology and mediums, and you have a campaign successful with this powerful generation.
Source: Charity Water
The team at Charity: Water made the conscious decision to focus on social media platforms that are image-heavy. Their YouTube channel is consistently updated with content that shows different aspects of their organization. One video may show how a woman’s life in a developing country has benefitted from a well, another may show the story of a man who has found work building these wells, and another may tell the story of someone who started their own water campaign. The different angles of their project keep their audience intrigued and interested – with their main video having over 1 million views.
Image Source: Pinterest – Charity Water
Another platform they use to create a following is Pinterest. They have 10 different boards each with its own theme, ranging from Creative Fundraising to Products We Love to Photo of the Day (our personal fav!) Browsing through their Pinterest it’s obvious that they have a very clear design aesthetic and approach – simple and stunning beautifully captured images that tell a story.
For some it may be the fact that 100% of money raised goes directly to the project, for others it may be that they are transparent and list the GPS coordinates of every well on their website. Regardless of why people choose to follow and support Charity: Water, they will be sure to see beautiful images and uplifting storytelling, making this campaign a perfect 10; and we’ll drink to that.
The fact that you can have an entire conversation using just emojis shows just how visual people have really become. Instead of digging their heels in and resisting this change, this is a company that has embraced the idea of picture and videos and ran with it. Seeing this as an opportunity for both growth and change is the way to approach this shift in marketing, and using promotional videos and image-heavy platforms is the right way to go about it. It has truly become a great way to solidify your brand and focus on your mission and can become one of your greatest marketing tools – now, with that being said, go post a video on YouTube.
Header Image via Unsplash.com
If you want to learn more about specific key elements of an effective marketing plan, read our 50+ page booklet on How to Write A Strategic Marketing Plan That Yields ROI – complete with explanations
