My top five takeaways from Film Hero 2022.
This year, I had the opportunity to attend Film Hero 2022 at the Baltic in Gateshead. Hosted by Mark Bryant, Managing Director of Media Partnership, Mark highlights the impacts and opportunities video marketing can have on you and your company.
Film Hero was a new experience for me, and as a digital marketer, I wanted to tap into the opportunities video marketing can bring to marketing strategy. Like many companies, there is a new-re-found focus for producing immersive and engaging video content for products or services, subsequentially delivering essential information to your client that they will retain.
Delving into a story-time-themed presentation, Mark demonstrated the impact previous video marketing campaigns had on audience engagement, memory, and company awareness. We also created an imaginary customer based on generalisations of our current clients. The exercise showed how the fictional customer might perceive your company and how they may interact with your product or service through the video marketing you could create.
Each task proved to be an engaging and interactive way to get everyone thinking creatively, and there were some great discussions on persona types. From the persona, we could then analyse the pros and cons of our current marketing strategy, which was an insightful look into how our products and services are advertised.
Mark outlined how video marketing can appear across the customer journey; for instance, what will the customer want to see for awareness, evaluation of the product, during product purchase, after purchase and long-term CRM, all of which provide further branches of content for you to explore. Furthermore, Mark outlined how KPIs in the customer journey can show how well the video has engaged and reached your consumers.
Here are 5 of the top takeaways I got from Film Hero 2022:
- Keep it simple and get to the point.
Mark did a great job in making us think and examine what would the first video be if we were to start a new video campaign tomorrow. We all need to keep in mind how long it takes for the consumer to get the point of the video, ideally in the first few seconds. Whether it be a product, service or what your company is about. Thinking about the imaginary client, does the video deliver the message they want to hear, and importantly, do they need it? - Think about what your company offers and what your customers want to hear.
Consider your website, social media channels, and email marketing. Then think about where and what video would be most impactful for your audience. - Think about your company resources – what do you have at your disposal to do a video.
As Mark said on the day, we would all like to have a huge-budget production, all the works, a full Hollywood A-List cast and crew. Alas, reality may knock on the door and remind your marketing team that only has the budget for a new camera. Sorry Jason Statham, maybe next time. The good news is low budget options for video marketing are more accessible and refined than they used to be, the animation is now easier, and stock video and audio can go a long way. - Go back to the why and then think about the what.
Going back to thinking about your brand and your products/services, the style of your video should reflect your company’s personality and values. For example, if you are selling a physical product, will this need to have a camera and good environment setting to demonstrate the product at its best. Regarding a service, does an animated presentation clearly show the service process and what you offer to the customer. - Is the environment right?
While shooting a live scene, the audio, lighting and setting should aim to work for the context and message you want to deliver. I liked Mark’s mirror box suggestion for doing interviews or 1-1 discussions looking at the camera. It can be awkward looking at the camera, especially for lengthy interviews. Mirror boxes can allow you to see yourself or the interviewer whilst looking at the camera making the video seem more natural.
Although I must admit to you, the reader, it is difficult to give you just 5 top tips as Film Hero provided a wealth of hidden gems.
However, we do have good news, as Mark Bryant will be presenting one of nesma’s Know-How & Do FREE sessions very soon.
