Got Digital Marketing Muscle? Shore Up Your Business Video Storytelling with Ten Practices

Jun 212012

Over the past few years, in addition to doing a lot of storytelling for video, I’ve had the privilege of interviewing digital marketers from Cisco, Ford, IBM, Goodwill Industries International and NetApp among other companies that are innovating successfully with video. While, of course, there is no home-run “formula” (except for cute kids and keyboard-playing cats!), there are ten practices successful companies use that can improve your video storytelling outcomes.

1. Find a human story. The purpose of a great video is to establish a human connection with your audience, not to drown people in facts. Video is a storytelling medium, and at the heart of every great marketing message is a great story. Companies that have been successful with video understand that it starts with a compelling story rather than worrying about going “viral.” Viral is not a strategy. Most B2B videos will never go viral. Your goal is connecting with your specific audience, and your chances of success improve if the story behind your video is powerful, and shows some human passion. Create videos that appeal to your specific community.

This is where B2B can learn a lot from B2C. Panera Bread, for example, does a great job showing the passion of the bakers behind the company. Goodwill Industries International has some great videos that focus on changing lives. Product and service videos, for example, don’t do as well when they are focused on the technology and features because the underlying human story is lost. A great technology example is Cisco’s Valentine’s Day video – it never gets into technical detail. Instead, it’s a funny story that grabs attention. Story always trumps production.

2. Simplicity and brevity matter. Videos have mere seconds to grab attention. Companies that are successful focus on content that is simple. Simplicity, like humor, is the antidote to complexity. Ford, for example, encouraged devoted fans to submit their own 30-second videos focusing on their one favorite car feature and why they love it. Videos should be well under two minutes; 90 seconds or less is ideal.

3. Humor works, so lighten up! B2B does not mean ‘blah to boring!’ Humor doesn’t just work for B2C. So, please, B2B, stop avoiding humor. Part of the emotional range of the human experience is humor, and it makes for a great “marketing” connection. Humor is also a great way to break down complexity and that’s why humor can work well in B2B, especially when the technology is complex. A simple, fun story can cut through layers of noise. NetApp has a great example featuring a rap competition. Another great example is from Serena Software, called “Mash it.” Kinaxis, the supply chain management solutions company, cleverly parodies the “relationship” customers have with their supply chain management providers. CodeWeavers had fun by having the CEO and the CTO dress in drag to increase press coverage of their product, CrossOver, at Macworld with New York Times tech journalist, David Pogue. And Cisco has several funny videos that have done well (see Valentine’s Day above).

4. Honor your brand and values. While “authenticity” has sadly become a buzzword, it factors into video credibility. When humor works, for example, it is also because the companies using it are authentically fun. Humor must be part of the brand personality of the company, and consistent with what people believe the company truly is. B2B companies including Hubspot and NetApp have been successful with their humorous videos, in part, because fun is an authentic part of their culture.

Dollar Shave Club is a great example of authenticity. Its successful 2012 launch video, which earned over 4 million views in less than one month, is consistent with the company’s marketing voice. From its website to its product packaging, fun is a key part of the company’s brand.

Even a video of a CEO talking to a Flip camera is OK if it’s sincere and not scripted. Several years ago in response to JetBlue’s service crisis, the CEO responded via videos that were effective because they were apologetic without the “BS” PR-speak.

5. Let go of control. Empower the best storytellers, who, by the way, are most often found outside of the C-suite. Of course, Dollar Shave Club’s CEO Mike Dubin, who put a human face on his company, is an exception. The best storytellers outside the executive rank have talent and credibility, and, because they are often close to the customer, they know how to tell stories without the PR-spin. Ford, for example, interviewed on video the design team behind the Ford Explorer and it was compelling because it was real employees discussing their experiences. Cisco did this to great success with intern Greg Justice, who rapped about his reputation as the most interesting intern in the world. This also includes letting your best customers and fans tell their stories. For the Fiesta Movement, Ford gave 100 bloggers cars for 100 days and asked them to video their experiences. The results were compelling and funny, including this one about zombies. Ford empowered others to tell stories in a way that Ford itself could not have done.

6. Take risks. The risks don’t have to bet the farm, but successful companies try, experiment, fail sometimes, and learn from those mistakes. Every company that experienced video success also told me about creating videos that didn’t work well, but the downside of experimentation wasn’t huge – they weren’t betting the brand per se. Cisco, for example, vets its videos internally first to reduce some risk and to make sure everything fits with its message and brand. Still, there is no way to be completely risk-free in marketing and innovative companies accept that. Cisco has taken some creative risks by releasing some very funny videos. Taking risks is also about upending expectations. The Art of the Sale series, for example, helped to change IBM’s stodgy image. It worked well precisely because it was unexpected from IBM!

7. Forge your own template – then reinvent it. After the success of the Old Spice video, parodies proliferated across the Internet. Cisco even did one – and while its target market loved it, many pundits didn’t. Yet, the video was meant for its core audience, not for the press. Marketing is in large part an art, not a replicable science. What worked for Old Spice won’t work for other brands. There are many templates to be written and successful companies experiment to see what works for them. Don’t try to bottle a formula. It doesn’t exist.

8. ROI Goes Beyond Sales and Views. Successful companies have clear objectives before launching video campaigns, and they have multiple ways of measuring video “success” that goes beyond sales. These metrics include unique viewers, the amount of buzz and favorable comments the video generated, the conversations created, and lead generation among the most common metrics. Despite the fact that B2B sales cycles can be long and complex and that tying sales directly to video is difficult, videos can drive awareness, press coverage, customer conversations, and positive PR – all of which can increase sales, indirectly, over time. Innovative organizations recognize that they have to be both flexible in trying to measure ROI, and in allowing themselves freedom to learn what works without obsessing over sales in the immediate short-term. Still, measurement is critical and social strategies evolve with experience.
9. Think ‘Call to action.’ Add a strong call to action for viewers at the end of your video; think about what you want them to do after watching it.

10. Distribution. And, of course, a clearly defined distribution strategy – involving some push methods and the right partners – is key to success. Plan how you will promote your videos before you launch them. Make sure you promote your video across all online channels and partnerships, and across offline channels, too.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on video storytelling. Email me at kathy@keepingithuman.com.

Video Storytelling: Hey B2B Marketing, Lighten Up! An Interview with Tim Washer, Part II of II

Mar 192012

KKG: Your success at IBM led to more of those videos and it became a serial effort.

TW: Yes, 6 ‘Art of the Sale’ videos. We would improvise, and with my writing partner, Scott, we ended up doing a few longer ones. The best bet is to do things shorter – 60 seconds or less.

KKG: What’s new at Cisco? I’ve seen some of the funny stuff you’ve worked on!

TW: We did the Father’s Day video <laughs> and Valentine’s Day video! I believe that is why Cisco asked me to join their team – they wanted to mix it up and play. They are willing to experiment and try new things. You have to experiment.  So many companies are putting out so much content – but they forget about getting the story right. What we do is a mix of story, an offer and entertainment. It’s critical that good video have all three. Making people laugh won’t make them buy a million dollar mainframe; yet, there is still an enhancement to brand equity that happens when you make people laugh. They will listen!

KKG: Do you think the surprise and novel element of ‘Art of the Sale’ can happen again?

TW: I think so. We really had the element of surprise on our side –coming from IBM! The challenge is the controls from a branding standpoint. Big corporations can get too risk- averse, and that keeps people from doing the necessary experimenting to see what works.

KKG: Do you see compelling video today? Anyone you admire doing cool things?

TW: Ikea did a funny video.  B2B has to kick it up a notch. What Ikea did was make it look like an improv troop. They did these funny short vignettes around an office or a kitchen set-up. It was phenomenal. Now, you have Madison Avenue agencies doing this stuff. It’s harder to reproduce the kind of guerrilla feel we had that way. When I did this for IBM, we didn’t have budget or big agencies controlling it. I almost couldn’t use a writing partner because he wasn’t an approved vendor! It was total guerrilla style and cost $1,000 bucks. This was the one before ‘Art of the Sale.’ We just did it on the fly. The line is blurred a bit today because you have so much production with the big ad agencies.

KKG: You lose the organic nature when ad agencies script it.

TW: That’s the challenge going forward. I think that’s why so much video and story innovation will happen in mid-sized companies because they don’t have the barriers and big agencies scripting things. There is so much cool stuff that could be done.

KKG: What else would you like to tell people?

TW: Be aware of the challenges you will face when doing things differently in a large company. When there is risk, you will face some fear. The obstacles will be there…but you have to be committed to try to get around it. Go shoot something quick first and show proof of concept.  Be smart about managing and make people comfortable. In big companies, it takes committees to get approval. With comedy – you have to only involve several people. You can’t have judgment, as you know, from your improvisation. Let people create first and then show script.  Once you get a committee involved in script – you kill the comedy; an attorney or marketer gets involved, and three edits later, you get something a lot less funny that isn’t worth doing.

KKG: Creativity by Committee is the Kiss of Death

TW: Well said.  You have to have convictions and a strong point of view. The first comedy class I took – one with Eddie Brill, the opener for Letterman – taught me that. You need to be truthful and vulnerable. Only by being vulnerable are you really risking saying something of value.  Once you get someone to laugh, though, you establish a connection. You have them. You cut trough clutter. You have earned attention. You can get someone to listen to you.

KKG: And that’s what it’s all about – getting people to listen! Thanks, Tim.

Follow Tim at @TimWasher

Follw Kathy at @KathyKlotzGuest

Does Fun Matter in Sales and Marketing? Yes, and!… Humor Me!

Dec 072011

I have written about the role of humor in sales and marketing many times. To read some of those articles, visit:

    http://kathyklotzguest.wordpress.com/2011/

    http://www.keepingithuman.com/blog/

    http://www.powerfullyfunny.com/powerfully-funny-resources.html

After a recent panel discussion at an event where I was asked this question, I am revisiting it. The challenge: giving a short answer on a nuanced issue.

The short answer is an unequivocal “yes” with a few obligatory, boring and important notes. The lens I frame my answer through is as a marketing strategist first and foremost, and as an experienced comic improviser and sketch comedian, second. That means as much as I love using humor when it works (hey, it’s as human as you can get!), it’s important to remember that, in business, humor must serve the marketing goal – not the other way around.

First, levity, fun, and humor are great at driving awareness. They are great pattern disruption devices and in a world of too much noise, you need to get attention before you can sell. Think about the last funny headline you saw. You clicked on that, didn’t you? Humor stands out – especially when it creates the critical element of surprise. Surprise is an important pattern disruption device because it deviates from the expected. The unexpected makes us take notice. In a world of boring, sometimes insultingly self-absorbed marketing approaches, levity is a fabulous thing!

Second, humor creates a human connection. Without a human connection, you can’t move your audience to a place where they actually care. Both awareness and connection are critical components to moving your audience to buy. Humor is a fantastic conversation starter.

Yet, the dynamics and critical success factors of b2b selling are different from those in consumer markets. Humorous copy alone isn’t likely to drive sales in b2b. Yes, humor will grab attention and create a needed connection with your audience. Think about how IBM was able to upend expectations with their seminal video parodies, “The Art of the Sale.” The b2b sales cycle, however, is longer, more complex, and has more risk associated with purchasing than with consumer purchases. Organizations still need a compelling reason to buy, no matter how great the humor is.

Still, b2b doesn’t mean blah to boring, and humor can grab attention in b2b precisely because it’s simple, human and unexpected. Business is always about people. And nothing is more anti-human than robotic-sounding messaging with mind-numbing garbage that will drain IQ points faster than Liquid Plumbr™ attacks clogs: “Game-changing, disruptive, solutions, revolutionary, proprietary, methodology, blah, blah, blah.” Shoot me now. Please.

Can’t Get to Funny Without Fun (Seriously. Try Spelling It.)

Funny is also not the same thing as fun in my experience. This is an important and misunderstood point in a lot of the pop-culture advice I see out there. You don’t need laugh-out-loud approaches to work; what matters is making your audience smile. Humor is great; yet not necessary to connect at that human level with your audience. Simply having fun, a little levity, and demonstrating a personality (not explicit humor per se) can work wonders. So if funny seems daunting; start with having a little fun and showing a little personality.

When my Firefox browser crashes, for example, I get a “Well, that’s embarrassing,” message. Not a knee-slapper; yet it makes me smile and so I remember it. With that act, you have made a positive human connection – which is the most important goal of marketing regardless of what kind of marketing you are doing. People want a human connection. They also want a real benefit and reason to buy –and you still need to deliver the goods with great products and the right messaging. Without it, funny won’t make you money. Remember, human needs are often psychological, so you have to appeal to their emotions, not just their heads. As Dan Ariely, author of Predictably Irrational rightly explains, people (even in business!) rarely make rational choices because people aren’t robots.


So You Got My Attention…Now What?!

Once you grab attention, you need to connect on an emotional level by tying your company, service, offering (whatever) to a real need – a real human challenge that your prospect has. You still have to give your audience the “why.” If you can’t connect your message to a reason for your audience to buy your product, than all the levity in the world – especially with higher-risk products –won’t inspire customers to take action. And no amount of humor, levity, fun, or personality – no matter how great it is – will ever compensate for your product’s inability to address a human need (see my Nov 17th blog post ).

It’s your “why” that bridges the gap between grabbing attention and motivating sales behavior. People don’t exist to buy business services. Services exist to serve real human needs, so unless, you can demonstrate a real connection to a challenge your customer faces, no amount of “personality” will be relevant enough to inspire customer action. To get people to act, you need to get them to feel a strong personal connection so that they believe your services are what they need.

So here’s a revised equation that’s better for b2b sales:

Humor + connecting to an urgent human need (the why)

This brings us to another key point: intent matters. What do you intend to happen with your copy? The “Think, Feel, Do” mantra of marketing means you need to be clear in what you want users to do after reading your copy. Do you want them to visit your site or to request information? If your intent is to drive sales, you have to be relevant and connect at the human need level. Without a need, humor is a nice diversion, but only that. If your goal is create awareness and leave your audience with a certain feeling about your company or products by changing expectations rather than trying to drive sales per se, then humor is a great way to advance that goal.

Humor – Like A Lot of Things in Marketing – is A Lot of Art

This is one of the most important points of all: There is no formula for humor. Sure, marketing is part science; and it’s a whole lot of art. In fact – in my experience, it’s mostly art. And humor is where art comes in.

I am asked many times for my formula: there isn’t one because every situation, every client, and audience need is different. All of those need to be taken into account. In the consumer world, the Old Spice campaign really changed the way markers thought about what parody could be. However, it also created a bit of a “me too” mentality. Marketers set about trying to reverse engineer the elements of that model in hopes that they, too, could crack the viral marketing code.

Forget viral and forget templates. The issue is once that template is written – it’s no longer new to the world. That template is owned by Old Spice. The best thing any organization can do is throw away anything derivative and create a new template.

That means taking a creative risk. That’s exactly the role of art; it’s the role of science to take the risk out of the equation by making outputs predictable and replicable. Marketers must take creative risks to see what works. Low risk, low reward, right? And if marketers wanted to play it “safe,” we wouldn’t be doing our jobs.

In the next post, we’ll look at examples of humor in b2b that work!

Let me know what you think!

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Keeping It Human, 408-578-8040, is a Marketing Communications company providing marketing strategy, marketing research, marketing writing, storytelling, meeting facilitation, and marketing skills seminars and workshops services. We provide fresh and innovative approaches to marketing , including humor. Our clients are located all over the San Francisco Bay Area including San Jose, San Francisco, Palo Alto, Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, Cupertino, Redwood City, Milpitas, Redwood Shores, Foster City, CA and other Bay Area / Silicon Valley cities. Keeping it Human also has clients out of state in places such as Colorado, New York, and Massachusetts. 		Suffusion theme by Sayontan Sinha