[October 10, 2022]
Video is a great way to market any brand or product. The average user now spends more than 100 minutes each day watching online video content, and the rise of platforms like TikTok will most likely increase that number in coming years. TikTok has more than a billion users worldwide, and more than 90% access the platform on a daily basis, spending an average of 52 minutes on the video platform.
We’ve covered video a few times – from using it to convert prospects, to incorporating humor and understanding new trends. There may be another, very compelling and easily accessible way to capitalize on the increasing demand for video content. While brands aren’t people, there are people behind the brand and that is the connection consumers crave. According to Sprout social, 72% of consumers report feeling more connected to a brand when employees share information online.
Brands have built in content experts that can be utilized to make that connection: employees.
At AKC, we are fortunate to work with some great clients, such as Corteva Agriscience, a U.S.-based agriculture company and their Pioneer® brand that has more than 95 years of rich history. In 2019, we began working on a new type of project with Pioneer designed to capitalize on that history and the employee’s industry-leading knowledge.
A Digital Studio for clients
The creation of the Digital Studio — an online portal for video submission, editing and distribution — was built around the idea of using local, well-known agronomists to reach a broader base of farmers hungry for their local expertise. With the help of REL Productions, videos were branded, edited and uploaded to YouTube where the agronomists could share these videos with customers and prospects.
By creating timely, relevant content – from upcoming seed products to trial plots, current planting conditions and the best ways to treat pests— not only were farmers able to get needed information when it mattered most, but they began associating Pioneer agronomists as friendly faces and content experts.
The benefits of timely videos
Because of the nature of many of these videos, a quick-turnaround was paramount to their success. By implementing a 24- to 48-hour turnaround, we were able to ensure the videos were as timely as possible. According to vidyard®, there are three big reasons why timely video should be a big part of your sales and marketing strategy:
- It earns more mindshare, grabbing prospects’ attention and helping your reps stick in their memory.
- It lets your team spend more time selling by making their outreach more repeatable and scalable.
- It makes it easier to measure success by tapping into video view analytics to see who’s watching, for how long and how engaged they are.
While these employee-created videos may not make an immediate impact, the more comfortable your experts get, the better the videos will be received. Prospects watching videos will be getting more information than a simple email or sell sheet. Often times, agronomists will take information from a website and relay it in video. Instead of having to read an article, customers and prospects get the information in a 2-minute video with visuals.
The results speak for themselves
Now entering its fourth year of use, Digital Studio use continues to grow. It is not without changes, however. Agriculture as an industry is always moving and adapting. Likewise, Digital Studio has gone through alterations to increase its ease of use and improve the viewer experience.
2019 was the first year of Digital Studio. The focus was on sharing and promoting videos through Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, garnering views and clicks across all platforms.
In 2020, due in large part to the pandemic, many users were looking for an alternative way to reach prospects and customers. Face-to-face meetings were not possible, so users increasingly turned to Digital Studio to get their message out. Weekly or monthly segments were produced, allowing agronomists, sales professionals and others share knowledge and information directly to growers virtually.
Virtual field days became increasingly popular. These field days garnered thousands of views, and allowed growers to see local performance of old and new products from the comfort and safety of their homes.
From 2019 to 2020, Digital Studio videos more than doubled, with more than half a million total views.
As restrictions were rolled back, and face-to-face (as safe as possible) meetings returned, Digital Studio users stepped away from virtual field days, but not to the degree they had prior to the pandemic. As the times changed, a greater emphasis was put on quality over quantity. Utilizing Google Ads and YouTube, a lesser number of videos were viewed at higher rates. Growers were getting more targeted videos and information than ever before.
Encouraging employee participation
While many employees will be eager and willing to create videos, the best way to get participation is making the process easy. A video kit that helps with stability and audio will go a long way in increasing participation and quality. Additionally, a portal with easy upload instructions helps employees of any age master the video process.
Training also helps. Being comfortable with a cell phone, a kit and the upload process can remove much of the hesitancy.
Prizes, clear goals and competition also help boost participation. A yearly award show highlighting videos can be effective in raising awareness, rewarding quality work and boosting participation.
Next steps
Starting something similar to Digital Studio for your business won’t happen overnight. It takes buy-in from top to bottom. But, when done correctly, utilizing your employees in videos can serve as a way for consumers to connect with your brand and make it stand out. You can have personalized videos in front of prospects in minutes, getting them vital information to make informed decisions. Utilizing more instant videos without big production is a great supplement to any video strategy.
If a Digital Studio platform is what your business is missing, reach out. We have the experts from portal management to video training to help take your brand or product to that next level and set you apart from competitors.
Contact us to get started!