News

Festive marketing in 2020

6th October, 2020

Video marketing that embraces the Christmas spirit; both of them.

Q4 already? How did that happen? As we start figuring work out in this new normal many of us are working on holiday marketing campaign planning. What does that even look like in 2020? The hard sell is definitely out, replaced by compassion and an understanding of what consumers are struggling with.

So if you’re back in the office and suddenly realising that your latest launch needs a totally new strategy or you’re cracking into your festive marketing, here are 5 tips for a budget friendly video marketing campaign with empathy.

Why video? Well because 87% of video marketers say that video has increased traffic to their website. (Wyzowl, 2020), definitely not just because we bloody love video here!

1) Read the room.

Spend some of your planning time checking in with your customers; where are they at right now? What’s weighing them down? What do they need?

It doesn’t matter how incredible your family focused marketing materials are if your audience are preparing for a lonely festive season due to lockdowns or wanting to protect their loved ones. Your campaign needs to meet people where they’re at and understand what they’re dealing with.

2) Get creative.

We’re all sick of hearing that these are unprecedented times but it’s worth remembering when you’re planning your marketing. All that generic, festive marketing advice and what you’ve learned yourself from years of testing is somewhat out the window now. We’re starting from scratch and it’s time to get creative about every aspect of your business.

We love to find inspiration in the most unlikely places and keep an eye on what’s working for brands and businesses in all industries. If you’re only watching your competitors it’s worth broadening your social media stalking to include innovative brands in different areas, you never know what’s going to spark your next idea or the next big trend.

3) Sell the solution, park the problem.

Do you know what makes us feel more positive during global pandemics? Solutions! Opting for solution focused marketing is a simple switch that keeps your messaging positive and offers a light at the end of the tunnel.

If you’ve read the room you already know what problems your customers are having so build your campaign around how your product or service solves their problem. No need to remind them that everything is awful before offering that solution, most of us are pretty clear on all the things that are tough right now!

Don’t fall into the trap of making huge promises; honesty combined with demonstrating the lifestyle of someone who solved that problem is a gentler way to make the sale.

4) Sexy stock.

There’s a reason that 92% of marketers make videos with assets they already have (Animoto, 2017); it saves time and money! Having a catalogue of your own content to dip into and re-use in future videos is a gold star way to  shorten turnaround time on video projects.

No need to worry about it getting old either, give it a totally new look with some stonking stock footage and nifty editing skills and you’ll be laughing all the way through the long weekend you’ll be able to take off. You’d be surprised at the difference a festive backing track makes to your videos too! 

Make the most of having more staff available now more of us are back to work by having someone create a folder of all your marketing materials so you can just add to it in future. Organisation for the win!

5) Don’t be Scrooge in the wrong places.

Reducing costs is hugely important at the moment but don’t scrimp where it matters; delivering what you promise and customer service needs to be top priority.

When it comes to your video marketing, opting for nimble shoots rather than big productions is a great way to keep costs down but keep in mind Thomas Jefferson’s words; “The man who stops advertising to save money is like the man who stops the clock to save time.”

The Father Christmas of marketing.

Sorry to drop the C-word in October but we’re determined to help businesses bounce back from covid. We believe you can take control of how this quarter, and next year, goes and nailing your marketing will make all the difference.

Whether you’re looking to outsource or just want some advice, our sack is full of festive marketing ideas and time and cost saving tips that we’ve picked up from working with the likes of Nike, Puma, Sky and Adidas.

Give us a call to chat through your next marketing campaign with our award winning team or get a quote.

Video on social media: we tested it so you don’t have to.

22nd September, 2020

Helping you nail video on social media, first time.

Last month we launched DHP TV, our video series sharing all the best marketing tips and tricks from the best in the business, and we don’t just mean us! Naturally, we wanted to maximise the reach of this new project so we’ve tested, tweaked and run the numbers and now we’re sharing all the information you need to ensure your videos get the best results across social media.

Video generates more engagement than any other content type on Instagram – Mention.

Grab your notebook or save this article so you can save yourself the time, money and stress of trying to figure it all out yourself.

LinkedIn loves native video.

We love high quality video so we’re not fans of the compression that happens to video on social media, that’s why we prefer to share links for you to watch our videos on Vimeo. Sadly both the social media gods and users don’t like that very much as we discovered when comparing the LinkedIn stats for video shared via a link vs posted natively on the platform.

  • 86% increase in clicks for videos posted natively on LinkedIn.
  • 48% increase in engagement rate for videos posted natively on LinkedIn.

When utilising video on social media, especially on LinkedIn, we recommend uploading the video to the platform itself rather than posting a link to view if elsewhere.

IGTV doesn’t stand alone.

We were psyched when IGTV launched; long form videos, yes please! Links in captions? Don’t mind if we do! We’re still IGTV fans but we’ve learned that sharing to your grid is the key.

IGTV videos shared to the grid garner 650% more views than those posted only to IGTV.

Keep your sexy grid aesthetic while maximising reach by designing and uploading a thumbnail that looks amazing square. Don’t forget to use the swipe up link option when sharing your IGTV videos to stories too, it’s no more effective than sharing it as you would a feed post but it looks extra cool!

 

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A post shared by DHP Studios | Video Production (@dhpstudios) on

Captions.

Less is more when it comes to captions on videos. Your video should stand alone so simply introduce the topic or tell your audience why they need to press play in a super short caption. Shorter captions also result in a 367% increase in views on LinkedIn videos!

Learn more about getting the most from videos on social media.

Speaking of captions, 85% of Facebook videos are watched without sound, so ensuring your video’s message is clear without sound or that they include captions increases both watch time and views.

Go forth and conquer!

Now you’ve got all the stats and tips, it’s up to you to implement them. If you’re stuck on the video creation side of things, we’re waiting to help you. Shoot us an email and let’s figure out how video can work for you and the best way for you to make it.

video marketing IGTV

Social media video that slays

22nd July, 2020

Video is king on social media

If your social media strategy doesn’t include video, your business is losing out. Did you know that Facebook has over 8 billion video views per day? If that isn’t a reason to start taking it seriously,  maybe social media marketing mogul Gary Vee can convince you;

“If you’re not making some kind of video content right now, you’re losing. Period.”

Whatever your goals for your social media presence, video can ensure you smash them, so let’s talk about how you make sure your investment in video really pays off.

Get clear on your goals

What do you want to achieve with this video campaign or these pieces of video content? Do you want to grow brand awareness, increase your following or get people sharing your stuff? Maybe you’re looking to make sales to the 72% of customers who would rather learn about a product or service by way of video.  Whatever your goals, they will not only affect the video itself but which platforms you decide to share it on, how and when.

No goals, no point. Learn more about how your goals inform the entire video production process here.

The best social media videos come in small packages

Shorter is better when it comes to video on social media. Not only is 47% of value in a video delivered in the first 3 seconds, with attention spans not being what they were making sure whichever platform you’re sharing to you give them the good stuff up front is the way to go.

Ensuring the first few seconds to a minute of your video is the most engaging also increases organic reach; keeping people watching and smashing that like button tells the platform that people love your video and therefore to show it to more people.

That doesn’t mean that videos over 3 to 5 minutes aren’t worth investing in; if you have a story to be told then give it the time it deserves, but consider some also having some cut down versions which still retain the core message.

While we’re talking about small packages, social networks compress videos so maybe keep the 4k magic for your website or YouTube channel.

Are you optimised for social?

Most video content on social media is consumed on mobile devices so if your video doesn’t look great on a smaller screen, no sale my friend.

Not only that, showing while telling is key when it comes to videos on social with over 80% of users scrolling with their sound off. Nobody’s whipping their earbuds out so they can make sense of your video so whether you opt for visuals which stand on their own or burn in captions, it has to make sense without sound.

See how Manchester City FC and British Study Centres used video to increase website traffic.

Consider the platform

If you’re intending to post a 3 minute video on the ‘gram you’re going to have a problem. Keep them to under 60 seconds for Instagram or utilise IGTV for longer videos, making sure the first minute grabs the viewer. Each Stories (9:16) post is just 15 second and yes, people are also watching Stories with the sound off.

You can post vertical or horizontal (16:9) videos to IGTV but whichever you choose, ensure they look great when on the Instagram feed at 4:5, and don’t forget a thumbnail that looks badass when cropped square.

“Videos that are an average of 26 seconds receive the most comments on Instagram” – Hubspot

For Twitter, 30 seconds or less is ideal considering the concise and fast paced nature of the platform. Although threads are growing in popularity, shorter is still better when it comes to video.

Facebook continues to try to make Watch happen, recommending videos of 3 minutes or more but the data says only around 6% of Facebook users are bothering to look at any Watch content at all. The average length of the most engaging videos on Facebook is just over 70 seconds so we vote you ignore Zuck and keep them short and snappy.

Meanwhile, over on YouTube, 10 minutes or more is the gold standard for content but keep ads short; few people are watching 2 – 5 minute ads even to support their favourite creator.

Let’s chat about creating devilishly handsome social media videos for your business.

Pulling it all together

The most successful brand videos on social media are ones with a clear goal, a defined audience and which consider the platform. Your viral YouTube video probably won’t do as well on Instagram unless you tweak it for their audience and requirements.

We’re all about getting the most bang for your buck so ask your video production company to provide cuts for your social media platforms while you’re working with them and store them with your social content so you can reuse them whenever you fancy.

Ready to work with a video production company who knows the power of social? Get in touch.

Person taking a photo of their brunch at a café representing ideal user generated content.

How to leverage user generated content

5th August, 2019

Sharing is caring

User generated content is an amazing way to engage your audience, make them feel appreciated and impact your bottom line. What does it mean and how do you use it in your social media marketing strategy? Sit down and let us illuminate you.

What is user generated content?

Put simply, user generated content (UGC) is anything posted online by consumers. That 5* review on your Facebook page? UGC. That Instagram photo of your customer sipping a milkshake in your gloriously air conditioned cafe? UGC. That YouTube video review of your services with 10k views? UGC.

So why is it so powerful? Because word of mouth is still the gold standard in marketing and UGC is the digital equivalent. If somebody loves your product or service enough to post online about it without being paid to do so, it must be good. When you share those posts on your brand’s social platforms not only do your followers see your great reviews and happy customers, you give the user who shared it the warm fuzzies (don’t lie, we know you love the warm fuzzies) and encourage other people to do the same.

Person taking a photo of their brunch at a café representing ideal user generated content.

How do you use UGC in your marketing?

There are a range of options depending on how much content you have and how creative you want to be with it. We think mixing it up is the best option; variety is the spice of life.

ReTweet/ReGram/Share

First you can simply re-post the original post, being sure to shout-out the user, a thank you wouldn’t go amiss either. Simple but effective and a great way to drop in this kind of content to your feeds. Reshares like this are also a great way to populate your Stories, we shared 10 more Stories ideas in our last blog post.

Collages, carousels & albums

If you’re overrun with UGC, you lucky devil, sharing every post individually might be overkill. In that case why not include several in one post. How you do this will depend on the platform your posting on but keep in mind that Facebook has albums, Instagram has carousels and collages work everywhere, just make sure you tag everyone in them!

Video

We know, we’re like a broken record, but video really is the key to social media right now. Whether you make a simple slideshow from the images, videos and comments singing your praises or you opt for something more fanciful, video offers you not only the UGC warm fuzzies but also a very sexy boost in the algorithms. Win-win!

Want to find out how we can make your user generated content even sexier?  Drop us an email.

A woman taking a photo of Giraffe through a Stories app

10 ideas that every brand can use in Stories

15th July, 2019

No more excuses!

Every CEO, marketing team and social media manager we know understands that Stories are the next big thing in social media marketing. Stories are where it’s at, Stories counteract the engagement slump, Stories keep you relevant. Great! But what do you actually post to Stories?

Never fear, as usual the team here at DHP has got you covered, whatever your industry.

1) Behind the scenes

BTS Stories tie in beautifully with the huge marketing trend that is authenticity. Whether you’re showcasing new stock as it comes in, teasing projects you’re working on or sharing casual Friday in the office, behind the scenes content is a great way to humanise your brand and engage your audience. Obviously BTS is a staple over on our Instagram as a video production company but every business has a behind the scenes so start sharing it!

2) FAQs

There’s two ways to play this one; either add a question sticker and let your audience ask whatever’s on their mind or share answers to questions you commonly get asked. You can even mix it up by using both.

3) Share your work

Blow your own trumpet and get your work out there! If you’re a service based business, shout-out your clients and talk about what you do for them. If you’re selling products, user generated content is where it’s at; share your customer’s photos of your products to your Stories and add some love with stickers, GIFs or good old fashioned words.

4) Industry news

Give your audience a breakdown of what’s going on in your industry. Have there been changes to the tax system? Get that all over your financial services Stories with some extra info about what it means for each tax bracket and maybe even a sly mention of how you can help!

5) Stories takeovers

Let your employees, clients or a relevant influencer take over your Stories for the day. A different viewpoint makes your content fresh again and can get you seen by a whole new audience.

6) Shout-out your competitors

Many people see it as counter-intuitive to share posts from, or talk about, their competitors but it’s actually a great way to build community and respect. That said, we don’t suggest you recommend just anybody, make sure they’re well reviewed and you know they’re reliable and competent, but don’t be afraid to big-up others.

7) Tips and tricks

Everybody wants to know how to make their life easier; what quick, industry relevant tip can you share? If you’re a sports brand, offer up suggestions on how can people hydrate fast and stay hydrated when training in the summer heat. Home & garden businesses could share how to keep your home cool or your grass green during a heatwave.

Your lawn may be brown but only the leaves die; grass will regrow once it starts raining more often so watering is not essential

8) Go Live

Going Live at an event you’re running, for a pre-planned on camera chat or more casual “I had 5 minutes so I thought I’d swing by,” Live video is a powerful tool and people spend 3 times as much time watching a Live video than a pre-recorded one. Lights, camera, action!

9) Facts and figures

Blow your audiences’ minds with cool industry stats. Did you know that a strawberry isn’t an actual berry, but a banana is? You’re welcome local greengrocer, looking forward to seeing that on your Stories!

10) Video

We couldn’t leave this suggestion out; video content is still out-performing other content on all platforms. You can add video to any of our other suggestions to make your Stories more interesting and engaging. Whether you opt for a professional look or choose to keep your Stories videos rough around the edges, make sure there is video content somewhere.

Want a hand with bringing video into your Stories and marketing? Get in touch and let’s make them devilishly handsome together.

Facebook march at Dublin Pride, showing their authentic marketing credentials

The power of authenticity in marketing

2nd July, 2019

You remember Pinocchio, right?!

One of the key takeaways from Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity this year was the importance of authenticity in marketing. Appealing to Millennials and Gen Z requires more than a great product but, with several brands being caught out as being all talk in their progressive stance, consumers are looking for proof that brands are taking action and not just woke-washing their campaigns.

Authentic marketing might sound like an expensive and risky idea. Many brands have found themselves in a social media storm that left their PR departments rocking in a corner after trying it. Although it can seem complicated, doing it right can have a huge impact on your bottom line and brand loyalty and, if you stick to a few simple rules, you can make it work. Trust us!

Stay true to your brand values

One hole several brands have fallen down is choosing a cause that is unrelated to their brand or does not align with their brand values. Don’t just pick the latest trending topic; take the time to assess what your brand stands for and which cause fits with that. Get your team together and write down the key words associated with your brand, make a note of your brand purpose and start pulling these things together to create a list of things your brand considers important.

Authenticity isn’t about appearing cool, it’s about being true to your core values. If your brand is conservative, don’t try to force yourself into a socialist box. Own your brand’s values and take a stand that fits them. 

Put your money where your mouth is

We could point you to a thousand articles or angry tweets about brands who used a cause for their advertising but didn’t back it up with action. This year’s Pride saw a large backlash from the LGBTQIA+ community, fed up of rainbows on products, especially from companies who financially supported anti-gay politicians. This makes it more important than ever for you to choose a cause which matches your brand’s goals. Failing to support whichever topic appears in your marketing financially and through your company’s internal policies is a surefire way to see your campaign do huge damage to your brand’s reputation.

Facebook march at Dublin Pride, showing their authentic marketing credentials

©Giuseppe Milo

Authenticity isn’t just about social causes

Despite taking a stand being a key video marketing trend this year, that’s not the only way to embrace authenticity. Tell the story of your brand, warts and all. Interview your founder, allow employee Stories take-overs, do Lives at your events or behind the scenes (also easily re-purposed later on), humanise your brand voice.

Outside of social media you can choose transparency by ensuring full details of your products are easily available; where you source things, where they’re made, who makes them and in what conditions. Be open and honest about your methods, where you came from and who you are as a brand.

Authenticity isn’t about being hip or liberal, it’s about being honest and showing your customers who you really are. Do it right and it may well become the most important marketing choice you’ve ever made.

To discuss how to bring authenticity into your marketing using video, get in touch and let’s make your brand irresistibly authentic and devilishly handsome.

A businessman holding an iPad, clenching his fist and looking motivated, a highrise building behind him

5 creative ways to use video in B2B marketing

17th June, 2019

Professional is not a synonym for boring!

With LinkedIn video posts generated more than 300 million impressions in just one year after they launched and earning an average of three times the engagement of text posts, using video in B2B marketing is where it’s at.

Too many B2B brands get stuck in a corporate, bland or tame marketing rut, fearing looking unprofessional or believing that their target market won’t respond to flashy or creative advertising. At DHP we believe all brands and industries can, with a bit of out-of-the-box thinking, reap the benefits of video.

Here are 5 suggestions to help B2B businesses to break free of their white collar chains and raise their marketing game while maintaining professionalism.

1) Involve your team

Who better to sell your business than the team behind it? So why not skip the fancy location and create an engaging video in your brand’s home with the people who make it all happen. They can nail your brand voice because they are your brand, they’re invested in making it a success and, B2B or not, people buy from people.

For a crash course in this idea make sure you check out these 10 things to remember when filming corporate videos in your office.

2) Show don’t tell

How many times have you heard this advice? It’s because it’s true. Use your B2B marketing video to, very literally, show your services. For a creative twist, skip the talking and set your services to music. This will also ensure you’re doing it properly and clearly demonstrating what you offer rather than relying on audio to explain.

Did you know: 59% of senior executives say that if both text and video are available, they prefer to watch the video version?

3) Don’t ignore trends

Business owners are not immune to the latest crazes so use what’s popular in marketing more generally to sell your B2B brand. Whether you’re leaping on the influencer band wagon or raising your Pride flag, remember to keep your brand values at the centre of you campaign. Nobody will be investing with the high security business who team up the Paul brothers in their advertising!

Make sure you check out our white paper for a run down on the hottest video marketing trends of 2019.

4) Reputation sells

Just because you’re a B2B business doesn’t mean creating a buzz around your brand with lowly consumers isn’t beneficial. If you have social channels for your business (which we really think you should), share your video campaigns over there too. With an engaged following in the general public, you’re bringing more than just your skills to the table and everyone loves a package deal.

Did you know that LinkedIn native videos are five times more likely than other content to start a conversation among LinkedIn members?

5) Add value

We get it, you want your marketing to sell your business. You want to make those sales. You want to grow your client base. Sure thing, so stop the hard sell. Selling can be subtle; demonstrate your expertise, prove you’re reliable and you will find your ideal clients are banging your door down to work with you.

Over on our own LinkedIn page we’re leading by example and sharing the latest marketing news every week, examples of our work and informative posts just like this one because we don’t just talk the talk.

If you want to start slaying your B2B marketing  by using video, we can help. Get in touch and let’s make your next project devilishly handsome.

Woman on a beach facing away from the camera, her arms up as the sun hits her

How to nail emotional marketing

4th June, 2019

Or “why you should aim to make people feel, not think.”

High up in the list of 2019 video marketing trends is brands taking a stand and a powerful way to do that is with emotional marketing. You can see this in many campaigns already; Gillette have been leading the charge this year launching a variety of emotional and politically charged ads, following on from Nike’s Colin Kaepernick ad which they are continuing with their “Just Do It” campaign.

Of course, making people feel is a risky business so let’s look at how a few different industries could make it work.

Fashion

Whether you’re a gender bending, boundary pushing label or a more traditional, luxury brand why not get people emotionally charged with a campaign that examines how clothes make us, and those around us, feel.

Our clothes are a part of our identities. They express how we see ourselves and how we want the world to see us. Exploring that idea in a video campaign where customers and celebrities discuss their fashion journey and how their clothing empowers them also lends itself to an integrated campaign across social media. Before you know it, your video about the power of fashion will be generating social posts about why people wear what they wear, using your campaign hashtag, and your brand recognition, and sales, will be through the roof. Winner!

Education

Motivating students is a tough job but not impossible. To draw them in to your educational establishment or course emotional marketing is a key piece of the puzzle. Lifestyle campaigns are a great way to entice students looking for a learning experience that isn’t dry and stuffy.

When LS College opened their new campus and wanted a promotional video to launch the college’s new look and feel, we went with a fun, contemporary video campaign which prominently features the courses & education while clearly demonstrating the fun elements of life at the college. The bright colours, music and use of dance in the video alludes to the social and party lifestyle which comes with studying there.

#NotAllStudents

Travel

Summer is here and holidays should be flying off the shelves but for an extra boost to sales why not consider a whistle-stop tour of your locations which highlights the most beautiful and interesting places you offer?

Wanderlust is an emotion. It says so on the internet so it must be true! Tap into your target market’s desire to experience the world, to discover new cultures, to boldly go where no one has gone before. Evoke that longing with subtly lit cathedrals, bright beaches and clear oceans, bustling cities and peaceful mountain tops. How would they feel in those places? For extra punch, end with a harsh dose of reality; cut to a dreary looking house on a dull street, people at work or simply at home watching your ad on the telly.

If you want to nail emotional marketing we can help. Whether you’re in one of these industries or a totally different one, get in touch.

The silhouette of many hands in the air, behind them red, party lights and a sign saying "community"

3 ideas to increase social media engagement

27th May, 2019

Because Zuck doesn’t like it unless your audience does.

Just putting out content isn’t enough anymore; every brand and its mother has a social profile, many even have regular content! What they lack is social media engagement. Engagement is what makes your socials stand out and pay off.

We’re talking real engagement, not the kind you pay for. Content that gets real people liking, talking and sharing is the gold standard in social media marketing. But how do you achieve this elusive engagement? We have some ideas.

1) Be a human

To increase social media engagement you need to be engaging. Is your 3 paragraph Facebook post about the new office coffee machine exciting for your audience? Do they care about that staged photo of your suited employees looking hard at work? Maybe they do but we doubt it.

You don’t have to abandon your brand identity to make your content more engaging. Ask your audience questions relevant to what your post talks about. Make use of interactive posts like polls and quizzes. Smile in your photos. However corporate your brand might be, we guarantee you can maintain your professionalism while ensuring people smash that like button!

The silhouette of many hands in the air, behind them red party lights and a sign saying "community"

2) Video. Video. Video.

Did you know that social media posts with video get 48% more views? Or that video content is favoured by the infamous algorithms? Or that 72% of customers would rather learn about a product or service through video?

British Study Centres saw the power of video marketing when we worked with them on their football and language program. They wanted to grab the attention of parents and students across the world to generate increased traffic and interest and that’s exactly what they got. The video gained almost 50k views through a Facebook campaign in under a month and resulted in increased in traffic of over 100% to their websites with large increases in their key markets Spain (+665%), Mexico (+2.5k%), UK (+199%), Ireland (+1.5k%) and Brazil (+300%). With stats like that can you really afford not to be using video?

3) Talk to the people!

When people do start engaging, engage right back! Ask them follow up questions, share some extra info with them, send them a little thank you. The person who takes the time to comment on your post and doesn’t get so much as a like in return will not be commenting again. Appreciate your fans, show them how much you value their social media engagement, make them feel special.

Is social media engagement really worth the effort?

That depends if you think increased website hits, increased sales, a happier customer base and an amazing brand reputation are worth investing in.

If you think yes, it’s worth it, and want to leverage the power of engagement in your next social campaign, we’d love to help. Whether you’re in need of a sports commercial or something totally different, drop us a line.

Someone lying outside on a blanket reading a book about digital marketing.

Why your ad budget needs to pivot to social

13th May, 2019

In the immortal words of Ross from Friends, “PIVOT!”

Social ads are currently dramatically cheaper than traditional forms of advertising and yet precious few businesses are taking advantage of that. With impressive targeting capabilities, smaller costs, and the ability to reach more than 3.48 billion people, if your ad budget doesn’t include social media you’re doing it wrong.

The same but different

The temptation may be to simply re-purpose your current advertising material across social media, don’t do that!

Social ads should tie in to your other marketing efforts but they need to be tailored to the platform they’re running on. Nobody is sitting through the two minute long pre-rolls on YouTube or clicking the billboard style poster they scroll past on Facebook.

When a client asks us to create a cohesive video marketing strategy we start by looking at the whole picture; who are they as a brand? Who are their current customers? What excites their social followers? From this distanced view we then begin to slowly zoom in. One idea sparks another, or a twist on it which makes it better suited to a certain platform, and we begin to build the campaign as a whole and as the individual pieces.

Making it work

The Visit Scotland marketing team nailed this concept but as we looked at their campaign in more detail our blog post about community driven advertising we’re focusing on another brand knocking it out of the park when it comes to online and offline marketing. Velux’s latest campaign, #outsidein, combines all the ingredients of great modern advertising and bakes them into a delicious, shareable content cake.

Their artistic and thought-provoking short film is perfect for airing on television and also offers beautiful stills ideal for billboards, while their campaign specific website provides a variety of articles designed for social sharing and even brings in influencer partnerships. Their branded hashtags also make it easy for them to monitor the success of the campaign and engage with the people talking about it. Shout-out to the team behind this beautifully cohesive campaign.

Someone lying outside reading a book about digital marketing and social ads

All industries can benefit from this kind of creative, cross platform advertising, even the financial sector. Branded hashtags are a good way to start and a place to build from. What do you want people to be sharing about your brand on social: are you #ForTheFrugal or offering a luxury financial service? Creating a campaign around this enables you to ensure every piece of marketing material offers the same message but in distinct, medium specific ways. You don’t need to include the hashtag on your printed materials for them to tie in beautifully to the online content, use design elements to bring the different areas together in a subtle but clear way.

Social ads are the future

The legend that is Gary Vaynerchuk has said many times that advertising on social will not be this affordable forever. As more brands see ever-increasing ROI from them the price and competition for news feed space will only increase. Now is the time to invest in your social marketing strategy and embrace the power of social media advertising.

Want to discuss how we can bring your A-game to your social ads? Drop us an email.