It's Not Me, It's You: Putting your Customer First in Your Online Marketing Video

So, you’ve reached your business goals; added to your range of products and expanded your services. You should tell your customers about it, right? Wrong. 

The most common mistake in content marketing is using video as a platform to talk about your business, rather than putting your customer first. 

Once they’ve invested time and money in producing a video, companies often ruin their opportunity of exposure by droning on about who they are, what they do and why people should buy their products. With a couple of minutes in front of the camera, it’s tempting for business owners to promote the elements of their company they’re proud of with the hope viewers will share their enthusiasm.

But putting your business first is a waste of time when it comes to online video. Instead, your focus needs to be on the customer. Your videos need to show that your business is a customer-centred one that knows exactly what your clients want, even before they do.

WHY YOU NEED TO PUT THE CUSTOMER FIRST

So, why does your company need to take a backseat? Well, the internet is a noisy place. Everyday we share 1.8 million photos, watch four billion Youtube videos and post 500 million Tweets. With such a volume of information online consumers don’t have time to listen to messages that aren’t relevant to them. 

That means they aren’t interested in what year your business was established. Or who your Managing Director is. People generally don’t care about your company – and as harsh a reality as that may be – the sooner you accept and work around that, the more successful your video marketing campaigns will be. 

Another reason to put the customer first, is simply because trends have changed. Sales pitches worked in the day of door-to-door vacuum sales, but consumers today are well informed. They can get product reviews and price comparisons at the tap of a finger, so with such a breadth of information to influence their choice your sales talk becomes obsolete.

Also, consumers know when they’re being sold to. The “me, me, me” language is off-putting when there’s so many companies advertising themselves with slick subtlety. Unless you want to lose out to the competition, you need to do that same. And to achieve that, you need to put your customer first.

HOW TO PUT THE COSTUMER FIRST IN YOUR VIDEOS

Know Your Audience

It’s an obvious place to start, but knowing your audience is the best way to make a video that puts them at the centre. Who are they? What’s their age group? What are they interested in? Use primary and secondary research to determine what your customer needs and wants. Then, go deeper and uncover their challenges. Are they low on money? Short on time? Needing support? 

Once you’ve got a detailed picture of your customer, it’s easier to make a video that targets their needs. Customer-centred companies like Apple have this nailed. Check out their advert for the iPhone 6:

The video showcases specific features of the iPhone that are the result of laborious research into how customers use their phone and what they’d like see improved. And these are the only things the video features. No jargon about Apple’s success or why they’re one of the largest companies in the world. Just the technology features the customer wants to see.

Be Accessible and Relatable

Your videos need to be easy to relate to. They need to showthat you understand your customers by showing what you know about them in a real and accessible way. Amazon Prime’s 2015 video campaign is a great example.

By playing on emotions most viewers can relate to (like love, sympathy and parenthood), Amazon shows that they know the everyday concerns of their customers. This enables the viewer to create a stronger relationship with the brand as they feel their worries and needs are understood.

Let Them Feel Like an Insider

Another way to put your customer first in your online video is to make them feel like an insider to your company. That’s one of the reasons this Hilton campaign works so well.

 

It refers to Hilton as the customer’s ‘wingman’ – the travel companion that will fulfil all their desires for exploration and adventure. It portrays Hilton as an assistant in making memories and a sentimental part of the viewer’s trip. By creating that culture of closeness, viewers feel connected to Hilton on a personal level. It’s a simple way of putting the customer at the centre that delivers a really successful video marketing campaign.

If you want to find out more about using video to sell your products or services please visit www.visualnarrative.tv or free to drop me an email on shane@visualnarrative.tv or add a comment below.