The Power of Generation Z
The world we live in today is more socially connected than ever before. With the constant release of video games, applications and smartphone launches, the technological world is in perpetual motion, and no generation are better placed to benefit than Generation Z.
Generation Z were born social. The oldest of the generation are just about to enter the workforce, and they don’t remember life without the internet or social media. Over 92 percent of Generation Z have a digital footprint where social connectivity is cited as being essential for their wellbeing. With emerging knowledge of this young generation, we’ve outlined the ways in which they’re set to reshape the modern digital marketplace.
Hungry Buyers
With Generation Z spending more hours on their mobile devices than all previous generations combined, it’s no wonder that new technology is developing so quickly. Couple this appetite for new goods with the digital industry’s propensity for developing new tech at lightning speed and you have an audience who are tough to satiate. Consumer expectancy drives companies to innovate continually, and constant innovation is what makes consumers expectant.
Instant Demand
Services such as Netflix, Hulu and Twitch are all predicated on the concept of immediate availability. The instantaneous nature of these services has changed the way many people now watch their favorite digital content. According to Nielsen, 40% of Generation Z plan to ditch traditional paid cable TV services in favor of online-only options within the next few years.
Instant demand can shape the habits of the tech world by encouraging businesses to act quickly, and publicize their newest products as soon as consumers tire of the old ones.
Instant Gratification
The demographic most associated with smartphones and communication technology is undoubtedly Generation Z. No other age group in our society uses social media, the internet, and various messaging platforms as frequently as Generation Z. The whims and desires of this generation shape the tech world much more than those of other age groups. As time progresses, companies are recognizing the trends of Generation Z and are becoming ever more beholden to their cravings for new, faster and more innovative products.
The Power of Social Media
In modern society, a quick scan of the internet and social media will turn up opinions and commentary on virtually any topic people are willing to talk about. The Internet and social media permeate everything, and no generation is more susceptible to this than Generation Z. With 42 percent reporting that what they read on social platforms directly influences how they think and feel, it’s easy to see how influential it is on their lives. So it comes as no surprise that FullScreen Media found that Generation Z views video content as much as six times more than traditional media like articles and blogs. If your business wants to engage Generation Z throughout the sales process, video should be your medium of choice.
The idea of implementing professional-looking videos can feel daunting for businesses. But there’s no need to let this stop you from testing the water. Video marketing is central to many businesses looking to showcase the simplicity and need for their value proposition, and to quickly demonstrate key features.
For more information on how 21st Street Creative can help you energize your marketing strategy, please click here.
Successful Brands Harnessing the Power of Video Marketing
Video is taking over the online marketplace. One hundred million hours of videos are watched on Facebook alone every single day. With 73% of marketers planning to increase their use of video content in 2018, here are the stories of four brands who used this key medium within their marketing campaigns to elevate audience engagement.
Lowes Home Improvement - ‘Wash, Rinse, Repeat’
Starting their video campaign in April 2013 using Vine, Lowes introduced their 'Fix in Six' series. These six-second DIY videos were so popular that they became an overnight Vine sensation, receiving thirty thousand followers and over forty million loops on their Vines.
Following the same short DIY trend, 'Made in a Minute’ was their next success thanks to Facebook's 360 technology. One particular post generated four thousand shares and a staggering 5.7 million views. Lowes has used the latest video tools across varying social media platforms to repeat this campaign-style to similar success.
The basic strategy Lowes used was to figure out what works for their audience and use it across all platforms. They started off using just one, and introduced variations of the campaign across other platforms, substantially increasing their brand awareness.
Taco Bell - ‘Keep Creating, Keep Tweaking’
Taco Bell has been using video content as part of its digital marketing strategy since 2011, with Facebook driving 92% of its video views. They use humor to engage their target audience, posting short videos on Facebook accompanied by some fun, taco-focused content. The chain also used Snapchat's real-time video to produce a six-minute mini movie titled 'Spicy Chicken Cool Ranch Doritos Locos Tacos' generating an enormous number of views.
Taco Bell continues to think out of the box: their Snapchat mini movies have demonstrated that they are willing to be bold in order to create history for their brand. This has allowed the brand to consistently maintain a strong viewership over their target audience.
Airbnb - ‘It's All in the Details’
Airbnb is a master of using data from their extensive user-base to create highly targeted, viral-worthy digital marketing campaigns. With an ever increasing social reach of over 650,000 twitter followers and thirteen million Facebook page likes, they’ve managed to reach a massive crowd through their marketing efforts.
Airbnb launched their first short film, ‘Hollywood & Vine’ in 2013. Fans were invited from all over the world to create short vine videos. Out of 750 entries, 100 were chosen to be part of the campaign. Using the power of brand storytelling, Airbnb also created the 'Daily Kindness Bulletin,' a YouTube show highlighting positive stories guaranteed to make your day more cheerful. They continuously use their global reach to create video stories in areas around the world as told by their Airbnb hosts.
The Airbnb marketing philosophy is all about creating a home away from home. They tell a clear and vivid story for their audience and avoid using video content as a tool to exclusively sell product features.
Red Bull - ‘Consistent Postings’
Combine extreme sports and real-time broadcasting, and you’ve landed on a real marketing campaign winner. Now in its third year, Red Bull's 'Crashed Ice Event' is broadcast live on Facebook, and in 2017 received over two million views. Their Youtube channel was the most shared video brand of 2016, where views have soared to over three hundred million. They created a total of 639 videos in 2017, each acquiring more than one million views.
Red Bull doesn’t just make one video and think their work is done. They create and upload quality video content on a consistent basis. By experimenting with different formats, Red Bull have been able to find a concept that clicks with their audience, creating content that keeps their viewers constantly engaged. They are undoubtedly a worldwide, leading brand in the extreme sports industry.
The idea of implementing professional-looking videos can feel daunting for businesses. But there’s no need to let this stop you from testing the water. Video marketing is central to many businesses looking to showcase the simplicity and need for their value proposition, and to quickly demonstrate key features.
For more information on how 21st Street Creative can help you energize your marketing strategy, please click here.
Essential Marketing Strategies For Any Startup
If potential customers don’t know about your business and what it offers, it’s much harder for them to be confident enough to purchase your products or services. Creating and implementing a meaningful and efficient marketing strategy is a high priority, and this is especially the case for startups.
Startups are hungry for growth. As your business grows and expands its presence, the goal is to attract customers through word of mouth. Until that happens, why not consider implementing the following marketing strategies to bolster the growing appreciation that the marketplace is developing for your business?
Utilizing Email
Email marketing is an essential and cost-effective strategy for attracting customers. Once you have a prospect or customer's email address, you can create tailored and bespoke material that will promote your startup and inform them about your offerings.
Building a contact list can be challenging and time-consuming. Your business almost certainly has a website: why not consider placing a sign-up form to capture email addresses and keep customers up to date with the latest information about your business? The critical thing to remember is that you should diversify your emails by including non-commercial content like guides, how-to articles, videos, and infographics. If you only send advertorial emails, subscribers may opt out of receiving your content.
Creating a Blog
A recent study found that businesses with blogs generate 126% more leads than those without. With a blog, you have more control on your industry position through the content you produce and share. Creating useful content that your audience will want to read and share has a direct correlation on your organic search traffic, thereby helping to increase and raise awareness of your brand.
Paid Search Advertising
Paid search is a tried and tested advertising channel for startups. It allows business owners to buy targeted traffic from search engines. The major search engines feature keyword targeting with cost-per-click (CPC) pricing models. You can create custom adverts that appear in search results when a keyword related to your business is searched.
The most appealing feature of paid search is its ‘cost-per-click’ pricing model, where you’re only charged when someone clicks on your advert. This helps to simplify the process of optimizing your paid search campaigns for a higher return on investment.
Being Social
With more than 2.4 billion social media users, incorporating these channels into your marketing strategy is, without doubt, an essential tool for all businesses. Some social media platforms allow business owners to pay for traffic and exposure. By posting ads which are engaging and relevant, consumers will want to share your content with their social circles. You can also encourage readers to engage by responding to their questions and comments.
Video Marketing can be a perfect tool to help sculpt social media adverts which can drive brand awareness and growth. To see our blog post on how short video can help with social media branding, click here.
Event Sponsorship
Business owners can look to sponsor events that are relevant to their operations or what they offer. Sponsoring a local event can help to increase your brand’s reach, whilst generating plenty of networking opportunities.
The idea of implementing professional-looking videos can feel daunting for businesses. But there’s no need to let this stop you from testing the water. Video marketing is central to many businesses looking to showcase the simplicity and need for their value proposition, and to quickly demonstrate key features.
For more information on how 21st Street Creative can help you energize your marketing strategy, please click here.
Generate New Leads Through Video Marketing
Why is video so prevalent in modern digital marketing? Simple: human nature. Our brains assimilate so much more when utilizing visual and auditory input. Video is gaining a monopoly on the time we spend online, so it’s no surprise that over 80% of marketers are already harnessing the power video has to offer. From a biological standpoint, it’s all about preserving resources, but from a marketing point of view, it’s the possibility of turning every single viewer into a lead. Taking this into account, we’ve listed the key reasons as to how video can help generate new leads, whilst simultaneously increasing audience engagement.
Video Establishes Trust
Consumers have become overwhelmed with the abundance of content that enters their lives on a daily basis: emails, click baits, social media posts. Standing out from the crowd is no doubt challenging.
Video content is created in a way that is much easier to consume compared to other marketing campaigns. Video establishes trust with your audience, adds value and increases audience engagement. By putting your brand in front of the camera, you are showcasing your unique values.
Video Creates More Reach
A recent study from Responsive Inbound Marketing found that video is 1200 times more shareable than images and text alone. There’s only so much traffic that you can generate on your own, but by creating content that holds your audience's attention for longer, you increase the likelihood of audiences sharing the video with their digital and social networks.
Video Allows for a More Refined Community
The ability to filter potential clients through segmentation creates a prime opportunity to generate more high-quality leads. Creating an email gate is an effective way to generate these kinds of leads. Asking viewers to enter their email address before gaining access to your video will help to refine specific leads and establish your authority on the subject by offering highly relevant content.
Video Increases Engagement
Creating Calls-To-Action (CTAs) for your video content can generate a 21% conversion rate in comparison to content without. We already know that video provides a much more entertaining and engaging platform than images and text alone. Therefore, placing CTAs at the end of your videos produces a higher probability of potential clients acting on what they’re seeing. With your company fresh in their minds, CTAs provide the perfect opportunity for consumers to convert their interest into a possible business opportunity.
The idea of implementing professional-looking videos can feel daunting for businesses. But there’s no need to let this stop you from testing the water. Video marketing is central to many businesses looking to showcase the simplicity and need for their value proposition, and to quickly demonstrate key features.
For more information on how 21st Street Creative can help you energize your marketing strategy, please click here.
Simple Fixes to Common Inbound Marketing Errors
Marketing can be challenging, slow and unrewarding at times. Growth hacking and the use of new technology are frequently advocated to help make marketing more efficient and productive. However, a key foundation is to ensure that you always have a dependable inbound strategy already in place. Having consulted five of our clients on this subject, below you will find simple fixes on the most common inbound marketing mistakes.
Taking Too Much Time to Explain What You Do
Lengthy explanations on how products function is one of the most frequent mistakes startups can make in their marketing campaigns. Confusing potential customers by overwhelming them with too much information can lead to crucial data becoming lost. It's called an ‘Elevator Pitch’ for a reason, and having a short explanation, coupled with great visual representation allows for better communication between the startup and the customer.
Specific marketing tools can help to narrow down this approach by saving time, while also solving the problem of why people aren’t gravitating towards a product or service.
Not Investing in Customer Service
As word-of-mouth is one of the most powerful marketing tools you have, customer experience is even more critical for an online business, and one area that can always be improved upon.
The goal here is to make customer service run as smoothly as possible because, without it, your marketing efforts can become futile. If customer service calls aren’t being responded to quickly enough, improving your line of communication is essential. One way to help address this issue is to use visual tools such as virtual customer assistants or similar products. These tools can help to provide the first point of contact for customers logging any kind of issue, whilst simultaneously creating an effective storage system for the issues you face and how you overcame them.
Getting the Most Out of Your Brand
Getting customers to believe in your business is the essence of branding. Does your logo correctly reflect your brand? When a new customer sees your business, do they immediately know what you do? Answering these questions can be tough, but the results will hopefully provide a clearer picture as to where you should direct your branding efforts in the future.
Video marketing can serve as a unique tool throughout the branding process. Being able to show audiences a company’s ideology through visual representation can increase customer engagement whilst also minimizing the time taken to do so.
Increasing Your Social Media Engagement
As a startup, looking for inexpensive ways to market yourself is crucial, as this will help you get the best ROI per your efforts. Social media has become the pinnacle of building up a following without necessarily spending a fortune. With recent changes to specific social media platforms, the key to increasing a brands status is by increasing engagement. Holding audiences on a page for more extended periods of time expands the reach of a post or advert.
One proven method to help increase engagement is through short videos. Evidence repeatedly shows that creating compelling video content running thirty seconds or less can generate high user traffic, encourage conversation and therefore increase engagement more than any other media format.
New and exciting marketing techniques are continually being developed to help startups stay ahead of the curve. Video marketing is central to many businesses looking to showcase the simplicity and need for their value proposition, and to demonstrate key features quickly.
For more information on how 21st Street Creative can help you energize your marketing strategy, please click here.
Short Videos: Exciting & Effective Methods to Improve Brand Awareness
Attention is a commodity, and it’s becoming harder and harder to retain. Video marketing has exploded across social media over recent years because it does exactly that. Evidence shows repeatedly that creating compelling video content running thirty seconds or less can generate high user traffic, encourage conversation and therefore increase engagement more than any other media format.
Short video formats can help you to grasp your audience’s attention and give your brand’s name a firm foothold in the marketplace. Creating short videos that feature a ‘behind the scenes’ look can be a great way to inject familiarity and humanity into your branding. This kind of video format can be less formal by creating a sense of fun and enjoyment, coupled with a real feel for how your business operates.
Short videos can engage consumers by offering quick tips and solutions. Providing perfectly suited to-the-point answers, you are showing how your product or service is used, whilst offering a solution. Creating teasers for products and services is a way to grab audience’s attention right from the start while also providing clear instructions on how to access the longer versions hosted on your website or other proprietary platforms.
Got an offer or discount to tell your audience about? Short videos are a great way to provide a distinct and clear call-to-action to keep engagement high and sales moving.
Finally, putting your products or services into some kind of demonstration mode is a great way to showcase their immediate benefits to potential consumers. If your product or service has a benefit that can be summed up in 30 seconds or less, then why not make a short video showcasing just that?
The idea of implementing professional-looking videos can feel daunting for businesses. But there’s no need to let this stop you from testing the water. Video marketing is central to many businesses looking to showcase the simplicity and need for their value proposition, and to quickly demonstrate key features.
For more information on how 21st Street Creative can help you energize your marketing strategy, please click here.
5 Things Every Successful Startup has in their Locker
Standing out in a crowd is never an easy task for a business. Constantly competing for space and attention can test anyone’s patience, energy and resources. This is especially the case for startups, who spend the majority of their development stage trying to gain a foothold in their respective industries. We canvassed opinion from a few of our clients who have been through this process to create a list of FIVE CORE SKILLS that business owners sometimes overlook when setting out on their first new venture.
Writing Skills
Precise writing skills together with good oral skills are big assets while starting your first entrepreneurial venture. Drafting content to be used for a range of purposes is a skill worth mastering. Being able to convince investors that your business plan is in place is a must and this starts with clear formatting and precise punctuation. This is particularly the case if you are the only person taking care of website updates and digital marketing campaigns since only your writing and content is seen and judged.
Listen and Understand
Feedback is the best way a startup can grow and develop. Being an owner of a startup requires you to receive constant feedback from almost everybody you meet. Constructive criticism is something to learn and apply, not to argue against. Understanding the views from the opposite side allows for more balanced decisions. Well thought out decisions are of the utmost importance for your business venture. By listening, understanding and then responding, businesses enable healthy relationships to grow while having a direct positive outcome on your business.
Identifying Talent
No man is an island. Over time the workload is going to increase and having the right skills to correctly identify the right employees is vital. The best businesses treat employees as assets, rather than resources. Your startup is to survive then it needs to stand out. Having new ideas and thoughts, generated by your talent will help to differentiate your venture from the competition.
Workflow Organization
With each new startup comes the need for smart workflow organization. With limited resources and team members, the ability to effectively organize the workload so every team member is fulfilling their potential is easier said than done. Every individual works differently, and in the early stages a lot can be in demand in a short space of time. Allow them to concentrate on no more than a few tasks at a time (unless there is an emergency brewing). Learn to effectively distribute the workload based on each employee’s strengths, while finding ways to improve their weaknesses.
Smart Work Tactics
Starting a new business often takes up the majority of an entrepreneur’s time. By implementing smarter work tactics, a company can work smarter and more efficiently. Work trends are shifting away from “living in the office” to “managing the office.” Thanks to new technology, managing workloads has never been easier. Being able to access work remotely allows for owners to stay on top of their businesses, while also allowing for time outside of the office as well.
New and exciting marketing techniques are constantly being developed in order to help startups stay ahead of the curve. Video marketing is central to many businesses looking to showcase the simplicity and need for their value proposition, and to quickly demonstrate key features.
For more information on how 21st Street Creative can help you energize your marketing strategy, please click here.
Changing the tide: How Fintech is helping smaller financial firms grow and compete
Until recently the relationship between financial institutions (FIs) and Fintech has been counterproductive and stagnant; seeing each other as direct competitors rather than partners. However, recently there has been a shift in perception. FIs are starting to realize that investment in new technology is critical to maintaining their positions as a player in their respective markets.
Seeing Fintech as an ally, these technological innovations are being used to help improve their leverage, whilst also building better and more efficient experiences for their customers. Smaller FIs have some distinct advantages over larger ones. Smaller Banks have begun to accept the Fintech challenge and believe that with the right partners, who have the best solutions, they'll be able to compete against much larger national and regional FIs. Being smaller in size allows for a more agile approach to business.
With data playing an ever-significant role within community institutions embracing Fintech, the encumbents need to think differently about data. They should look to aggregate customer data, analyze it in real time, and provide front-line employees or channels with information to make the right recommendations for customers at the time of engagement.
Information culled from social media remains a challenge especially for use in making lending decisions. One problem with using social media data, such as what people post on Facebook, is that these habits change over time. Lenders need to be able to make credit decisions based on factors with more longevity.
The data needs to be developed so that it can be turned into actionable insights that profit both the FI and the customer. Digital data analysis and getting the “right” customers (along with creating long-lasting, mutually beneficial relationships), is the focus and one in which smaller FIs are taking advantage of.
It will not be long until the primary industry leaders have caught up, meaning that these smaller businesses need to adopt and innovate once more, continually creating a path for new technology to enter the market, and change these industries.
New and exciting marketing techniques are constantly being developed in order to further progress and keep smaller firms ahead of the curve. Video marketing is central for many Fintechs looking to demonstrate the simplicity and need for their value proposition and to quickly demonstrate key features.
For more information on how 21st Street Creative can help you energize your marketing strategy, please click here.
Marketing Video 101
Before you embark on this must-have medium, Managing Director of 21st Street Creative Alastair Ramsden has 7 tips for creating your first marketing video. Read on to learn more about what questions to ask, the crew you should hire, and how to keep things on-brand.
1. The Five Ws
You may be familiar with Who What When Where Why (and How) from grade school. The Five Ws have long been a tenet of good writing, from literary analysis to prize-winning journalism. But they’re also a great place to start when embarking on a new marketing campaign -- especially when using a medium like video for the first time. Your message should have a clear intention and a precise way of measuring its success.
Questions like Who’s our audience? What are we trying to say? Where does this fit in our overall strategy? What do we hope to achieve? and How will we track results? are all questions you should ask yourself before hiring a crew and picking up a camera.
2. Get the Good Stuff
When it comes to production value, this is one area where you shouldn’t skimp. Get the best equipment you can afford, and hire professionals for the filming, editing and audio. Consider hiring freelancers or contract employees for short-term projects, and never leave the work to an intern. This is one area where expertise will shine.
3. Don’t Forget the Writer
It’s tempting to think that with a little lighting and a great crew, videos just make themselves. But even the best crew isn’t going to know what to do without a script. Hire a savvy writer from the very beginning, and make sure they’re looped in with the marketing team when they hash out The 5 Ws mentioned above.
4. Keep It Simple
The best videos are simple and speak straight to the audience. While you don’t specifically have to hire an actor to talk directly into the camera, you should make sure your message is direct and devoid of distraction. Don’t film in areas with a lot of background noise or in uncontrollable environments, and keep your intro short and the graphics minimal.
5. Keep It On-Brand
It may be tempting to create the next Office Linebacker, but your video should always reflect your brand and its audience. A random funny video can get a lot of views, but always keep your audience and your goal in mind.
6. But That Doesn’t Mean Be Boring
Hire a creative team who can think outside the outside of the box. Fresh ideas are hard to come by these days, but a strong creative team who takes the time to listen and keep track of the details will know just how to attract your audience in a natural, effective way.
7. Be Consistent and Convert
One good video may blow your audience away, but a consistent campaign can strengthen your brand. Consider your long-term marketing strategy and decide where your videos fit into that. Make sure your videos can be played easily across a variety of platforms, so you can capture your audience at home, in the office or on the go. Finally, make sure you have a clear call-to-action baked into your content. Whether you’re trying to increase traffic to your website, increase customers, or increase sales, your video should result in a treasure trove of trackable engagement to direct future campaigns.
The Distribution Checklist & ‘Where to Share’…
During pitches and before proposals are submitted, we hear this one over and over again: clients have dipped a toe into the world of video marketing but when they’ve been left without an idea of how to distribute their content properly, the results are often underwhelming. Every proposal we submit covers at the very least, a standard guide on how to distribute the proposed content based on what the video will be used for and whereabouts in the funnel is intended for. We understand that producing video content isn’t about vanity; it’s about generating more sales. We aim to consult with all our clients on a much more specific and granular level as to the best methods for distribution, but here is a solid starting point and general overview of available options.
YouTube
After Google, YouTube is the largest search engine on the Internet. Its reach is absolutely colossal. This means that this is your first port of call when it comes to distribution methods. You’ll want to upload key content and then drive viewers back to your website where they can view additional content without distraction. Everything we produce with YouTube in mind is keyword rich and fully transcribed so that it can be found easily and efficiently.
Your Website & Other Inbound Channels
Buyers are so much more savvy these days; they’ve researched your products and services long before they’ve even spoken to a sales team. Having properly tagged video content on your own website enables visitors to view your content and make an even more informed decision. In turn, this facilitates your organic SEO efforts because video content holds attention, which Google and other search engines perceives as solid performance, thereby improving your search rankings.
Email Campaigns
A study by GetResponse surveying almost one BILLION emails found that those containing video had a 96% higher click through rate compared to those text or images alone. This means having video content to embed in emails is a certifiable no-brainer.
Email Signatures
Instead of the standard name, email and telephone number, why not include a hyperlink to your latest piece of video content? The ease and efficiency of this kind of measure is too easy to ignore.
SlideShare
If you’re a B2B company and use sales or pitch decks to explain your value proposition, why not simply include an embedded link to facilitate your distribution?
Social Media
This method is your greatest asset when leveraging your existing following to view and engage with your video content. Before we even discuss paid opportunities with certain social networks, we always encourage clients to distribute new content via Facebook, Twitter, Instgram and LinkedIn, to name but a few. With the right transcribing and calls-to-action, these methods are undoubtedly very effective.
Finally, consider how you might use your prize assets on your own blog, partner blogs and key press releases. These methods are often very shareable, meaning that limited effort in releasing new content can yield highly desirable results.
Based in Santa Monica, California, 21st Street Creative is a Creative Agency and Production Company specializing in the delivery of story focused, cinematic and engaging video content. Working directly with clients, we provide the full suite of services. Partnering with carefully selected agencies, we produce existing creative concepts on brand, on budget and on time.
Outsourcing Production and Technical Requirements
DOES YOUR FIRM NEED TO HIRE A DEDICATED VIDEO PRODUCTION TEAM OR WILL A CAREFULLY SELECTED PARTNER SUIT YOUR NEEDS BETTER?
Whether you’re an expanding PR firm or have a client who is pondering the question of whether to bring the production of various content channels in-house, take three minutes to read the article below before you decide one way or the other.
An in-house team definitely has a range of solid benefits: they are uniquely placed to understand your business thoroughly, including your brand values, products, services, and clients. They are likely to be more upwardly mobile as they aren’t encumbered by the needs of other clients like a production company.
Paying overtime to them will likely be more cost effective depending on their type of employment contract and because they are part of the company, you can usually trust them to be privy to certain sensitive information.
Solid argument, right?
On the flip side, bear in mind that finding key people who have the relevant experience and buckets of talent is not likely to be an inexpensive undertaking. Finding a producer who can write, a writer who can direct or a director who can edit is like trying to find that diamond in the rough and if you’re limited on what you can pay people, it’s even harder. Moreover, depending on the range of content that you’ll likely need to shoot, do your key hires have experience in that particular format? Training videos are different to marketing videos and social media videos are entirely different animal altogether.
Many companies will entrust the production of their video content to existing staff members, which has equally complicated outcomes in many cases. Just because the young guy in IT with the iPhone and Instagram feed appears technically proficient, does he have the in-depth knowledge that production professionals develop over years of being on sets day in, day out?
Remember: If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional, wait until you hire an amateur.
Besides the cost of having to edit something that was badly produced into to an acceptable standard, also consider the true expense of putting out videos that look less than professional. This reflects on the quality of the products and services you or your client offers. This may have an immeasurable detrimental effect.
The Benefits of Outsourcing Production Needs
A long-term production partner can save a company or PR firm substantial amounts of money over time. Consider how there will be no need to pay the company any benefits or health insurance needs. This can be a significant saving over hiring full-time professionals. Equally, most production partners are business people themselves and therefore know how to use their experience, skills, and resources to run your operational needs as an extension of their own, thereby saving money all around.
Also, consider how outsourcing production can infuse a greater degree of creativity into content requirements. When in-house departments are stretched, pressure might be asserted to make sure high volume demands are met. Outsourcing often adds a fresh or alternative perspective, meaning that creativity continues to flow. The right partner will also give you better all round results because not only do they know production inside-and-out but also how to apply various other skills like marketing approaches into the mix. And ultimately, production companies only get paid when the job is done well and on time, so the primary focus will always be making sure that deadlines are met and standards are rigorously upheld.
Hopefully, this brief article has given you some insight into the benefits of using either an in-house team or carefully selected partner. No matter what your needs are, 21st Street Creative can help.
The Simple Importance Of Outsourcing Creative
WHY SHOULD YOUR AGENCY CONSIDER PARTNERING WITH A SPECIALIST VIDEO MARKETING COMPANY TO HELP REALIZE YOUR CLIENT'S STRATEGY?
The answer to that is simple: to avoid burnout. Whether you're a PR firm, content marketing company or an advertising agency, the greatest asset you can bring to your clients is creativity itself. In 2018, 70-75% of B2B companies will produce more content than they did in 2017. As I’m sure you know, when a client enlists your agency to help develop video content, it usually means that their own in-house team is running low on creative output. At the start of your relationship, ideas will likely flow very easily. But as the relationship grows and your communication strategies have helped your client prosper, your efforts will require more lateral thinking and attention to keep the ideas fresh. If your internal team is the exclusive source of creative strategy, you could be setting yourself up for burnout and stagnant growth.
Working with 21st Street Creative offers two key advantages:
As a creative agency ourselves, we understand how clients think and react. We have an experienced and established core team of writers and concept strategists. We understand the creative process from the seed of the idea through development and into pre-production.
And as a production company, we have the infrastructure to put this creative into effect. This includes the curation of small and exacting teams in the production process that make all the difference to the end result and the cost of achieving it. Cinematographers, Art Directors, and Editors. Smaller PR firms don't always have this infrastructure in place, and on other occasions, their existing teams are simply too busy to handle growing content needs. At this point, we operate as a supplementary tactical resource. We are bonded, insured and fully compliant with all necessary permitting requirements.
So as 2018 continues to gather momentum, why not equip your agency with the creative, practical and logistical resources to meet the ever-expanding demands of your client?
Digital Marketing and the Rise of the Micro Influencer
In 2018, it is hard to deny just how viable this niche is to a brand’s digital success.
We talk constantly about the rapid ascension of certain digital marketing practices and how effective they are in particular markets. In 2017 and onwards into 2018, experts are hard-pressed to refute the formidable viability of the Micro Influencer. It might seem counterintuitive, but an individual with a smaller following might just be the solution that certain clients require. Whilst a celebrity might have hundreds of thousands of followers or fans, can it be said that they exert enough influence to change or adapt their follower’s beliefs, behaviors and actions? That is the essence of a Micro Influencer.
In 2012, ‘social media marketing’ was a search term that eclipsed ‘influencer marketing’ by a factor of five. As influencers became more commonplace, that factor narrowed, but in 2017, the relationship finally became inverted and the latter exceeded the former by 150%. Brands with in-house social media marketing teams often found it hard to build solid followings because they didn’t have the insights to develop solid and meaningful content. This meant expensive celebrity attachments didn’t often yield the ROI desired because brands just didn’t have the social impact to penetrate the marketplace effectively.
Early Influencer Marketing Strategy
When it rose to prominence, it undoubtedly suffered from ‘newness’…marketers didn’t really know how to measure success off the back of it. One of the simplest ways to do this was to ascertain likely success by merely targeting those with the most amount of followers. But as these influencers cottoned on to their perceived value within competitive niches, the rates they charged increased accordingly. Eventually, brands began to question their contribution and ponder the relationship between following and engagement. A high following did not necessarily produce the ability to influence or change behaviors.
Meanwhile, whilst traditional digital marketing strategies still performed well, certain elements like banner ads began to perform very poorly. ‘Banner Blindness’ and ad-blocking software impeded the effectiveness of many digital strategies and hindered the reach of many brands looking to connect with their audiences. With all of these factors coming into play, the micro influencer came to the rescue.
The key to micro influencer success is in their name. They may be comparatively ‘micro’ in reach, but they genuinely ‘influence’ people’s decision-making. Depending on just how niche a market is, a brand may gain the best results working with a micro influencer with a reach as low as 8-10k. If their engagement is high enough, this will make up for lack of followers. Nowadays, traditional influencer marketing is seen as an example of the law of diminishing returns. Having 100k followers does not necessarily yield double the results of someone with 50k. This observation is supported by a survey by Markerly that researched the correspondence between followers and likes. Their key finding was that as an influencer’s number of followers rises, the rate of engagement with their followers decreases.
Benefits for Brands Working with Micro Influencers
icro influencers have established authentic relationships and trust with their audiences. If a micro influencer agrees to work with your client, they are likely to provide a positive commentary on your product to their followers. Assuming you have targeted the correct micro influencers for their product, their followers should match your target market. No micro influencer will agree to work with a product they do not believe in, as that would send an incongruent message to their followers and damage their credibility. If your client succeeds in building a relationship with a micro influencer, you’ll know that he or she is likely to promote their product or service with poise and gusto. Not only will they endorse your product to their followers, but they will tell them why they should buy it. Naturally, the content opportunities are endless and many favour video as their preferred form of delivery.
ARE YOU AND YOUR CLIENTS MISSING OUT ON THE HUGE POTENTIAL OF THESE PRODUCTION TECHNIQUES?
As we stride boldly into Q2 of an already demanding 2018, we want to remind you again that video marketing is an evolution that is not slowing down. With even more innovation and creativity behind the lens, brands continue to look for new and exciting ways to captivate and engage their audiences.
At 21st Street Creative, we've experienced for ourselves the cutting-edge potential of new technologies that are emerging to break down boundaries. Consumers can step into both real-world views and fantastical experiences that brands are creating like they have never been able to before. As your strategies broaden and you continue to push the envelope for your hard-earned clients, why not consider the following possibilities and how they can help your clients spread their message even more effectively this year.
PROJECTION MAPPING
A powerful, immersive and experimental method used in video marketing in recent months. A video is essentially projected onto a 3D surface. Also known as spatial augmented reality, these objects and surfaces become the animated surface. The dramatic effect of projection mapping is hard to deny and it is currently being used in product launches, opening events, industry conferences and anywhere brands want to enthrall a captive audience.
LIVE VIDEO STREAMING
With Facebook Live and a host of other streaming apps becoming more prevalent last year, this form of video content has become accessible to everyone. But in 2018, brands will follow the examples set by the likes of Amstel Radler, who took live-streaming to a whole new interactive level. This was the first time consumer-led streaming was harnessed and was wholly controlled by viewers clicking on 'LIKE' and 'LOVE' to influence the flow of events.
VIRTUAL REALITY MARKETING
In order to reach customers with VR, marketers have to convince their audience to put on a pair of glasses in order to step into the projected environment in the first place. While this may involve more motivation on the part of consumers than having to glance at an ad in the real or digital world, the impact of buying into a brand’s own version of VR may end up being profound. With the high-tech direction that video marketing is going in, 2018 will yield a much better understanding of how effective the medium will truly be.
360 VIDEOS
360 video caught on in 2017 and will continue to expand throughout 2018. With this immersive content, the consumer can control their perspective when viewing. This can be with a VR headset or simply with a computer or smartphone screen’s browser control. 360 has obvious implications for online shopping. But, it can be used in any way marketers can apply it to their brand…and it is hard to click away from.
Digital Trends Shaping Agencies In 2018
Year on year, the sheer amount of content we are bombarded with and the number of platforms via which this content is distributed continues to rise. We continually talk to our clients about the concept of attention being treated as a commodity and one which must be extremely highly valued. As a successful agency yourself, you know the challenges your clients face in trying to acquire and retain their audience’s attention. Below are three ways that the best agencies are embracing cultural trends to harness this valuable commodity.
Rejecting the Status-Quo
The renowned psychologist Esther Perel recently aligned greatness by its irreverence. In order to reject standard models and paradigms as cultural awareness advances rapidly, agencies constantly need to address these markers. An integral value pioneered by Hollywood recently has been to banish and manipulate standard gender norms, and this demand for neutrality is beginning to be mirrored in modern marketing. Gender ambiguity and fluidity might seem like simple or nebulous buzzwords. But consider a recent survey where 37% of Generation Z and 27% of Millennials strongly agreed that gender doesn’t define a person anywhere near as much as it used to. If we are to take such social cues from Hollywood and large consumer bases, it is evident that brands need to reconsider the age-old ways of doing things in order to adapt to a much more gender-fluid landscape.
The Importance of Visual Content
We’ve quoted these statistics repeatedly in proposals and pitches in the last two years, and we learned them ourselves during our time as writers, directors, and producers in television and film: a mere 10% of information is retained when delivered by itself versus 65% when presented with a relevant and aesthetically pleasing image. It is rooted in the universally accepted adage of screenwriting to ‘show not tell’. Acquiescing that most people are visual learners, the value of relaying key content in a variety of distribution methods is key. Whether that be via video, infographic, image or even a well-chosen screenshot, pairing your client’s message with well-chosen visuals can drastically affect the way content is received.
The Value of the Virtual Tribe
This is nothing especially new, but its prevalence only continues to grow and grow. The goal and focus of consumer marketing is accountability and the greater good, rather than the individual. Audiences and customers form virtual communities and use them to distribute User Generated Content or UGC. This facilitates a higher degree of trust as demonstrated by a recent Neilson study: an absurdly impressive 85% of people trusted UGC over brand generated content. While UGC will never exist as a sole marketing method, it’s encouraging to see digital and social channels like live video streaming support the distribution of this highly valuable content. In addition to video, blogging, reviews and forum posts, marketers can never ignore the strength of collective social agreement.
Based in Santa Monica, California, 21st Street Creative is a Creative Agency and Production Company specializing in the delivery of story focused, cinematic and engaging video content. Working directly with clients, we provide the full suite of services. Partnering with carefully selected agencies, we produce existing creative concepts on brand, on budget and on time.
STORYTELLING: WHERE ART & SCIENCE CONVERGE
HARNESSING THE POWER OF THE LEFT AND RIGHT BRAIN TO CONNECT BRANDS WITH THEIR AUDIENCE.
An ancient proverb explains that if you ‘tell me the facts I’ll learn, tell me the truth I’ll believe, but tell me a story and it will live on and on in my heart.’
You’ve built your company from the ground up understanding the importance of storytelling and how in a digital age, humanity gets lost in an abundance of technology when the right emotions aren’t provoked. You understand that the success of your clients is underpinned by the viability and authenticity of the message that you help your client to craft. But do you know just how ingrained in the human condition storytelling is, and how physical science supports this?
There is undoubtedly an art to storytelling. Within the pages of all great novels and the frames of all classic movies, storytellers use tension, sacrifice, conflict, comic relief and romance to craft an emotional rollercoaster. Regardless of the medium, those skilled in the art not only know how to use these elements but critically, they know how to use them structurally to create the desired emotional response. Thanks to the availability of new technologies and digital platforms, PR firms and marketing agencies can help any business in any industry achieve success through consistent and considered storytelling.
But there is a science behind it too…
Story without emotion is essentially a collection of facts told within a particular structure. It just doesn’t have the same effect. The emotional stimulation of a story unlocks empathy in our brains. As social creatures, empathy helps us to determine how we proceed with certain relationships based on what resonates with us from what we’ve learned so far. Do we connect? Do we buy-in? Again, you know the power of this because you’ve seen it in action with your clients time and time again. At 21st Street Creative, we amplify the power of storytelling for brands based on our understanding of narrative coupled with cinematic visuals. We produce engaging video content to help your clients deliver a story that helps their audiences choose them over their competitors. Why? Because they will simply tell a better story.
We understand just how important the interplay between the left brain and the right brain is and as marketers, we can harness this knowledge to produce data-driven insights, powerful narratives, and results based on real-time metrics.
WHY BRANDS & PR FIRMS TURN TO FILM AND TELEVISION CREATORS TO PIONEER THEIR MARKETING VISION
In 2018, there are more platforms than ever upon which to create a digital strategy.
With this brings a truly exciting opportunity to push the creative envelope further than brands have previously dared to. And at the very center of this opportunity is STORY. With thirty years combined experience in the US & UK film and television industry, Alastair Ramsden & Simon Tatum understand this art form succinctly.
As former Assistant Directors to the likes of Ben Wheatley, Tim Burton & Ken Loach, they went on to produce, write and direct movies, documentaries and television projects in all corners of the globe.
When we set out to establish 21st Street Creative, a film focused branded content agency, we realized that part of our core strength and capability would be to help PR professionals to construct these kinds of narratives for their clients.
What we realized from the outset is that there is much more crossover in filmmaking and advertising than people realize. A movie is a long-form idea that unfolds over two hours or so, but ultimately, this idea needs to be sold to a studio in pitch form or to its ultimate audience via a trailer. So that story will be told in two minutes or less in order to truly grab the viewer’s attention. And that’s exactly what we do: we distill everything a brand stands for into its simplest form. We often tell our clients that if we can’t do that, then the idea needs simplifying further.
Ultimately, the goal is to move the audience and provoke a response. For an idea to have power, it needs to have brutal simplicity in order for it to take root.
Whether the message is to be broadcast on social media, branded YouTube channels, inbound marketing or targeted campaigns we emphasize time and time again that attention spans are only getting smaller, so this attention has to be treated as a commodity.
The great thing about doing this kind of process with brands is that we get to extract these kinds of ideas more often. Unlike a film or television show which might be in the development cycle for three or more years, we can deliver a project from conception to strategy through delivery in as little as six weeks. This means we can cater towards what’s currently in the public hearts and minds and collective zeitgeist.
As a core team of creatives working with an elite and trusted network of proven collaborators in film, television, commercial and corporate industries, we are trusted to deliver high concepts that can be spelled out in one sentence or less. Brands work with us and we work with them to establish trust…because trust gives you the safety to take risks. Risks become breakthroughs, breakthroughs lead to change and change fuels growth.
How Realtors Can Harness the Power of Video Beyond Listings
In 2017, more Real Estate firms than ever used video to showcase their high value listings. Next year, agencies will continue to think laterally on how video can help transform their marketing strategies.
When you consider how effective video is at capturing the essence and character of a property over images and text alone, it's easy to see how expertly produced content is on the ascendance. And with the advent of drone technology and Go-Pro style capabilities, achieving incredible results is easier and more cost effective than ever before. But as a creative agency with experience of working with Realtors of various sizes and scale, we're asking you to consider other ways your firm can use video for maximum effect and continue to deliver return on investment.
Your company and your particular office have spent many years developing trust in-and-around the locality. You're known locally as an oracle of all things that relate to your neighborhood and you've proven this time and time again. But on occasions where you need to accelerate this bond for people who are new to the area or for those that are unsure on which firm to use when selling, video can help.
TWO SPECIFIC EXAMPLES OF HOW YOU COULD ACHIEVE THIS EXTRA LAYER OF TRUST AND CREDIBILITY INCLUDE:
- Brand & Agency overview, including your core values and physical location in the neighborhood.
- Specific office walkthrough videos. Who are the partners, managers and individual agents?
High production values are a must with any video you produce, but none more so than brand and agency videos. The reason is simple: This is the most versatile video you can use in your marketing plan. It can be the main clip that autoplays on your website or YouTube page, used during listing presentations, played at conferences to explain your business, and in numerous other capacities to spread awareness of who you are in the market.
This type of video showcases more about your agency than you're able to demonstrate in your listings videos. It gives you the opportunity to relay every positive attribute about your company, including what makes your business special, how your agency is one of the best-performing ones in the area, and how you’re a fixture in your community.
AND IN THE UNLIKELY EVENT THAT YOU NEED REMINDING, HERE'S HOW VIDEO EARNS ITS REPUTATION AS THE MOST EFFECTIVE MARKETING MEDIUM AVAILABLE:
1. ATTENTION
In a crowded media market, getting the attention of prospects and clients is without doubt a huge challenge. Who wants to read a lengthy product description or manifest when they can be shown one? Video is four times more likely to be watched than read about and Forbes report that 59% of executives prefer to receive content this way.
2. EMOTION
When was the last time a written sales message pulled at your heart strings? That’s because laughing or crying aren’t typical responses to these kind of messages. But when told emotively and in a compelling fashion, video rarely fails to achieve that. The combination of sound and visuals undoubtedly achieves so much more.
3. PERCEIVED VALUE
Of course, video requires more time, effort and expense to produce, so it’s perceived value is exponentially higher. People will engage more, provide contact information and even pay a higher price for services and products when messages are delivered through video. Plus, this perceived value converts into website traffic too, when you consider that video attracts 200-300% organic inbound links and increases search click-through rates by 40%.
4. CLARITY
Finally, if you’re delivering a complicated message, product or service, consider the fact that research shows that people learn more and at faster rates when information is conveyed both verbally and visually. Whether you’re in the 65% of the population’s visual learners or 30% of auditory learners, the likelihood is that video complements most learning styles.
REACH MORE PEOPLE AND OPTIMIZE YOUR ORGANIC SEARCH PERFORMANCE THROUGH VIDEO. AS A PRODUCER OF HIGH-END, NARRATIVE DRIVEN AND CINEMATIC CONTENT, 21st STREET CREATIVE CAN HELP YOU ACHIEVE THIS RESULT.
Micro Kickboard take centre stage at LA CoMotion
Last week, the exciting and established scooter brand set up shop at LA CoMotion in downtown's art district to showcase their involvement in the industrial revolution taking shape in the city.
LA CoMotion brings together the brave new world of the urban mobility revolution — a revolution that is set to transform every city in the world, large and small. Global mayors, leading technologists, public transport operators and venture capitalists, start-ups and established players — the entire landscape of new urban mobility was present for five exciting days and 21st Street Creative were there to witness it. The event was packed with immersive and inspirational talks, demos, test drives and exhibitions —it was a glimpse into our new urban future.
Mayor of Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti took the stage and delivered the opening keynote and Micro's CEO Wim Ouboter delivered a compelling and exciting talk speech about his vision for the mobility revolution.
Micro’s success consists of a combination of Swiss design and technology. Today, Micro is the market leader for compact scooters. The focus remains on innovation and urban mobility. The eMicro is the first motion controlled scooter and has set a new standard in the electric segment. Micro is now developing the Microlino, a compact electric 2 seater for urban transport set for release in 2018.
Check out the product demonstration video that 21st Street Creative produced for Micro in conjunction with LA CoMotion!
For Law Firms: The VALUE of Showcasing Your Pro Bono Program
Pro bono work connects lawyers to people. Those lawyers ensure that the law and justice system work for people who have nothing to give but their gratitude. They empower them. They give them hope. It makes the lawyer feel that their training, experience and judgment can do good. Business aside, that’s one of the key reasons you do it.
This article highlights the emerging trend of law firms using video to showcase their pro bono work. To be clear, we aren’t just discussing the merits of pro bono work in itself, those are widely known and accepted. What we also want to demonstrate is the ways in which pro bono work might benefit your firm on a more business-focused level and how utilising a short video can showcase this to rewarding effect.
In addition to moral and philanthropic reasons, consider how:
- Pro bono programs help recruit lawyers.
- Pro bono helps young lawyers develop skills, especially in the days of the vanishing trial. Think of this a win, win, win for firm, lawyer and client.
- Pro bono helps firms develop networks, especially if the assistance benefits charitable or civic organizations.
- Pro bono offers recognition as many legal aid organizations offer awards or listings to lawyers involved in their programs.
When you recognise how all of these factors come together to create incredible PR and marketing opportunities, allow us to further demonstrate how narrative-focused and engaging video content best achieves this:
1. Attention
In a crowded media market, getting the attention of recruits, prospects and clients is without doubt a huge challenge. Who wants to read a lengthy product description or company manifest when they can be shown one? Video is four times more likely to be watched than read about and Forbes report that 59% of executives prefer to receive content this way.
2. Emotion
When was the last time a written sales message pulled at your heart strings? That’s because laughing or crying aren’t typical responses to these kind of messages. But when told emotively and in a compelling fashion, video rarely fails to achieve that. The combination of sound and visuals undoubtedly achieves so much more. This is so important when showcasing why pro bono work means so much to law firms.
3. Perceived Value
Of course, video requires more time, effort and expense to produce, so it’s perceived value is exponentially higher. People will engage more, provide contact information and even pay a higher price for services and products when messages are delivered through video. Plus, this perceived value converts into website traffic too, when you consider that video attracts 200-300% organic inbound links and increases search click-through rates by 40%.
4. Clarity
Finally, if you’re delivering a complicated message, product or service, consider the fact that research shows that people learn more and at faster rates when information is conveyed both verbally and visually. Whether you’re in the 65% of the population’s visual learners or 30% of auditory learners, the likelihood is that video complements most learning styles.
If your firm has been considering showcasing their prized, community-based pro bono work to a larger audience then why not consider 21st Street Creative to help you achieve this goal. You’ll be glad that you did.