Following the advent of the Internet and mobile devices, the opportunities for brand communication have grown exponentially. Yet with so many platforms available to reach today’s connected consumer, there is an incredible amount of noise when trying to cut through. In fact, consumers are inundated with 5,000 brand messages a day. So how can marketers create branded content that resonates – and inspires action – with their target audience?

Branded content: Consumer preference

The main challenge is creating powerful and memorable content that resonates with a specific target audience. But in order to ensure that content is not falling on deaf ears, marketers must attempt to understand what actually drives, motivates and engages consumers.

We spoke to 2,000 consumers across the UK, USA, France and Germany, and an overwhelming number of respondents (76%) cited video as their preferred method for consuming branded content. In fact we found that more than one in ten (12%) of those surveyed now prefer to consume content from brands on their smartphone, tablet or through mobile applications.

In a nation where, according to Ofcom, there are almost 20 million more mobile phone connections than there are people and 61% of all UK adults are smartphone owners, marketers need to consider how branded content – and particularly branded video content – can be easily accessible and sharable for consumers across multiple devices.

The impact of quality on brand perception

When it comes to creating branded video content, marketers are quick to invest time and resources but it seems they are failing to hit the mark when it comes to video delivery.

When asked how their branded video experience could be improved, three of the top four consumer responses related to video delivery – better quality streaming (32%), faster launch times (31%) and less buffering (30%). Only one video content feature ranked in the top four, with 33% expressing they would like to see more relevant and engaging content.

By ensuring that video content is optimised across all the devices consumers are using to engage with brands, marketers can evoke increased loyalty and engagement from consumers. From the research, it was evident that watching a higher quality branded video experience:

● Encourages 36% of consumers to tell their friends and family about the brand
● Engenders higher brand loyalty amongst 30% of consumers
● Encourages 39% of consumers to conduct further research into that brand or product
● Creates a more memorable and lasting brand perception for a third of consumers

When compared with other channels of communication in the marketing mix, video was also found to encourage consumer trust. A quarter (24%) of respondents actually considered video to be the most trustworthy source of branded video content. When asked to elaborate on why, the appealing (44%) and authentic nature of video content (29%) ranked most highly.

ROI: Proving the value of video content

In an ‘Video ROI’ report released earlier this year by Brightcove and the Aberdeen Group, we found that the difference between the average website conversion rate for video content users was (4.8%) versus non-using firms, (2.9%).

While at first glance the significance of this return may not be clear, let’s put this into perspective. The figures behind the difference in website conversion rate means that companies using video require 37% fewer unique site visitors to generate a marketing response. This means non-video using websites will have to generate 137,000 unique visitors, for every 100,000 visitors to a video using website, to generate the same amount of leads.

Keeping up with consumer demand

While relevancy of content is still a crucial part of brand communication, it is clear from the research that today’s tech savvy consumers are demanding higher quality video experiences from brands. In order to keep up with these rising expectations marketers need to start investing in high quality video assets and delivery mechanisms that provide a seamless viewing experience, on any device from any location to today’s connect viewer.

 

By Sophie Rayers, Director of Marketing at Brightcove. 

 

PrivSec Conferences will bring together leading speakers and experts from privacy and security to deliver compelling content via solo presentations, panel discussions, debates, roundtables and workshops.
For more information on upcoming events, visit the website.

comments powered by Disqus