Video and vlogging as a format is used very differently among UK brands, some more successfully than others.

Argos have their #GetItNow hashtag and use youtube to present products - as small infomercials. This works well. ASOS are making bigger waves. They do a lot of “how to” guides which relate to both fashion trends and product categories.

Smyths Toys, is using video format but not so much when it comes to “vlogging" (here meaning the authentic human2human relationship building over video) since the all-important authentic element is missing.

Superdrug is certainly showing strong investment into digital productions – showcasing more of the ‘real’ look. Again authenticity is key, it can easily become too polished and “shallow" in regard to the modern user wanting to connect to another human, navigating by “what’s in it for me”

Users have taken a definitive turn towards what is most natural and believable. Influencer marketing and inbound marketing works, but brands are now also using Vlogging, cleverly as a way to give either brand or product a human voice that is rich in authenticity.

Whether vlogging takes place via partnership or in-house can never be set in stone. When forming a partnership it should be considered as using influencers from perspective of marketing. And here are the golden rules:

The 3 R’s

Resonance of partner’s values, products, services, brand or personality to the company

Relevance of the partner to the target audience the company wishes to communicate to

Reach - the ability for the partner to reach the target audience through the channels 

Remember, Vlogging should NOT be a commercial - unpolished and imperfect is ok, that makes it more authentic.

Document the process - how and why you do business seems to be a great way for companies to get past the facade. Opening up and sharing the internals gives people a sense of real people, real problems and the process of the business is, to many, interesting. Furthermore, a focus on documenting the process gives a strong internal sense of what you are doing as a business.

Find topics, people and ways to actually mean what you are saying. Follow a plan - coordinate with events, product-releases/development and marketing so it is aligned with activities in the business.

Remember: CSQS (Consistency, Strategy, Quality, Content)

 

By Asger Laursen, IT architect at Novicell

 

Image via Jim Makos

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