Creating video brand material has never been simpler. Many firms opt to utilise a combination of different videos in their internal communication materials and external marketing material, including videos created in-house, content from professional video production firms and customer-generated video content. There is no doubt that video content can be an effective marketing tool for engaging audiences from different demographics and promoting positive actions. You will see companies using video content in email marketing material, social media feeds, internal newsletters, websites and more.
For a lot of businesses, their increased use of video content happened organically. Commissioned videos, like the kind you get from Muze Creative, have of course been a core part of many big brand’s marketing materials for decades, but the use of animated gifs for social media platforms, short YouTube videos and other types of spontaneous video content found on many online channels are relatively new. Spontaneously content is that which arises without any prior planning or effort to adhere to brand guidelines.
Staying on Brand While Remaining Spontaneous
Spontaneous video content can be very beneficial for businesses as it helps to keep target audiences engaged. It doesn’t matter if you using free online video editing tools or professional in-house video production software suites, it’s now easier than ever to create video content in record time. You can generate animated gifs to respond to company reviews and social media posts; you can share footage of a staff member’s birthday celebrations; you can answer queries from customers with easy-to-follow video ‘how-to’ guides shot on a smartphone.
The downside of many types of spontaneous video content is that it is often left unbranded. An unbranded video can result in missed marketing opportunities, or, in the worst-case-scenario, damaging brand messages. Imagine one of your happy customers shares one of your company’s videos with thousands of their followers on a social media platform, but the video contains nothing linking it to your brand – your company will have missed out on reaching thousands of potential new customers. Inconsistencies and conflicting messages featured in different videos from your company can confuse customers, investors, and employees.
Fortunately, it’s relatively easy to avoid those problems by providing your content creators with some simple video brand guidelines. The guidelines can, of course, be easily modified for certain types of video content. Here are some tips for writing the best video brand guidelines for your company’s video content creators, so that they no longer produce content that misrepresents your brand:
1. Articulate the Overall Tone
The overall tone of brand video content is very important. The tone can, of course, be adapted to suit different types of videos. For example, if your business’s brand tone is “positive, motivational and upbeat”, you want to make sure that step-by-step instructional videos are not narrated in an uninspiring monotone voice. That said, the narration shouldn’t sound like the sports commentary for a penalty shootout in a word cup final either!
2. Get the Tone of Voice Right
Tone of voice refers to all written and spoken words. It is responsible for communicating the personality of your business’s brand with potential customers. Again, the video format will have some influence on the tone of voice, so you might need to write different specific guidance for different video content creators.
3. Provide Access to Your Brand’s Fonts, Logo and Colour Schemes
It’s vital that you make sure all video content creators can access your brand’s stylebook. The book should contain colour palettes, fonts, logos, etc. and detailed guidance as to how to use different design element to adhere to a general theme. It can be worth creating some basic video templates, which content creators can use to ensure they adhere to brand guidelines.
4. Think About Animations, Graphics, Clipart, Photos and Footage
Draw up some basic guidelines that content creators can reference to ensure they select imagery that reflects your brand. Include examples of acceptable and unacceptable imagery.
5. Think About Music and Sound Effects
Guidance for the use of sound effects and music tracks is important. You want video creators to use sounds that enhance your brand rather than detract from it.
6. What is Your Core Brand Message?
Knowing what core brand message you want to communicate with all video content is important. Of course, the brand message might be different for videos targeted towards different audiences including employees, potential buyers, customers, investors, job seekers, etc.
By taking the time to create some simple video brand guidelines for your business’s video content creators, you can increase the chances that they produce engaging content that remains on brand. There will then be no more missed marketing opportunities if any of your company’s videos go viral.
