Why no one watched your branded video

A simple question: if no-one is watching your video, how are they coming like never before?

And 300 hours of essentially unfiltered web litter is uploaded every minute – so how will anybody find this genius?

Why does no one watch your videos? Probably because no one cares and no one is interested..

If you want to reach people, then PAY FOR IT.

Great Article Jamie. One of the keys we’ve found is to think about projects in a range of varied ways not least of all – do we have a place in this conversation/topic, does it feel authentic to be coming from our brand, is it made with a timely and audience centric mindset and how will it scale. To not consider who the audience is you’re trying to speak to and how they will receive the content (platform, when, and how you want them to respond – and building with this in mind) is setting yourself up for a disappointing result, relative to the often time consuming and expensive production process. Madness is the right word for it but the Hatter is us if we don’t place ourselves in the consumers shoes first and work backwards.

So if a branded video falls in the forest, and nobody sees it, does the agency still get paid?
Great article. We need to see more debate on this subject, as it seems that clients have trouble discerning between things that are new, and things that interest consumers.

Jamie. Congratulations. Someone speaking sense in the field of online content led marketing. Hallelujah. Finally someone talking about audience as a key strategic thought.

I did want to add a couple of thoughts if I may, that I’m sure you get. But many don’t.

1. No audience is free. It won’t go viral. The internet is not where advertising happens at low costs. Karen Nelson-Field has produced some great empirical work that pretty much kills any idea of viral marketing. Your audience planning ideas are great. I’d add to them: don’t forget to pay for reach. Whether that’s paid blogging, pre-roll, search, display or other means you need to buy the eyeballs you need. ‘Earned and owned’ media is a dangerous misnomer. The science of sharing says it doesn’t happen at enough frequency to command an audience.

2. Your comments about relevance and entertainment are exactly right. But the purpose of it all is to communicate what the brand has to say. The quest for engagement and to be entertaining cannot be at the expense of brand strategy. We are not ‘making content’. We are selling stuff, by getting people to behave differently to how they would if we didn’t make our content thing. I see way too many brands’ content feed filled with irrelevant stuff that says nothing about their brand beyond a vague association and a humorous tone of voice. Cat videos are cool. But not if you’re a haemorrhoid cream.

Thanks again for speaking sense in the era of content marketing bollocks. Salut.

Sounds like the same problem that tv broadcasters and cinema owners face every day. How has this not been realised?

Great work Jamie. This is an area that unfortunately many clients and agencies still fail to grasp. From a publishing perspective, many advertisers struggle with trusting the creative and messaging with the publishers themselves, often taking a “brand it, build it, publish it, and they will watch” strategy which makes it difficult to cut through the clutter. Publishers know their audience better than anyone, so putting brand first without the audience in mind can erode trust and authenticity and the emotional connection. Building branded content that entertains and/or adds value for the audience needs to be at the forefront. Audience first!

Great point Jamie…………………but ……………………….doesn’t this just go to clearly highlight the standard of marketing people these days.

Just because its cheap doesn’t suggest its good value. Its a trap.

Why are we having this conversation in 2015? After all these years, marketing lesson 101 is still being ignored.

Clearly , due to low cost video production these days, low cost marketing people that do not understand the basics are being given a limited budget to waste their time and money producing rubbish that yells product and little else.

Have we really progressed much?

Consider what would have happened in the past when cheap digital video production and cheaper digital direct marketing wasn’t as freely available.

Research would have been done to make sure the audience was understood and the creative ideas tested. A quality campaign with TV, possibly radio and print all combined to create brand equity and messages that resonated across a far wider audience.

The campaign then would have been tested as it was commenced and adjusted throughout to conclusion with results again tested.

Thorough but certainly far more expensive. But consider the brand effect as well as longer term repeatable effects.

Now tell me again about the benefits of cheap branded video that still ties up so called marketing and production executives to be watched by no one.

Its a trap and its now becoming the norm because its cheap. Accountant marketing!

Its not rocket science.
The principal reason the majority of brand content videos (what used to be called advertising) don’t get seen is because theres no paid distribution behind them.

I’d point to the following 2 issues as being of more importance for effectiveness:

1)Strength of the idea
As facebook likes to put it “why do I care and why would I share?”. If the idea is weak then it’s weak, no matter how aligned to an audience it is. Advertising craft still applies with social content, not some scientific formula. The best performing content of all time is testimony to this.

2) Big expectations on a shoestring budget for a) craft b) amplification
No brainer that is not often talked about. Video content does not just “go viral” (horribly old fashioned term) on it’s own or by magic. Eg. Van Damme epic split was circa $200K amplification (that’s separate to media budget).

To echo many of the sentiments: it’s all about the audience. We care most about the high production values of the storytelling. Not the high production values of the video making. We want to see brands speak to us as humans. With an authentic voice. To inform and entertain us. To tell us what you, as a brand, believe in. What you hold dear. Not to be all show biz and shallow; shiny and insincere.

You’ve got more chance of winning Lotto than your little video going viral. There is so much content out there why would anyone want to watch yours unless it is tightly targetted at their passions and interests? Unless your client understands this you’re wasting their money.

Thanks Jamie. This makes a lot of sense Totally agree with you Chris Gryg. Clients and Agencies are failing to understand both content marketing and online strategies. I produce a branded content TV show – Look at Property. Next week we screen its 100th episode. The audience loves it because of the information we give them. The clients love it because they get to be on TV and have social media clips which generate business for them. Going viral as your only strategy is stupid. If it goes viral chances are its funny or features a cat. None of which is of much use to your brand. Build it slowly, with an audience focus and they will come!

Thanks Jamie – good article and certainly thinking that can be applied beyond video. Fundamentally we should always think: audience need and solution but beyond our product and to every aspect (need to be entertained for example) whilst remaining authentic and ensuring it meets business objectives.

@ Matt, 2:36pm – I prefer the Chuck Norris Epic Split.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-D1KVIuvjA

Yes, this guys had to pay loads to get out his video’s… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PewDiePie

Oh wait, he actually gets paid……………………

If nobody is watching they are boring. End of story.

@Matt – Strength of the idea = irrelevant. There is no correlation between creative device and sharing.

@Ohh Realistically most videos in the world don’t go viral. That should be pretty obvious.. Go ahead create another PewDiePie if it’s so easy. I don’t know how many videos are uploaded to YouTube every day, I bet it’s a lot. Why would you be so arrogant to think that anyone would give a &#^$ about your video for your shitty client?

Pay for reach and listen to the science: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AdyH_4jMHg

I’ve made videos of viral nature before (over 25 million views between them) and from my experince it’s as simple as this. Make something people actually like. Alternatively, show them sonething they really like. Most people have no idea how to do this but is often very simple. Be inventive, be unique. Stop making the same.tired.garbage.

@D Brent – please go back and look at the top performing ‘branded’ video content of all time and ask yourself if it was a good idea or not. Creative fundamentals still apply – this is not something that can be debated. Make a video of paint drying and see how it performs (aside from any media spend to shove it in people’s faces!).

Knowing your audience includes appreciating whether a linear format where one has no control over the time taken is really going to get the behaviour you need. A 90 sec video to get action from a busy business person whose mindset is data driven is ALWAYS going to give a lousy ROI

@Matt A video of paint drying with a logo on top with paid reach will be far more effective than your “viral” video.

Great article & insights!

I thought this article raised some very fundamental basis to explain why Content Marketing – or Branded Video content might miss the mark on a number of levels and why only a third of Marketers feel they are getting it right.

Congratulations Jamie on making some very clear assessments on why and how the discipline of Branded Content will fail if not managed correctly and with the right expertise.

Marketing Campaigns and Objectives cannot be scheduled on the basis of Content going ‘viral’. That is simply good luck in most cases and based on an expensive creative investment with a wow factor. Simply uploading content with a sense of optimism, is not the basis for using Branded Content reliably, effectively and for a sustained period.

Jamie raises a number of reasons, however what resonated with me was that “most marketing is either performed with no real audience strategy at all or, at best, one that doesn’t get much consideration until it’s time to publish.”

I could not agree with this more and have worked with many Marketers who look blankly when asked the question about distribution or what the intent of the Content really is.

There is a reason why I refer to (branded) Content as Branded Entertainment and as a specialist discipline. We are not making advertising. The 30 second TVC is not dead and if the only real reason for branded video content is that Video now provides creative permission to extend duration from the constraints of television, or that we should have a video presence on the media schedule , then we have problems looming way before the upload.

That’s right – Branded Content is not Advertising. It’s Entertainment – or information that serves a purpose for the Audience, which has been well defined. How can we hope to determine an Entertainment concept (or Format) without having a very clear analysis of who the audience is, what motivates them and why they would be likely to respond positively with content that we are considering? What is exclusive about this content? Can the audience access this material already and if so, how can we deliver it better or with more relevance?

After 30 or so Branded entertainment Television Series and increasingly developing new branded Online entertainment platforms, I am as passionate about branded entertainment as ever, but also more convinced that the true power of a Branded Entertainment campaign is developed (and interrogated ) 12 months before it is ever uploaded.

And the content is never about the brand. Otherwise it is just an advertisement, no matter how you look or try and defend it.

Effective Branded Entertainment is about the audience and what content will attract, resonate and entertain them, and then combined with an effective distribution strategy and supporting media schedule. (Yes it will need a paid distribution or promotional schedule)

If the correct content platform is planned and developed up front, it then provides the Brand with an opportunity to leverage the environment that is being developed and the exclusivity of relationship or access to the Audience (read data-base). The opportunity to extend the audience relationship (with privacy consent!), exists if the brand continues to provide the relevant content or entertainment. The entertainment platform is what gives the brand the opportunity to leverage their advertising messages around the Content – not trying to fuse (or confuse) the Brand message as the content itself.

For example, we produce Shannons Club TV for motoring enthusiasts brand, Shannons Insurance. It is targeted at passionate motoring enthusiasts and is researched delivering completely new information, involving a team of expert motoring historians to deliver the content. The Content is not about selling Shannons Insurance, but rather providing a content destination to meet the needs of this audience, in the absence of this material already existing.

Similarly, we have just launched The Great Australian Dream – the Online TV series targeting first and second home buyers. There is much information in the media about property and real estate, but most of it is generic and based on broad statistics. The Great Australian Dream brings together a mix of industry experts including some familiar faces from The Block to deliver this content. Sponsored by RAMS Home Loans, the episode content is designed to attract an audience with insightful content that helps their home ownership journey and at a life stage where the material is relevant and tailored accordingly.

The discipline that I refer is the Marketer’s ability to get it right and the deliver episode after episode, week after week or month after month and building a sustainable campaign using video content. The two examples I refer here, also draw upon our content experience in Real Estate and Automotive, so I admit there are categories that we would not be as strong in delivering this type of content.

In nearly every major Entertainment project, the Creative Agency has at some time offered an opinion that Branded Entertainment draws upon a skill-set and budget framework quite different to what they initially thought. Making content and delivering an ongoing Content schedule (that works!) is not easy and unlike advertising where you can buy 1000 TARPS via TVC schedule, the Branded Video content needs to attract and generate an audience itself.

Hear hear J Crizzle ! The right audience must be first found and then content created accordingly, not the other way around.

“Going Viral” is a bit like SEO. Sure, luck plays a part but there are also strategies which can work well – at least until YouTube and Google change algorithms. Then it begins again…

One key to YouTube is to get views above a certain number quickly. The early figures are measured for VELOCITY. (i.e. a thousand views in the first hour beats two thousand views in the first 48 hours.).

(BTW after 300 views, YT updates the count less frequently – you might seem to be stuck on 300+, it’s just the counter updates)

Strong opening numbers puts the video onto a ‘trending’ list and Organic Views will cascade from that. (‘Organic’ = not paid for, so-called ‘normal’ views.). The Trending List is viewed by YouTube humans and they decide if it is interesting or really interesting. If they decide it is really interesting they can escalate further, and then THAT accelerates into Home Page position and strong position on YT’s marketing emails.

It is also important to choose a good and hopefully appropriate category for the clip (check YT to see the options). Some have more competing content than others. Try to race in a smaller field.

Choose a good thumbnail image – many people will click just because a clip is in the “most viewed” list and an interesting thumbnail will increase those numbers.

If you target Asia or USA, use the “Publish Later” option on YT to go online at the right time or timezone. However there is risk in using “Publish Later” too far in advance. Don’t want it to appear as an embargoed PR message, do we?

It’s a balancing act. Knowledge helps. Nothing is guaranteed.

There are click-farms but their results vary.

A good method is to locate Bloggers and Forums. For instance on a particular airline commercial featuring their girl walking through cities using a filmed special effect we asked the Editors List and Camera List “How did they do that?” It didn’t get big numbers but it got around five thousand within two hours. Contributing to Velocity.

And, naturally, do not put videos on your own YT account; use the Client’s account (or set one up). A clever video on “Big-Global-Agency” site gives the game away, you want virals to be a bit underground.

And for goodness sake ALLOW embedding, sharing, allow comments (police the comments. For the airline mentioned before, we allowed comments critical of their food or schedules but killed instantly any where people speculated on erotic encounters with their “girls”. A great way to fly.)

Apologies to those who think I have not given specific enough numbers – get in touch, I’m happy to sell you the information. First 50 callers get a Kit Kat.

@D Brent – “A video of paint drying with a logo on top with paid reach will be far more effective than your “viral” video.”

I specifically said “aside from media content to shove it in peoples faces”. Have you ever shared a video on the internet @D Brent?

Enough said. Creative fundamentals still apply if you are a human being.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6Eaz-1_3iA

@D Brent http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creativity

Three points.
1. Any marketer that says to their agency ‘I want it to go viral’ should be fired.
2. New idea.
3. I can’t believe there’s an ‘Institute for Content Marketing’ WTF?
Chloe.

Great article. I think a big issue marketers have with videos is focusing on promoting their brand rather than telling a story. Consumers don’t care about a product or service unless it shows some kind of difference to a promotional material.

If a marketer is going to create a heavily branded promo video, why not just stick to your usual print ad marketing and save money?

@john Hollands
Brilliant usefull stuff John. Ta

Simple answer – people are time poor – and yet there are literally millions of videos on the net.
As Fragmentation increases the dilemma of reaching people will be even more difficult.