Brand Video Strategy: Building Instant Connections With Your Future Customers

Want to make a lasting first impression on your target audience? Wondering how to create a compelling brand video that tells your unique story and drives deeper connections with potential customers?

In this article, we’ll explore how to craft an engaging brand video that forges emotional connections and accelerates your marketing efforts.

What Is a Brand Video?

In today's crowded digital landscape, standing out and making a lasting impression on your audience can be challenging. However, a well-crafted brand video can be the key to cutting through the noise and forging genuine connections with potential customers.

A brand video is a short, typically 2–4-minute video that tells your story in a way that emotionally connects with your audience. Unlike other marketing videos, a brand video isn't focused on explaining your business offerings or promoting specific products. Instead, it's designed to give viewers a deeper understanding of who you are as a person or company.

The primary goal of an effective brand video is to make viewers feel like you're their perfect match—the exact person or business they need to solve their problems or achieve their goals. It should highlight your values, personality, and mission in a way that resonates deeply with your target audience. By doing so, you create an emotional connection that goes beyond simple brand recognition.

“People should feel that you get them and that you care about them because even though it's your story, it's still about what's in it for your audience,” marketing strategist Mariana Henninger says. “The entire brand video is crafted with your audience at heart.”

One of the key advantages of a brand video is its evergreen nature. Unlike content that quickly becomes outdated, a well-made brand video can serve you for years without needing frequent updates. As long as your core message and target audience remain consistent, your brand video content can continue working magic.

Why Create a Brand Video?

There are several compelling reasons to invest time and effort into creating a brand video:

1. Build trust faster: In the digital age, the know, like, and trust factors are crucial for business success. A well-crafted brand video can significantly accelerate this process, helping potential customers feel a connection with you much quicker than traditional marketing methods. By sharing your story in an authentic and relatable way, you're inviting viewers to see the person behind the brand, fostering a sense of familiarity and trust.
2. Stand out from the competition: In a world where everyone is sharing similar content and making similar promises, a brand video allows you to showcase your unique personality and story. This differentiation can be the deciding factor for potential customers choosing between you and your competitors.
3. Create a lasting impression: When done right, your brand video will stick in people's minds long after watching it. This lasting impression means they're more likely to remember and choose you when they're ready to purchase.
4. Improve marketing efficiency: A brand video can make your other marketing efforts more effective by helping people connect with you emotionally from the start. People who feel like they know and trust you are more receptive to your other content and offers.
5. Overcome the “leaky bucket” problem: Many businesses struggle with leads falling out of their sales funnel before making a purchase. A brand video can help combat this by creating a strong initial connection, making people more likely to stick around and eventually become customers.

How to Create a Brand Video

Now that you understand the importance of a brand video let's explore the steps to create one that truly resonates with your audience.

#1: Understand Your Audience Deeply

The foundation of a powerful brand video is a deep understanding of your audience. This goes beyond basic demographics and requires diving into their psychographics—their deep desires, challenges, motivations, and fears.

To gain this understanding:

• Talk to your current customers regularly: Set up interviews or casual conversations with your best clients to learn what makes them tick.
• Pay attention to the language they use: Notice how they describe their problems and desires. Use these exact phrases in your video marketing to create instant resonance.
• Ask what made them choose you: Understanding why your current customers picked you over alternatives can help you highlight your unique selling points.
• Listen for emotional cues: Pay attention to the emotions behind their words. What are they really seeking beyond the surface-level benefits of your product or service?

For example, one of Mariana's clients helps women change their relationship with alcohol. Through audience research, they discovered that many of their clients were high achievers who didn't resonate with traditional AA programs. This insight helped shape the messaging and story of their brand video.

The better you understand your audience, the more effectively you can craft a story that speaks directly to their hearts.

#2: Know Yourself (or Your Brand)

The next crucial step is deeply understanding what makes you or your brand unique. This can be challenging, as seeing ourselves objectively is often hard. Here are some strategies to uncover your unique qualities:

• Ask your best customers: Reach out to your most loyal clients and ask them what they love about working with you. Their perspective can reveal strengths you might not recognize in yourself.
• Look for patterns in feedback: Review testimonials, comments, and other feedback you've received. Look for recurring themes or compliments.
• Reflect on your values: Consider what principles guide your work and how they manifest in your business practices.
• Examine your experiences: Think about the life experiences that have shaped your approach to your business. These often form the basis of compelling stories.

It's important to talk to your customers right after they make a purchase. Ask them, “What was it about me that made you decide to buy?” Their answers can provide valuable insights into your unique appeal.

Remember, you're looking for qualities that will resonate with your target audience, not just what you think is important about yourself. The goal is to find the intersection between what makes you unique and what your audience values.

#3: Find the Intersection Between Knowing Your Audience and Yourself

Once you understand your audience and yourself, it's time to find where these elements intersect. This is where the magic happens in your brand video.

Look for stories or experiences that:

• Demonstrate how you understand your audience's challenges
• Show why you're uniquely qualified to help them
• Highlight your brand's core values that you share with your audience

This “story-banking” process involves listing all possible stories that could create an emotional connection with your audience. Then, you'll select the one or two most powerful stories to include in your brand video.

For instance, one of Marianna's clients teaches podcasting. While the client didn't have a personal story of starting her own podcast, they focused on her love of systems and organization. They included a childhood anecdote about arranging markers in rainbow order and her passion for jigsaw puzzles, connecting these traits to her ability to help clients create organized, successful podcasts.

The goal is to choose stories that create an emotional connection and make your audience think, “This is exactly the person I need!”

#4: Craft Your Compelling Story

There are two main types of brand video stories: the “overcome” story and the “passion” story. Understanding which type fits your situation will help guide your storytelling approach.

Overcome Story: This type of story works well if you've personally overcome a challenge that you now help others overcome. For example, if you used to struggle with time management and now teach productivity skills, that would be an overcome story.

For an overcome story, focus on one main storyline and follow this simple framework:

• Old normal: Describe your life before the challenge
• Something happens: Explain the event that disrupted your normal
• Turning point: Share how you decided to make a change
• New normal: Describe your life after overcoming the challenge
• Mission: Connect your experience to how you now help others

Passion Story: A passion story is more suitable when your personal journey doesn't directly mirror your clients' challenges. Instead, it focuses on why you're passionate about what you do and how that passion benefits your clients.

For example, as a former documentary filmmaker now helping entrepreneurs create brand videos, Mariana's story doesn't directly parallel her clients' experiences. Instead, she focuses on her passion for storytelling and how it can benefit business owners.

For a passion story, you might include up to three shorter stories that illustrate your values, skills, and mission. For example:

• A childhood anecdote about creating a mini-school and charging 25 cents to teach younger kids
• Your experience in the corporate world and feeling drawn to entrepreneurship
• How you realized you could help entrepreneurs build emotional connections through brand videos 

When crafting your story, focus on details that will resonate with your audience, remembering your brand video isn't about telling your favorite stories about yourself. It's about sharing stories that will create an emotional connection with your audience. Ask yourself, “Will this story make my audience feel like I truly understand and care about them?”

#5: Plan Your Visuals Elements

A key element that sets brand videos apart is the use of powerful visuals. Instead of just showing yourself talking or working, think about how you can visually represent the emotions in your story.

Use metaphorical or symbolic imagery rather than literal representations to represent the emotional undertones of your story. For example:

• If your story involves overcoming obstacles, you might show yourself hiking up a challenging trail
• To represent bringing order to chaos, you could show the process of completing a jigsaw puzzle
• For a story about personal growth, you might use images of plants sprouting and blooming

The goal is to create visuals that complement your words and enhance the emotional impact of your story. These visuals should trigger feelings in your audience that align with your message—intentionally curate the feelings you want your audience to have after watching your video. 

Film and Edit Your Brand Video

With your story and visuals planned, it's time to bring your brand video to life. If you have the skills, you can film and edit the video yourself. However, given the importance of this asset, many choose to work with professionals to ensure high-quality results.

Mariana, with her background in documentary filmmaking, emphasizes the power of professional-quality visuals and editing. A well-produced video can significantly enhance the impact of your story.

Remember, your brand video is an investment that can serve you for years, so it's worth putting in the effort to make it great.

#6: Amplify Your Brand Video

Once you've created your brand video, use it in various places to maximize its impact:

• Website: Feature it prominently on your homepage and “About” page
• Social media: Pin it to the top of your profiles on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn
• Email signature: Include a link to your video in your email signature
• Welcome sequence: Add it to the series of emails new subscribers receive when they join your list
• Sales pages: Include it in the “About the Instructor” or “About Us” section of your sales pages
• Direct messages: Share it when people connect with you on social media

“A client of mine started putting GIFs of her brand video embedded into her welcome sequence, and her response rate went through the roof,” Mariana says. 

Remember, the goal is for people to see your brand video as soon as they connect with you or your business. This early connection will make all your other marketing efforts more powerful.

“All of the emotions that you create when somebody watches your brand video are going to resurface every time they see you (in their feed or emails),” Mariana says.

Other Notes From This Episode

• Connect with Michael Stelzner @Stelzner on Instagram and @Mike_Stelzner on X.
• Watch this interview and other exclusive content from Social Media Examiner on YouTube.

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✋🏽 If you enjoyed this episode of the Social Media Marketing podcast, please head over to Apple Podcasts, leave a rating, write a review, and subscribe.

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