Video Production Strategy – Personalized Advertising
The concept of “instant relatability,” essential for an ad that grabs the viewer, is a core reason for creating personalized video content because it allows viewers to identify with a brand, and feel like the brand speaks to their personal needs. Of course, producing personalized video content for all your different audience segments can seem like a daunting task, so let’s explore the value and unique challenges associated with taking an agile approach to something as complex as video.
Why is Content Personalization Necessary?
Consider the numbers:
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72% of consumers in 2019 only engage with marketing messages that are customized to their specific interests
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Lack of content relevancy generates 83% lower response rates in the average marketing campaign.
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80% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase when brands offer personalized experiences
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It’s been seen to translate up to a 19% uptick in sales.
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When done well, personalized advertising videos garner greater engagement and are seen to push 2x more clicks than images or text.
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In fact, some brands have seen an 800% improvement on click-through rates with personalized video versus standard outbound email campaigns.
Let’s put this into generational context as well: two-thirds of Gen Z (the rising consumer cohort, born between 1996 and 2010) prefer to see someone who looks and acts like them in advertisements than an aspirational figure or celebrity. This means relatability is key for a commercial to grab this young generation’s attention. It’s clear that personalization can no longer be considered a superfluous aspect of advertising, it’s needed and it’s necessary to cut through the noise in the marketplace and engage today’s audience.
Perceived Obstacles to Video Personalization
It can appear to be hard to move in the direction of personalization, especially in video, for several reasons:
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The traditional, TV-first mindset when it comes to video has resulted in the deep-rooted belief that large-budget productions with broad appeal are the only way to go. However, this approach, by necessity, generalizes the audience. This results in limited relatability to any one audience segment.
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The idea that these big-budget productions are large, long-term, inflexible beasts. However, getting stuck on the idea that video production cannot be agile isn’t beneficial to brands. But with modern tools and software, long times to market and big budgets are no longer requirements for delivering high quality video, especially when targeting a mobile-first audience.
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Producing multiple small videos doesn’t mean that the quality of production decreases. With a balance of strategy and storytelling, personalization can be effective and efficient, especially in short video content.
The Video Landscape is Changing
A TV-first mindset is it outdated, especially when targeting younger generations like Millennials and Gen Z, who will account for the large majority of US consumers starting next year. The modern audience is changing, so video must follow suit.
Consumers are now mobile-first. Over half of video streaming is on a mobile device, which has changed consumers’ mindset and expectations. The Youtube audience, for example, is more accustomed to consuming lightweight content that is tailored to their immediate and specific niche interests.
What Brands Need to Do
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Brands need to rethink the role of video in their marketing strategy. Instead of one or two massive productions, brands are producing a large quantity of diverse & targeted creatives for different audiences on different media channels.
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Strive for deeper engagement with many audiences, rather than shallow engagement from a single, broad audience. Adopt a mindset of producing a greater volume of faster, lightweight productions that target a broad range of specific audiences can outperform a single large production.
Example: Super Bowl XLVII Speed Stick “Laundromat” Ad
(See more more of our work here)
To target Speed Stick’s digital audience on Youtube and Hulu, CDA’s video team produced a low-budget, lightweight spot that told a strong and relatable story for a young male, urban audience. Despite the quick and lightweight nature of the production, the ad was so well received it was selected to air during Super Bowl XLSuper Bowl XLVII.
The video was created on a low budget but was still executed at high quality with high impact.
If you’d like to chat about what a personalized video strategy might look like for your brand, drop us a line at info@creativedigitalagency.com