What is Personalized Video & Why You Need It
BY BLUERUSH | PERSONALIZED VIDEO
Video is Everywhere
From the meteoric rise of YouTube in the last decade to the viral spread of TikTok as the current social media platform of choice, video is now woven into the fabric of our entertainment and business. Video is undoubtedly the pre-eminent and most important medium of the digital age, bar none, and its power is still growing. People consume more video content than ever before, and by 2022 online videos will make up more than 82% of all consumer internet traffic — 15 times higher than it was in 2017. Businesses eager to capitalize on its popularity have increasingly used video as a marketing tool to promote their brand and drive sales, ranging from short 5-second FaceBook spots to a fully operational YouTube channel with a dedicated production calendar. And at first glance, this seems like a perfectly agreeable balance – marketers are leveraging a medium people want and on channels they prefer.Win-win for everyone, right?Well, not so fast!
The Problem With Video Marketing
With more and more businesses co-opting video for marketing purposes, our digital spaces have become oversaturated with the same kinds of messages and visuals and stories. Video marketing is starting to be repetitive, feel generic, and its overall ability to convert has become increasingly ineffective. Overkill has desensitized digital-savvy consumers who are tuning out the kinds of impersonal messaging that would have swayed them only just a few years ago. To harness the power of video to make a real impact again, it needs to evolve. And companies that want to be on this next level and stand out from the competition need to create even more compelling and engaging video content that actually converts.Enter personalized video, the next stage in video’s evolution.
What is Personalized Video Marketing?
Turning away from the impersonal, “one size fits all” approach of corporate video marketing, consumers increasingly expect content to be personalized; that is, content that speaks to their authentic experiences and addresses their specific needs – and they have no problem making their preferences known:72% of consumers will only engage with personalized messaging 63% will stop buying from brands that use poor personalization tacticsGiven the stakes, it is now critical for marketers to rethink their video strategy. And one clear way forward that consistently demonstrates successful results is personalized video. Personalized video is, first and foremost, about the customer: talking to them in their language, showing you understand their expectations, narrowing in on what they need. Personalized video platforms let companies create a different video experience for each customer, at scale, without having to creating a new video each time. Instead, client data is automatically integrated into a video template to personalize and shape the content of the end video product with contextual information relevant to the customer, all of which can be done at scale and then disseminated through large-scale distribution channels. And by creating content tailored to a customer’s life circumstances, pain points, and buying journeys, marketers personalize the relationship and begin to build the trust that goes into a long-term loyalty.
How to Make Personalized Videos
Personalized video still requires foresight and data to guide your message and production, so you can’t just slap together any old video, throw a customer’s name on it and expect returns.How to Make Personalized Videos
Personalized video still requires foresight and data to guide your message and production, so you can’t just slap together any old video, throw a customer’s name on it and expect returns.Story Structure
To make the most of personalized video, you first need to go back to the drawing board – literally. Create a detailed storyboard of your video so you know exactly what you will be showing in your video and when.Voice
Script your video in a confident, conversational tone that avoids patronizing the viewer or dismissing their concerns. Communicating with viewers in a respectful voice about the issues they face establishes an authenticity that is the basis for a trusting relationship.Humanize
People want to be treated as people and not as numbers. Personalized video is a relatively cost-effective method of adding that missing human touch, so leverage any entry point where you can connect with them as possible.Highlights
As you’re arranging the various elements, always make sure you draw attention and highlight the personalized elements and the CTA, arguably the two most important variables in a successful video.Details
Pay attention to the small elements that personalize a video and create a more engaging context, like: – ensuring that all the customer information is correct. – having the CTA at the right moment. – focusing on the specific needs of the customer. -using graphic styles or footage that make sense to the recipient. -adding subtle details like their name and title.Relevancy
To keep viewers engaged, only include content that is relevant to them – the more relevant, the more likley they’ll keep watching and take action.Length
Anything over 1 minute is likely too long, and in most cases 30 secnds is sufficient to get your point across.Thumbs
Finally, carefully choose a thumbnail with the right graphic and text that will enstice users to click the video.Story Structure
People want to be treated as people and not as numbers. Personalized video is a relatively cost-effective method of adding that missing human touch, so leverage any entry point where you can connect with them.Voice
Script your video in a confident, conversational tone that avoids patronizing the viewer or dismissing their concerns. Communicating with viewers in a respectful voice about the issues they face establishes an authenticity that is the basis for a trusting relationship.Humanize
People want to be treated as people and not as numbers. Personalized video is a relatively cost-effective method of adding that missing human touch, so leverage any entry point where you can connect with them as possible.Highlights
As you’re arranging the various elements, always make sure you draw attention and highlight the personalized elements and the CTA, arguably the two most important variables in a successful video.Details
Pay attention to the small elements that personalize a video and create a more engaging context, like: – ensuring that all the customer information is correct. – having the CTA at the right moment. – focusing on the specific needs of the customer. -using graphic styles or footage that make sense to the recipient. -adding subtle details like their name and title.Relevancy
To keep viewers engaged, only include content that is relevant to them – the more relevant, the more likley they’ll keep watching and take action.Length
Anything over 1 minute is likely too long, and in most cases 30 secnds is sufficient to get your point across.Thumbs
Finally, carefully choose a thumbnail with the right graphic and text that will enstice users to click the video.How to Maximize the Impact of Personalized Video Marketing in 2022
So now that we know how to make a personalized video, what are some of the best ways you can integrate it into your marketing to maximize its impact? Add personalized video to your website We already know that adding even generic videos to a landing page increases conversion by 80%. Videos, by their very nature, are eye-catching and, if done well, entertaining and informative. Personalized video, however, ups the ante by including contextual information and interactive elements that make for a much more engaging experience and motivate viewers to act. Integrate video into customer communications 72% of consumers prefer video over other media to learn about a product or service, which makes personalized video perfect to integrate into customer communications already in place, like statements and bills. And because it simplifies complex information in an engaging way, creates not just a great customer experience, but cross-sell and upsell opportunities as well. Incorporate videos into your email marketing campaigns Generating $42 for every $1 spent, email marketing is one of the most effective messaging tools. So when you incorporate personalized video – a medium consumers love, with an even higher ROI – into your email marketing campaign, you are effectively supercharging your performance measures, from engagement through to CTRs and conversions. The versatility of personalized video marketing means that it can be deployed in many ways: on an existing landing page, added to financial tools/calculators, in email marketing, as a 1:1 sales outreach tool. Like the content itself, the possibilities of how you can use personalized video are nearly endless.The Benefits of Personalized Video Marketing
Personalized video is ready to revolutionize a marketing medium in need of change, and for good reason – here are just some of the benefits of personalized video:The fight for eyeballs starts right after you hit the search button – and video is ready to capitalize, being 50X more likely than textbased pages to land on the first page of search results. No wonder, then, that video has also been shown to increase organic search traffic on a website by 157%.Greater exposure and increased traffic
Tailored to their needs, helping to solve their problems, talking to rather than down at them, personalized video lets customers know that you value them as people and not just numbers. It is this authenticity helps develop trust and establishes you as a credible source of information worth developing a long-term relationship with.Authenticity, credibility, loyalty
The results of our case study showed us the definitive power of personalized video when it comes to ROI. With IndiVideo, we added a personalized video to a mortgage affordability calculator for a top 5 North American bank and were blown away by what we found – an ROI as high as 80X.Improve ROI
Compared with a generic video, viewers are more likely to spend time watching and engaging with a personalized video. In a case study with AFP Habitat, the largest pension fund in Latin America, we found that more than 70% of viewers watched past the first 60 seconds of the personalized video added to their monthly statements. This blows well past watch time for, say, the average Facebook video, which stands at an anemic 4.5 seconds.Increase engagement
When people feel they are being spoken to by an authentic, credible source about issues that concern them, not only are they more engaged in the moment, but the trust that emerges become the bridge that leads to conversion. In the AFP Habitat case study, the addition of personalized video led to an incredible 400% increase in conversion. These advantages represent some of the most important performance indicators sought after by marketers and CEOs alike, all neatly encapsulated in one short, personalized video. Pound for pound, interactive video punches way above its weight class in its ability to bring companies what they want – increases across the board.Boost conversions
Meet Them Where They Are
Gone are the days when marketers can flood customers with generic, catch-all messages and expect conversions or loyalty. Increasingly discerning customers are demanding more and better communications. People now expect high-quality, personalized digital customer experiences and, as part of this, expect to be treated like a real person. And they also understand what it takes to get there. People are more protective of their data than in the past, but are still willing to share their information, on one very strict condition – the company uses that information to create memorable, personalized, and authentic digital experiences. Personalized video allows marketers to nurture customer relationships in a medium that people prefer, to create the engaging experiences they expect, and to provide the relevant information they need.And this is the real power of personalized video, bringing together what people prefer, expect and need from a brand, the perfect rendezvous point to meet customers where they already are.