Personalized video. What is it and what can it do for you?

Personalized video. What is it and what can it do for you?

The main goal of your marketing efforts is to connect with your audience. What better way to connect with your audience than connecting at the personal level? We’ve seen it before with email marketing. It has been proven with open rate statistics that an email that is personalized with the consumer’s name and other information is much more likely to be opened and interacted with than a generic email with no personalization. So, what’s the next step in connecting with your audience? Personalized video marketing!

What is personalized video marketing?

This is when a set video or set of videos are personalized using characteristics of the customer. Not quite sure what that means? Hold on a second and we will show you some examples down below.

But first, why do this? Like I stated before, your main goal is to connect with your audience. If your audience is not engaging with your emails, you are not building a connection with them. A connection is what turns non-customers into one-time customers, and one-time customers into reoccurring customers.

Now look at these examples and let the Oohs and Ahhs start rolling.

Let’s start with this awesome idea from Marketo for The Marketing Nation Summit. They sent out a personalized invitation that used the name of the attendee being invited. Watch the video and we will discuss below:

Video fromVidyard

In this example, there was a single video that used personalized text in the video to display the guest’s name. By putting the invitee’s name on the ‘Welcome to Las Vegas’ sign it really draws their attention. Just like when an email header uses your correct name, it instantly gives the audience a sense of trust and interest.

Next, we have a recruitment video from the University of Waterloo.

Video from Vidyard

The University of Waterloo used this recruitment video to show the journey of your first day at Waterloo. It puts the viewer front and center into the action with a first-person view. Not only did the video make you feel like you were there, it was also customized to display your information. For example, the ‘Your Name’ on the dorm room wall would be personalized to the student’s name. This may ease the student’s nerves and make them feel like they are already apart of the community.

What’s wrong still?

Although this technology is incredibly cool and innovative, there are still some boundaries to cross. First, just like email marketing its kind of obvious that it is just an overlaid text or voice. Now, in comparison, that’s not to say having the person’s name on your email is a bad thing, you just need to be aware that people may know it’s not as sincere as you’d like them to believe. You didn’t actually send out individual emails to your mailing list, but it’s a nice touch. So, when thinking about your video, remember it’s nice to personalize, but realize your audience may be able to see through the fog.

Secondly, be ready for your audience to see through the fog. You must make sure this video has a purpose. Like the two examples above your content must have a purpose, the first one was an invitation, and the second was a recruitment video. Even without the personalization each video would do its job and be of value and interest to the audience.

Personalized video is great. But you must use it for what it is, a nice touch. The content and purpose stay the same, but the platform is changed. Instead of sending a boring old email with text and maybe an image or two for your upcoming event, try putting a personalized video in your email to send out invitations.

Now that you’ve seen some examples and have a better understanding of what a personalized video can be, what do you have in mind for you or your business? Maybe you have a private health practice like a masseuse or a physical therapist that uses a personalized first-person video that shows what a session would be like. Or maybe you have a manufacturing company that wants to show clients a tour of the facility with a personalized touch. The opportunities are endless.

Contact us at Keystone Click to talk about what we can do for you.