Audience Value: Why Your Corporate Videos Are Missing the Mark
When was the last time you put audience value first? Have you ever been tasked to comission a piece of video content with a vague goal like “driving engagement” or “brand awareness?” Did you ever stop to consider “what value is this video content is bringing to my audience?”
Engagement is merely a vanity metric if it doesn’t lead to a result. The secret to a successful video marketing campaign isn’t the resolution of the camera; it’s the audience value you provide. And most of the time, marketeers aren’t digging deep enough to find out what that actually is.
The Quarter-Inch Hole
You’ve likely heard the famous marketing quote attributed to Theodore Levitt:
“People don’t want a quarter-inch drill bit; they want a quarter-inch hole.”
Nonsense, in my opinion.
Think about it: who actually wants a wall full of holes?
Exactly, the customer journey of someone with a drill doesn’t end with a hole in the wall. Do you really offer the audience value with this? No.
Audiences want to put up that portrait of Grandma to remember her, an emotional want. Or it could be to improve their home by putting up a shelf to put stuff on because they need storage, or because they want to make their home a nicer place to live with ornaments and trinkets.
A hole in the wall is not a value proposition. It’s not even half-done; it’s just the first step.
Why Context is the Heart of Audience Value
This way of thinking is essential for creating valuable video content for your audience. Always ask yourself if you are doing half a job or if you really understand the audience value—the end gains they seek and the pains they want to avoid.
To understand value, you have to understand context. Take this for example: What does 100 degrees mean to you? Is it the temperature outside? I hope not! Are we talking Fahrenheit or Celsius? Is it the angle an architect wants a wall to be? Is it how many students a university wants to graduate that year?
This is why context is so important when it comes to understanding what audiences actually want. Without context, you can’t define audience value, and without that definition, your video is just another “hole in the wall” that no one asked for.
Our Audience Value Process: Moving Beyond the “Hole”
Most video creators will sell you the drill bit (the equipment) or the hole (the video file). We’re different because we focus on the shelf, the portrait, and the audiences vision for the home they want.
Our process starts by interrogating the “why”. We don’t just ask what you want to say; we ask what your audience needs to feel, learn, or solve.
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The Drill Bit: “We need a 90-second brand film.”
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The Hole: “We want 5,000 views on LinkedIn.”
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The Real Audience Value: “Our stakeholders feel overwhelmed by our new ESG strategy; they need to feel confident that we have a clear, actionable plan and get behind it.”
If your chosen video production company isn’t asking these questions, they are doing half a job. We make it our mission to uncover the audience value that actually moves the needle, ensuring your budget isn’t just spent, but invested.
Ready to build something meaningful?
Stop settling for “the hole”. Let’s work together to identify the real gains your audience is looking for and create video content that is valuable to your audience and achieves your organisational goals.
Download our video planner to help identify the real “audience value” for your next project.
