Cornerstone video content for every Purpose Driven Organisation
Digital marketing is evolving rapidly and one of the drivers in this evolution is the desire for organisations present themselves as a Purpose Driven. This is no easy feat. In order to truly present yourself as a PDO, a Purpose Driven Organisation, you require honest, authentic and credible content around your brand. In today’s digital landscape, video has become a vital part of your strategy to engage with audiences and drive conversions. Whether you’re a for-profit company or a social enterprise aiming to make the world a better place, incorporating video content into your marketing strategy as a PDO is essential. Let’s explore the cornerstone content for every purpose driven organisation: homepage, case study and testimonial video content.
1. Homepage Videos: Explaining why you exists
We’ve spoken about Simon Seniks’ Golden Circle before, and although the model isn’t perfect, it does provide us with insights to improve your homepage vide content that explains why you exist. As a video production company, we’ve learned a thing or two and it’s time for us to share our tips to kickstart your cornerstone video content strategy as a purpose driven organisation:
a. Capture Attention
Your homepage video is the starting point of your cornerstone video strategy. A well crafted homepage video will capture the attention of your audience to inspire new behaviour. Here at Film Division we believe that video has the power to change minds, attitudes and behaviours. Your homepage video is the first touchpoint in this customer journey. Because ultimately, what we want a homepage video to do, is to stop someone from mindlessly scrolling through your website and pay real attention to your message. Every other piece of content is meaningless if your audience doesn’t take the time to consume it.
b. Share your shared beliefs
People connect with people. But more importantly, people build meaningful relationships when they share values and beliefs. This consideration is essential for purpose driven organisations. Your homepage video is where you introduce your beliefs to your audience. It is the first introduction to your brand where you start to build a relationship. As a video production company, we have advised many clients in this process and it is not an easy one. Honesty and authenticity is key. That is why we always recommend to stay away from solely using stock imagery when it comes to cornerstone video content.
c. Make your promise
Once you’ve established your shared beliefs, you should focus on your promise to do something about it. The active verb in the term Purpose Driven Organisation is the word “Driven”. This is the part in the cornerstone video content strategy where you demonstrate your drive to make a real difference. It’s where you promise not to just stand on the side-lines but will pick up the glove and do something about it. So don’t say phrases like “We’re a family” or “We care about our local community” if you don’t have the evidence to back up that statement. Better yet, don’t just say it, show it in your visual content.
d. Build a bond
Our final tips for homepage videos in a cornerstone video content strategy is form a real bond with your audience. If you share beliefs and values, and make a promise to be the disruptor, it will form a bond between your brand and the public. However, be mindful of the vulnerability of this bond. People can smell bullshit and greenwashing a mile away and if you are not sincere about your efforts, people will turn their backs on you.
Also consider that if your organisation caters to multiple different audiences, then you may well need to create different types of content for them to consume. One piece of content that tries to do resonate with juxtaposing ages, genders or mindsets won’t build a strong enough bond.
2. Case Study Videos: Showcasing Real Impact
Case studies provide evidence of your organisation’s ability to deliver on your promise. Here’s why case study videos matter and how you can improve them:
a. Real-Life Success Stories
The perfect case study video is a showcase of your ability to deliver on your promise. It’s visual evidence of the skill of your staff and the perfect processes you have in place to continuously have impact in real life. By featuring your clients, partners and people, you not only demonstrate an ability to deliver, you’re demonstrating an ability to deliver on an ongoing basis.
b. Demonstrating Empathy and Provide Solutions
A second benefit of case study videos is that you’re able to prove your understanding of the problems you’re trying to solve. Real impactful solutions come from a thorough understanding of the problem and a willingness to do something about it.
c. Building Trust
Trust is essential, especially for organisations working toward positive change. As such, case study videos are a form of social proof. As discussed earlier, authenticity, honesty and credibility is key in cornerstone video content. The perfect case study video supports all of those three elements.
3. Testimonial Videos: Let Your Supporters Speak
Testimonials are powerful because they come from real people. It’s the built on the stories of the people you are promising to help. It might seem obvious, but as a Purpose Driven organisation you only have value when you have real impact. Testimonial video content captures that impact from an authentic, experience based, perspective.
a. Authentic Endorsements
In a case study video, you describe your efforts from your perspective. A testimonial video is the other way around. Testimonial videos revolve around the real experiences of your customers, partners or users. We, as a video production company, have been lucky enough to have been working with some great clients who were happy to share their thoughts on working with us.
b. (Emotional) Impact
A heartfelt testimonial can evoke emotions. In essence, it is that emotion that inspires a change in mindset, attitude or behaviour. So whether you’re aiming to get more clients or recruit new passionate staff, testimonial video content is key to build the emotional connection to your brand. Emotional impact should be a focal point throughout your entire cornerstone video content strategy.
c. Addressing Doubts
It is natural for potential supporters, customers or partners to have doubts. Testimonial videos address these concerns by letting their peers speak for themselves. It is the ultimate social proof and essential in a cornerstone video strategy. When someone shares how your organisation positively impacted their life, it alleviates scepticism and encourages trust. And as we have established before, it is that trust that helps to build a meaningful connection to your brand.
Conclusion
As a purpose driven organisation like us, you’ve got something to prove. Your audience will have a built in bullshit detector and when it goes off, you can forget about building a meaningful relationship. With these three videos as part of your cornerstone content strategy, you will build those relationships. We understand however that every organisation is unique and we would never assumes that the above guidelines will absolutely work for you without doing our due diligence and research.
What we do know, however, is that through authentic, honest and credible content, you can be a source of inspiration for your audience.