Brand marketing isn’t a new strategy. The effort to turn customer loyalty into long-term recurring revenue has been part of capitalism’s DNA forever.
What’s different about brand marketing now is that it’s become a different way to make a business profitable. It allows companies to move away from the tactics we would consider central to a good sales strategy.
Think about Apple or Nike. These brands don’t push their products. They don’t fill up inboxes with sale emails or promotions for new products. Instead, they sit back and let their products and their reputation do the talking for them.
Of course, most of us don’t get the benefit of an Apple- or Nike-sized ad budget. And we can’t just sit back and let hundreds of millions of customers drive sales for us.
But what we can do is look for pieces to incorporate into our own ad strategies, helping us create excitement and loyalty about our brands and products — and video content is a perfect starting point for businesses to start leveraging the power of brand marketing.
As the poster child for brand marketing, Apple gives us a great example of what this strategy can accomplish. A core pillar of Apple’s approach has always been to create experiences, and a global focus on that idea transformed the entire brand.
Yes, great products and customer service matter, but Apple leadership understood that providing memorable moments would resonate with people and build something different from other consumer electronics brands. It's something that goes into their content, from how they choose music for video in ads to how they prioritize in-house customer support.
Visit your local Apple store or follow the company on social media, and you’ll instantly realize that Apple is confident. And that confidence is contagious — it’s why customers stay loyal and why competitors try to copycat their style.
That’s the culmination of successful brand marketing. In a nutshell, this approach is built on a decision to invest in your brand’s image. That’s more than just “branding” in a graphic design sense (logos, colors, fonts, etc.). It’s about controlling how people see your company, how they respond to your ads, and how they engage with you on social media.
Apple doesn’t have to fill up your inbox with promo emails to convince you to check out a new product, and they don’t have to hold elaborate flash sales. Their ads show customers using Apple products and looking like the coolest people you’ll ever meet.
All of that works toward a single goal: Reminding everyone that Apple products make life better. And because 52% of consumers expect brands to know when to email and when to back off, Apple’s hands-off approach sets the standard for how companies can stay relevant without seeming desperate.
According to a Forbes study, marketers experience a revenue increase of up to 23% with consistent brand presentation. And when you are trying to put more money into video strategy, tying that push to an obvious revenue boost can kick-start that change.
The good news is that you don’t need to match Apple’s ad spend to generate similar results. You can just as easily share your videos on social media, or find royalty free music instead of licensing the latest Billboard 100 hits.
You won’t get the same number of impressions or sales as a million-dollar ad, of course, but it’s possible to build a similar emotional connection — and lasting brand loyalty — that has made Apple a household name.
Video content plays a big role in getting to that point, particularly in getting your message out to the widest possible audience. Brand power is a clearly defined juggernaut in modern marketing, but the most research and industry reporting shows that video can have an even bigger impact on your business:
All of those numbers point to one thing: Brand marketing and video content go together like peanut butter and jelly, Batman and Robin, or any other dynamic duo you can think of.
In addition to all of these benefits, a good video strategy can also help you solidify the brand you are working to build. Video content thrives on social media, where most people learn about new products through recommendations from people they trust.
And at the end of the day, that should be the goal of any strategy. You want to put your content where your audience lives, and doubling down on video will open that door.
It’s hard to overlook the value of video marketing. During any given week, 78% of people go online to watch video content; 55% of people watch videos on a daily basis. Video content has become as much a part of routine as a morning cup of coffee, and that means you’ve got to find a way to stand out.
Cisco predicted that video-watching will make up at least 82% of all consumer internet traffic by 2022. If you aren’t using your brand’s power to tap into that kind of activity, you’re doing a disservice to yourself...and under-serving your audience.
People expect certain things from video content. Video ads and promo clips only work if you are crafting a level of consistency across all of your channels, creating a level of cohesion that people can instantly identify with and relate to.
In other words, video content is most successful when it’s built around a unified vision...which is exactly what you have if you’re passionate about building a healthy brand.
Combining these two resources just makes sense. And that natural connection really just hammers home the idea that video content is the best way to tap into brand marketing.
Last updated on January 12th, 2024.