Plandemic: 5 Creative Video Marketing Ideas During COVID-19
Due to the pandemic, the marketing industry is compelled to rethink plans, timelines, and budgets for the year 2020. In order to adapt, businesses are also forced to expand quickly into the digital arena.
Today’s video production industry has also come up with new social-distancing friendly ways to produce content.
Content has always been a powerful tool to engage in new ways with your audience. It is a great way for brands to tell relevant and contextual stories.
In the context of COVID-19, it is different though. Some brands have been criticized for being opportunistic and for using the pandemic as a part of their marketing plan.
There’s a fine line between telling a relevant story and taking advantage of the situation.
These ideas might hopefully inspire you to create content that connects but doesn’t cross a line. Here are some potential ideas for your brand’s next video marketing strategies:
1. CREATE EXCITEMENT THROUGH AT-HOME CHALLENGES
With the mandate of staying home more, people are looking for more ways to keep themselves entertained.
One idea could be to create video marketing at-home challenges like Knorr’s Asim Kilig Challenge.
It invites customers and their families to do a catchy dance with a song to match. It’s fun, creative, and easily replicated.
Below are a few things to consider so that your video marketing challenges engage your customers:
Research existing trends of video marketing challenges, and see if it aligns with your brand message and values
Understand your buyer persona. What kind of challenges are they interested in? Do they enjoy dancing? Singing? Dubbing?
Find the right influencer for your brand to entice customers to participate in the challenge. You can read our separate article that explains how to find the right influencer for your campaign
Make sure that your challenge can easily be recreated by anyone.
You might also want to consider doing a challenge on Tiktok.
The leading short-video platform has currently more than 500 million users online, spending an average of more than 45 minutes on it.
2. Instead of in-person shoots, try animation
In-person shoots still hold a looming concern as health professionals continuously warn against large gatherings. But that doesn’t mean halting production altogether.
In a separate post, we narrowed down a few inventive ways to continue video production, and one of these is through animation.
Animation offers an endless supply of possibilities for content creation with the various styles, elements, and technology available.
For instance, graphic and whiteboard animation are the most used styles for explainer videos. On the other hand, videos focusing more on storytelling use 2D, 3D, stop motion, or a mix of both animation and live action videos.
2. INSTEAD OF IN-PERSON SHOOTS, TRY ANIMATION
In-person shoots still hold a looming concern as health professionals continuously warn against large gatherings. But that doesn’t mean halting production altogether.
In a separate post, we narrowed down a few inventive ways to continue video production, and one of these is through animation.
Animation offers an endless supply of possibilities for content creation with the various styles, elements, and technology available.
For instance, graphic and whiteboard animation are the most used styles for explainer videos. On the other hand, videos focusing more on storytelling use 2D, 3D, stop motion, or a mix of both animation and live action videos.
The kind of animation you use for your campaign largely depends on your brand objectives and the purpose of videos you want to make.
McDonald’s latest commercial called “Na-Lockdown Tayo, Ma” for Mother’s Day is a great example. The childlike style and animation helps visualize an emotional story. It is thoughtfully used to vividly convey the message of a child’s love and appreciation for moms during these times.
3. ENGAGE YOUR AUDIENCE THROUGH REAL EMOTIONAL STORIES
When you look at the Philippine YouTube Ads Leaderboard for Q1 2019, 7 of the top videos tell an emotional story.
Companies also report a 23% increase in sales when they release ads that have an emotional appeal as opposed to those without.
Everyone is looking for some kind of connection to get through these tough times. It is a human need. A way of coping and surviving.
And it is through stories that brands can develop that connection.
In other words, stories affect us humans in deeply profound and natural ways.
For your next video marketing campaign, try using emotional stories to show the values that your brand upholds.
Colgate does this perfectly, compiling short videos of people sharing their smiles with loved ones even when apart. It makes one feel both saddened and yet hopeful.
As if it is saying, even if we’re apart right now, we’ll be together again soon.
Another example is the latest marketing video of the Department of Tourism.
It starts off with the song “Noypi,” capturing OFWs fighting the pandemic. It gives you goosebumps. It makes you root for them. It makes you proud.
4. CREATE CONTENT THAT’S RELATABLE TO THE CURRENT SITUATION
Having video marketing content that tackles the now not only shows your relevance as a business, but it also shows your solidarity and empathy.
You convey that you are in touch with your customers’ wants and needs. The business impact is clear: 61% only engage with relatable content.
Additionally, a recent survey shows that 84% of the respondents want brands to focus on how they can help customers’ daily life during the pandemic. While 77% expect brands to tackle the effects of the pandemic in their campaigns.
One such example is Comfort's marketing video playfully acknowledges how tiring house chores can be especially during the lockdown. Celebrities are experiencing the same thing.
Since it is so relatable, the video becomes even funnier and more appealing.
5. GIVE HOPE FOR WHAT'S TO COME
The Coronavirus is severely impacting our mental health. The constant exposure to negative news does not help. It is easy to feel overwhelmed and to shut it out.
Your customers are feeling the same way, too. Your brand can create a message of hope through your video content marketing.
In doing so, your customers can see you as someone to talk to, and as a pillar of strength in these uncertain times.
Coke does just this. Aside from acknowledging the need to stay home, their messaging builds hope for better moments with the company of friends and loved ones, once the pandemic is over.
Another example is GAOC Dental’s marketing video. Here, celebrities talk about their reasons to smile and be hopeful for the days ahead.
6. CREATE EDUCATIONAL CONTENT, ESPECIALLY FOR SERVICES THAT MIGHT BE HELPFUL DURING THIS TIME
Many Filipinos avoid going out of their house as much as possible with 42% afraid of falling ill because of COVID-19.
As a result, there is a shift towards using apps and online services to fulfill their daily needs.
For products and services that are helpful during this time, there is less sensitivity to being a bit more hard-sell. You can create more educational content that is product-focused and show the different uses of your product, instead.
Pampers makes use of digital presence by having social media celebrities Nico Bolzico and Solenn Heussaff show off the capabilities of their product.
Additionally, Globe created a video to explain how to use their GCash application, which can be used to pay bills and make monetary transactions.
Since online financial services are especially useful at this time, product-focused content works as well.
7. CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION WITH YOUR AUDIENCE THROUGH WEBINARS
Pre-COVID 19, webinars were already proving to be a useful tactic in video marketing content.
73% of marketers and sales leaders attest that it is one of the most reliable ways to generate quality leads.
During the quarantine, the use of webinars quickly rose: webinar advertisements increased by 36% from February to March.
Webinars have many advantageous uses. One of which is to extend customer reach and secure top of funnel leads. It also serves as an avenue to directly address customer concerns and provide solutions for their needs, which deepens customer engagement.
Furthermore, it strengthens B2B relationships when you collaborate with other specialists in the field. It can also strengthen your authority and expertise as a brand.
Here at Near, our marketing metrics skyrocketed after we hosted a webinar, creating more than 5,000 potential leads, 500 newsletter subscribers, 700 new followers on social media, and 29 times the usual monthly traffic.
BUILD A BETTER TOMORROW
With the pandemic redefining many things, customers are looking to businesses as a helping hand for their daily needs and a source of support to overcome the crisis.
It is important for your brand to actively engage with customers, and to let them know that you are here for them. Even though we cannot predict what will happen next, we can prepare for it.
If you want to secure your customers’ trust and plan for a better tomorrow, our team at Near is here to help. We offer business digitization as you transition from offline to online. We also have video marketing production services adapted to quarantine restrictions.
Are there other types of video content that resonate with you? Tell us more in the comments below.