T-MINUS THREE, TWO, ONE, LAUNCH THAT NEXT VIDEO WITH NEW VISION

September 1, 2023 6:09 am Published by Eric Newland

Including:

A Strategically Simplified Process

First-Person Narrative For Emotional Bonding

Immediate Positive Results

Autumn May Be When Leaves Fall, But It’s Also When New Ideas Rise

Depending on how old you are, you know that September and fall in general have traditionally been the time when new things get launched. New car models have traditionally come out in the fall. Kids go back to school. New network television shows debut in the fall. College football kicks off. Retailers start bringing out holiday stock in the fall. And although the timeline for some of these things have shifted—like kids in some school districts starting school as early as the first week in August—we’re used to things beginning in the fall.

The lazy days of summer and vacations are replaced in September by cooler air, refreshed minds, and getting stuff done. According to a BBC Worklife Study, businesses are the most productive in the fall. According to the same study, the best hours of productivity happen between 9 and 11 a.m. Perhaps not surprisingly, Monday is also a worker’s most productive day of the week, then they get a little less productive each day as Friday approaches.

Fall is also the time when most businesses change their way of doing things. According to the Harvard Business Review, habits govern our lives and we’re driven by repetition. But repetition gets challenged more often in the fall because people are more apt to try new ideas, methods, and resources.

Changing Video Strategy

Videos consistently rank as one of the top three marketing tools for business. According to some sources, websites with video content are 53 times more likely to rank on the first page of Google’s search results. The time that business decision makers spend watching videos is likewise increasing. But it’s also true that more and more company videos have the same kind of look to them. This is perhaps understandable since it’s only smart to see what competitors are doing in your industry, and then “borrow” their best ideas for your video. Unfortunately, this causes a lot of clutter in the marketplace that desensitizes viewers. Techjury reports that people are now spending 17 hours a week watching videos. And while that number certainly includes more just than business decision makers, it’s fair to say if you’re going to produce a company video, it had better be engaging, rise above the norm, and be nothing like the competition.

A way to do this is to take yourself out of your comfort zone. Change your strategy. Think about trying a new video ad agency. Give yourself more time to thoughtfully consider the multiple uses for your new video. Hartstein Psychological Services says that five important things happen when decision makers step out of their comfort zone. They become stronger leaders, they get more creative, they gain self-confidence, they continue on a path of personal development, and they meet new people and have rewarding experiences.

New Rewarding Experiences

Let’s focus in on that last advantage of stepping out of one’s comfort zone: Decision makers meet new people and have rewarding experiences. No matter what kind of business you’re in, it’s always great to discover a new resource that understands you, interprets your needs correctly, and gets inside of your business more than you would’ve imagined. For nearly 30 years, that’s been a central reason why clients have relied on Hybrid Moon again and again. We make it our mission to work seamlessly within your business culture, yet bring a fresh perspective and objectivity to the table. We’re very proud of what we’ve accomplished for clients. But we’re also excited about the challenges yet to come. Give us the opportunity to strategize with you on your next video, and we’ll launch you above the atmosphere of video clutter. We tell stories about your customers and how your product and services benefit their lives. We give audiences emotional reasons to choose you because, according to Gallup research, two-thirds of business decisions are based upon emotional factors more than rational factors.

The S3 Balance Case Study

Here’s an excellent example about changing video habits, doing things differently and rising above the clutter. One of our clients is S3 Balance. S3 is a device for older non-active adults that helps to build strength, gives users confidence, and increases their mobility. Although a wonderful product, the CEO of the company was writing and producing his own promotional videos with limited results. S3 Balance wasn’t making the impact he was hoping for in the adult care industry.

There were many reasons for this lack of growth. One reason was the videos were talking to too many people: the adult care facility administrator, the on-duty caregivers, the actual S3 user, and so on. Another reason was the videos were much too long and instructive without generating the initial top-of-the-sales-funnel interest. The videos were trying to tell the viewer everything there was to know about S3. It was a case of everything, everywhere, all at once. Still another reason was there was no emotional bond. The fact that S3 is a device that helps people is an implied emotional bond—but not the kind of bond the product needed.

A Strategically Simplified Process

Hybrid Moon strategically simplified the process. We suggested shorter videos. We suggested a series of videos directed at different audiences. We also suggested that the first video—the primary video—be directed at the adult care facility administrator and that we write it. Instead of talking about what S3 could do for the administrator’s residents, we concentrated on the administrator’s pain points. Like, much too often, they have to deal with a resident falling. This also leads to staff injuries and high staff turnover. Administrators also have to deal with the manpower it takes to transport residents from a bed to a wheelchair, or even getting residents out of bed and standing in the morning. We explained that with S3, falls could be dramatically reduced, which would also reduce injuries to staff and turnover. We explained that less manpower was needed for transfers. We also explained that when residents improved their strength, their length of stay got longer, meaning facilities made more money. We had case studies to back this up. In other words, S3 was building an emotional bond with the administrator by saying: “I understand your daily challenges, and I can help.”

First-Person Narrative For Emotional Bonding

To further accentuate this point, we didn’t change the name of the product, but we did refer to it in the video as “S3 Lifestyle” to emphasize the dramatic life-enhancing benefit it could be to residents. We also wrote the video as if S3 itself was speaking to the administrator. This first-person narrative gave S3 both a personality and a template for continuing an emotional story with viewers in follow-up videos.

Immediate Positive Results

When the first video was completed, the CEO sent it out to adult care facility prospects he’d been courting. 100% of those who watched the video said they liked they the new approach, understood the product better, and many respondents said they were passing the video along to their executive director for further consideration.

“Hybrid Moon gave S3 Balance a personality and voice that spoke directly to my customer’s pain points. This made a huge difference in people better understanding the S3’s advantages.”

That’s the power of stepping out of one’s comfort zone and trying something new. Watch the S3 video, think about that next video project you’ve got coming up, then give us call. Whether it’s on a Monday between 9 and 11 a.m. or not, we promise, you’ll get our full, inspired attention.

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