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Here is how you can use personalized videos to scale your brand based on insight from a renowned web marketing expert and the latest trends in video personalization.
Personalized videos continue to skyrocket and for good reason.
Organizations that use video marketing grow revenue 49% faster. And by 2022, video will dominate 82% of internet traffic and 85% of all content consumed online!
Point is, you need a strong video strategy—and quickly. Not just any strategy though. You need one that’s hyper-personalized for your audience.
It’s through personalized and selective video marketing that you can cultivate trust and meaningful relationships in a virtual world.
Today, we’ll walk through the best ways to personalize your video strategy. Let’s dive in.
What is a personalized video?
Personalized videos have tailored messaging that speaks to the individual viewer.
Some simply provide thoughtful messages on a deeply personal level, while others are automatically customized with user data and sent to your contact lists. But although there are many types and levels of video personalization, the impact is undeniable across the board:
Personalized videos engage twice as many people and are 35% more likely to retain viewers than non-personalized videos.
Top 11 Personalized Video Examples
During our 2021 SURGE Forward virtual conference, keynote speaker Marcus Sheridan described different types of videos that your association or nonprofit can create to highlight your value, build trust in your brand, and drive interpersonal connection virtually.
We’ve combined his insights along with other critical examples to create the ultimate list of personalized videos. Here it is, in no particular order:
#1. Biography videos
Members join associations that they trust. Trust is a deeply human emotion that is cultivated through human interaction.
So how can your virtual audience know that your people are special and trustworthy? You have to SHOW them.
Personalized communications such as email signatures with real photos, social and contact info, and a biography video humanizes your people and brand, makes the digital world feel more real and allows you to connect virtually with current and potential members.
Simple tools such as Wisestamp are great for creating email signatures with bio videos that create a communal, family feel.
#2. The 80% video
Answer 80% of the top questions that members and prospects have about your association/non-profit in a high-quality personalized video. This “80% video” typically ends up discussing 7-10 questions that your association gets time and time again in at least 7 minutes.
Of course, you’ll want to address the value of your membership when answering each of these questions individually. Before listing out these questions and creating the video really takes time to think like the individual viewer and be as genuine and personable as possible when addressing your value propositions.
Then integrate this video into communications with your existing and potential members—at the right place and time in the member journey. When done right, this video can help you to secure members with minimal effort.
#3. Personalized videos for product/service/event pages
Create one specific video for every individual product, event, and service page on your site that genuinely explains who that offering ISN’T the right fit for.
You should also create a similar video for your About page in which you discuss who IS and who IS NOT a good fit for your association.
Let’s be honest, not everyone in a certain field or industry sector is right for your association. Great associations have distinctive elements that make you great.
Being upfront and authentic about your ideal members and customers builds trust, underscores your value and attractiveness as an organization, and wins members who ARE a good fit.
#4. Landing page videos
Every page of your site that has a form for visitors to fill out should have an associated video that shows members and non-members exactly what'll happen if they fill out the form.
In fact, the title of the video next to the form on the landing page should say something like, “See what will happen if you fill out this form.” Doing so increases conversions by 80% on average because you're addressing their fears and concerns right away.
#5. Fee and pricing videos
Create videos that thoroughly explain membership costs, prices, and fees. 80% of these videos should be about how associations charge their members and arrive at their fees.
Take time to teach current and potential members about value in the association marketplace. Why are some associations expensive? Why are some cheap? And what makes some memberships more valuable than others?
The other 20% of such videos should be about your fees, event prices, and other costs. You’re eventually going to have to talk about pricing anyway. It’s better to lean into it and turn it into an educational video while also calling attention to the value of your membership.
Again, producing these sorts of thoughtful, customized videos will help you stand out from the rest of the association marketplace and humanize your brand in order to win new members.
#6. The member (hero) journey
Create a thorough video from the actual member perspective. Have a real member talk about their story and experience with your association. The video should cover three major parts:
- The Problem - their experiences, struggles, and needs before becoming a member.
- The Journey - their decision to join your membership and the journey that they've had with your association overtime.
- The Outcome - where they are today because they’re a member.
By highlighting a real member or “hero’s” journey, then your professional organization will become a hero itself.
#7. Claims-based videos
Does your association make claims like “we’re the best at X” or “the most advanced in Y?”
The problem is, the claims we make are often quite similar in the association world and thus end up just being “noise” that falls flat. You can solve this by gathering all stakeholders across various departments to brainstorm your association’s “claims” and value propositions.
During this brainstorming session, ask yourself, how many of these claims have we visually proven and not just stated? You'll probably find that you haven't visually proven the majority of these claims through video.
Then ask, which of these claims are most significant and unique to our organization? Which set us apart? And which can we use to create deeply personalized videos?
#8. Auto-individualized videos
Creating truly individualized videos requires you to use video personalization technology or connect to a personalized video API.
Such allow you to automatically insert user information and/or associated behavioral data into designated fields. So instead of having to create a ton of different videos for individual users, you “auto-customize” a single video for individual email recipients.
The level of personalization depends on the data you have available as well as the specific “personalized video email marketing” technology that’s used.
User-specific elements that you could insert directly into the video may include name, photo, job title, company, logo, and location. Sometimes a video will even feature specific user behavioral and transactional information to maximize viewer engagement, retention, and conversions.
#9. Auto-personalized videos
You can also dynamically send personalized interactive video content on email automation platforms. While these aren’t individualized videos like we discussed in the example above, they are deeply personalized and easier to roll out.
Auto-personalization platforms track individual email interactions and engagements. This way, you can send videos with content that speaks to the email recipient’s interests and preferences.
There are even auto-personalization platforms like rasa.io, which creates auto-personalized emails, that are designed specifically for associations. All you have to worry about is the initial set up and the platform handles the rest.
Talk about sending personalized videos at scale!
#10. One-to-one video
The power of one-to-one video in email is unquestionable.
Imagine that you talked with a professional organization last week about sponsoring or exhibiting at an event, or maybe you spoke with a critical prospective member or donor. Then, you created for that person a short video designed specifically for that individual.
In this custom video, you review the key points and value propositions discussed, and include a personalized subject line based on your previous conversation. A great idea is to use a still image of yourself holding up a small index card with the recipient’s name written on it so they know this video was made for them.
Think about the impact on your email recipient! It’s not every day you get a one-to-one video from a specific point-of-contact in an organization.
#11. Short-form video streaming
Get creative by leveraging short-form video streaming platforms to connect with your younger members or potential future members online. TikTok, for example, is going viral as one of the fastest-growing apps in the world.
Such streaming platforms make it cost-effective to produce fun, deeply personalized videos. If you have the right people imagining and creating the content for your organization, these social platforms can offer an extremely lucrative way to build your brand.
In fact, social video generates 1200% more shares than text and images combined. Not to mention the brand awareness you can benefit from by using these streaming platforms for educational, informative, and entertainment purposes.
The key is to show real people with real personalities and values that are driven by your organizational culture. Not some intangible organization out there in the digital realm.
How to make a personalized video strategy
- Decide which personalized and selective video content fits best for the needs of your unique organization, target members, and budget.
- Invest in the necessary resources for video production and distribution.
- Integrate your personalized videos into your communications based on the member journey.
Consider the type and content of each customized video in your distribution strategy. Sharing these videos at the right time in the member journey and on the right communication/marketing channel will help you really speak to the worries, concerns, and states of mind of the individual or persona group.
Takeaways
With the escalating dominance of online video and increasingly creative marketing strategies, embracing the video personalization movement today is no longer an option.
Personalizing your video strategy for your unique members and subscribers is vital to your long-term success as it makes you more noticeable and trusting in the association marketplace.
Learn more about how video can be a gamechanger here.
