Easiest Way to Learn Video Advertisement Types
I’m about to reveal to you the easiest way to categorize all video types into two simple categories.
Why should you care? Because the seemingly endless business video types out there can literally make your head spin. Not to mention figuring out the basic strategy behind each of them.
To illustrate my point check out this laundry list of common video types that you may already be aware of.
Corporate video
Company overview video
Explainer video
Commercial video
Online video ad
Marketing video
Brand video
Infotainment video
Testimonial video
Sales video
Product video
Social video
How-to video
Infomercial video
And that’s not all. If you think of every function of your business communications and add the word “video” next to it, you’ve got yourself a video type. I’m half kidding.
Below is an fool-proof way to think of every single video type out there broken down into two simple categories. I also cover when to use them and how to measure their success.
Category One: Soft-Sell Videos
Also referred to as “brand” videos. These types of videos are long-term marketing efforts that build a general identity and communicate what your company stands for.
Soft-sell video ads often take an emotional, artful and aspirational approach aimed at establishing an emotional connection with potential buyers.
Soft-sell videos can also take a purely educational or (infotainment) approach where the goal is to provide educational value to potential buyers.
They’re most useful for building brand awareness and are effective in brand recall marketing efforts.
Brand videos, testimonial videos, social videos, how-to videos, company overview videos are all examples of soft-sell videos.
Success of soft-sell videos is measured by impressions, engagement and social share-ability. It’s often difficult to attribute hard sales or conversions to soft-sell videos.
Example:
The video below is a soft-sell video ad we produced for Finning Canada. Our approach was to tell an emotional story of a man’s journey growing a construction business through grit and hard work.
Our goal was to establish an emotional connection with Finning’s potential buyer. The video ad did just that.
Category Two: Hard-Sell Videos
Also called “direct-response” videos. These types of videos are crafted to drive a specific, and often immediate action by potential buyers in a limited amount of time such as clicking a link, booking a meeting, downloading an app or filling out a survey.
Hard-sell videos take a more logical, factual and rational approach to communicating a sales message.
The most classic example of hard-sell videos is TV infomercials. In the digital world, conversion videos, promo videos and sales videos are all examples of hard-sell videos.
Success of hard-sell videos is typically measured by the number of conversions and actions taken by your potential buyer. Simply measuring pre-launch and post-launch data tells you how much your sales have increased as a result.
Example:
This video below we produced for YPO Canada is a good example of a hard-sell video. The goal was to sell remaining conference spots in a limited amount of time.
First, we partnered with Dragon’s Den Brett Wilson who brings credibility as a business leader. The message was crafted to explain what the offer is, highlight its relevance and benefits to the buyer, where to go to buy the ticket, and how long they have to buy.
What do you think of this approach? Let me know in the comments.
