WHY VIDEO IS A "GIVEN" FOR BUSINESS

IN TODAY's digital-driven world, video is king and if used right, it can push a company's brand and brand loyalty in the right direction.

Nic Nichols (pictured), director of 40/40 CREATIVE agency, says using video is more important than ever in helping business to communicate and build ongoing relationships with its audience, particularly the younger audience.

"People are constantly on their phones, working on computers and watching TV - people can relate to videos because it delivers information very easily and quickly, simply through a click of a couple of buttons," he says. However, due to the accessibility of video, Nichols believes it is crucial to put forward high quality and original content.

"There is no point just doing video without having any regard to making it interesting or original as users can also very quickly disengage not only from the video but also from the brand," Nichols says.

Recently, the Gold Coast agency designed the Be A Friend campaign for Uber in partnership with alcohol industry body DrinkWise.

The purpose of the campaign was to send a message to young people to look out for their mates when they go out drinking.

"The feedback from Uber headquarters in San Francisco was that they were impressed with the campaign's playfulness, so there's potential for it to go even further than national," says 40/40 Account Director, Ty Kudla. "There's even talk that it may land on MTV."

When it comes to businesses looking to use video as part of its digital marketing strategy, Nichols says companies should be clear about their own brand and brand vision.

"Video comes down a lot to brand personality because there are so many types of videos out there. For instance, a video testimonial done in a very convincing and quality way can help the right type of businesses," he says.

"It's very important for videos to reflect a business' inspiration."

"Understanding all the tools that can be used to make your videos as best as possible from a design and creative perspective is very important and that's why most businesses which try to do these sorts of things without creative or digital assistance run into trouble," says Nichols. 

He adds that one mistake he sees quite often is companies releasing videos that are just too long in length.

"People these days switch off very quickly, so it's important to minimise your content but at the same time leave the user with enough so they can understand what you are communicating. What you don't want to do is bore them."

Lastly, he says that in tandem with creating videos, businesses need to work on using social media to create and continue to grow its audience base.  

"If a business already has a pretty large following, then it helps a lot in terms of getting reach. So, it's important for business to use multiple platforms on social media when it comes to marketing their brand."