Have you ever wanted to break out of the overused, salesy video styles in advertising? Do you want to send a powerful message through your video marketing campaigns? Wouldn’t it be nice if people viewed your ad for as long as it ran on their screen?
It’s every brand’s dream to capture their target audience’s attention in a matter of seconds. You want to intrigue, sustain, and keep their interest in what your video ad has to say.
But in the midst of digital clutter, you might find it hard to rise above the noise your competitors are making.
So in this article, we give you some of the best video ad solutions to help your brand stand out. Here are seven smart and unique types of video content you need to add to your marketing strat, stat.
7 Styles & Types of Smart Video Content to Use for Your Marketing
Explainer videos
To start off this list, we’re going to talk about one of our favorite video formats — the explainer video. In simplest terms, explainer videos tell potential customers why your product or service is needed.
They can also touch on how a product or service works. But at their core, explainers detail the reason for your business’s being. Take a look at one of NarraSoft’s explainer video above, which you can also find in our portfolio.
In the video, we illustrate how a certain company works using a fictional anecdote, one that people can relate to easily. It sends a powerful message regarding “the power of the network” and the people who might benefit from it.
Through this anecdotal approach, you can bridge your message to your target audience in an impactful way.
Another trick to make explainer videos effective is to keep it short. According to a study, a concise video “makes learning easier” for the viewer; plus, shorter lengths reduce the time and resources it would take to produce an explainer.
But if you really want to maximize your time and resources in creating explainer videos, or any of the video styles on this list, outsourcing video editing services to an experienced company like NarraSoft is the optimal solution for you.
Best for: Products or services addressing complex concerns (e.g., health and pharmaceuticals)
Demo videos
Demo videos might sound a bit like explainer videos. But while explainer videos tell why your product or service is needed, demo videos generally tell viewers how to use or avail of the same.
It’s a bit like a product manual or TV home shopping packaged with shareability in mind. People can repost the content across social networking channels, which is true for the rest of the video styles on this list.
Demo videos work for products with an innovative, unfamiliar concept. Take Dropbox for example.
In 2009, it released a hybrid of a demo video and explainer that increased the company’s conversion rate by 10 percent. The video simply explained the importance of cloud storage — something uncommon in 2009 — and demonstrated how users can enjoy Dropbox’s cloud-storing services.
Best for: Introducing new or complex products and services to the market
Rewarded ads
If you’ve ever come across an ad that exchanges your viewing time with in-game currency, congrats! You’ve encountered a rewarded ad. A rewarded ad is typically a video ad embedded in mobile games.
It gives players an option to either watch the ad to gain an in-game incentive, or hit exit to skip it completely.
Video ads embedded in games or other content tend to disrupt our experience of the media we’re enjoying. But what rewarded ads do is give the choice back to the user, which has shown to be effective at getting people engaged with the ad’s message.
According to a study by comScore and Tapjoy, rewarded ads tend to improve the following metrics:
- Mobile ad recall
- Brand favorability
- Purchase intent
Plus, another study by AppFlyer has shown rewarded ads and playable ads — both of which NarraSoft can do — are successful in convincing US-based users to download mobile games.
It’s a win-win ad model for the advertiser and the advertised, and it can be all the more effective when paired with other video styles in this article.
Best for: Mobile games; emerging brands
Interactive videos
If you want your target audience to engage with your content more, give them a reason to engage. Interactive videos are essentially that — video content where viewers feel involved.
There are several ways to create content like this, and one such way is video content à la choose-your-own-adventure game. Imagine a video branching out to other videos based on the user’s choices — that’s one format you can pursue.
Augmented reality (AR) videos are another possibility. Using this approach, you can engage your target audience by providing them images, print or digital, over which they can hover their smartphone’s camera to trigger marker-based AR videos to appear.
The beauty of AR-based interactive videos depends on the number of images you provide users. And who knows — you could add an extra layer of interactivity by mapping out a story that eventually unfolds with each picture your audience engages with.
Best for: Mobile games or brands with an energetic and playful personality
Narrative video ads
In many cases, storytelling is everything. It’s the compelling force driving a person to see a piece of content through to the end. As it turns out, this is the same force that motivates viewers to watch the entirety of a video ad.
A 2017 study examining the impact of video-based narrative advertising vis-a-vis straight-sell advertising found noteworthy results:
- Narrative video ads tend to create a stronger emotional connection between the brand and viewers.
- Video ads with a storytelling angle tend to be viewed in full rather than skipped.
- Positive word of mouth and shareability are associated with narrative or storytelling video ads.
But on an equally important note, the study found that while narrative advertising does all these things and more, it’s a highly effective video style when used after straight-sell ads.
Let your viewers know the benefits of your product or service first, and then strive to associate positive emotions with your brand.
So for those who want to veer away from corporate, salesy messaging and explore the endless possibilities of storytelling and branding, narrative video ads are the way to go.
Best for: Any brand that has established its products benefits
Educational videos
SaaS company Marketo perfectly sums up the importance of thought leadership, which is to “establish your brand as a trusted advisor that understands [customers’] problems and knows how to solve them.”
By publishing educational videos on your company’s social media and website, you gradually gain the trust of your target audience who will eventually see you as the solution to their problems.
These videos can tackle problems your business is trying to solve or information that clarifies misconceptions in your industry.
If you’re in the gaming industry, you can create content regarding the different types of video games. If you’re in tech, you can talk about a programming language like C++ and its uses.
Publishing educational topics in video format allows people to consume your content more easily, which can help your brand build trust among potential buyers faster.
Best for: B2B companies; SaaS and tech companies
Interviews
Another way to showcase your company’s industry knowledge is by sitting down and having a chat with fellow experts. Interviews with business leaders whose work complements yours can be a way to enlighten your target audience as to the big-picture impact your company contributes to the industry and their lives.
But the goal of this video style isn’t limited to imparting insightful data about your business or the industry in which it operates. Interviews are also a great way to humanize your brand.
You can interview some of your clients or customers, team leaders, and even employees to give viewers a glimpse into your company’s world.
Clients can talk about their experience working with you, and customers can share the milestones they’ve reached with your brand.
Team leaders can promote the strengths of the company’s employees, and employees can relay their learnings while working for your company.
Sometimes, the best way to communicate your message is through a conversation.
Best for: B2B companies; promoting products and services that require a large amount of trust from customers (e.g., digital banking)
In Summary
The top 7 smart and unique video styles your brand should start using are:
- Explainer videos
- Demo videos
- Rewarded ads
- Interactive videos
- Narrative video ads
- Educational videos
- Interviews
Thinking of creating any or all of the video styles we mentioned? We can polish and edit your video content to a tee! For high-converting, engaging videos, don’t hesitate to message us on our chat box, contact form, or email at sales@narrasoft.com.