How you can use Brand Story videos to stand out

Photo by Anthony DELANOIX on Unsplash

Through the years, incredibly shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic, most brands we know have strengthened their online presence in one way or another, preparing themselves for another similar tragedy. I noticed that most clients I have produced content for struggled to bring their services and products online. These clients mostly had shop fronts and poor social media presence. The simplest solution is to create a website or social media account and move all your services and products online. Sadly, it is not a walk in the park. Since everything thinks or feels this way, online competition is much more robust, and frustrations are rising. Most of my clients developed the “video-envy” mindset that — my competition is making videos of their services and products, and I must do the same. Without proper planning and direction, your content will be ranked at the bottom and eventually perish. Sometimes, if you are selling high-demand services or products along with your competitors, it might become a price war. Since everyone sells the same products or services, your customers will hunt for the much cheaper ones and any other advantages at their convenience.

Think of it this way:
We drown ourselves in the over-saturated market with nothing to stand out or be remembered by.
With something to stand out or be remembered by, we will build a community of like-minded customers who will support our brand.

Here are some ways to help you stand out from the crowd:
Applying storytelling to your services or products — Every brand has a story to tell even if no one knows you. In short, we started our business for a reason. It can be as vague and straightforward as making money to as mesmerising as the mission to change the world and move others along the way. Everyone has a story to tell.

Let me give you an example:
Today, you own a yoga studio and you conduct classes. Imagine having 5 more yoga studios around your vicinity just a stone’s throw away. Generally speaking, the customers will go for the studio that has already built a name for itself or any other selling points that might interest them — no one wants to go to a studio that has a low social media presence or reviews. In situations like these, we tend to research and hand-pick the ones with better reviews or services provided to build trust. What if you are a super trustworthy person with no reviews or social media presence? Yeah, I agree, it is unfair.

In a way, storytelling puts everything together:
Let’s picture a brand story video of 2 to 3 minutes in length.

Scene A — Founder sharing his or her story of what the brand is all about.
Scene B — Shots of the vicinity, equipment, interior and exterior
Scene C- Shots of trainer conducting classes, focusing on the emotional aspects of it — fun, laughter, togetherness
Scene D — Customers sharing their stories or reviewing classes

Then, we put everything together and we have ourselves a brand story video.
In this 2 to 3-minute video,
Customers get to know more about the founder — putting a face in front of your brand will build trust
Customers get to see what the place is like — picturing themselves in the studio, admiring the interior design and facilities
Customers get to see how the sessions are conducted — sometimes, putting their uncertainties or fears aside
Customers get to know what the place is all about — reviews are important and relatable, building trust.

The beauty of having a brand story video by your side is that everyone is uniquely different. 5 yoga studios within your vicinity, 5 different stories.
With this in play, you allow your customers to breeze through uncertainties, build a community of like-minded people who truly support your brand and create an identity for yourself to stand out from the crowd.

However, it doesn’t stop there. In today’s social media-influenced world, content is king. One powerful video will not get you anywhere but consistency will.
Having a brand story video will simply narrow down and focus on the content that matters. Now, you have an angle to play with instead of creating random content all over the place. Yes, consistency is king but if we create content without a strong story or idea backing them up, it may result in having poor engagement numbers or reactions. Slowly, you might give it all up and call it quits.

Let’s go back the the breakdown
Scene A — Founder sharing his or her story of what the brand is all about.
We can create content that is related to the founder’s and trainer’s stories
- A series of a day in life vlogs or short-form videos (Interactions, daily routines, favourite cafe, family,)

Scene B — Shots of the vicinity, equipment, interior and exterior
- photos and videos of interior and exterior
- focus on equipment, showing quality
- focus on merchandise, etc

Scene C- Shots of trainer conducting classes, focusing on the emotional aspects of it — fun, laughter, togetherness
- photos capturing emotions
- video series of what goes on during classes
- blooper reels, etc

Scene D — Customers sharing their stories or reviewing classes
- A series of day-in-life vlogs of customers, client appreciation videos
- A series of client reviews, short and sweet
- Photos of group classes, customers in action

The ultimate goal at the end of the day is to build strong relationships with our clients and to do this efficiently, we create content that is uniquely us.

Thanks for reading!