Video has become central to many content marketing campaigns during the last 18 months but William Grant & Sons exec, Cathal Gillen, believes there is now a danger of brands looking to “over-invest” in the format.
Gillen, a global senior content and connections manager, warned marketers that “videos only go viral occasionally” after relaying a personal anecdote about how advertising agencies would often overload investment on social clips, without having a sufficient budget to amplify it so the content actually reaches the right audience.
There is also a tendency to double down on video without analysing whether the format can deliver return on investment. Brands should focus on other visual resources, such as infographics, and consider whether written editorial content may be a better fit for their content goals and objectives.
Gillen also urged marketers to improve their approach to metrics and analytics, as a failure to measure campaigns effectively can waste time and resources for creative teams and the wider business.
He added: “When we look at impression numbers and reach numbers, we try to see how people have been impacted. You might have reached 10 million people but, how many people have viewed it? With Facebook, if you’ve been counted in as three seconds, is that good for you? Probably not. But if the view is something like 20 seconds out of 30 seconds in video then that’s potentially good.”
Overall, it seems a focus on relevant statistics and opting for a diverse mix of mediums and formats will give brands the best chance of engaging with different subsets of target audiences in 2018.
