Dell EMC Video Series
“Tales of Transformation”
A twist on the typical “customer story” video (because normally they’re super boring).
The Overview.
This was a pilot series, an initial foray into video marketing. The ultimate goal was for Dell EMC content to support the brand by being innovative and relatable.
Project included digital distribution planning, social amplification strategy, and content mobile optimization.
So how should Dell EMC think about video and digital content? What exactly would it take to make a top of the line, shareable video series?
Objective:
We hypothesized that by creating entertaining and informative video content, our customers would engage more than normal.I also believed that implementing video and mobile best practices would significantly improve the series' engagement metrics over the company's average.
Message:
IT solutions don't need to sound boring. These are real people with real problems that Dell EMC was able to solve.
Target Audience:
Dell EMC customers (IT executives/decision makers, IT managers, IT specialists)
Internal Dell EMC executives
Overall Goals:
Drive viewers from videos to campaign content
Provide customers with entertainment as well as the customer stories they're searching for
Target Metrics:
Increase video watch time
Increase Click Through Rate (CTR)
Increase Engagement (Comments, Likes)
Results Summary (over Dell Avg):
49% Increase in Average Watch Time
32% Increase in Average Total Views
1.4% Higher CTR to DellEMC.com content
5x Increase in Engagement
4x More shares
The Insight.
Most companies don't think about the end user when it come to digital marketing. Our customers may be highly tech-savvy, but they still scroll through LinkedIn and Twitter feeds like most people.
I wanted to create a viewing experience that was connected across multiple platforms and enabled the audience to watch our content wherever they were at that moment.
The Idea.
Develop a holistic, connected customer viewing experience that spans across multiple platforms and touches several internal teams.
Key Components:
The journey doesn't end when the video ends.
Identify “next step” assets
Customize YouTube end screens to keep users with Dell content
Be where your customers are. Optimize for mobile.
Activate videos across social platforms, not just YouTube
Embed videos in other outbound efforts, like nurture email programs
Build out social-only versions of the video in an aspect ratio ideal for each platform (1:1/square works across all currently)
Every platform enables large video aspect ratios. Larger videos take up more real estate on mobile (see below).
This optimizes for "scrolling culture".
Bigger video performs better:
increases ad recall by 3-9 pts (Facebook)
90% higher completion rate vs. horizontal (MediaBrix)
Vertical videos had 4x more engagement than horizontal (Wibbitz)
Design these social versions for "sound off" viewing
a large percentage of mobile users watch videos without turning on sound, therefore social videos need to either have closed captioning or, even better, "baked in" text (see below).
The Execution.
Once the final videos were delivered according to the above specifications, execution fell into 2 major camps: distribution and amplification.
Distribution Plan:
Created a release schedule to lead into Dell Technologies World, creating buzz and familiarity with the video series host.
Distributed directly through four channels (Distribution map available in the PDF below):
Brightcove
LinkedIn
Sprinklr
YouTube
Social Amplification:
Focused on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.
Built out Social Activation Kits for use by Field Marketers in their regions
these included series details, SEO keywords, hashtags, copy, and images available to use in social posts
Created example posts in Sprinklr for use in additional internal organizations' social channels
The Results.
Initial Dell EMC Average Video Performance:
1652 Average Total Video Views
73 Median Total Video Views
42% Average % of Video Viewed (aka. Watch Time)
5 Average # Shares per Video Post
0.00% Average Click-Thru Rate from YouTube to DellEMC.com content
"Tales of Transformation" Average Performance:
2184 Average Total Video Views
2518 Median Total Video Views
63% Average % of Video Viewed (aka. Watch Time)
24 Average # Shares per Video Post
1.42% Average Click-Thru Rate from YouTube to DellEMC.com content
In Conclusion…
First and foremost, this initiative proved that making great videos isn’t enough— there must be a strategy for the “back end” or else risk all that production investment going to waste. No sense in spending money if you don’t get any eyeballs on your product!