Right now, I’m reading “Real Artists Don’t Starve” by Jeff Goins, and he makes an excellent point almost immediately: real artists borrow ideas from those who came before them and recreate them in their own way. This applies to marketers and businesses, too, especially when it comes to video marketing campaigns.
If you’re feeling stumped (and even if you aren’t), it’s always a good idea to check out some of the most influential, memorable, and high-performing campaigns that users are responding to before you set off to make your own. Whether you find a strategy you want to adapt for your own campaigns, or a few tips on how to craft the video, finding great examples from some of the best never hurt.
In this post, we’re going to go over six incredible video marketing campaigns that all businesses should see to hopefully provide some inspiration for the next campaign you make.
1. Purple’s “Test” Videos
Have you heard of Purple (mattress company, not the color)? If you live in the U.S. and you haven’t, you probably will at some point. They’ve run several incredible Facebook Ads campaigns that are heavy on the selling but so ridiculously fun that no one really cares. Their videos feature fascinating and slightly-bizarre characters to draw you in quickly.
They use a series of “tests” to show how strong the bed platform is, using a crushed-egg test and sumo wrestlers. They get their point across quickly, and it’s so entertaining that you can’t help but keep watching even if you don’t even need a new bed or mattress any time soon.
2. BlendTec’s Will it Blend?
I don’t think any product video in the world can compete with Blendtec when it comes to showing how effective the product is. In this video marketing campaign, Blendtec has a man (who reminds me an eensy bit of a mad scientist) showing viewers a random assort of objects and asking one simple question: will it blend? (Heads up for this one: these are a little loud, so it might be a good idea to turn the volume down before watching.)
Throughout the series, which can be found on YouTube, you can watch a Blendtec blender pulverize things like iPhones, soccer balls, and—my personal favorite—Justin Bieber’s CDs. The video series feels a little bizarre, but I’m not going to lie, it worked on me: I bought my Blendtec after seeing the thing devour a sheet of plywood, and I’ve never looked back. It doesn’t hurt that these ridiculous videos appear alongside a ton of great blender recipes on their YouTube channel.
Some of the videos even bring in famous or semi-famous people to increase potential reach and shares. If you have the opportunity to bring potential influencers or big names into your video marketing campaigns, it’s typically a good idea to go ahead and do so.
3. LinkedIn’s Job Search Tips
When it comes to using content in a video marketing campaign, LinkedIn is an outstanding example. They’ve recently been uploading short videos—typically no more than 2 minutes long—featuring different experts discussing tips to improve performance in the workplace. This includes tips to improve your results during the interview process.
On social media in particular, users don’t want to sit through sales pitch after sales pitch in the form of social videos. Instead, viewers want to watch content that either entertains them or offers them value. LinkedIn’s videos each highlight one single, simple concept, but they discuss it effectively. Since LinkedIn is a professional network, these tips should be of interest to the vast majority of their audience.
4. Dove’s Real Beauty Campaigns
Dove has built a brand name around body positive and acceptance, encouraging women to love their body at any size. It’s a powerful message, and it’s one that women responded to. Dove has had run several video marketing campaigns focusing on this message, including their “Choose Beautiful” and their “Dove Real Beauty Productions” series, which showcases all women for their unique beauty.
The strategies behind these videos are smart: letting all women know that you’ll accept them and love them how they are will make them happy to buy your product. If they feel good about you, they’re more likely to buy from you. This videos are designed to build a brand more than sell a product, and I think they do this effectively. It doesn’t hurt that the campaign features famous producer Shonda Rhimes, who has a massive following.
Dove’s videos also do a number of technical things well, including using strong storytelling that appeal to users’ emotions. Their videos are also well-crafted, having distinct a beginning, middle, and end that helps the story to feel complete.
5. Virgin Holidays’ Live TV Ad
We’re living in the age of live video, and Virgin Holidays took that into consideration last year with their Seize the Holiday campaign. The video, as you’ll see below, cuts to different live streams of people vacationing all over the world in a powerful reminder of all the vacation destinations waiting for you across the globe, just waiting for you to seize the day.
In addition to an incredible use of live video (which could not have been easy to sync up and is impressive on its own), the video’s use of a large number of types of vacation destinations is genius. For some people, an ideal vacation is lounging on a beautiful beach, while some would rather be trecking up a mountain and others still would want to be at Disney. Showing a wide range of locations showcases the diverse section available through Virgin Holidays, making the video interesting—and effective—for a large target audience.
Final Thoughts
Each of these video marketing campaigns utilized different strategies to appeal to their target audiences, and to accomplish different (but very specific) marketing goals. They all shared one thing in common, though: they were high-quality and well-made. They looked professional, which helps elevate a good idea into a great campaign.
If you’re ready to adapt some of these strategies to create your own video marketing campaign, Shakr is ready to help you make stunning videos—no experience needed. Learn more about our video editing tools here.
