Brand Storytelling for Superfans
Do People Actually Watch the Videos on Your Website?
If you’re going to publish a video for your brand, where would you post it? Here is typical conversation I hear from a client:
Me: Where will this video be shared?
Client: Well, on our website of course.
I’ve never questioned this decision...until one late night last week. A question started to roll around in my head that I couldn’t silence. And to be honest, it terrifies me a little.
The question is: Do we even visit websites any more?
And my answer: I never visit the websites of the brands I love.
Yikes. This realization shook me. Then it excited me. Let’s step back a minute to some basics…
What is the Purpose of a Website Now?
You know your business needs a website because...obviously you need it. But how do your customers interact with it? What purpose does it serve within the customer journey? Basically... why do people come to your website? What are they expecting to see when they get there? How can you leverage that information to design a better website?
And it just begs the question: should your videos even be on your website? A video can add significant value to your organization, but if it just sits on your website and isn’t getting views, then you’ll never get the value your video deserves.
About 10 years ago when video started to become more accessible for brands, websites served a much different purpose. They had tools for engagement like forums and blogs. People actually spent a significant amount of time on your website. Social media hadn’t become what it is now, so people sought out that type of community and information on your website. With the adoption of social media, customers don’t come to your website for community - they come for information. And that information is primarily used to conduct a sale.
I thought about why I actually go to a website and these are my answers:
To buy a product
To download a piece of software
To look up the hours or location for a business
To research a new service like a doctor, accountant, or house repair service
To review the menu of a restaurant
The bulk of these activities led me to make a purchase, which validates my point: Websites are primarily a massive sales tool. The function of a website is to enable a sale and win the customer. Your website should excite the customer, inspire them about future possibilities, and give them the information to take the next steps with your organization. Potential customers are likely to spend the most time on your website when they first discover you or are seriously deciding about making a purchase. Knowing this, we want to place brand films on your website that get the customer excited about your business and how you can solve their problems. Great marketing is providing what the customer is expecting to see at the moment that they're expecting to see it. It’s the right message, for the right person, at the right time.
To boil that down: Brand storytelling videos on your website should inspire the customer about future possibilities and compel them to take the next steps with your company. Don’t hide them on your website. Make them easy for the customer to follow as you lead them through the decision making process.
Where Do Customers Hang Out?
But what about the people who aren’t spending time on your website?
Where are they?
And how can we bring them to your website?
We have to meet the customer where they are: social media channels. You don’t need any statistics to prove how many hours people spend on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, TikTok and whatever else comes out. We know the people are there. That’s where you can serve your customers and start building that relationship. You need to provide content that’s going to entice them to get to your website and start that decision-making process.
After they’ve visited your website, they’re unlikely to return again unless they need something. Which again stresses the point of how important social platforms are...because that is where customers will be spending the majority of their time interacting with your company. Some of these customers will become your superfans. They’ll be the ones sharing your posts and sending new customers your way. These are the ones who will boost your brand film and make it work.
I hear people complain all the time about short attention spans and it really makes my blood boil….because that’s not the problem. The problem is creating engaging content for the right audience. If it’s great content for the right person, they will easily consume hours of it with no complaint. Which begs the question: what is the audience for brand storytelling films? My advice: create brand stories for your superfans.
Brand films are a mid-funnel piece of content; people who watch them already like your organization. Marketing is just a reflection of human relationship building — brand films help solidify that relationship. They make that relationship stronger so that way they tell their friends about you.
So essentially what we're doing with brand storytelling is going after a core audience with the goal of making them superfans. And then providing them the language to tell other people about our organization. That’s effective brand storytelling.
Catering to Your Superfans
When you're thinking about brand storytelling and telling your story over time, don't just think about it as a single video. It’s a whole series that’s trickled out over time. Superfans love being a part of your story and watching it unfold.
Instead of just posting a video, invite your superfans to an event...invite them into your story. I’ve seen the most success with video launches when we built anticipation on social media channels leading up to the premiere. We slowly released content on social about the video for several weeks leading up to the event. Tension built up as the superfans got stoked and couldn’t wait to see the new video. After the superfans watched the video, they were inspired to take action. Pro tip: If you try this strategy, make sure your video is live and ready to be shared. Superfans will be itching to spread the word to all their friends. If you have call-to-action (donate, sign-up, etc.), make sure it’s easily seen. People will be hyped after watching your video and ready to do something — so tell them what to do.
Don’t miss out on the opportunity to cultivate a fandom for your brand: it’s already there. You just have to seek it out. You have to build a relationship with them. They want to know more about you and be part of your story. And after you share that story, they will carry it forward for you.
Superfan Storytelling in Action | My New Christmas Tradition
Not sure what that looks like? Here’s an example from my own family. Every year at Christmas, my brother and brother-in-law always bring obscure craft beers to try. It’s basically my favorite tradition now. It's fascinating. They get the big bottles, grab five glasses, then pour a taste in each one. As they pass out the drinks, they're telling us about the beer: what type of beer it is, the brewery’s location, the ingredients, the alcohol content, random tidbits they’ve learned about it. As they're telling us the story of the beer, we're all sitting back and sipping this drink together and creating our own memory together. We take this story about the beer from the superfans and fold it into our own holiday story. It’s a part of me now. That’s the power of your superfans. They take pride in telling the story of your company because it allows them to add unique value to an engagement.
That's what your customer base wants to do. They want to have those moments where they're introducing someone to something they love, but then also have a story to share. These stories raise the perceived value, not just of the product, but the entire engagement. That’s the power of brand storytelling.
Double down on your superfans and provide the content they need. Provide a foundation so they can go and tell other people your story and introduce them to your business.