Podcast: How to use photography and videos in your next digital marketing campaign

Ever since being given a box camera by my grandmother, I’ve been captivated by photography and imagery. It’s as if this was a magical “box”. To be able to hold a camera in my hands, click a button, and freeze frame a memory, is as enchanting to me today, even with the digital capabilities that are available, as it was back in the 1960’s. The natural progression from photographer to videographer has been an exciting one and it was a pleasure to discuss my experiences and passion for video with Steve Pailthorpe recently. In this podcast, Steve and I discuss photography and video and how marketers can use these mediums to transform results.

The world has changed an awful lot since those early days, and AI (Artificial Intelligence) is now part of my daily life. AI is not a threat, it is an enhancement to my workflow, but, understanding what to use when is part of the battle. Understanding marketing is also key to a brand. This all starts with a storyboard. How can your visual assets represent you, and tell your story well.

This process also involves a lot of creativity and brain storming. One can have the “best” equipment (whatever that means) and software thats in the market, but, without having a creative skill set, combined with experience, a video can end up being disjointed, lacking in a link to your brand, or just downright boring. On social media one is competing with a cat falling off the T.V., or a skateboarder coming a cropper. How can you stand out from the noise that is prevalent? This takes planning and an understanding of a brand.

We live in a visual age. Therefore, video needs to be more than predictable.

I happened to see a brilliant video the other day. It made me click through to a website of a fellow video maker. A Ken doll was filmed enjoying furlough and rest, and working out, but, it eventually moved to the doll being bored and wanting to get back to work.
The video closed with a Call To Action to click through to the videographer’s website. On the website one can see a number of offers available to help businesses out during the current Pandemic. It was different. It stood out. It made me stop scrolling through. I really wish that I had thought of it! This type of innovation, skill and understanding comes from a creative and from experience.

Using your friend’s teenage mate, who has a smartphone or DSLR may not cost a great deal, but, the end result will not be grounded in experience and the understanding of a brand. Video and photography is still a magical immersive experience for the film maker, it needs to be as much an immersive experience for the viewer whether it be a short mood board video that is a few seconds in length, or, a longer infomercial.

As Al Jolson famously said, in 1927, at the very birth of the talkies, “Wait a minute, wait a minute. You ain’t heard nothin’ yet!” And as the showman, P.T. Barnum said, “Always leave them wanting more?”. Find out more about Iconic Digital’s digital marketing consultants in London.