What Your Favorite NFL Team Can Teach You About Video Marketing
- Written by By Todd Patton, TwentyThree
- Published in Demanding Views
Pressure for marketers to consistently produce video is rising, and fresh ideas can be tough to find. Outside the comfort zone of your industry space, there’s another zone worth exploring for tips on effective video marketing: the red zone.
Football season is underway, and NFL teams are experts at producing videos that keep engagement high and deepen their followings. Here are seven video marketing tactics you can borrow from your favorite NFL team:
1. Approach The Game With An Audience-First Mentality
Video marketing is shifting from “let’s showcase our company,” to “let’s add value for the people watching our videos.”
For example, the Philadelphia Eagles produce the Eagles 360 series and Doug Pederson 1:1 for updates on the team each week. They also invest in story-driven, behind-the-scenes content like Unscripted.
Whether you’re a part-time fan or a diehard with your car wrapped in Eagles vinyl, there is a video for you. Think of it as a marketing funnel, ultimately moving a fan to purchase tickets or team apparel.
If you can consistently produce videos that reach each segment of your audience, the hungrier they will be to hear and buy from you.
2. Know Which Yard Line You’re On
When a prospect first hears about you, you probably shouldn’t bombard them with twenty-minute product tutorials.
NFL teams are experts at managing field position. Short-form videos end with a form or a prompt to play more video. Long-form videos end with purchase opportunities.
Know where your audience is, and you can run the right plays to keep the ball.
3. Run Different Plays On Different Channels
The Cleveland Browns post two-second videos and two-minute game recaps on Twitter with calls-to-action to their YouTube channel. On their YouTube channel, you can find a full video library.
A five-minute product video might be a tough sell on Instagram or Twitter, but it could drive a high volume of purchases on your website.
4. Budgets Are Like Salary Caps
High quality doesn’t necessarily mean expensive.There are lots of examples of successful, budget-conscious video marketing.
Rand Fishkin’s Whiteboard Fridays, for example, only require a camera, a whiteboard and Rand Fishkin. Make sure the content is valuable to your audience and you won’t have to produce it like Monday Night Football.
5. Know Where You’re At In The Season
NFL videos are structured around gameday. Teams post to build excitement beforehand, keep fans updated during the game and share highlights afterwards.
What types of events can you structure your video content around? Do you host an annual conference or release product updates?
Build excitement, keep your fans engaged during the game and provide plenty of post-game coverage to remind them of the value they received (or missed out on).
6. Analyze Your Plays
Just like the Broncos Postgame Locker Room or the Seahawks vs. Cowboys Week 3 Recap, it’s important to look back on performance.Your platform should help you answer questions like:
- How long do people watch your video for?
- Do they follow the call-to-action at the end?
- Are we pairing the right videos with the right channels?
7. Enjoy The Game
Not all your content has to be serious, product-driven or corporate. Take a tip from the Eagles, who share often on Instagram. It just needs to be human and create value for your audience.
Todd Patton is the Head of Comms & Story at TwentyThree, a video marketing platform. A journalist by trade, Patton has worked in content marketing at tech companies from Salt Lake City to Detroit to San Francisco to Copenhagen. After working at KUER, the NPR radio station in Salt Lake City, he made the jump into marketing and has helped build out content strategies that consist of thought-leadership and lead generation pieces of video, eBooks, infographics and blogs.