Inside advertising and marketing, video content material constantly shines because the standout ingredient of efficient content material methods. As manufacturers attempt to forge real connections with their viewers, they navigate the problem of aligning with the excessive quantity of shoppers who evaluate authenticity as a key issue of their model loyalty choice.
The error that we, as Spark Social Company, are seeing is authenticity is being confused for unscripted movies and low-production content material, when usually, that isn’t genuine for the model in any respect. Nevertheless, when it’s instructed that 60% of shoppers want content material that’s genuine reasonably than polished, it’s no shock the artistic business believes that genuine and polished content material are dichotomies.
This weblog publish goals to delve into the interaction between authenticity and manufacturing high quality. Can manufacturers keep their real essence with out sacrificing the excessive requirements of visible and auditory excellence their audiences have grown to anticipate? By inspecting how authenticity and high quality can coexist harmoniously within the digital advertising and marketing panorama, we are going to see that manufacturers can fulfill client calls for for realness with out compromising on an genuine presentation.
Why Has Video Taken Heart Stage?
Merely put, video content material has the unparalleled potential to interact audiences, convey messages with readability, and foster an emotional connection that static photos and textual content battle to realize. In the end, the recognition of manufacturers in creating video lies within the content material’s potential to raise model narratives, and seize the eye of audiences…however solely when it’s accomplished proper.
Authenticity: Extra Than a Buzzword
Within the quest for connection, the time period “authenticity” has develop into a buzzword amongst artistic groups, championed by manufacturers wanting to resonate with their viewers genuinely. For the patron, authenticity signifies transparency, relatability and trustworthiness; all of that are components which can be more and more in demand in saturated direct-to-consumer markets.
Nevertheless, for a lot of heritage and family manufacturers, the pursuit of authenticity brings its personal set of challenges, notably, the mistaken perception that the manufacturing high quality of video must be sacrificed. Whereas high-quality manufacturing has its deserves, it doesn’t inherently equate to inauthenticity; the stability lies within the content material’s relevance and talent to resonate with a target market, whatever the manufacturing degree.
Land Rover Defender exemplifies a model deeply attuned to its core values of journey and exploration. With a eager understanding that polished, compelling content material serves as a gateway for his or her viewers to journey into the unknown alongside them, they’ve perfected the craft of making high-quality content material that resonates with the spirit of journey. Their skilful stability of dramatization of their storytelling is genuine, aligning with their model identification. But, we nonetheless see them embracing extra uncooked, lower-production movies for influencer opinions. This content material differentiation demonstrates their adeptness at figuring out the proper format for every narrative, guaranteeing their messaging not solely captivates but additionally aligns with their mission and viewers expectations.
The Misinterpretation of Authenticity
The journey in direction of authenticity is usually misunderstood, with some manufacturers equating it with a deliberate discount in manufacturing values. Striving for authenticity doesn’t necessitate a “race to the underside” in manufacturing high quality. An overemphasis on showing genuine can paradoxically result in a lack of real authenticity, making a model’s efforts appear pressured or contrived.
True authenticity is about representing a model’s values and ethos, not merely choosing low manufacturing high quality for the sake of relatability. There are cases the place manufacturers have tried to embrace a “uncooked” aesthetic to seem extra genuine, solely to overlook the mark as a result of the content material didn’t align with the model’s core values or viewers expectations. Authenticity needs to be rooted in originality, storytelling, and ease, showcasing a model’s true character in a means that engages and resonates. For some manufacturers, this implies highly-produced content material that showcases the true voice of the corporate.
Can Authenticity Be Measured?
When navigating the fragile stability between authenticity and manufacturing high quality in video content material, it’s pure for each creators and purchasers to ask if the essence of being real might be quantified. Measuring authenticity is difficult as a result of it’s about manufacturers exhibiting up as they’re, and sharing their true values in a means that resonates. Whereas there is no such thing as a authenticity metric we will use, suggestions from your personal viewers – feedback, shares, engagement, media commentary – serves as a real-world gauge.
Take the notorious Kendall Jenner and Pepsi industrial, which to many is a obviously apparent misstep, and but it handed by way of rounds of approval. Nevertheless, if Pepsi had sensed-checked the video outdoors the group, they might have averted the model catastrophe that adopted. It was not genuine for Pepsi, nor Kendall Jenner, to be making such a political assertion within the present setting, once they had little standing as each model and particular person within the modern dialog about race taking place at the moment. So while authenticity can’t be actually measured, sound-boarding content material won’t ever go amiss.
Viewers Expectation and Platform Norms
Understanding the viewers and platform norms is essential in putting the proper stability between authenticity and manufacturing high quality. Sure content material varieties, reminiscent of user-generated content material (UGC), video FAQs, how-to movies, and demonstration content material, naturally convey authenticity and may considerably improve a model’s relatability and trustworthiness. These codecs align with viewers expectations for real, informative, and fascinating content material. Conversely, there are contexts and platforms the place excessive manufacturing high quality isn’t simply anticipated; it’s important.
The selection of platform performs a significant position in figuring out the suitable degree of manufacturing high quality. As an example, platforms like Instagram and YouTube could warrant increased manufacturing values as a result of person expectations and the platform’s nature, whereas TikTok thrives on spontaneity and authenticity, usually embracing decrease manufacturing aesthetics.
Influencers, too, play a pivotal position on this ecosystem, usually serving because the bridge between a model and its viewers, embodying authenticity whereas sustaining a degree of manufacturing high quality that respects the platform’s norms and viewers expectations. Influencers, by advantage of their private model and follower relationship, can lend digital authenticity to branded content material, supplied their values align with these of the model. This synergy between influencer authenticity and model message can yield compelling content material that resonates deeply with audiences.
Closing Remarks
Navigating the authenticity equation in social media movies is much less about selecting between authenticity and manufacturing high quality and extra about discovering a harmonious stability that aligns along with your model’s identification, values, and the expectations of your viewers. Video’s dominance in digital advertising and marketing will not be going anyplace. Clearly, putting gold with authenticity requires a nuanced technique that entails understanding and aligning with viewers expectations and platform norms. Whereas the controversy round manufacturing high quality and authenticity continues, the essence of real, value-driven content material stays paramount.
Manufacturers that grasp the artwork of genuine storytelling, no matter manufacturing degree, are these that may forge deeper connections with their audiences and obtain lasting success within the digital realm.
