July 2010

What can the “Old Spice Guy” Teach Us About Business Youtube Strategy?

You might not recognize the name Isaiah Mustafa, but you probably know his face. Mustafa starred first in a series of TV ads for “Old Spice” body wash and later in several videos on Youtube, where he personally responded to several comments left by fans on various social media sites. The response videos achieved a million views faster than Barack Obama’s Inauguration speech and, more importantly, have led to an 107% increase in Old Spice’s sales over the last month.

There are marketing lessons to be learned from this quirky but highly successful campaign. Grow Sales is here to walk you through a lesson on how to create compelling online video content for your brand.

Amateur is OK (And Sometimes It's Better)
As shown by the success of the "Old Spice Guy" and countless other viral videos, you don’t need James Cameron’s production budget to create video content that sticks. Your company's initial investment in creating video can be as little as a $150 handheld camera and a couple hours. Just finished a tough project and your customer is ecstatic? Shoot a quick "project spotlight" video documenting the planning, preparation and steps you took to complete this task. Heading out to lunch with a longtime client? Ask him or her to record a 30-second testimonial about your company. But amateur shouldn't mean aimless—make sure your content focuses on how your company solves problems and creates value for your customers.

Personality Sells
Use video content to explore what makes your company different. Consider spotlighting an “Employee of the Week,” creating a two-minute company history video, or offering a “virtual tour” of your facilities. Viewers will connect with your brand when they can learn about and identify with the names and faces that make your company run each day.

Video Content Should Drive Customer Interaction
It’s called “YouTube” for a reason. Your video strategy should contain an interactive component that allows subscribers to engage with your brand directly. We’re not necessarily suggesting you film a video in response to every customer complaint, as Old Spice did. But if you're aware of a production or customer service issue that's causing friction with one or more clients, you might consider filming a short video explaining the problem and what actions have been taken to solve it.

Better yet, encourage your YouTube subscribers or Facebook fans to submit their own content. Hold a contest awarding a free e-book (or anything relatively inexpensive) to whoever submits the best video about a positive experience with your company. This tactic doubles as positive customer engagement and good branding.

What Can Grow Sales, Inc. Do for You?
Need help navigating the social media highway? Grow Sales, Inc. is here to put you into the drivers’ seat. We can create and maintain an integrated, intelligently-planned social media presence including content on a variety of social media channels. Contact GSI Team Leader T.J. Tedesco at 301-294-900 to get your social media program up-and-running today.

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