Oren Boiman, CEO and co-founder of Magisto talks about how as marketers, we need innovation in digital video. Mass consumer adoption of video is forcing us to overcome the challenges of a fragmented audience and learn to manage risk. Luckily, technology is available to make this process easier and more effective
The field of video marketing is a particularly hot topic right now. Marketing innovation is being driven by mass consumer adoption of digital video in a myriad of shapes and sizes. In the broadest terms, the marketing trade is behind the curve and eager to fill the gap and find audiences beyond our reach. One of the challenges of finding and speaking to a fragmented audience is creating marketing video content with agility, scale and with a voice. As with all digital media, the trick is to manage risk and optimize for positive ROI results, which is exponentially harder to do with video. Fortunately for us, technology is available to help make this process easier and more effective.
The use of artificial intelligence technology is expanding exponentially and a variety of industries are finding new ways to leverage it for their benefit and growth. AI has the ability to greatly extend human efficiency and creativity, which is extremely beneficial for marketers. For most of us, the examples of AI used in mass market products utilize conversational AI, (i.e. chatbots, recommendation engines and virtual assistants) giving us the perception that AI can only be used in automatic or mathematical expressions. In the end, AI is a machine that can be used to an infinite number of ends. Initially, the laptop computer was also primarily mathematical in terms of input and output, accounting, banking, mathematical modeling. Today computers are used to create art, music, books, photos and….video. Just as the computer has become conduit to and for human expression, experiential AI, a class of AI designed to help create rich content, provides consumers and, more to the point in this article, marketers with opportunities to turn businesses into masters of multiple crafts.
As marketers we are often limited by our ability to express ourselves creatively, making it challenging to convey nuanced messages, emotions, sensations and storylines. Think of the creative brief and the endless iterations we spend with design and product teams to get it “just right”. By leveraging experiential AI, marketers are able to direct a computer to easily express narratives, share experiences and form deeper personal and professional connections in a cost efficient, fast and informal way, especially through videos.
I think about the use of AI in video production as a “bionic” extension of human creativity. As marketers we can start with a vision, a storyline and a shot list and use experiential AI technology that allows us to create multiple variations of optimized videos by use cases, platform, audience, message, product and ROI performance. For most businesses the adoption of video is not a binary on switch, it’s a process of exploration and learning. The use of experiential AI accelerates the learning curve and makes video marketing production effective, ROI focused, and enormously less time consuming.
So how can you leverage this technology?
A recently launched AI driven video marketing platform designed to meet the needs of marketers who want to use video with scale and frequency is a great place to start. The platform features easy-to-use editing styles designed for specific use cases (tutorials, testimonials, brand overviews etc), and verticals (Real Estate, Events, Automotive, Performance marketing). It doesn’t require previous experience with video editing but rather, the AI technology is directed by the marketer and/or design team to create and refine messaging and produce the central narrative and multiple A/B test creatives. The platform also includes themes that automatically optimize marketing videos for social media channels such as Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
Why should you leverage this kind of technology?
The combination of authentic video narrative and optimization powered by AI technology will allow you to quickly develop and test video marketing strategy and campaigns. These campaigns can then be optimized by platform; audience, product and messaging, similarly to adwords or display ads, multiple versions of videos can be created, tested and optimized.
When you combine the above with all the latest developments in content marketing, programmatic media buying and marketing automation software, there is massive opportunity for scalable ROI within your advertising campaigns but also across earned and owned media.