What are the New Trends in Personalized Video?
by Filip Koubek at MotionlabReading: 2 mins
Filip Koubek - CMO at Motionlab
Imagine an ad that addresses you personally, advises you on your billing, and recommends a product you're really looking for. This is the effect of personalized videos, transferring the experience of personal communication to the online environment. So far, over a million people have encountered them in the Czech Republic, and their popularity with brands continues to grow.
They are most often used by banks, insurance companies, energy suppliers or large e-shops. Personalized videos can draw viewers into the action, as evidenced by the video completion rate, which often jumps to over 90 percent. So why haven't they received more attention in the past? After all, they have appeared in various forms for at least ten years. Only now are the barriers that have complicated more large-scale deployment being overcome. These include: creativity, data readiness and distribution channels. Let's take a closer look at them.
Creativity
Quality concept and execution are as important for personalized videos as they are for any other medium. Good creative agencies have already learned that personalized videos are not just classic "mass" videos with a caption, but that the structure of the story must reflect the fact that you know exactly who you are talking to and what you specifically want to tell them. This tool is also beneficial to story concepts that may not be production-intensive and the video personalization elements can be easily incorporated during the preparation of content for television or online video campaigns. This significantly reduces the costs associated with creating a video. At the same time, a potential drawback in execution is that it might be hard for the creator to learn a whole new video editing technology because of personalized videos. Fortunately, this is no longer the case as platforms have begun to emerge that use existing, industry-leading tools such as Adobe After Effects.
Data Readiness
Client data is a constant issue, both in terms of its reliability and the ease of "migration" between company systems. Digitalization (accelerated by covid and the difficulty of personal meetings) has placed even greater emphasis on the need for their quality management and use, not only for marketing. Data management systems such as CRM, CDP or databases already routinely support integration with other systems via APIs or enable interconnection with tools such as Integromat or Zapier. So if you choose the right video personalization platform, such as Motionlab.io, integrating and running video personalization can be a matter of just a few clicks (and seconds).
Distribution Channels
The dominant role in the distribution of personalized videos was formerly carried out by e-mail, where video playback was limited by the degree of accessibility. Today, clients can combine far more channels, and thanks to integrations, they can also send personalized videos via MMS, communication applications such as Viber, push notifications or within customer centres and applications. On-demand television services also have a significantly increasing role, addressing viewers in a personalized way when they watch popular films and series.
Where is Personalization going?
Today, we have technology platforms that enable clients to successfully create and distribute personalized videos for hundreds of thousands of customers. In the future, I see a shift towards deployment throughout the customer life cycle. When shopping at an e-shop, you may receive an automated personalized reminder that you forgot the goods in the cart, then as an order confirmation with an up-sell proposal or a milestone in the loyalty programme. Personalized videos will help build the relationship you've created in your favourite corner cafe where you don't even have to order, because the staff knows you've come for an espresso and a cake.
This blog was translated from an original article in Media and Marketing magazine
Danny Holman, Motionlab