A live golf lesson in the cloud—courtesy of Aberdeen Asset Management
Connecting on a personal level and building trust with customers and other stakeholders is critical to the success of any marketing team. Marketers have become creative and innovative by using cloud enterprise video to drive brand awareness, strengthen the connection with their audiences and add value to the relationship.
Investing in live events like sponsorships, trade shows, conferences and speaking engagements is a great way to reach customers and prospects. Of course, not everyone can attend exclusive events in person. Think about how you can extend the benefits and the live experience to reach exponentially more individuals and create new opportunities for interaction and engagement.
Take the case of Aberdeen Asset Management, one of Europe’s largest public, pure-play investment management group, operating in 38 offices and investment centres in 25 countries.
With tightening legislation around customer and employee gifting, financial institutions are finding new and inventive ways to execute marketing initiatives. And for innovative companies like Aberdeen Asset Management, live video is becoming an increasingly effective way of delivering value.
Sponsors of the men’s and ladies’ Scottish Opens as well as numerous high-profile golf professionals, Aberdeen Asset Management took a creative spin on their sponsorship and recently hosted a Live Golf Masterclass with 8-time European Order of Merit winner, Colin ‘Monty’ Montgomerie OBE.
Presented by BBC Golf Correspondent Iain Carter, the session was broadcast live via a cloud enterprise platform from the highly exclusive Wisley Golf Club in Surrey. Undeterred by the windy conditions Monty was able to share his extensive expertise on driving, chipping and putting, not to mention the importance of having “soft hands at address”, with Aberdeen Asset Management’s clients and employees streamed to over 16 locations worldwide with as many as 400 live viewers.
As a financial company, Aberdeen is increasingly having to utilise some of the assets it acquires through sponsorships in different ways. To be able to offer a live golf experience to its clients and staff without them having to move away from their desk or mobile device is just one of the ways Aberdeen is trying to do that.
“Our webcasting platform has allowed us to broadcast events around the world which gives us tremendous exposure in key markets but it is the ability to tailor the added extras that gives us value with our clients and involves all our staff,” says Robin Spring, Senior Sponsorship & Communications Executive, Aberdeen Asset Management.
According to Aberdeen marketers who use video grow revenue 49% faster than non-video users. And according to HubSpot, 80% of customers remember a video they watched in the last month. Video is both visual and auditory, which makes it easier for users to remember than strictly text-based content.
However, broadcasting live from marketing events is not the only way to use cloud enterprise video creatively.
Sharing internal thought leaders with the world
Organisations have great experience and expertise that extends beyond what customers purchase in the form of your products or services. And management should find a way to show customers the full value that their organisation brings to the relationship. This could include general industry knowledge, deep technology expertise or perspective on big events and news. Many thought-leading organisations use video in the cloud to connect with audiences quickly and with authenticity. Video updates provide an opportunity to put your full team of experts in front of the client and build trust along with your subscriber base.
UK-based investment management firm Brooks Macdonald for instance shares insights with customers in the form of a video blog every Monday morning with the help of a cloud enterprise video solution. The firm’s Weekly Market Commentary blog takes only minutes to publish because Brooks Macdonald’s agile marketing team has its workflow down to a science. That speed-to-market has paid off. Ghislaine Perry, Group Head of Marketing at Brooks Macdonald says, “These regular videos put our experts in front of customers in a very human way that they’ve come to expect.”
Interviewing influencers to build organisational credibility
In the absence of an internal expert, an unscripted conversation with an outside industry influencer can be an impactful way to capture your audience’s attention. Simply record a dialogue with an analyst, consultant or opinion-leading customer—then publish it on your website, blog or social media channels. The conversation doesn’t have to be an endorsement of your organisation. The idea is to show your experts are in tune with what’s going on in your industry and that you listen as well as you share your opinion.
Wrapping it all up
Every year companies make massive investments in live events like trade shows, customer summits and speaking panels. And due to cost and logistical reasons, only a fraction of employees and customers can experience these events, while even less can directly participate. With this in mind, a good cloud-hosted enterprise video system can put easy-to-use video capture, editing and delivery tools into the hands of your marketing and communications teams—and turn your company into the level of innovator companies like Aberdeen Asset Management has become.