Episode Transcript
Mariana Henninger 0:04
I will say this, the good brand video is quite evergreen, which means that you are not selling a specific offer in your video. This is not a promotional piece of content, you're not tying this video to a specific offer. No, this is the story of you what parts of it resonate with your audience. Let me bring it in a way that's emotionally compelling and visually compelling. You're going to first define your core story again, identifying opportunities for compelling visuals that will illustrate your story in a way that's really creative.
Monica Pitts 0:40
You're on mission, and you just need more people to know about it. And whether you're brand new to marketing or a seasoned pro. We are all looking for answers to make marketing decisions with purpose. I'm Monica Pitts, a techie crafty business owner, mom and aerial dancer who solves communication challenges through technology. This podcast is all about digging in and going digital. I'll share my marketing know how and business experience from almost 20 years of misadventures, I'll be your backup dancer. So you can stop doubting, and get moving towards marketing with purpose. Hello, again, and welcome back to marketing with purpose. I have an exciting guest today. Mariana. And so we talked some about videos on this podcast, but probably not enough, quite frankly, because we talk a lot about websites and, and about writing and sometimes about mindset. But video is incredibly popular and very effective in expressing your message. And so when I did a call for podcast earlier this spring Mariana popped up and she was like, hey, I can talk to you about creating a brand video where you can use it to market and sell your product more quickly. And I was like what I don't even know what a brand video is, like straight up don't even know. I brought Mariana on today so she can tell us about just how to do that. Like she has a special framework for it and everything. So we are students of you today. So to kick us off, why don't you just introduce yourself? Tell us about your business. We want to hear your story.
Mariana Henninger 2:22
Oh, that's awesome. Well, thanks, Monica. So excited. I mean, I get giddy every time I chat about brand videos about storytelling with emotion about telling your personal story as a marketing tool. Because it's awesome. It's awesome to tell to hone in your personal story. And then when on top of it, you can use it to make sales to sell faster, Win Win win, you know. So quick intro to me. I am a documentary filmmaker, I've been a filmmaker for about 15 years. I have an Emmy that I'm looking at right there. I have another nomination, which is the Emmy I didn't get last year. But you know, I've just been doing this my whole life. I've been a journalist for a long, long time. Last year, I left five years of NBC News and peacock to start my own business. I had been a closeted entrepreneur for a long time I was, you know, hitting my head against the swimming pool walls in the corporate world. And just decided it was time to combine my two passions I love I'm very, very passionate about personal, intimate storytelling in video form. And I've always been obsessed with like learning about sales, like not having to ask anyone for promotion, like all of the things that we love about entrepreneurship. And I'm like, I really feel like what I'm doing here, applies here. And ever since I've made the decision to really study how to take this amazing art and storytelling form, which is documentary, and understanding really how to apply it to business. I'm excited every day I wake up at 430 in the morning without an alarm clock. And I'm like, Yes, another workday. Here we go.
Monica Pitts 4:02
That's so brave, though, to walk away from corporate and walk away from a really big network to go out on your own. That's exciting. That's really exciting.
Mariana Henninger 4:13
Yeah, yeah, I mean, it did it hold held me for quite a while I was there for five years. You know, I loved what I did. It was the dream job for a very long time. And, but I knew that I could just I could stay there for the rest of my career and kind of make a good living have amazing benefits be in a in an organization that I loved. And you know, I got to meet a lot of people I traveled all around the world. Like I went to Ukraine and Finland, and previously had been to Haiti and Afghanistan. Like I've been all over the world as a documentary filmmaker. But I did this I did decide at one point like there's only so far I'm gonna go inside of an organization because of the way it's built and the way it operates and I I just realized, you know, you only live once and I was like this is this is the time to jump.
Monica Pitts 5:04
What was like the final straw? Like the moment like what was the thing that just like, flipped it for you?
Mariana Henninger 5:12
Well, 2021 was my last year there, I worked on two really, really intense documentaries and they kind of they were amazing projects, and I loved working on them. One of them was nominated for the second Emmy. And, but I did realize that the end of them I'm like, I get so obsessed with what I do, which now I've just brought into my own business world. But I did realize that there there was a bit of a trade off, I was not always able to, like manage my personal life with my with my job. And I realized that, you know, if I want to work, continue to work on documentaries and make a big splash, I want to do it on my own terms. I think it was just I'll be super honest, there was a quite a bit of burnout at the end of that year. And I realized, like, you know what, this is the time to step aside, build my own thing, build it on my own terms, you know, get to do documentaries on my own terms, maybe fund them myself or not have to kind of go through the wringer like a lot of Doc filmmakers do but although that's a topic for another day, but yeah, it was it was just time I felt,
Monica Pitts 6:21
Yeah, it's it is it's challenging to make those decisions. But I understand what you're saying. And I actually just, I had a podcast that released earlier this year, that was keep your light bright, make different decisions. And it's one of the things so one of the strange things about my journey as I started as an entrepreneur at like, age 25. So I've always been in control of my own universe, it just sometimes took me a while to be brave enough to really do it, you know, to like, take risks as a business owner. But, you know, you find yourself you make this decision and you do it, do it, do it, you keep making the same decision over and over again. And then sometimes you just have to be like, alright, well, eight years ago, Monica made that decision. But maybe today Monica doesn't have to make that decision anymore. Because it can change, like you get to make new decisions all the time. And
Mariana Henninger 7:13
I love it. I love that you did that
Monica Pitts 7:15
Weird one. But anyway, because we're going through a lot of transition business, which is awesome. Because we all grow up, right? I grew up in this stinking company that I own myself. Here, I literally grew up in my own company, right? It's like what just happened to here? Okay, so brand video, I tell me what this is tell us all what this is because I don't freaking know.
Mariana Henninger 7:40
I know brand video is like the marketing tool that you've always needed and never even knew existed. That's a bit of an exaggeration. Some folks are making brand videos. There are definitely folks in the corporate world making brand videos. They're all they're kind of different types of brand videos. But what a brand video is in the context of an entrepreneur, whether they own kind of a mid sized business or bigger business, I cater specifically to online entrepreneurs. So those are the folks that I can speak to, very directly. But a brand video is basically your story in a nutshell, the parts of your story that you know, resonate with your audience. So it's a little bit different than the story of Monica. It is the story, the parts of the story of Monica that we know resonate with your audience, and get them to trust you a lot faster. So when I say that we do in the online space for those of us that are you know, posting on social media, and we're sending out emails, and we're, we're doing all of this like value add through all these different channels. You know, the content creation, hamster wheel that we're all on? I feel like we're micro dosing our audience with our personality, like we're we're doing value first, on constant mode, and the brand video brings it back to why they should work with you. Like why should they work with Monica? Is your offer entirely different from what anybody else is offering? I'm gonna say, No, I'm gonna say for the most part, our offers have like a lot of things that are kind of similar. Maybe we color frameworks a little different. Maybe our approach is a little different. But at the end of the day, there's we should lead with value. I 100% believe that. The very next question that our audience asks that we're not answering is why should they work with you like what is it about Monica? That is going to make this a fit for me. I also like to say that we talk about know like and trust but we're literally going from no to like wanting trust and we're skipping over like and the like portion comes from Do I like you do I like Monica as a person do I would I like working with her? Does her personality fit what I'm looking forward to is her approach and the way that she delivers. And, and, you know, it's this big portion of the the know, like and trust process that we're kind of like skipping over and thinking that you're kind of hiding behind her offer. Really?
Monica Pitts 10:15
Yeah, you go from introduction to marriage. And it's like, Where'd the dating go in between? Like,
Mariana Henninger 10:22
hey, that's the dating is not just about adding value constantly. It's about getting to know each other. Right?
Monica Pitts 10:27
Yeah. And I, I think that that is the one thing brands Okay, friends, we've been talking about our AI. Like, we've been talking about that a lot. Everybody's talking about it. But you cannot get this from Chat GPT. Okay, let's be real. What we're talking about this, that happened from there, okay. So don't let yourself get sucked into that vortex of oh, just let the thing write it for me. No, no, no, because it can give you an outline, but then you got to make it your personality. And that's something that I'm understanding right now a brand new video can do. And it sounds like a brand video isn't just an advertisement. Is that right? It sounds like it's like, oh, it's more of a story?
Mariana Henninger 11:06
Yeah, it's not a sales tool. It's a conversion tool. From getting to know you. I'll just say one thing about Chat GPT. Because I think about AI every single day. I'm not I'm not an anti AI person, by any means. I'm not embracing it. Like I'm embracing it in that it's inevitable. And these are amazing tools. And I'm also thinking about how these tools are going to change creative. The creative industry, including brand videos, including documentary films, like how are these tools going to not only optimize our process, but also change the way we work? Fundamentally, obviously, the use of like deep fakes becomes even more real. Anyway, that's a whole other episode. But I will say, to your point about just using Chat GPTs are so just throw it in the algorithm, right? The right like this is the exact prompt to get the exact language like Dude, this will only go so far, in the age of Chat GBT, I will say that personally, I have been even more quick to unsubscribe, to stop listening to to eliminate from my universe, the emails and the content that I feel that have come right out of Chat GPT I'm like, This sounds boilerplate. This sounds cookie cutter. You've lost me. Yeah. And so this is where the brand video is the thing that's going to make you unforgettable. And it's just like one piece of the puzzle, like, by all means, this is not your entire marketing strategy. But it is one thing that can help people remember exactly who you are, versus the other person that's offering something similar, the other person that's like, you know, convoluting their space or bringing noise to the system.
Monica Pitts 12:50
It sounds like it's also going to be great for the people who are visual learners or visual audio learners, because not everybody does things the same way. Right? Like we don't all want to learn the same way. And so while I like reading a book, I also love listening to a book. And I also like watching a movie, some people are just movie watchers, right? So I feel like this could really connect with those people. And there's a lot, a lot of visual learners like more than any other learning style. So it sounds like we could actually connect with a lot of people with our brand videos as well.
Mariana Henninger 13:23
Yeah, for sure. I mean, I would argue that everyone, even if you're more of an audio learner, you're gonna watch a video at some point, a brand video is about like two to three minutes, four minutes, maybe it sort of lives in that range. This is the video that you should watch once as soon as you're introduced to someone. So I've talked about like the five places where your brand video should live. This is a question I get asked quite a bit like early on, like, where does it go? The five places where your brand video should definitely live, or kind of where your name and your profile photo live so very much it should live in your email signature. So every single email that people get from you, there should be a link to your brand video. They should if they're if they're getting you in your inbox. quick pause. I get so many emails from people that I've signed up for at one point, I was interested in what they were saying. I've signed up for them. Monica, I cannot remember who these people are. I'm like reading your email. There's only copy it sounds like it came right out of Chat GBT. There's no photo there's no like, hey, quick reminder of who I am. Like this is this is my world. This is what I offer. Like none. Do me a favor and remind me who you are. And if you have a brand video in your email signature, all the better because I'm going to watch it once. I'm never going to forget who you are like your name is going to be now attached to a story that I'm going to remember because science tells us we remember stories so much more than anything else.
Monica Pitts 14:47
100%
Mariana Henninger 14:49
just like don't let alone just a name right attached to words that sound like they came out of AI
Monica Pitts 14:57
I feel like I should do a whole episode just on what you put in your email signature because I can't tell you how many emails I get that don't even have contact information in the email signature. And I'm like, Oh my gosh, I need to call you and I and you've got a Gmail address. And I like how I'm literally combing through like, the armpit of Google trying to find this human. And it's just so painful. Okay, so we need to have an email signature.
Mariana Henninger 15:24
That's how far I've gotten. Number one, we're putting it in our email signature, we're pushing through. All right, the second one is pinned on your social media profile. It's the it's the video that people should see if they're finding you on Instagram. I don't know if you can pin things on LinkedIn or on Pinterest, if you can pin to the top of your, wherever you can pin something. So that folks watch that thing. I don't know about you. But when I go to somebody's Instagram account, I watch the pin thing, or I see the pin thing because I'm like, this is curated for me like it's meant to see this. So I'm going to, I'm going to take some time and kind of so your your brand video should live right there, it is the thing that people should see if they land on your social. The third place that you live is in your lead magnet. So let's say somebody you know, signs up for your lead magnet, maybe they're going to be less free, they will less frequently open your email sequences after that. But if you can get them where you download your lead magnet, if you're looking at the PDF, it's it should be linked right there like any anywhere that you talk about yourself. Like if there's an about me, that should live in your lead magnet. That's where your brand video will be linked as well, we're embedded even better. And then two more spots. on your homepage, ideally above the fold. This is where people are getting to know you this is if your website and you're the expert on this. This is if your website has kind of you as front and center, if you are the face of your brand. If you have you know that the big picture that a lot of folks are doing at the top of the fold. Consider having your brand video there instead, or just below the fold anyway. So you're you're you're really talking about your expertise about your story, why you if that's how your page is built, your brand video should live pretty close to the top, and then your sales page, it shouldn't live close to the top. As much as like your offer, it's your still do sales page is still about your offer. But in the part where you kind of justify why we should learn from you. Brand video goes there as well. So this is a little bit of a secondary spot in honesty, because hopefully you've built that trust already. Hopefully they've already watched your brand video, by the time they get to your sales page. But just in case you're getting, you know, that cold cold audience coming in to your sales page, they'll have the opportunity to be like, Oh, okay, now I know who's behind this, like, now I get like I vibe with this person. I like them. I like what they're doing here.
Monica Pitts 17:56
Yeah, cuz you want to make sure that when I when I think about hiring someone to build the website for you, I think you're basically hiring a contractor. Right? You're hiring an employee, you're hiring a person that you have to spend time with that you're going to be able to trust taking you through the process was kind of a big decision, you want to make sure that they don't like that they drive with you. You don't want to hang out with somebody who sucks on a regular basis. That's not any fun, right? And so it's like that with about any service though. Even your accountant, like it stinks when you don't like your accountant, because they're not only delivering you bad news in the form of the fact that you have to pay these bills to the IRS. You're also like, Oh, I gotta call this guy, you know, like,
Mariana Henninger 18:40
I know.
Monica Pitts 18:40
yeah, we don't.
Mariana Henninger 18:42
Like can you imagine like going to a dentist that you don't like? Like, it's already unpleasant? Yeah. But I would say I mean, that applies to the pleasant and the fun and the, you know, in what experience? Do you not want to work with somebody that you like? Yeah, right. Yeah. And we can we have so many people at our fingertips who are offering services, like more and more. I mean, I don't know how many coaches come into the online space every single day, I would venture to say 500,000. Like, right.
Monica Pitts 19:12
So crazy.
Mariana Henninger 19:14
I mean, the idea that you have a differentiation tool that is going to work to set you apart from day one, from the moment somebody is exposed to you. However, they're exposed to you whether they saw comment in a Facebook group, like as simple as that, or they did see your ad or they landed on your page or your recommender, whatever the case may be the second they land on you, if you can guarantee that they're never going to see the same way again, that they're going to remember who you are, that they're going to be attached to you because of your story. It's kind of a no brainer, right? Especially in the sea of offers.
Monica Pitts 19:52
Yeah. Because you want to attract people to you that are like you that you would also enjoy working with. And that's like the reciprical awesomeness of doing business with cool people that are like you. So you're gonna put this video on your email.
Mariana Henninger 20:06
That's a good one. It's not just people do business with people, it's like, people want to do business with cool people, people that they resonate with. And you're also doing them a service to your point earlier, the fact that I'm not spending time having to get to know you over the microdosing, you know, system that you've set up, like I you're speeding up my decision process, so thank you, right, like I'm getting to know Monica, from the get go through one video, I don't have to spend time getting to know you by hopefully having the algorithm serve your content for me on Instagram, you know, and hopefully catching your email in my inbox, or hopefully having time to read that email when it comes to, you know, like you are doing me a service by knowing very early on, whether you are the kind of if you're my cold person, if you're the kind of person that I want to work with.
Monica Pitts 20:58
Yeah, and I think that there'll be less likely to delete your emails when you know who they are. Because there's people that I follow for a really long time, and they send me lots of emails, especially when they're in a sales cycle, but I don't like yes, I delete some of those emails. But I'm always thankful that they keep coming into my inbox because I know this person, and I want to have a relationship with them. Okay, so I have to recap the five places and then I really have to know like, what actually goes into a brand video. So first friends, you're going to put it in your email signature, your social profiles, anyplace you can pin in your lead magnet, especially in the about section on your homepage above the fold, if you can, and then on your sales page, for sure. But below your offering, and what are we putting in the video?
Mariana Henninger 21:44
What is it? I feel like I answered that question like a politician, I was just like, This is what it is. Very high level. Okay, so brand video is gonna tell your core story. The parts of your course I always like messed it up, it's going to tell the parts of your core story that resonate with your audience. So super important that you know what resonates with your audience. If you're really early on in business, this is going to be harder to kind of identify the parts of your story that you know, folks, go, oh, man, oh my gosh, that was me. I'm thinking of like coaches and stuff. If you're a service provider, like you do websites, then it's it's more about, like what drives you. It's your personality, your values, your mission, your mission is to help someone do something. So that kind of comes at the end. But those are the things that are going to permeate that brand video, it looks a little bit different. Again, depending on what your offer is, if you're a coach, that usually tends to be the personal story that you went through and conquered and can now help other folks with in my case, you know, my personal story is in documentary filmmaking. So I talked about my brand video is currently in edit, by the way. So the cobbler will have shoes in you know, very, very soon. Is that I don't even know if I mess up that expression. It is right. The issue.
Monica Pitts 23:02
The cobblers, Cobblers children's shoes. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, I understand what you mean. Like, way too long. And I don't have a shoe. Yeah, no, no, I get it. Like there's times where I look at my own website. Not right now. Because I've invested a lot of energy in my website last year. But like, in previous years, I look at it and I go, Who is this? Who is this company? On this website? It can't be me. And I always tell people that like it just it cycles. And yeah, and it happens. And at the end of the life of your website, it's gonna happen. And even I bet with your brand video, your story is going to evolve and change, and you'll figure out what resonates. And you'll have to make a new one. And it's okay. Every now and again, right,
Mariana Henninger 23:48
Exactly. I mean, it's in the same way, like people renew their course they renew their sales page, like it's a constant evolution. So super great point, every, you know, maybe two, three years, depending on how I will say this, the good brand video is quite evergreen, which means that you are not selling a specific offer on your video. This is not a promotional piece of content. Like this is the story of Monica and truth be told, like the story of Monica, you might you might add some you might learn over time that something about your story resonates with your audience that you didn't know before. So you might want to add that back in. But at the end of the day, it is something that you can use for quite a while, unless you pivot your business, you know, quite a bit, in which case like, in general, your, you know, the parts of your story that you want to tell are gonna pivot as well. But, but yeah, that's that's actually a really good point in that you're not tying this video to a specific offer. Nope. This is the story of you. What parts of it resonate with your audience. Let me bring it in a way that's emotionally compelling and visually compelling. So this is also an important point. In terms of the framework, you're gonna first define your core story, again, what are the parts, you write out your entire story, and then you kind of you, you whittle it down to the parts that you know, resonate with your audience. The second part is, the second step of my framework is identifying what compelling visuals you can use. Now, for most of us, if we're an online entrepreneur, guess what we're doing all day, or when we're not at the beach, sipping margaritas, we're in front of a laptop, right? That's not a compelling visual, they'll work for a few things, maybe like a quick Instagram reel of behind the scenes. But what I help folks with is really identifying opportunities for compelling visuals that will illustrate your story in a way that's really creative. And so I've, I've done this with documentaries my whole life, oftentimes, I am talking about somebody's past, or I am helping them or they're going to talk about like something emotional that they went through, you know, or, or emotions that they're feeling today, I can't have them on camera for 10 minutes talking about this, right, or even five or even one minute, you want to be able to, like illustrate this. Sometimes with nature, sometimes with water or, or maybe it's a scene in which the person is swimming. And that's how they're like illustrating a struggle. You know, there's so many ways to like, create compelling visuals, that will, again, really keep your audience engaged throughout the whole thing. The idea of the brand video is that you're taking them on an emotional journey. And I know it sounds cliche to say that, but it's, but it's a core concept of storytelling, that is going to be valid for all of time, right. And what that means is, they're hooked from the beginning. And they're going along that journey with you, they're feeling the things with you, the more you can get your audience to feel with you, the closer they'll feel at the end of the video to you, right, again, they're not tied to your offer there, they're gonna be, they're gonna be so much more hesitant to ever hit unsubscribe, because like, now I know who Monica is, she's my friend. She's never met me. But now I know who she is. And I resonate with what she went through, I get what she stands for, I get what our mission is like, I'm connected to this person emotionally. And again, they'll never see you in the same way again, after watching a brand video.
Monica Pitts 27:21
So it sounds like we we start off with like our core story. And then you said make the whole thing. And then you whittle it down to the most resonating to the things that resonate the best with your audience. And then from there, you're going to pair that story with compelling visuals. And you don't just have to sit and face the camera, which I think will actually make people feel a lot better, especially like my nonprofit audience, because they don't always have the same people. They don't always have the same Executive Director, they don't always have the same development officer. And bigger companies. They don't either, right. And so having key individuals that might be able to tell part of the story, and then being able to show like what I guess I would call it called B roll of whatever way that is, and I love how you said it could be nature. But it could be anything like just that makes you feel a certain way. And then that kind of guides them through the story. I can imagine that you pop back into their face every now and again those that way. Sure. Sure. Sure. That's there. Yeah. And then when you wrap up your brand video white with your framework, how does that go? Because it's not a pitch. So the pitch, you're just like, so we're friends now.
Mariana Henninger 28:44
Click here to buy
Monica Pitts 28:46
What's your call to action? Because like, I feel like it has to have one or maybe I just restate my thesis? I don't know.
Mariana Henninger 28:51
Yeah, exactly. Well, that your your your hearts in the right direction. So we don't want to break that intimacy that we've just created by being like, Hey, by now, like, you're you're going to talk about your offer in a way that is stated as your mission. You know, the thing that you're doing now, is what you've hopefully been compelled to do by your own heart, right? Ideally, we're all choosing to be entrepreneurs, because we love the thing that we've chosen to do. And so you're going to naturally talk about it. And in the same way that you are having coffee with a friend or you're even better you're like in their living room, sharing your life story and they're asking you questions and you're just in this moment of intimacy. You really do not want to break that with the sales card. Like trust the process, you are building the relationship you're building the trust it they they will naturally follow through once again, you're still doing your job of showing up you're still doing your emails, you're still doing your content on social media, what I'm betting on and case studies are about to come through. But what I'm betting on is that that sales cycle is going to be a lot faster because of your brand video. And I mean, the reason I'm betting on this is because the science is there. Like the brand video is just a crystallized, material manifestation of everything we know about marketing, we know that emotion sells, we know that connection, builds trust faster. And, but we just haven't been tapping into how to do that in one single video, we microdose our audience, and we wait for months. And so there's no call to action at the end of it, just like you wouldn't have a call to action. If you were chatting with your friend and you know, getting to know each other.
Monica Pitts 30:41
I think that's okay. Like, I just, it feels like every marketing, something or another always has this call to action. But I really love how you said that your purpose is going to come through in the way that you talk about what you do, because what you do is your mission. And really, that's what the podcast is all about. Finding marketing with purpose is about marketing with a heart of service, like the and that's why it encompasses nonprofits as well. Because if you are a business that runs with a heart of service, you're always going to have followers and you're always going to have raving fans because you put your people first, right. And that's what nonprofits are so incredibly good at. And then I tried to get them to think like businesses so that way, they can make enough money to serve more people. But hey, sometimes they listen. And sometimes they don't, it's okay, keep listening, maybe I'll turn you around to the dark side. It's not the dark side, it's the light side.
Mariana Henninger 31:38
It's not it's the sustainable side, it's like, let's bring more money to your cause side, let's help more people side, you know, let's like if you if you do, I'm gonna do your hair, Monica, I'll do some of this work. Let me convince your folks, if you're looking at yourself as a business, like businesses are great, like think of the business as something that's offering you something that's going to make your life better, you know, and so you shouldn't be doing it, you should be doing more of it, you should be doing whatever you can to accelerate that process. So more people know how to find you build that trust with you faster, and ultimately get the results that they need. And if that result is knowing that they're helping somebody else, all the better. You know, I can I just take a quick detour, I have my own personal story. Yeah, I have been in love with nonprofits my entire life. In fact, like when I was, you know, considering this career pivot, I knew, one of the big things on top of my mind was like, Okay, I'm only going to work for nonprofits, I'm only going to do video for nonprofits. It's been in my heart for a long time. I have worked with nonprofits before, I was in the like, very deep news world. And I realized, I can't even pinpoint who sort of made me have this realization, I think it was just like a combination of many different people I was listening to at the time, that the way that I'm going to, I'm going to personally have the most impact is by making a ton of money, and then supporting the boots on the ground and supporting the people that whose work and mission I care about. And the reason I'm saying this is because I truly believe in building businesses, whether I'm doing it for myself so that I can support others, or whether you're the person who needs the support. And you need to look at your systems. And you need to look at your messaging and your awareness and your marketing. Because the more that you funnel in, the more you're going to impact you're going to have it's kind of it's easy math, you we all need the money. You need nonprofits need the money to do their work.
Monica Pitts 33:43
Yes. And so great businesses run with the heart of a nonprofit and great nonprofits run with the systems and processes of a business.
Mariana Henninger 33:53
I love that. Did you just come up with?
Monica Pitts 33:56
I know Nope. That's a weird mantra for a long time. But one thing I was gonna bring up so I think friends that like now that you've described what a brand video is, to me, I think I've been seeing it in commercials for a while. I just didn't know it. Because even just the other day, my husband watches so much golf. I actually think it's better when he watches golf and when my kids have some Disney show on because then I don't get distracted by the television. But I was like sitting down and I watched this to now go Yeah, well it is. Yes, because I can read my book to golf and it doesn't distract me. So um, so the commercial was for a specific brand of golf ball. But it was people having fun people doing this and this and it was just people playing golf and it was all just a storyline, you know, all different people. And then at the end, you just like see the golf ball, like, kind of go pass and I was like, huh, that was a commercial about a golf ball. But it was all about this story about people bonding through golf and then a golf ball. And I was like, huh, so they didn't even after telling me I needed to go buy this golf ball, it was implied. And I was like, oh, wait a second, I think there was a brand video.
Mariana Henninger 35:08
Right?
Monica Pitts 35:08
Like, I don't even know humans. Well, it didn't have as good of a backstory, but it had a story. So yeah, maybe it's not a brand video.
Mariana Henninger 35:15
So well, in the video world, we call that like branded content. So it's when you take like, documentary style storytelling. And, in general, depending on I mean, this is where the lines are super fuzzy. But some businesses, I would say very few businesses kind of stick to the person's like, real story in a way that a purely documentary filmmaker would tell it, although that's also very blurry. And then others will take their story and kind of script it. So there's, there's some scripting there, that's what I'm guessing happened with your with your golf commercial there. So in the in the in the video, as we call that branded content, but the idea is the same, the idea is that you're leading with story. And people are connecting through the story. And they happen to realize that there's an offer behind it. So in very similar way, that's how your brand video should be built in that you're differently in the way that you're not like manipulating your story, but you're choosing the parts of your story that you know, are effective for your audience that you know, folks will react to, that they'll feel emotionally connected to. And then at the very end, this sort of golf pot golf ball appears in the background, you know, where they realize like, Oh, she has something to sell website can be like sitting in, there's like a neon sign in the background.
Monica Pitts 36:38
So he is a brand video something that entrepreneurs nonprofits like, can they make it for themselves? Or is it something that they need to hire a professional to do?
Mariana Henninger 36:51
That's a great question. So the way that I've sort of structured my, my program is that there is a done, do it yourself option. I will not lie, it is hard. And I'll tell you, the hardest part is not even executing on the video or executing on the edit. It's understanding how to tell your own story. So for certain folks that are further along in their business that are used to telling their own story. For example, I have a client who has a podcast and so she knows when people write back, and because they've heard certain parts of your story that she gets an immense reaction from she told me like, there's so many times when I hear back from people, and they're reacting to things that I never thought they would react to, you know, that happens all the time. Right? So the idea, right, so the idea that you know, which parts of your story to focus on, that's almost the hardest part. So if if you if that is not a barrier to entry for you. And second sort of challenge in doing it yourself, is the time as with most things, right? If you want to learn how to do everything yourself, give yourself a lot of time, and then you're taking time away from operating your business from raising money from doing all of the other parts of your business that you need to do. And so that's that's another factor to take in. You know, in my program, I will teach you the basics of how to film it yourself. Some of it, you'll film yourself with like a, an iPhone tripod, like I have here. Other parts. Ideally, you'll have a partner that can film you. And then here's how to a basic edit for a brand video could look like. But once again, it sort of depends on where you want to land, you can do it all yourself or you can have like different sort of the elite tier of the program is I connect you with like a vetted cinematographer. So I work with documentary cinematographers, I have a huge network. And I really pick and choose people that are perfect for your story. And in your geographical location, you're ideally unless you live very far away from an urban center, you're not paying for like accommodation or transportation, I try to find somebody local to you. And then editing team. So this is where you can also offload that to my editing team. But in this case, we only work with editing your, your brand video, if you've worked with a professional cinematographer, because it is a lot harder to edit if you don't have a variety of footage if it's not filmed super well. But I'll tell you this, regardless of how you decide to do it, just do it. Like I want to see every single entrepreneur with a brand video like I believe in this so much and it makes me crazy every day I wake up and that mine isn't ready yet. And people are not using this tool like I again, it's almost a disservice to me and to your audience, that we don't have a way to get to know you faster. And so however you decide to do it, just do it.
Monica Pitts 39:50
Something is better than nothing. And you also have to remember that you are where you are. And so if you're a brand new business that has a very low marketing budget, but you need to be able to connect with people and tell your story then by all means you can do anything from have an intern or your son or daughter or like, there's all kinds of programs because I'm in like a university town where you could go work with students that might help you get it done, right, or Fiverr. Yeah, all kinds of spots. And there's all kinds of different, like things that you can try to even use your phone to build. And sometimes that's where people need to start. And that's okay. Like, now they understand what it is and the basic framework and where they can use it. And then when they are, like better up and running. Because if you are a fortune 500 company, and people go to your website, and you have a brand video that looks like, you know, a sixth grade science project, and I have a sixth grader and I just saw her science project, okay, friends. You're not You're not, you're not presenting yourself as who you are like, right? So the little guys, don't be embarrassed about being little, it's okay. But then when you get when you've arrived, you need to invest I think and having a professional appearance, which is always where like, I go, and I'll look at somebody's program, and I'm like, Oh, wow, this is really expensive. And then I think I should really call them because I should really make the sales page look really good for them. I want to be so good. I want people to know how good they are. Right?
Mariana Henninger 41:26
Exactly, yeah
Monica Pitts 41:27
Okay, any last thing that you want to tell people about brand videos before we wrap up?
Mariana Henninger 41:35
I think I've like driven it home, I really truly believe this is an incredible tool for your audience for your business. Again, it's it's a win win in that it will serve you in your sales cycle. And to bring that trust a lot faster to to shorten that sales cycle. But it's also a service that you're doing to your audience to help them get to know you better, like stop hiding behind your offer. Stop hiding behind giving value. I truly believe that you lead with value, but then immediately thereafter, talk about you show them who you are. It's one piece of video that you can create. And then and then you live your life and your business grows because of it. Because people have now gotten to know you better. And so it's I'm super passionate about it clearly.
Monica Pitts 42:22
I feel like I need one. Now, I was just thinking this could be another thing that I add to the summer's list of to dues that maybe could get done. Maybe I should definitely start shooting B roll for it though. That would be really fun.
Mariana Henninger 42:37
Oh, that's a that's a great thing for people to keep in mind. Like, document your story. Even if you think it's boring. You know, record those moments record that exciting thing that you're doing in your business today record that sale that you made, you know that the case study the the client that you met in real life, like those are all visuals that you can use in your brand video one day,
Monica Pitts 42:59
and then save them so you can find them. Like put them in their own folder in your iPhone or you will never find them back.
Mariana Henninger 43:08
Absolutely, yes. An organized system goes a long way in every area of your business. This is no different.
Monica Pitts 43:14
Yes. Well, where can people go to learn more about you and your business?
Mariana Henninger 43:18
Yeah, definitely. So brandmagnetic.com is my business. If you land on that page, you'll get my, my freebie sort of offered to you, which is the brand video Starter Guide. I am not a multiple times a week, emailing person. I am like, actually my open rates are amazing. I was looking at them the other day. I'm like, D**n this people open. Well, I'm not supposed to say a bad word. I'm sorry.
Monica Pitts 43:42
You're good.
Mariana Henninger 43:44
That one slipped through. Sorry, Monica. But I sent an email I kid you not Friday at 5pm because that's how delinquent I was that week. And then my open rate was still like nearly 70% I'm like, that's like it. Get it that is I do keep them fun. It is the furthest thing from a chat GBT email you'll ever get. How's that?
Monica Pitts 44:05
That perfect? I love that. I actually yeah, I'm not even gonna get started on some of the content that I get submitted for our website. I am like, this is the exact same article that you submitted to me last week with a different title on it. I can't send that to people give me the answer. I want the answer. Not just another generalized chat GBT like output of how to market because like, people can get that anywhere. Hey, but you know what, they can't get anywhere. Awesome advice about how to get a brand video that will help people get to know them faster, and sell more quickly. So thank you so much for coming and hanging out with us. And okay, everybody else. Thank you so much for joining us. And until next time, you know just what to do. Go forth and market with purpose to get a copy of the show notes and all those links that we just heard from our guests, head on over to Mayecreate.com, mayecreate.com. And of course, I have to tell you the things that all podcasters are supposed to tell you at the end of your episode. Like, if you thought this was awesome, you could subscribe. And then I would like get to tell you when I have new stuff for you to learn a new episode, new people to meet new stories to tell. And of course, I would really love it if you left your review. So head on over to Mayecreate.com for those show notes, mayecreate.com. Or maybe even contact my team about building that next website. We can do it for you. And we even have our better than DIY website program that teaches you to plan and build your own website. So head on over to May create.com ma yecreat.com. I'll meet you over there.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
