Don’t Create Like Big Brands 🤦🏼

I know your thinking, well wouldn't I want to follow in their footsteps? 🤷🏻‍♂️

Well, for example let’s take the big daddy brands like John Lewis, Coca-Cola, and McDonalds 🍟

Brands that many would consider to be at the top of their game, and invest millions into the promotion of their brand online. The average consumer would have seen at least one, if not all, of these adverts over the last 12 months. They’re impressive. Their visuals are second to none, and their stories are incredible.

But let's dive in and see why you don’t want to use them as inspiration for your next video marketing campaign 📈

1) They play it safe 🙅🏻‍♂️

The established players have the upper hand over you.

They’ve already established themselves with a strong foot in the market, so much so that most everyday consumers will be aware of their products, and services. So, on that note they know already whatever they do will have a bigger impact that your SMB will.

They don’t need to reinvent the wheel and aggressively market like you do. Instead, they can continue to play it safe and let word of mouth passively promote their new product launches or services.

Unlike you, they can comfortably play it safe.

2) They have larger budgets than you 💰

To be candid, they have much more money than you to play with. Right?

In my experience, in most of the 150+ businesses I’ve worked with over the last ten years, their marketing team have curled up into a ball after receiving a quote to create a completely bespoke video for £10,000.

Whilst most businesses operate with a small marketing budget of between 3-7% of their revenue (I know right, what's this about 🤦🏻‍♂️), for the established players, whilst this is still a small portion of their revenue, this adds up to hundreds of millions for their marketing budget and creative spending. They can afford to create visually incredible, and powerful story-driven videos with premium quality, actors, sets, and all that jazz. But you can’t, and you’ve got to make every penny count.

If you’re aiming to create a John Lewis advert on less than a £7M budget - yes, that’s how much this video costs to make - then you’ve got to have your expectations set in terms of what’s realistic to achieve.

3) They’re market leaders, not start-ups 💪🏻

They aren’t fighting for attention in a competitive market like you.

Most of the time they are at the helm of that market, and the market evolves around the products and services they release.

For you, it’s a completely different story. You'll be fighting to get in the top 1-10% of your given marketplace.

You’re fighting the constant battle of creating content and marketing material that

1. Stands out from the crowd

2. Grabs attention faster than your competitors

3. Offers something more unique than the marketplace competition

4. Positions you as the better alternative

I could 'waffle-bot' on and on... 😂

This means that you can’t afford to spend large amounts of money on general “We’re still here if you need us” content like the established players can comfortably afford to promote.

Instead, here’s what I would be doing if I were the “bossman” of a start-up, regardless of the product, service, or industry:

1) Be bold in my approach: 🤩

I would focus on bold messaging, and bold content for social media and paid advertising. Boldness enables me to stand out and actually get noticed in a feed crowded with generic, done-before fluff. Bold can be many things, but I've often found character is a key component.

2) Stop looking at big brands: 🧐

Big brands are 'amazeballs' but not for inspiration. I don’t have their budgets to work with, and I need to focus on finding uniqueness and creative ways to create content that aligns with my company, not theirs. It's great to 'dream big' and all that...however, let realism drive your inspiration.

3) Employee a full-time videographer: 🎥

With the demand for video heavily increasing, I would hire a full-time, in-house videographer to create always-on content about the business. Consistently creating content that feels authentic and highlights the true personality, plus quirks of my business.

4) Create new styles of content: 🧑🏻‍💻

I’m in the testing phase still, and that means rather than sticking with ‘safe’ done-before content, it’s time for me to push the boundaries and explore every possible content avenue. Podcasts, video adverts, social media series, and the all rest. Invest more into what works, and quickly cut what doesn't to make my marketing game strong.

5) Be hyper-targeted with my audience: 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦

I can’t afford to talk to the general population of consumers. I need to talk directly to my customers and address their pains, their problems, and their desires. But I’d do this in a unique way that sets me apart from my competitors. Perhaps leaning into humour, entertainment, and having an element of playfulness in the early stages.

So, there we have it ...

Following the big brands, and using their large-scale campaigns and videos as inspiration for your next project, with a budget of £5,000 isn’t going to achieve your visions of grandeur. I know this a bit of a butt-hurt, but it's realistic.

Instead, lean into what you can do, right now ⏱️

Uniqueness, boldness, playfulness, and the luxury of testing are areas I'd suggest to make common in your marketing efforts 😎

Breakdown: 📝

1. Established brands play it safe due to their strong market position, but you can’t afford to do that as a start-up, or SMB.

2. Market leaders have significantly larger marketing budgets, making premium content creation easier for them.

3. Top-tier brands don't face the same competitive challenges as startups, so it’s unfair to compare your marketing to theirs.

4. Startups must focus on bold messaging, uniqueness, innovative messaging, and creativity in content creation.

5. Hyper-targeting your audience and experimenting with various content styles are essential strategies for startups with limited budgets.

Q&A

• So, are you ready to start using some of these points above to master your content creation without having to try copy big brands?

• Do you have any pain points I can help you with smoothing out with content creation?

• What do you think you could utilize from creating more hyper-focused content and how would it impact your business?

Whenever you’re ready, here’s how I can help you:

1. Book a {10 MINUTE} Business Power Call with me, to arrange working together to make your social media videos stand out online as I tweak your approach, and analyse how to improve your current video, business strategy or marketing.

2. Don’t have time to create great videos yourself? Focus on your business, whilst we focus on creating the videos that you’ve always dreamed of. Get in touch to find out more.

Until next Friday, love to you all!

My Partner Services
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