Welcome to "3"ā€¦three insights in about three minutes. The pandemic has driven the increased use of video in marketing efforts across the board, and that includes my business as well as Jacob Baldwin's. He's the Director of Corporate Marketing, where he oversees eight brands, that's one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight under the United Grinding North America umbrella. Jacob, when did video jump front and center for you?
Jacob Baldwin: Well, I've always thought that video was a very important platform to use as a marketer, but it really took front and center when our major trade show in 2020 was canceled, IMTS. And at that point, we knew that we had to make a change and pivot, and we invested in video. We created 18 technical videos, machine demonstrations, and you know after we did that, it just really kind of verified the viability of the platform and our ability, honestly, to execute on video projects.
Drew: I spent a decade producing and directing videos, so I inherently understand its value, but you still have to figure out how to leverage video in your own marketplace. How did you address that?
Jacob: Well, Drew, in the very beginning, we started going down the technical path, we used video as a means to convey technical content and show build quality of our machines and operator interfaces and things like that. But the further down the path that we got, we really wanted to figure out how we can help our customers tell their stories and kind of really elevate how some of our customers are overcoming some of their challenges by using our technologies, and that's what we did with our Customer Spotlight Series.
Drew: Making the customer the hero. That is always a good idea, but it can be tricky and come off as self-aggrandising instead of authentically about them. What was your approach?
Jacob: Drew, that's exactly what we tried to do with this video series, is really make it authentic and take our camera crew into the customer's shop and let them tell their own story in their own words and really highlight how using United Grinding technologies has helped them transform their business into what it was before and to what it is today. And in many cases, our customers see this video as a benefit to their own business because it helps them highlight their manufacturing capabilities and the world class technology that they have at the same time.
Drew: Great insights, Jacob! To leverage video, you have to commit to it and make it authentic. "3" is a production of MarketingAccelerator.com. Featured services include Marketing-Focused Roundtables for marketing VPs, directors and managers, as well as business leaders that are spinning the marketing plate. Our Marketing Accelerator community is on your team, not your payroll. I'm Drew Dinkelacker.