Secrets of Video Marketing – 5 Case Studies

Businesses of any kind or size can use video to grow their brand. Not enough small and medium-sized businesses take advantage of it, though. It’s not just large brands with money to throw around that can find success with online video. I’m proof that this could not be further from the truth because I took my YouTube channel, Eskify, from zero to nearly 500,000 subscribers on a shoestring.

Everyone has the ability to produce video content of their own. Every laptop and smartphone has a microphone and camera. Video editing software can be found cheaply online. The barrier to entry is far lower than it has ever been. It’s no wonder an estimated 3.7 million new videos are uploaded to YouTube every day. That doesn’t even take into account video content published on platforms like TikTok and Instagram.

Businesses of all sizes are among the countless video producers. However, with all that competition, only a handful of companies are able to cut through the noise. But luck plays less of a role than you might assume.

In this post I’ll examine five success stories. Five very different brands who use video marketing to reach their market, build their brand and connect with their community. I find it helps to see all successful content creators as case studies that contain valuable lessons for small businesses.

5: Andertons

A big production budget is not needed to reach an online audience. In fact, it often helps if your videos are a little more raw and not over-produced. A good example of this is Andertons, a relatively small musical instrument store in Guildford. Thanks to their presence on YouTube, they have been able to reach tens of millions of people. The premise of their content is simple – they review instruments that are sold in their store. This includes fun videos where they re-create guitar tunes used by famous bands.

All the guitars, amps, and effects pedals featured in the video are available to buy on the Andertons website of course. So as their audience grew, so did the business driven to their website. As a result, this family business now has online sales of around 40 million US dollars per year. With more than 300 million views on their YouTube channel, it’s fair to say their video marketing strategy has played a considerable part in their expansion. They have even won awards naming Andertons the best brand for online engagement.

The most impressive thing is that Andertons started their YouTube channel back in 2007, showing they were way ahead of the curve when it came to video content strategy. But I want to stress again that what they are doing can essentially be copied by any retail business. It’s not terribly expensive. Time and creativity are the true cost, but those are the two things worth investing in.

4: Hubspot

Given that video hosting is a key part of Hubspot’s service model, it’s no surprise they have a strong video presence of their own. But even so, as a B2B brand, it just goes to show that any business model can benefit from video content. The best way to see what Hubspot does right in video is simply to look at their YouTube channels. There is the corporate channel where you can watch tutorials on using their software, as well as feature updates.

They also have a much larger channel focusing on evergreen marketing content, and a burgeoning podcast network. The marketing channel has simple and straight forward videos on everything from AI to SEO or WebDev.

The lesson here is that you don’t always have to choose between evergreen or topic-specific content. There is a place for both, and both are equally valuable. Evergreen content almost always does better numbers-wise, but focused content like tutorials can build long term trust between a brand and consumers. Evergreen is wide and shallow, whereas specific is narrow but deep.

Their marketing channel draws people in and has helped to establish Hubspot as a premier name in the industry. Once prospective new clients are hooked by the focused content, the corporate Hubspot channel is ready and waiting to deepen their relationship with the brand. Used in tandem, this slow burn strategy frequently converts to sales. So, for a masterclass on how both can be used effectively at the same time, look no further than Hubspot.

3: Vat19

A similar story to that of Andertons, Vat19 is an ecommerce powerhouse that built it’s business almost exclusively through video marketing. From the outside this brand looks almost tailor-made to go viral. It’s an online retail store, but the products they sell are truly bizarre. It’s the perfect place to buy fun gifts, and is full of things you would never even guess existed. Things like bacon flavoured soda or a pack of playing cards 10 times their normal size.

Founded just one year after YouTube, it’s founders were early adopters of the platform. They understood that the naturally intriguing nature of their business would be a feature – their products are connected only in their strangeness. So they simply began doing product reviews. Straight forward explenations of products tend to be overly dry. It’s not the most effective way to start. But since the products on Vat19 are unique and interesting in their own right, it was a no brainer. Add some catchy titles and thumbnails into the mix and you have the makings of something quite lucrative. The first video to blow up featured the founder attempting to eat the world’s largest gummy worm. From there, the hits continued and today Vat19 has more than 9 million subscribers on YouTube.

2: LEGO

As the largest corporation in Denmark, and the world’s largest toy company, LEGO has vast cultural cachet. It is no wonder there are best selling video games and movies contained within the LEGO brand, so LEGO has always been low hanging fruit when it comes to viral marketing. One of the first songs by the White Stripes that gained mainstream attention did so partly because it’s music video was a LEGO animation. Countless YouTubers too have gone viral with the clever use of LEGO bricks. But what I really want to spotlight is the official content from the brand itself.

Realising they don’t need to do anything too unexpected, LEGO have their own YouTube channel where they upload some pretty straight forward content. Drawing on the success of LEGO movies, entire animated shows can be viewed for free on their channel, and kids and adults alike love it. At the time of writing, the LEGO YouTube channel has more than 20 billion views. To put this in perspective, Coca-Cola, another brand famous for it’s video marketing, has less than 5 billion.

1: GoPro

User generated content is the holy grail of online marketing, especially for certain business models. A simple example would be clothing companies encouraging their customers to wear their clothing on instagram. If done right, it costs virtually nothing and boosts brand awareness passively. If you want a masterclass on user generated content, GoPro is the best place to look. One of many brands in it’s industry, GoPro has dominated the competition through it’s viral efforts.

Putting their own spin on the sponsorship model used by RedBull, they collaborate with athletes across the world in return for incredible first person footage. This could be anything from skydiving to skiing, or racecar driving. As the footage of these world class athletes inevitably often goes viral, viewers can see with their own eyes how good GoPro cameras are. But it’s not just for professionals. GoPro also encourages users to send in their own recordings, offering the chance to appear on their official YouTube video. Visit their channel and you will see their most viewed video has more than 220 million views. Not bad considering it’s essentially an advertisment.

Not all video content is created equal

Quality over quantity has always been my approach, and it works. When I began making video it was already an extremely cluttered space. Yet through careful planning and determination I slowly built an online following. If I can do it, so can you. The first step is accepting that truth. The second is to create and continue publishing consistently.

Important lessons can be learned from examining brands that already have a successful video marketing presence. Some brands have largely been built on video marketing alone. Others were already established and used video to increase market share. I have one one final lesson for you though. When you need help, talk to someone who’s already been there.

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