Why use video in your behaviour change campaigns?

Overlooking video as a marketing tactic in behaviour change campaigns is a common agency trend. Agencies see video as costly and time-consuming compared to the comparative ease of regular social media communications.
However, we’d recommend including video in your behaviour change marketing. We are, of course, biased to video but we’ve also helped drive change through the videos we’ve created. We’ve seen the first hand impact a behaviour change campaign can have.
Firstly, what is behaviour change marketing? And what are some examples?
Behaviour change marketing or social marketing brings together psychology and sociology through communications. Focusing on influencing the target audience to create a positive change in behaviour is the primary aim.
We’ve been using the power of video to drive behavioural change for longer than you think. Depending on your age, one of the classic campaigns that scared us as children (it still popped up in the 80s) was the safety message around sparklers (anyone else still scared to hold one?).
Slightly less scary but just as impactful was the more recent THINK King of the Road hedgehogs:
And you can see from these examples that behaviour change marketing is focused on what we consider the normal way of doing things and why perhaps that needs to change.
How can video have an impact on behaviour change?
Although video production can be perceived as costly, it remains an essential component of impactful large-scale behaviour change campaigns. However, the good news is that even on a regional scale, videos can evoke genuine emotional responses from the audience, all while being mindful of budget constraints.
Video brings together more of our senses than just plain text or static images. We know a picture is worth a thousand words but there are some that say video is worth a million. And a million words turned into a live-action or animated story can engage us more than a piece of paper. We’re not saying that a behaviour change campaign should focus on video alone, but starting with video can more easily and effectively demonstrate good and bad behaviours. And why we should change them.
Not only that, but with us increasingly connected to our devices, some are arguing that our phones are an extension of ourselves. And when we see a story on our phones, we are becoming more and more likely to sit up and take note. Combined with other points of targeted marketing, video can be the lynchpin of a behaviour change campaign. And when used effectively can serve as a powerful tool for encouraging behaviour change. Here are some strategies that can enhance its impact:
- An asset day approach to filming footage can create multiple videos on one message.
- Or, a planned storyboard approach can enable multiple shorter snippets from one main video. Increasing repeatable video-based communications across channels.
- There is evidence to show that a video viewed on your mobile phone feels more tangible than that on a big screen. Combining multiple senses through one channel.
- Video, and video advertising, allows communications to be targeted to the audience. The days of ‘mass marketing’ are truly over but it allows a message to be shown to a defined audience that need to change behaviour.
- Few things are more powerful than combining words and moving images to engage an audience.
How to create an effective video for behaviour change marketing
We had the opportunity to create such a video for Staffordshire Police. Taking the time to work together on the concept was key. We knew that a generic or typical story with a crime being committed wouldn’t necessarily have the emotive engagement needed to drive behaviour change.
Instead, we wanted to focus on a character that could be any man we all know. And how that man would be devastated by the subsequent fall-out if he was reported for violence against women and girls regardless of whether a crime was committed.
We purposefully designed a story that multiple people could identify with and feel uncomfortable at the end. The discomfort focussed on ‘it could be someone you know’. The central character was a male between 20-30 who could be a colleague, a brother and a son. The reaction from his colleagues and his mother was key to creating emotions. It isn’t just empathy for the victim we need to feel, to change behaviour, we need to understand the impact circles created when this happens.
Ultimately, how the video would be received on multiple platforms was important. It had to work across a range of channels, but we needed it to prompt a stop in scrolling on social media. Focusing on portrait videos made the end result feel more natural for mobile.
The best way to explain the emotion we wanted to create and the start of behaviour change is simply to watch:
What did you feel?
If you felt anything from watching the video then we have successfully created a video that will help behaviour change. You might have felt uncomfortable, distressed, sad, angry or a whole other range of emotions. We hope you took something from the video.
Combining feeling with marketing metrics
For Staffordshire Police, there have been over 551 views of the video on YouTube. 10,000 plus views on Facebook alongside 100 reactions and comments. Those results show the impact that a campaign can have, even at a regional level.
If you’re working on a behaviour change campaign, we can help you create a concept and story that connects. Talk to Chris on 0800 711 7373 or email chris@humanoid.uk for a creative discussion.