How do you build a memorable marketing campaign when you're a mid-market company without an agency-of-record (AOR)? Where do you start? How do you establish consistency across all of your marketing channels and make sure there's a unifying brand voice? With so many places to potentially reach your audience it can be overwhelming to remain competitive. On top of that, you may have limited resources and you have to make a difference this quarter not next year.

The answer is: start with a video. In this article, I'll explain how an expertly made video can serve as your brand's overall marketing campaign template – and how to leverage the video cross-channel with a consistent brand look and feel.

Brand consistency: Why video is the best place to start when developing a campaign

Think about the most successful marketing campaign you've ever seen.

Got it?

I bet you're thinking of a TV commercial, online video or maybe even a Super Bowl spot.

Most of the advertising campaigns that we as humans collectively hold in high regard revolve around videos. While there may be the occasional exception, it holds true about 80% of the time. So if video is the most memorable aspect of a big-budget marketing campaign, why are you starting your campaign plan with anything else? Why is video one of the last items you think of? Video shouldn't be the thing that's added onto your new website, you should start with a video and then give it to your web developers so they can capture your brand's essence in their UI/UX.

If you start with video, you're guaranteeing that all of your marketing assets, across all of your channels, sync up with your brand's most sharable and publicly seen asset: the video. You can lift copy from the video to make headlines for your website, use screengrabs from the video as images on your website and in presentations, and your sales team will be able to explain your positioning, features and benefits, and reasons-to-believe (RTBs) by just thinking of your video.

Now, obviously, there are ways to craft an effective marketing campaign without starting with a video. But I'd argue that none of them are as fast and cost effective, especially when you're a mid-market company without a huge budget. I summarize the other benefit you get from starting with video in the next section.

Gaining alignment amongst corporate stakeholders through video marketing strategy

Another reason why you should start with video when developing your next marketing campaign is that the process of fleshing out the concept for the video is a great branding and messaging exercise. Why? Because there's no single asset your brand will develop that requires as many clear strategic and creative decisions as the video. Here's a short list of the things you'll have to contemplate through the process:

• What are your key features and benefits?
• What are your key reasons to believe (RTBs)?
• What is your tone of voice for your copy?
• How is the brand portrayed through graphics?
• What music best fits your brand's vibe?
• What are the significant few points that will make someone want to buy from you?
• What's your brand's positioning statement?

Because a marketing video is inherently short form (typically under 2 minutes), the process of making one forces these very important messaging decisions to the forefront because you have limited time to work with. You can't say everything. You can't make a document with 20 bullet points. You have to distill your message into the fewest, most effective and meaningful words and images as possible. This forces alignment between corporate, marketing, and sales leadership. It makes people get in a room and approve creative decisions that could take months or even years to make. And because it's just one asset, leaders are more apt to make decisions because it doesn't feel all-encompassing.

Stop thinking of the video at the end of the long tail, but as the start of the tail. Your sales and marketing materials can look really slick and well thought out when they ladder back to a video that's acting as your flag bearer in the marketplace. You will look like you've thought of everything.