Years before I joined Hansen Belyea, I worked for tunnel boring machine (TBM) manufacturer, Robbins, as their Marketing Director. I hired Hansen Belyea to film project case study videos about one of our new products. A new product might not seem like a big deal, but in the tunneling industry, clients are very skeptical to try new things since a misstep can result in a major financial loss on a project. Our newest product line, soft ground TBMs, were succeeding on projects in China. So along with my Robbins colleagues, Ron and I traveled to Chengdu and Xian, China where Ron filmed and I directed this story for Robbins. This was also the first time Ron and I worked together even though Hansen Belyea had done work for Robbins before, and little did either of us know that years later we would become business partners.
In my experience, when I made use of video as a channel, it seemed to be one of the most beneficial marketing pieces to invest in as a company. It was a great way to prove Robbins products in the field. Case study videos are one of the best ways to market for a few different reasons.
More Bang for Your Buck
When Hansen Belyea goes on a video shoot for clients, we gather a lot of footage. Instead of approaching a video project as a way of producing just one video, it isn’t much more of an increase in cost to create a suite of videos. And from that suite of videos, there are more possibilities for how the content can be marketed including across online social channels. For social media we usually suggest videos that are 45 to 90 seconds in length. When you have more of a captive audience, such as on your website or within a sales presentation, longer videos that are 4 to 6 minutes in length are usually more suitable.
Video and Visuals Add Interest
According to statistics gathered by developer and software provider Hubspot, 2021 really was a big year for video. It was the top strategy investment made by marketers and for valid reason. Studies have shown that the brain processes images much faster than text, and as well there is a good majority of people who are visual learners. Through the power of video, people have the ability to learn a bit more about a project than if they were just reading about it.
Measurable Metrics
In my experience during my time with Robbins, the videos shot and created by Hansen Belyea were a huge and measurable success. The video footage provided legitimate tangible evidence to instill a sense of confidence in potential buyers. The new market that I mentioned, helped the company’s sales grow by 100% over the course of three years with the new market accounting for 50% of the company’s sales. And I’ve also found that current and new clients are always interested in learning more about projects that a company has successfully completed as opposed to reading about products.
Photos of Big Tex, boring below the city of Dallas
100 Videos and Counting
Since that video trip in China, Hansen Belyea has filmed over 500 interviews, created 100 videos, in locations spanning 10 countries. Fast forward to present day — Robbins continues to be a client of Hansen Belyea. As their agency partner, Ron and I are currently onsite filming again, this time to capture footage of a Tunneling Boring Machine named Big Tex. Big Tex is special for being the largest boring tunneling machine in America and it is doing meaningful work by providing flood safety to neighborhoods through improved rain drainage. We look forward to sharing the completed footage with everyone in the future.
We love using video as an opportunity to communicate personal stories in a meaningful way. If you are interested in utilizing video to tell your story, let us know because we would love to help.