Out of context, Hero, Hub, Hygiene may seem like an odd – albeit alliterate – collection of words. In reality, it is an incredibly effective means of categorising your content to ensure that all bases are covered. Originally designed by Google to help guide YouTube users, over time it has become a solid video marketing content strategy model across the board. By applying the Hero, Hub, Hygiene video content model, you can better visualise where there may be gaps in your marketing strategy.
The model stipulates that a brand has 3 types of digital video content:
Hero content – The core content piece for bringing attention to your brand.
Hub content – The recurring videos that will keep your loyal customers coming back for more.
Hygiene content – The foundation videos that cover all the other important – albeit often less interesting – aspects of the business.
By applying the principles of a Hero, Hub, Hygiene video content model, you will be helping make sure that all bases are covered. From drawing in new audiences to nurturing the longevity of your current customer relationships to providing all necessary info on your brand.
Without further ado, here is how to utilise each of the 3 content sections and what results you can expect from each:
Hero Content
Let’s start with the top of the Hero, Hub, Hygiene pyramid. Your hero content is the attention-grabbing, wow-factor, blockbuster video designed to make a large impact and show off your brand to the world. Designed to spread brand awareness, they typically cost the most in terms of both time and money. But that shouldn’t be a problem. After all, this is the centrepiece of your campaign strategy.
Given the extra costs involved, hero content is typically released more sporadically – perhaps 1-3 times per year. From a strategic standpoint, it is wise to coincide the release of your hero content with a product launch, brand event or perhaps a significant date in the calendar. This helps your content both benefit from and contribute to the hype surrounding the significant date in question.
As this is the content that will introduce your brand to many new faces, it needs to be a video to remember. This is best achieved through an emotionally driven story and higher value production. Because you are trying to make a large impact and help your hero content reach the widest audience possible, it is wise to distribute it over a range of media channels. This includes social, email and paid search. If your budget allows, you can even extend beyond your online presence and branch into offline channels such as television.
Example
Here is an example of hero content that we created for Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust and their 2019 Smear for Smear campaign:
As you can see from this video, the use of recognised celebrity figures, standout styling and a simple but punchy and emotionally reassuring message help both grab the attention with the viewer and have the message stick in their memory. The video was released in conjunction with Cervical Cancer Prevention Week and was distributed across a number of digital channels.
Hero content tips:
- Focus on what is it that makes your brand unique. This is what will make you stand out from the crowd.
- Spend time outlining an effective distribution strategy. Make sure to maximise the visibility of your hero video content. This means hitting the right channels at the right time
- Understand your target audience. Show your target audience footage that they want to see and you are sure to keep them happy. In turn, you will see an increase in conversions.
- If your budget won’t allow you to produce stunning visuals, use emotionally engaging footage that will stick in the viewer’s memory.
Hub Content
Your hub content comes in the form of the videos that keep your audience interested in your site, bringing them back for more time and again. Usually in the form of a video series or possessing recurring themes, hub content is vital for an effective UX. By increasing brand awareness and encouraging customer engagement, hub content helps build a stronger relationship between your brand and your audience.
Consider what your audience care about. What they talk about. What they are motivated by. This is what they will want to see in your website’s hub content. And because you want this to be content that will keep your customers coming back for more, longevity and shareability are key.
Hub video content can come in any number of formats, but here is a selection of some of the more popular forms that they can take:
Testimonials
Video testimonials help to validate and humanise your brand. By showing how you have made a positive impact on others through real-life scenarios, your content will build a more trustworthy image around your company and its ethos. What better way is there to promote your brand than to have someone compliment it profusely?
Video testimonials involving respected figures within your field give your content an additional level of authority. Marketing psychologists stipulate that this is a brilliant means of portraying your brand as influential and therefore desirable.
Vlogs
Vlogs allow your brand to portray blog content in a video format (as the name suggests). Given the rising popularity in using video content as part of a marketing strategy, vlogs have become more commonly utilised by businesses in recent years. Just as with blogs, vlog content can be as varied and creative as you want it to be. Because of this, vlogging often draws audience’s back time and again with the promise of fresh content ideas.
Product Demos
Demonstrating the benefits of your product through video allows your audience to visualise how it would better their lives. In fact, 73% of Americans are more likely to buy a product having seen a video demo. If your company produces a range of different products, this is an easy way of creating a large amount of hub content that will remain relevant and applicable as long as your products do.
Documentaries
Documentaries are one of the lesser-used forms of hub content given the extra time and production costs to create them. However, the format also naturally lends itself to a series-style layout will help to entice watchers back for more. Documentaries that reveal the inner workings of your company take a massive step towards humanising your brand. The relatability aspect of such a documentary adds a level of empathy to the content. And allowing people to see what goes into the creation of their favourite products helps them build stronger bonds with the brand.
Influencer Videos
A more recently emerged genre of hub content is guest posts by influencers. Again, like certain video testimonials, this sense of “authority” makes their advice appear sounder than an unknown individual. Particularly effective with younger crowds, research shows that 70% of teens trust influencers over traditional celebrities. This is a reflection of the influence that a guest post can have, particularly on social media platforms.
Example
Here is an example of hub content in the form of a testimonial that we created for accounting software producers, Sage:
As it is focussed on an individual who has actually benefitted from using Sage software, this testimonial video has a more personal edge to it. This bolsters both its authenticity and its relatability. The concept also has potential to expand into a scheduled feature. For example, the brand could create a series of such testimonials, involving a range of industries in which the software is used across the world. This could be something that would entice viewers back for more.
Hub content tips:
- Create content that will help build a more trustful brand image in the eye of your audience.
- Make videos that are educational and interesting. Viewers want footage to both teach and intrigue them, so relay how they can improve their experiences within your field. Also, ensuring that you adhere to your brand tone of voice is of vital importance.
- Allow your videos to tell stories that have a strong association with your business and will live long in the viewer’s memory.
- Have a well regimented content calendar to stick to. This will help reassure viewers of when your content is going to be released and structures a strong brand identity.
Hygiene Content
Lastly, we come to hygiene content. Now, hygiene content isn’t the most thrilling video content out there, but it can often prove to be the most important. Whilst hero content is all glitz and glamour, the key purpose of hygiene content is functionality.
Hygiene content comes in the form of the how-to videos and informational clips that fill in the gaps in your customers’ knowledge of the brand. With everything from how to make best use of your products to how they are delivered to your door. It is the foundation of your digital comms strategy and often holds that key bit of info that will entice a customer to take the next step towards investing.
When it comes to site SEO, hygiene content is vital for improving your website’s performance on search engine platforms. Covering all aspects of video SEO, hygiene content is great for planting keyword phrases and boosting rankings through organic methods. Try to create as much video content as possible to ensure that all bases are covered. A good start point is to research which search terms and questions are most frequent in the industry. If executed properly, hygiene content often delivers the best attributable ROI out of all online video content.
When creating hygiene video content, it is important to remember that people are here because they already like the look and feel of your brand. As such, there is no need to be salesy. The audience is already in the market for what you are offering. Keep it simple, provide the right info and you are more likely to achieve the desired results.
Example
The Kartoffel Films video guide and blog on How To Get The Best From Your Video SEO is a good example of hygiene content:
A simple video regarding how to improve your site SEO through video, here we cover some of the basics that our content can help you with. In a basic interview format, the footage isn’t as intriguing as hero content, but it is insightful. The blog will also lend a helping hand in terms of bolstering the brand’s SEO ranking regarding… video SEO. This is what you want from your hygiene content.
Hygiene content tips:
- Focus on frequently searched phrases within your industry. Also include industry key phrases in your titles to help boost your SEO.
- By making your content actionable, you can help people overcome industry-specific obstacles that may be standing in their way.
- By encouraging engagement between customer and company, you will help bolster your hygiene content sections. A great way of doing this is by actively responding to messages in comment sections etc.
- Consider testing different ways of presenting your hygiene videos – this can be anything from titles to thumbnails to page design – and decipher which works best for your brand.
If you have any queries about the Hero, Hub, Hygiene content strategy, drop us a line.
