Pulling video from niche to success
Frosch Sportreisen uses video content since many years. It has been nearly 10 years in which the tour operator is placing
videos on YouTube . Detailed insights into single parts of tours as well as employees describing their tasks, travel reports and short product videos have been published. Regardless the potential, YouTube has been not much more than a storage area for videos. The main intention was to display those videos on the website to enrich product descriptions. The potential as a search engine and as social media have been falling by the wayside.
But video can do much more! This knowledge in mind the task arised to bring the YouTube channel and video marketing in general on more modern feet. The magazine character of Frosch Stories was kind of a role model. The successful idea of a mixture between exciting background stories for frequent customers and content of relevance for search engines was supposed to be taken over to video marketing.
Goal and strategy
To increase the reach of YouTube as well as the other social media channels was the clear goal. That in mind, the strategy for YouTube quickly evolved. Existing customers should be entertained, new customers should be gained by relevant, service-orientated content optimized for search engines. At the same time, the other channel’s full potential should be used.
Appealing video content without any budget?
The challenge was that in times of short budgets as a result of the pandemic there was little financial space for that kind of experiment. However, Frosch is living on pragmatic handling of professional challenges. If there is no money available for support, we do it on our own. Coincidently several professional videos from Frosch destinations were already available. To involve teams and guests promised further potential to find more content.
As I had some contact with video topics in the past there was at least some closeness to the matter. At the same time, I got offered to introduce myself into photography, filming and cutting. Shirtsleeve? For sure. Amateurish? At least in the sense of professionals being much better at it. However, I was able to equip with necessary parts and software. At Frosch’s warehouse outside of Münster there was some space to build a little studio. No budget but lots of motivation.
Whilst this was the spot to produce content for YouTube, we found a different approach for Instagram. Using a separate account, we offered our teams to freely post from their destinations. This is leading to good videos with can also be used on Frosch’s official account. In a same manner guest’s videos being posted with
#urlaubwiemitfreunden or
@frosch.sportreisen can be integrated and lead to authentic impressions.
Video marketing with potential
Instagram, already a strongly growing channel for Frosch, is even getting bigger with that new approach. Reach increased by 30 %. The effect on YouTube was even stronger. I published eight videos from may to august 2022. Most of them have been planned, filmed, cutted by me. In some of them I even take over as a host. With those new videos we increased channel impressions by 85 % and by 75 % in watch time within a few weeks.
It is obvious: a professional could create better videos. However, the experiment was more than successful. I was able to learn so much about video production. Technical possibilities nowadays allow to create video content without professional support. But in the end to me there is mainly the perception that self-created can only work on a certain, ideally consciously chosen, level. Above that one needs professional support. At the same time, you still need a clear idea on stories and appearance. That in mind and despite my departure from Frosch there is an approach in video marketing which will hopefully lead to even larger success.
