The power of research videos in university marketing
Intro
What if the most powerful marketing content your university could produce is already happening and you’re barely filming it?
Research is a core activity at the heart of nearly every university. Some might even say that research is in fact their main goal, and education comes second. It drives funding, reinforces reputation and connects universities to the rest of the world. Whilst the majority of university marketing tends to focus on undergraduate activities, shining light on post-graduate research projects is in fact the perfect way to demonstrate how your institution is forward thinking, boasts experts in the field and most importantly for prospective students, how you hold links to industry. Often overlooked in terms of video content production, research teams frequently have to source their own funding for promotion as central marketing has so many other areas to focus on.
We believe that this is a missed opportunity! Promoting the university’s research activities should be a vital strand in your content strategy. The content performs very well, can help you tap into new audiences as you enhance the offering and contribute to positioning the overall institution brand.
"...shining light on post-graduate research projects is in fact the perfect way to demonstrate how your institution is forward thinking, boasts experts in the field and most importantly for prospective students, how you hold links to industry.”
Who are making them?
Now a permanent fixture across channels belonging to the older, ‘traditional’, more research-led universities, it’s worth noting that, compared to other video content, it is often the posting of research videos that reinforces viewer spikes*. And perhaps this is no surprise: the content is inevitably rich, inspiring and suitable for a wider audience – you don’t need to be considering studying at Oxford in order to enjoy a video which takes you through a project on robots in the forest for example!
University of Oxford: ‘Robots in the Forest’ – A delightful watch into the unexpected activities of a research team in the countryside…
They also hit the ‘authenticity’ requirement that, according to recent student focus group testimony, is a key decider in terms of whether a student will connect with the content or not. Viewers don’t feel the ‘direct sell’ of the institution that perhaps you might pick up on in a campus video. And yet, by showcasing the academic excellence and fascinating activity of your teaching team, how better can you attract prospective students! As the old edict goes: you’re showing, rather than telling.
What can they look like?
So how do you put together a research video? As with most cases, if you have a clear narrative and the right creative team on board, the sky’s essentially your limit. There are no rules in terms of ‘required style or tone’, but finding a way to translate the intricacies of your team’s findings:
(1) into layman’ s terms
(2) and in a way that’s going to get a non-expert excited about the said field of expertise is a non-negotiable if you want it to have success
Below, you’ll find a number of examples which vary in both approach and budget allocation, but are all born from the same mission: to share the institution’s research activity:
University College of London: ‘Guarana vs Caffeine’ – A fast-paced video with a commercial ad edge…
University of Cambridge: ‘Understanding the Cognitive Basis of Extreme Ideologies’ – A brief snapshot at the research with a reportage-style hook…
@cambridgeuniversity Extremist ideologies can offer simple answers to complex problems – making them dangerously seductive. But are some brains wired to be susceptible to extremism? 🧠 Pioneering work by Gates Cambridge Scholar Dr Leor Zmigrod is revealing the cognitive traits that make the mind more vulnerable to ideological capture – whether far-left or far-right. Watch our latest film which explores Leor’s research, and the emerging neuroscience of extremist thinking – link in bio 🔗 Dr Leor Zmigrod is a prize-winning scientist and pioneer in the field of political neuroscience and psychology. #CambridgeUniversity #CambridgeResearch #Cambridge ♬ original sound - Cambridge University
This is also an excellent exercise for the academic team in question: to summarise and communicate their research in an accessible and engaging way. Off the back of countless conferences and budgeting applications, there will inevitably be existing material from which they can work. Whatismore, by publicly raising the profile of their project, it could lead to further exposure opportunities and potentially even additional budget allocation. That means a win-win situation for your audience, institution and academic community.
"...by publicly raising the profile of their project, it could lead to further exposure opportunities and potentially even additional budget allocation. ”
Research is… simply good! The team of academics involved are pulling their time, expertise and dedication together in order to hopefully make discoveries that will help us further understand and improve the world in which we live. In the case of the video below, which is taken from a series we produced for UCL called ‘Grand Challenges’, the leading team take the opportunity to place their work in context by explaining how they hope to have an impact on safeguarding children’s mental health, for example.
As an institution who is facilitating these efforts, why pass on a chance to share how your university is contributing to society, whilst also inspiring future generations of researchers?
University College London: ‘Grand Challenges in Mental Health & Wellbeing’ – A clear and insightful overview into the work of the research team…
Northeastern: ‘Inside Shocking Conversations with AI Chatbots’ – An engaging introduction into the genesis story of the research…
But aren't they expensive to make?
Not necessarily. Research videos perform well across the budget spectrum. They can be produced by combining interviews, cutaways, reconstructions, 3D fly throughs…as you can see here in a video we produced for Imperial College London:
Imperial College London: ‘Enhanced Delivery Ecosystem for Neurosurgery in 2020′ – A powerful snapshot of the importance of the research teams’ work within the wider scientific community…
But you can also contain costs by producing them in a much simpler fashion, without having to sacrifice impact. In this example of a video we made for London South Bank University, the interviews were filmed specifically for the content in question, but all of the cutaway material was provided by the academics.
London South Bank University: Bridging millenia: How ancient drama shapes today’s world – A visual journey into the experience of the research team’s project…
City, St George’s, University of London: ‘Traditions of Eastern Orthodox Sacred Music’ – A simple but effective video which brings you into the heart of the researchers and their project…
And if you really need to stretch your budget to new heights, a creative solution can always be found! In this video for City, St George’s, University of London (previously known as City, University of London), we decided on social-style bitesized research pieces, where a simple text-based narrative was supported by material belonging to the academic team and stock.
Conclusion: a marketer and a producer's dream
Aside from being evergreen content, (is there any time of the year where people don’t want to feel inspired?) research videos are straightforward to produce and can be made for very little. They are arguably of a high investment value however, which might help release the purse strings ever so slightly. As regards outreach, it may surprise you to learn that they could be the difference between earning your institution a general and consistent following throughout the year as opposed to solely a student-orientated viewership whose online activity may be restricted according to the mercy of the academic calendar.
To sum up, by creating and uploading to a series of research videos on your channel, you’re getting as close as you can get to ‘passive earners’ when it comes to marketing! The research is already happening – you’re just putting a camera up to it…
"Aside from being evergreen content, research videos are straightforward to produce and can be made for very little"
If you’d like to explore the best way to showcase your academics’ research and find a package which would fit best for your budget, don’t hesitate to reach out.
*Observations made weekly via our in-house, social media performance monitor, UniTrackr (for more information, click here)
Want to create more effective and engaging video for your institution?
At h10 agency, we specialise in creating video content for higher education marketing. This ranges from higher end promo videos, through to user-gen and social.
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