Case Study: Using PR Videos to Drive Online Engagement

This highlight video features many of the stories taken in 2017.

Synopsis

Mobile Mini Inc, the world’s leading provider of portable storage solutions, was advised by its development team to add high-value video content to its website to improve click-through rates and search rankings. The company engaged KB Woods to create a strategy and produce the content.

Research/Situational Analysis

KB Woods was sought out by Mobile Mini for its video public relations expertise, as the company was in the middle of a website revamp and needed video content to improve the effectiveness of the new site and support the release of Mobile Mini Solutions.

KB Woods started the engagement by interviewing the client’s digital marketing team and conducting external research about how best to use video to increase customer engagement in this particular business. Key findings were that video drives purchase behavior and creates stronger customer engagement but doesn’t necessarily increase consumer trust. So, the KB Woods team delved deeper into what kinds of stories would need to be told in what format in order to resonate with potential customers and develop that trust.

Through research, KB Woods found that showcasing video interviews with a variety of Mobile Mini Solutions clients and photos compiled in a ‘news story’ style (with a natural sound package). The goal was to share actual clients’ experiences, and feature them on product pages and main pages of the website. KB Woods and Mobile Mini agreed upon a page design that would feature the video on the top of the page, a 200 word recap of the video in the middle of the page, followed by photo(s) from the interview on the bottom of the page. Supported by research, it was determined that this arrangement of content would attract the broadest audience, and garner the most eyeballs.

KB Woods also found that it would be important to segment the videos by industry, so that potential customers within each sector could quickly see creative and useful ways their peers were having success using Mobile Mini solutions. They also wanted to touch on the entire product portfolio within these videos, so every solution was promoted.

Planning

Mobile Mini had been growing at a three to four percent rate annually when KB Woods came on board. The company expressed a desire to double that rate, which would require growing the client base in high-growth industries like water, hospitality, retail and oil & gas. As such, KB Woods focused its time and resources on finding client advocates in these sectors to help accelerate growth.

When working to identify potential clients for interviews, the KB Woods team went straight to local Mobile Mini branches and developed relationships with branch managers and local field representatives. These individuals directed the agency to client advocates and shared interesting stories with them that they felt could make for compelling user videos.

Execution

KB Woods was given 90 days to create the first series of 10 user videos, and another 90 days to create an additional 10 videos. 

During this time, the team interviewed customers and gathered the photos that would be needed to prepare these short news-style video packages. They talked to municipalities about how they used Mobile Mini Solutions for their park systems, hoteliers who were going through remodels about how they were using the storage products and even sports centers like the Phoenix Rising Stadium about how they were creatively using Mobile Mini pumps and storage for water to irrigate their new fields – and more.

The agency compiled the interviews, edited in the photos and crafted the accompanying copy for each of the finalized videos. From there, the web development team added the videos to the new website.

Results/Evaluation

Within one week of the videos being live on the Mobile Mini website, the company saw a 700% click-through rate increase. Within 90 days of the website and video launch, Mobile Mini saw:

  • Website lead volume increase by 16%
  • Close ratio increase by +123%

Within one year of the user videos being added, Mobile Mini has seen:

  • 23% year-over-year increase in website leads generated
  • Website conversions up 30% year-over-year
  • Mobile Mini stock price is up from $30 to $45 per share since website launch, which represents around $450 million dollars in shareholder value that has been created in the past three months alone, thanks largely to improving the consumer experience online through these videos.

Supporting Materials

Some Website Examples: