Sometimes, when you find that secret ingredient that really brings a dish to life, it’s a beautiful thing. Besides Mario Batali, no one understands this more than the digital team at HCSS, one of America’s leading construction software companies.
They discovered their own version of the secret sauce, a very special asset that not only helped HCSS generate new leads, but also extend the company brand to audiences across the industry. And what was that one-of-a-kind spice?
“Video,” says Briscoe. “It’s the single most important piece of demand content for us.”
This year, HCSS’s digital team stopped by Brightcove PLAY to talk about their charmed discovery and the way it’s helped them develop a successful sales funnel for HCSS.
HCSS Learns to Give Customers What They Really Want
After some initial experiments posting video clips to the HCSS website, Briscoe’s digital team realized just how strongly they resonated with customers. Some were so compelled, they even reached out to say how much they preferred the videos over the site’s traditional static content, like white papers and case studies.
“We knew that if the customers were telling us, then we had to start pushing pretty hard for it,” says Briscoe. “After that, we evolved our content and our digital messaging and expanded our footprint online.”
Using the Brightcove platform, Briscoe’s team completely rebuilt HCSS’s entire sales and digital funnel around video content, using the digital medium to help drive awareness, attract leads, convert prospects, and retain customers. In fact, video has become the company’s most dominant marketing asset, viewed by more than 90% of HCSS’s qualified leads.
Over the course of three years, the revamped video strategy has helped HCSS push past difficult plateaus and reinvigorate sales initiatives. The sales team even managed to revive a two-year long stalled deal that will eventually bring millions back to the company. And HCSS also recorded a wildly impressive 44% decrease in customer acquisition time, taking what was once an average 150-day sales cycle down to a quick 90-day close.
I Build America Builds Brand Awareness and Sparks the Start of the Customer Journey
One video campaign that’s been a huge factor in driving sales and engaging audiences is HCSS’s “I Build America” website, which launched in 2015. Established as a goodwill initiative to celebrate the hard-working people of the construction industry, the “I Build America” site features individuals telling their stories of life in construction, showing viewers just how deeply they’re involved in the building of America’s infrastructure. And this is done all through video.
“You can see the pride contractors take in their jobs and how important their work is to our society,” says Briscoe. “Without construction, we wouldn’t be able to enjoy our modern way of life.”
“I Build America” organizes its video content into separate, topic-specific galleries so users can peruse the various stories from construction companies. For instance, there’s a video gallery dedicated entirely to careers in construction, and there’s another one highlighting individual people giving viewers a first-hand perspective of life on the construction site.
HCSS knew video was the only medium possible to convey customers’ authenticity, since it’s able to convey emotion in such a way that drives empathy from viewers. It’s certainly not something most digital communications can do. Briscoe explains:
“We knew it had to be video because it captures emotion. It captures people right away. There’s a real raw take to video, and it’s enabled contractors to tell their stories in a compelling way of how they are building America.”
The “I Build America” campaign spread grassroots style across the construction community. As more and more people watched the videos and shared them with their respective social networks, the campaign’s momentum continued to grow.
Construction Impact Awards Adds an Interactive Element to Video Storytelling
As excitement surged, HCSS decided to add another component to the campaign, something that could give outside audiences a chance to showcase their own construction stories on the “I Build America” site. This initiative was called the “Construction Impact Awards.”
The HCSS digital team put a call out to construction companies across the country to find other organizations building impactful projects for their local communities. In order to be considered for the award, companies had to submit an online application attaching photos and videos discussing their project’s benefits and overall significance. Each applicant’s project was posted to the Construction Impact Awards website, and viewers voted for their favorite nominees, which added a bonus interactive touch. By May 2016, the posted projects pulled in over 300,000 views, making it one of HCSS’s most successful marketing campaigns to date.
Brightcove-Powered Video Helps Boost Engagement Across Social Audiences
With the Brightcove platform handling HCSS’s video distribution, HCSS ensures a high-quality viewing experience for leads, prospects, existing customers, and members of the construction industry. Plus, the ease of the platform’s workflows allows the digital team to easily distribute and manage a growing collection of video content.
“Because we’ve been able to publish video more frequently, we’ve seen a huge increase in our engagement on our HCSS social accounts,” says Briscoe.
“We’re mostly company-specific on social media,” says Briscoe. “But there are a lot more people out there engaging with our content—a lot more than we thought. They’re engaging with us, and they’re actively sharing our stuff at a higher percentage than ever before.”
Want to hear other interesting ways video has helped shape companies for the better? Join us next year at Brightcove PLAY 2018.
To get on the invite list, just RSVP to play@brightcove.com from your work email address.