Using YouTube’s ‘Hero, Hub, Help’ to improve your communications strategy

Creating a viral video used to be the holy grail of video production. It’s still highly desirable, but it’s no longer enough. These days successful brands think like publishers, producing a steady stream of interesting and useful content. This content is split into three categories to form a pipeline from mass engagement to close targeting. It’s an approach that can be adapted to suit any campaign, whether your objective is sales or subscribers.

Video content for all seasons

• Hero: Grab people’s attention. Engage potential customers with moments of great creativity that amplify your brand message. This is campaign driven so happens a couple of times a year. Think product launches or seasonal storytelling.
• Hub: Keep them coming back for more. Content that people value and want to actively receive. This is episodic, building an ongoing relationship with your audience. Designed to be pushed out to warm prospects. Staggered throughout the year.
• Help: Answer their questions. Content based on subjects people are searching for. Think how-to or tutorial videos. Pulling the customer in with content that’s relevant at any time of year.

Brands who do it beautifully

Red Bull

• Hero: Red Bull wowed the world with Felix Baumgartner’s leap from the edge of space.
• Hub: Then they gave viewers the chance to learn more about the man behind the parachute.
• Help: Finally they presented the stats from the jump in this smart CGI video.

Volvo

• Hero: The Volvo Epic Splits video has been watched more than 90 million times on YouTube.
• Hub: The Volvo Trucks YouTube channel is packed with content for truck enthusiasts.
• Help: Such as this video presenting Volvo’s I-Shift Dual Clutch.

How to make ‘Hero, Hub, Help’ work for you

When using the 'triple h' approach the first step is to decide whether you will create your own content, collaborate with a third party or curate existing content. Next, create a catalogue of Help and Hub content before launching your first Hero campaign. Reaching a large audience works best when you have follow-up content to sustain the relationship. Then plan your content calendar: a consistent programming schedule featuring all three forms of content.

Each type of content has specific requirements, but YouTube offers some guidelines that are applicable to any videos you produce:

• Develop show formats that are highly shareable.
• Collaborate with other YouTube channels to find new viewers.
• Converse with your audience! People tend to subscribe to people, not brands.
• Make each video comprehensible to a first-time viewer, even if it’s part of a series.
• Develop a consistent voice, format and schedule.
• Give your audience unique ways to participate in the content.

Though ‘Hero, Hub, Help’ was developed for Youtube, it’s a solid framework for building a content strategy that works across all of your communications platforms. Over time it can be expanded to include paid, earned, shared and owned media as required. The beauty of triple h lies in its simplicity.

Video is here to stay. To be heard, you’ve got to be seen.

Hub will be running a series of events on how to use ‘Hero, Hub and Help Content’ to improve businesses communications strategy. The first event - held in December- featured speakers from Red Bull, Steps to Investing and Whittard of Chelsea, discussing ‘Help and How to Content’. You can register here to watch the event video.

Our next event will take place on the 26th of February discussing Hero Content. You can sign up to attend the next event here.

Olly Davy, copywriter, Hub TV