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“Tech Image has been an integral part of our LeadershipTVTM series success. What started as a program to execute a strong YouTube video strategy evolved into a highly effective integration of paid, owned and earned media to drive awareness and presence for the Heidrick & Struggles brand.”

— Randy Thorne, Senior Vice President, Marketing        
Heidrick & Struggles

YouTube Video Program Integrates Paid, Owned and Earned Media Strategies for Maximum Impact

Challenge

Promote and build a targeted audience for the LeadershipTVTM series.

Reaching an elite HR audience that is hard to find and engage.

Heidrick & Struggles, the premier executive search firm, invested in the production of a high quality thought leadership video series to support and promote its leadership consulting practice. The business challenge was to maximize the views of each LeadershipTVTM video to a targeted audience in order to best utilize “paid, owned and earned media” to build awareness for the leadership practice and attract new clients. To accomplish this objective, Heidrick & Struggles sought the assistance of a PR partner with a high digital competence to create a successful integrated promotional strategy.

Too often a large investment is made in corporate videos and they’re placed on company websites and pushed through social media channels only to receive a small viewing audience. By combining the integrated power of paid, owned and earned media the new video series would accelerate visibility and deliver and increased ROI through a targeted YouTube video program.

Solutions

Tech Image proposed a program with the following objectives:

  • Improve and optimize the Heidrick & Struggles YouTube channel in advance of the launch of the LeadershipTVTM launch
  • Engage digital influencers to share videos with their followers
  • Manage a YouTube promoted video campaign with paid advertising on the YouTube site
  • Secure incremental interest with reporters and news publications on the topic of the videos for thought leadership opportunities, interviews and media coverage

The metrics for success were quantitative results – the number of views, impressions, click-thru rates, cost per completed view, duration of views, and other measures of engagement. Tech Image also provided strategic insights that improved the results: weighing in on video production, potential video topics and the best way to deliver the branded video to a discerning audience.

This discipline before the program began had a big impact on both the immediate visibility and the ultimate views achieved for each LeadershipTVTM video.

In the days leading up to launch, Tech Image prepared the YouTube site so that all aesthetic and technical items were optimized for new viewers and subscribers alike. From there, the project evolved into a more comprehensive program that supported a strong integrated media strategy.

The videos became a powerful tool to develop new content as topics started conversations and led to tier 1 media stories and influential bloggers that were based on the perspectives shared in each video. By working closely with the client to prioritize top media outlets, Tech Image wove together a complete media relations strategy to supplement the paid and owned media components of the program.

Building off of a wide range of skillsets and best practices to meet requirements at each stage in the process, the team was able to exceed the original expectations of the program, resulting in lasting placements and ongoing opportunities to repurpose video content. The content successfully served as a magnet for media around the overarching leadership theme. Tech Image’s efforts to engage audiences on owned sites and extending the visibility of the video to include a larger pool of prospective viewers through third party validation and syndication built credibility for the brand.

A key component of this program was to execute SEO across all online content. As part of the ramp-up for the LeadershipTVTM program, Tech Image researched and analyzed keywords to supplement all content for the YouTube site. Knowing that Heidrick & Struggles’ focus for this campaign was to increase awareness of its proprietary series – LeadershipTV™ – and its brand’s recognition alongside prominent industry trending topics, Tech Image recommended the right list of keywords and phrases to improve targeting. Tech Image also focused on recommending anchor text in all video copy to drive website traffic and used MOZ ratings above 50 to prioritize media opportunities that would provide maximum impact.

Results

184000
Impressions
87000
Video Views
31
Reached

The campaign has resulted in more than 184,000 impressions, more than 87,000 video views and 31 million in reach across publications like Fortune Magazine and Forbes during a cumulative nine-month program.

With the first video, Heidrick & Struggles’ gained exposure with more than 100 industry-specific digital influencers, resulting in multiple blogging opportunities, inclusion in a reputed industry-wide association newsletter, posts of the video across relevant Facebook pages and LinkedIn leadership groups, and ultimately, increased organic traffic to the YouTube channel. Most importantly, the videos reached the right audience, as demonstrated in new subscribers and individuals engaging with the content: highly sought after, senior management and C-level executives seeking input on leadership.

Even beyond the thousands of views, the program accumulated more than 41 media opportunities and 27 placements across targeted media. Subscribers on the YouTube channel have increased 130 percent since launch, with the client referring back to these contacts as potential leads for new business.

www.heidrick.com

For more than 60 years, we have focused on quality service and built strong leadership teams through our relationships with clients and individuals worldwide. Today, Heidrick & Struggles leadership experts operate from principal business centers in North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific.

Looking for a Digital PR Company?

  • Ask to see social media “accelerators” in news coverage

  • Ask to see the list of “Digital Influencers” for your industry

  • Ask to see how video assets are used in media coverage

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