One of the exciting projects I had the pleasure to work on at the Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau, was the development of a new overview video for the city.
We had an existing video that served this purpose but was ready for an update. It was more than ten minutes long, included some dated footage, and utilized a testimonial format that was effective but lacked emotional appeal.
The goal was to create a 2-3 minute video that captured the personality of the city through its sights, sounds, and people. A video that left the viewer wanting to learn more and excited to check out Durham, particularly someone who might not be familiar with the city.
We were lucky to partner with Saleem Reshamwala, a local videographer with a deep understanding of the city and a highly creative vision. His ideas included working with local musicians to create a custom soundtrack, and incorporating the actual sounds of the city.
Once we were clear on the content goals and shot list, Saleem started filming and we got to see several rough cuts along the way. As the video started to take a more finished form we were excited and knew it was almost there, but had some questions:
- We knew WE enjoyed the video, but what would viewers think?
- What would someone outside of Durham think? Would they be excited by the video?
- With the fast-paced footage, would the viewer get a sense of what the city offers?
- And maybe most importantly, would it make them interested in visiting?
These were not questions we could answer without feedback, so I proposed using User Testing to get input from some of our ideal viewers. We did not have a large budget to use, but I developed a short test to get feedback from five users who met our desired profile. (See the target audience and test plan at the end of the post).
The results of the test were extremely valuable and helped internal stakeholders feel confident that we could wrap up the project with some minor changes. All five testers were excited by the energy of the video and surprised by everything that Durham has to offer, and 4/5 said it made them more interested in visiting. We also got specific feedback to act on, such as the suggestion for additional food footage.
What scene(s) from the video had the greatest impact on you (positive and/or negative)?
“Loved the guy picking the guitar. The opening photo of the city did not look very appealing. I’m sure you could come up with a better one. Show more food.”
Would you be likely to share the video with a friend?
“This one yes, cuz I have family who live in Durham, so I’d send it to them to show them how awesome it is. I’d probably send it to my husband as well, to help convince him we should go there. :)”
When the video debuted on Facebook it was a hit and received more than 350,000 views and 5,000+ shares. With the positive feedback we are confident that the video met its goals and can be used to introduce Durham to new audiences.
Below you can see the targeted audience for the test as well as the questions.
Here's The Dill 