How Cisco Scaled Video Content Localization Using Lumen5
Eric Chu, Social & Digital Content Manager at Cisco
Over 25 years of industry experience, including eight years supporting marketing and communications at Cisco. As Social and Digital Content Manager of Global Communications, Eric develops and coordinates content creation for Cisco’s main corporate social channels.
Shirley Pang, Global Social Media Manager at Cisco
Over 25 years of experience in marketing and communications at technology and telecommunications companies. As Global Social Media Manager, Shirley develops and implements thought leadership social media strategies for Cisco audiences and executives in the Asia Pacific, Japan, and Greater China.
ABOUT CISCO
Transforming the world and leading technological change
Cisco is a world leader in information technology. It helps people connect quickly and securely through networking tools, software, and communications infrastructure.
For over 30 years, Cisco has been a global technology pioneer with over 79,500 employees in 271 office locations across 87 countries. It’s at the forefront of cloud computing, cybersecurity, and IoT solutions for businesses and consumers. The company has transformed the world and is a leading player in technological change.
THE CHALLENGE
Faster and Easier Video Content Creation for Social Media
Cisco is a trusted thought leader in the IT industry. A huge audience of IT professionals and executives look to the company for valuable insights and fresh ideas.
But social media requires a different approach to traditional long-form thought leadership content. Brands must act faster, communicate more often, and engage with trending topics to become a trusted authority.
Social is also a visual medium. Over 50% of social media users prefer video to other types of content.
“In social media, we try to find unique ways of sending out messaging that people will engage with,” says Eric Chu, Social and Digital Content Manager at Cisco.
“We’d seen these quick little videos - short-form storytelling, that we would love to do. Our objective was to look for something creative, something that will be eye-catching for our users and followers to click on,” adds Eric, “video seems to always do that - it has an impactful result.”
Cisco is among the 92% of companies that view video as an important part of their marketing strategy.
Outsourcing video content creation to an agency could mean long turnaround times and high production costs. The average cost of using an agency is $4k to $12k, with turnaround times ranging from 2 to 6 weeks.
The Cisco team wanted a cost-effective tool to help them create shareable and easily digestible video content. They wanted a fast and affordable way to promote their thought leadership assets on social media.
“Storytelling is key for social media strategy - more so if we are able to create engaging and unique videos to make the posts ‘pop’,” says Shirley Pang, Global Social Media Manager at Cisco.
Our objective was to look for something creative, something that will be eye-catching for our users and followers to click on, video seems to always do that - it has an impactful result.
THE SOLUTION
Fast and Hassle-Free Video Content Production
One of the main obstacles to increased video content production is extended turnaround times and back and forth with agencies. Nearly 25% of non-video marketers don’t create video content due to time constraints.
“In social media, timing can be everything - and creating a video with an agency can take more time than you want - not to mention the costs involved,” says Eric, “we’re able to create a video quickly with a turnaround of five minutes versus trying to coordinate with an agency and see if they have time to fit you in. With Lumen5, you don’t have to build that far in advance. You could just get it right then and there.”
When you’re a world-leading communications company, you need to respond quickly to trends. DIY tools like Lumen5 help Cisco be a trailblazer on digital channels in a fast-moving industry.
“Lumen5 is an easy-to-use platform that provides a great library of images, video footage, music to deliver the energy and traction you need for your social posts,” adds Shirley.
“We were looking for a tool to help us do that, without involving an agency and agency fees,” Eric continues,
“it has to be pretty straightforward and easy to use and flexible.”
A Customer Success Manager at Lumen5, worked closely with the Cisco social media team during the onboarding process.
“In terms of onboarding, it was good. Once it was approved, it was pretty quick,” says Eric, “I appreciated the availability of being able to reach out and say, ‘hey, you know, we discovered we need X Y, and Z, do you offer that?"
“You guys were always there and supportive,” adds Eric, “Lumen5’s been great about connecting with us and keeping connected with us to help make sure the tool is fitting our needs.”
We’re able to create a video quickly with a turnaround of five minutes versus trying to coordinate with an agency and see if they have time to fit you in. With Lumen5, you could just get it right then and there.
A Flexible Solution for Content Localization at Scale
Cisco is active in hundreds of countries around the world. Creating content in a global organization poses significant challenges that Lumen5 helps overcome.
All marketing messaging and content must be consistent and align with the well-known Cisco branding. A fractured approach risks an uneven online presence that damages the brand.
“We make sure that whatever social content we create aligns to brand guidelines,” says Eric, “making sure that it really complements the story, in hopes to garner engagement and a quick awareness.”
“Since we’ve been with Lumen5, they’ve evolved the tool sets to make it easier for us to manipulate the content we create to enhance the look and feel for our content promotion,” adds Eric, “and when needed, the customer support has been great.”
Content localization was an important consideration. Cisco is a multinational organization with a global audience. By localizing its video content for specific regions, Cisco can expand its reach and increase engagement.
According to a Nieman Lab study, localized content receives 6x more engagement than posts designed for a global audience.The accessibility of Lumen5 enables Cisco teams to customize video content assets from any location easily.
“Our team is international. We’re able to create lumens for global that sometimes need to be regionalized into different languages,” says Eric, “you have to know who your audience is and develop your content around that.”
“Using Lumen5, other members can take the content that has already been created and just switch out the copy into their native language,” adds Eric, “it just saves so much time, and it’s easier for them to do it quickly. Instead of waiting for us to create something for them, they could just do it for themselves.”
Using Lumen5, other members can take the content that has already been created and just switch out the copy into their native language, it just saves so much time, and it’s easier for them to do it quickly.
Boost Engagement on Digital Channels
Cisco needs to stay current with the latest trends in digital communications. On social media, that includes using video content. Video helps Cisco share its insights with a wider audience of potential customers.
“We are very fortunate to have an abundance of content to promote - from blogs and videos to landing pages and podcasts,” says Eric, “we would utilize Lumen5 to help do that.”
“I use Lumen5 for short highlights for blogs and also for employee comms videos, such as wellness week, mentoring program, and award wins,” adds Shirley.
Cisco can reach a larger audience and increase engagement with video content. According to Twitter, tweets with video achieve 10x more engagement than those without.
“Because of Lumen5, our video views have gone up. I know we’ve extended our audience to that degree - our overall engagements have gone up because of video,” says Eric, “we use it probably 15 to 20% of the time for our stuff.”
I use Lumen for short highlights for blogs and also for employee comms videos, such as wellness week, mentoring program, and award wins.
THE RESULT
Lower Video Content Production Costs, Faster Turnaround Times, and 23% More Engagement Per Post
Lumen5 has helped Cisco scale its thought leadership strategy. According to LinkedIn, 54% of decision-makers use thought leadership as an important way to vet organizations that they are considering working with.
With Lumen5, Cisco can bring its insights to a larger audience and win new business opportunities.
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23% more engagement per post compared to stock photos
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Video production turnaround times reduced from days to minutes
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Increased video views on social media
“Increased video views is probably the biggest KPI that our team was looking at - Lumen5 has helped us do that,” says Eric, “in terms of average engagements per post, it definitely helps us.”
The communications giant has been able to reach more potential partners while cutting turnaround times and production costs.
“You need a quick turnaround, and involving an agency can add time and costs you may not have,” adds Eric, “anything you do in-house is going to be cheaper than going out of house to have anything created, right?”
Increased video views is probably the biggest KPI that our team was looking at - Lumen5 has helped us do that.