5 Things Brands Can Learn From Beyonce's Visual Album

Put down your mega-dollar marketing budget and read these simple rules every brand can learn from Beyonce's self-titled Visual Album.

5. Show what you did - not what you're doing.

"I see Music. It's more than what I hear." - Beyonce.

Everyone is working on something new, rad and different but few actually execute. Forget hype, just share the awesome stuff that your brand has completed instead of sharing mediocre updates on things you're "working on" - Bey, thank you for this amazing surprise.

4. Tell your damn story

"I wanted people to see the story" - Beyonce

SHARE YOUR STORY, DAMNIT. The story that your brand shares is what differentiates you from competition. How? It's yours. It's your values, your purpose - your REASON. Your story is the only brand that can tell that story so get raw and DISH IT.

People want to hear the good with the bad. They want to rally for you, get inspired with you and without a story to follow or identify with, they can't.

So own your story RIGHT NOW.

3. Assume everyone has ADD

"People experience music differently" - Beyonce

So instead of taking the whole year to release her videos and singles she did it in ONE FREAKING DAY, in 20-second clips.

In Bey's video she reminiscences about watching Thriller on the TV with her family and how she misses that fully-immersed time when people would listen to the same album for hours at a time.

Today, people are way too ADD to pay attention for more than a few moments.

If your brand doesn't have quick and efficient service or bite-sized content available, you could loose them.

Snapchat, Vine and Tastemade are examples of brands forcing customers to pay attention because if they don't... they'll miss it. It's that quick.

2. Don't release a thing til you are ready

I will make my best art and just put it out when it's ready." - Beyonce

Beyonce decided to release this album when she was ready and not take pressure from labels or competition.

Same should go for your brand. DON'T PUSH AN UPDATE, change your UI, design, logo, etc., until YOU ARE READY. There will always be competition making changes, updating and releasing content, but that doesn't mean you have to. Take your time, A/B test, use focus groups and keep your brands purpose in mind.

1. If you aren't using video - you're toast (probably)

SO IF THIS ALBUM TELLS YOU ANYTHING IT'S THE POWER OF VIDEO.

Get your brand on Youtube, even if you don't think you'll ever use it.