As social media and marketing experts recommend, behind the scenes (BTS) is semi-unpolished content that shows a brand’s management, culture, and day-to-day operations to cultivate audience connection and build trust. It’s a smart way to double your content, boost your connection with audiences and strengthen engagement for a fraction of the cost of a standard shoot.
Authenticity is one of the key drivers of brand loyalty and consumer purchasing decisions. Behind the scenes allows brands to showcase their genuine, relatable selves to consumers to foster long-term customer relationships and create a close community. It can take many forms, such as documenting content shoots or spotlighting team members. It can also be a creative process, such as brainstorming sessions or an entire video production from start to finish.
In our experiment, we asked participants to watch a short episode of the YouTube show Deep Look that featured a decorator crab and attached either a produced BTS video or a slideshow of photos from a previous filming of the crustacean. We measured participants’ perceptions of authenticity after each viewing condition and found that women with below-average science curiosity reported greater authenticity scores when they saw the produced behind-the-scenes video than when they watched the original video alone.
We speculate that these results are related to the sense of authenticity evoked by seeing what goes into making a product or service. It’s like the difference between seeing actors on stage and backstage. Front-stage performances are where audiences witness actors in action, while backstage is where the performers plot their strategies and relax.