Before you book a videographer ad hoc or jump in front of your handy-cam with a fresh blow dry, there are a few essential things to consider if you want to succeed in video marketing.
Strategy
“Videos put a face behind the company and show off the human side of your brand. This builds trust among prospective clients and customers.”
(Smith)
Content marketing needs to be part of an overarching, long-term strategy and a long term strategy goes further than discounts and sales gimmicks.
The best strategies will improve your brand awareness and lead to multiple uses of content that build layers on your brand story, show how you can help your customers, and establish you as a trusted brand.
A key strategy for brands is introducing a business owner to feature across all video content, or featuring the same outsourced talent across multiple campaigns. Think of brands like Trivago or AAMI insurance. Their recurring talent gives instant brand recognition and AAMI’s Rhonda and Ketut love story provided a narrative that spread across years of television advertising.
Budget
Sadly, we don’t all have endless buckets of cash to splash on marketing so a clear understanding of how much you can afford to invest in video content marketing needs to be established early. A budget blow out can result in unfinished and unusable content with dollars down the drown. Make a clear and achievable budget as a first step.
Remember, video is a highly valuable marketing investment and will be the first introduction to your business for many a prospective client. First impressions count so ensure that what you can afford to produce will position you favourably against competitors in both quality and content.
Keep it Professional
Ask yourself which brand videos have made the greatest impression on you as a consumer. What was it about these videos that appealed to you and how did it make you feel about the brand they represented?
Expert advice at the pre-production, production and post-production phase of that video is likely behind the success of that video, making it memorable for all the right reasons. Professional video content producers can ensure that your video ticks all the right boxes went it comes to strategy, creation, and distribution.
Before engaging the experts, ask to see examples of their work and what successful campaigns they have worked on.
Pre-Production is the breakfast of video content creation!
Skipping pre-production is like skipping the most important meal of the day, your video will be lagging in all the essentials!
Before shoot day you should have spent hours of strategising and refined the following:
- Script
- Location
- Talent
- Video length
- A plan for distribution
For a comprehensive video production list head to our Video Production Checklist.
Begg, Remington. Impulse Creative ‘How to get Started with Video Marketing’. https://www.impulsecreative.com/blog/how-to-get-started-with-video-marketing. (online source).
Smith, Chris. Know Techie. ‘5 Reasons to Invest in Video Marketing’. March 2018. https://knowtechie.com/5-reasons-to-invest-in-video-marketing/