In a world where the digital landscape is littered with visuals vying for user attention, video content is becoming paramount. Whether you’re on your laptop or your phone, you’re probably finding yourself exposed to more video content than ever before.
Beyond sheer entertainment value, video is also becoming critical to the manipulation of consumer behavior. In fact, a recent study showed that 81% of people made a purchasing decision based on a video they watched from a brand. And if that isn’t enough to convince you of the essential nature of video marketing, the same study showed that companies reported a 70% increase in brand awareness from the videos they produced, a 51% increase in traffic to their website, and a 34% increase in sales… all from videos. Can you imagine a 34% increase in your sales from producing videos, or the impact of even a 10% or 5% lift? These numbers are a game-changer for any brand.
So the question becomes, “What are you waiting for”? This is the year for you to integrate video into your marketing program. As you consider taking the leap into video marketing to elevate your brand and increase your ROI, let’s review Five Tips for Creating a Killer Video Content Strategy. As we dive into those tips, make sure to keep in mind the four main categories of video strategy: pre-production, production, post-production, and distribution.
Tip # 1: Consider your audience
Pre-Production phase
As you begin the pre-production phase, consider the following 3 questions:
- Who is your target audience/who is your product or service for?
- What type of video do you wanna produce? Is it educational, or promotional?
- Where does your target audience get their information? (This will help you in the distribution section of your strategy.)
Tip # 2: Stay on brand
Companies that are consistent with their branding are 20% more likely to be more successful than companies that are not, according to a Mackenzie & Co. study. Consider brands like Nike, Chanel, BMW, Apple… you don’t have to ask many people what they do, do you? The brands tell you exactly what they do, and they stick to it. If you’re producing digital content, such as on Google, LinkedIn, Facebook, or any digital platform, you need to be consistent with your messaging and your keywords and your key terms. If you’re all over the place, your audience won’t know what you do and the algorithms that dictate your digital footprint won’t serve your content to your target customer when and where they’re looking for you.
Tip #3: Be realistic
Production phase
When developing a video content strategy, make sure you have a realistic idea of what it takes to invest in your video content. This doesn’t mean you have to have a big budget and invest a lot of money into producing a video, but it does mean you need to invest in good content. Once again, consider your audience. For instance, if you’re a B2B business and you’re trying to speak to other professionals, then your video should look professional. You’ll probably want to work with a professional film crew, have a good video editor, and write a script for yourself.
If you are planning to film your own videos at home or in the office, at least invest in some good equipment and make sure that you’ve got that all dialed in for a great end product. For B2C brands, don’t think you’re getting off easy! Your end user still wants to see clean, professional content, and tends to seek out brands with culture that comes through authentically on-camera.
When preparing to film your video from the start, don’t forget to consider the other types of video you’ll need, such as graphics, charts, animations, and B-roll. Do you need to hire actors? Do a voice over? Once again, be realistic about what you’re trying to achieve and the investment it will take to get you there.
Tip #4: It CAN’T be fixed in post
Post-production phase
Anyone who hasn’t worked in video production thinks editing is SO simple, and we hear that all the time! In reality, it can be very complex. If you make a major mistake, miss a shot, or your audio is fuzzy or inconsistent, for instance, it CAN’T all be fixed in post-production editing.
So, when discussing your end goal with your editing crew, make sure to include them in the pre-production process, ask lots of questions for honest feedback, and cover your bases so you ensure you have every shot you could possibly need for final production.
Tip #5: Optimize your content
Distribution phase
When rendering or finalizing the output for your video, you need to optimize for all the channels that you’re going to put your video on. For example, on YouTube, the first 24 hours are the most crucial to your ranking on your video. For LinkedIn, you want make sure that your video is 60 seconds or less and it’s in landscape format (or if it isn’t, it’ll be cropped to a square). With any post on Instagram, you want that to be about 15 to 30 seconds long and ideally shot in portrait mode for all social channels.
Make sure you use captions, because most people are not watching your video with the sound on, and remember that most people are watching their video on their mobile phone.
These are all important tips to consider when filming in order to create a killer video content strategy. you consider this when you’re filming.