Mastering the Video Production Process: Planning Your Next Video Project
Mastering the Video Production Process: 8 Key Questions for Success in Planning Your Next Video Project
Are you contemplating taking the leap into the world of video content for your business? Hold on! Before you start scouting for a video production company or begin the production process, there are some critical questions you need to answer about your video strategy.
Visual content can be a powerful tool in your marketing arsenal. It has the potential to amplify your brand awareness, skyrocket your sales, and cultivate an engaged audience. However, video production is not always a walk in the park, especially during the production phase. It can be costly, time-consuming, and even counterproductive if not approached with the right strategy. To ensure you're setting up for success from the get-go, we've compiled a list of eight essential questions you need to consider:
- What is your brand identity?
Understand your brand inside and out. Know what makes your brand unique and how it stands out from the crowd. This will guide the tone, style, and messaging of your videos. - What is the story you want to tell?
Storytelling is at the heart of effective visual content. Pinpoint the narrative you want to weave through your videos – it could be about your brand's journey, your values, or the problems your products solve. - Who is your target audience?
Identify who you're speaking to. Their interests, needs, and behaviors should inform the content, format, and distribution channels of your videos. - What’s the purpose of your videos?
Define clear objectives for your video production to ensure a successful video outcome. Whether it's increasing brand awareness, driving sales, or engaging your audience, your goals will shape your video content strategy. - What does success look like for you?
Set measurable KPIs. These could range from views and shares to leads generated or conversion rates. Knowing your success metrics will help you evaluate the effectiveness of your videos. - What pain points or challenges is your company facing?
Acknowledge your hurdles. Understanding these can help you create videos that address these issues and offer solutions, thus resonating with your audience. - What is your call to action?
Decide on the action you want viewers to take after watching your videos. This could be visiting your website, signing up for a newsletter, or making a purchase. - What is your budget range and timeline?
Set realistic expectations. Knowing your budget and timeline will help you plan your video production process more efficiently and avoid unnecessary setbacks.
1. What is your brand identity for the video production process?
Your brand identity is the heartbeat of your company. It's a combination of your story, mission, values, voice, and style. This identity doesn't just represent who you are; it also shapes how your audience perceives you. When creating a video, it's crucial to ensure that every element, from the script to the visual aesthetics, aligns with your brand identity.
What is the story you want to tell in your next video project?
Every brand has a unique story. It might be about the obstacles your founders overcame, the problem they set out to solve, or what sets you apart from your competition. In essence, your story encapsulates what makes your company unique. It's a powerful tool that can make your videos more engaging and relatable.
What is your mission?
Your mission statement reflects your brand's purpose - the 'why' behind your existence. Even if you cater to a niche market, your mission plays a part in shaping the future. This mission should be at the core of your video content, influencing the narrative and messaging.
What are your values?
Your values are the guiding principles that drive your brand's actions. Whether it's quality, sustainability, compassion, integrity, or diversity, these values should be subtly communicated in your videos. They help build trust and rapport with your audience, making your brand more appealing.
What is your voice?
Your brand voice is the 'personality' of your brand. It could be professional and trustworthy, fun and creative, or kind and helpful. This voice dictates how you communicate with your audience, and it's crucial to maintain this consistency in your video content.
What is your style?
Your style encompasses specific choices like your color palette, fonts, and preferred terminology. These elements reinforce your brand identity, making your brand instantly recognizable – even in video format.
By understanding and incorporating your brand identity into your video content, you create a cohesive brand image that resonates with your audience. Plus, it drives better results from your marketing efforts.
2. What is the story you want to tell?
While many marketers focus on key messages and project objectives, it's essential to remember the inherent nature of video as a storytelling medium. Whether you're crafting an ad or a documentary-style brand project, your video needs to tell a story. Even if your primary objective is to showcase cool images or deliver information, without a story, your video risks losing its potential impact.
Story Structure: The Beginning, Middle, and End
A story is like a journey with a beginning, middle, and end. But that's just the structure. A compelling story usually consists of three main components: a protagonist or "hero," the problem they face, and the solution they discover. The story is the narrative of how the protagonist resolves the problem. But remember, a story must be engaging, emotional, and relatable. Humans are wired for stories. We know when something is a story, and when it's not.
Avoiding the Pitfalls of Traditional Corporate Videos
Traditional corporate videos often fall into the trap of cramming in too much information and failing to engage their audience. But disseminating information isn't the same as telling a story. A story-first approach prioritizes your audience's needs over your objectives. By engaging your audience, you earn their trust, allowing you to effectively convey your message.
The Protagonist, Problem, and Solution
Identify your protagonist - it could be a person, a group, or even an abstract concept that aligns with the message of the video. The problem is the villain in your story, the challenge your protagonist faces. The solution is where you come in. Your product or service helps the protagonist defeat the villain and helps the audience find their solution.
Crafting Engaging Stories with Key Messages
Now that you have the essential elements for a story, remember to include key messaging. Capturing your audience's attention is crucial, but so is delivering your message. As a digital marketing agency, we specialize in blending these two aspects seamlessly, creating engaging narratives that effectively convey your brand message and enhance your video strategy.
3. Who is your target audience in your video production planning?
While your organization's current audience may often align with your video's target audience, they can sometimes differ, especially when you're aiming to expand your audience or reach specific segments. In an attempt to appeal to a broad group, videos can often become overcrowded with messaging, resulting in disengagement from all targeted groups.
To avoid this, consider creating an 'audience persona,' similar to your 'ideal customer profile.' Consider factors such as their age, education level, occupation, goals, challenges, and preferred social media platforms. This persona becomes your ideal viewer—the one person your video must please.
Setting the Tone and Style
Once you've identified your target audience, it's time to decide on the tone and style of your video. Tone relates to the mood your story creates. It could range from fun and lighthearted to serious and thought-provoking. The key is to choose a tone that resonates with your target audience.
Your video's style includes creative choices made to complement the story and tone. Will it be live-action or animation? Will there be voice-overs or interviews during the stages of video production? What about the pace of editing or the genre of music? All these elements should align with your audience's preferences.
Distribution: Reaching Your Target Audience
Identifying your target audience is also crucial for the distribution phase of the video production process. This phase includes marketing efforts to ensure your target audience sees your video, including paid promotions like social media post boosting and targeted ad campaigns. Knowing your target audience helps you determine the best platforms for these promotions and the type of video that will resonate with them.
4. What’s the purpose of your video: Planning an Effective Video
Before embarking on any video production project, it's crucial to understand its purpose. What do you hope to achieve with this video? Is it to increase brand awareness, drive sales, or engage your audience? Defining clear objectives at the outset is the first step in shaping your video content strategy.
Increasing Brand Awareness with Video
If your primary objective is to increase brand awareness, your video content should be designed to introduce your brand to a wider audience. It should clearly communicate your brand message, values, and unique selling proposition throughout every video. Use creative storytelling techniques to make your brand memorable and shareable.
Driving Sales through Engaging Video Content
When it comes to driving sales, your video content should focus on showcasing your products or services in an engaging way. Highlight the benefits of your offerings, showcase real-life applications, and include strong calls-to-action that prompt viewers to make a purchase or learn more.
Engaging Your Audience with Authentic Stories
If your goal is to engage your audience, your video content needs to resonate with them on a deeper level. Share stories that your audience can relate to, showcase customer testimonials, and use colloquial expressions for relatability. Remember, authentic engagement comes from genuine connections.
5. What does success look like for you?
Before launching any video marketing campaign, you need to answer one critical question: What does success look like for you? Is it increased brand visibility, more leads generated, higher conversion rates, or enhanced customer engagement? Understanding your unique definition of success is crucial as it shapes your video marketing strategy.
Setting Measurable KPIs in Video Marketing
KPIs are quantifiable measures used to track and assess the success of a marketing campaign, including metrics related to your final video. In the context of video marketing, these could range from views and shares to leads generated or conversion rates.
For instance, if your goal is to increase brand awareness, your KPIs could be video views, likes, and shares. If you aim to generate leads, then the number of form fills or clicks on your call-to-action button could be your KPIs.
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Your Videos
Knowing your success metrics allows you to evaluate the effectiveness of your videos. By tracking these KPIs, you can gauge whether your video content is resonating with your audience and driving desired actions. If not, you can use these insights to tweak your video content strategy and better align it with your goals.
6. What pain points or challenges is your company facing? What is your call to action?
Every business faces its unique set of challenges and pain points. These could range from not being a subject matter expert, to having a hard time hiring new employees, to experiencing low audience engagement. Acknowledging these hurdles is the first step in overcoming them. By understanding these challenges, you can tailor your video marketing strategy to address them effectively and drive your audience to results.
Creating Solution-Oriented Video Content
Once you've identified your business's challenges, the next step is to create video content that addresses these issues head-on. This approach serves a dual purpose: it demonstrates to your audience that you understand their needs, and it positions your brand as a provider of solutions.
For instance, if your challenge lies in low audience engagement, creating engaging and shareable video content can help foster a stronger connection with your audience. If you're struggling to hire new employees, a well-executed company culture video could attract potential hires by showcasing the benefits of working at your company.
Resonating with Your Audience Through Authenticity
By addressing your business challenges in your video content, you're not only providing solutions but also resonating with your audience. When your audience sees that you comprehend their pain points and are actively working towards offering solutions, it cultivates trust and fosters a stronger bond between your brand and your audience.
7. What is your call to action?
A call-to-action (CTA) is fundamentally the action you desire your viewer to take after viewing your video. It's the subsequent step you envisage for them. Some videos are tailored around a direct CTA, such as promoting product sales or requesting donations for a nonprofit organization. Conversely, others employ an indirect or organic strategy, fostering brand awareness or inspiring viewers about a product or concept without directly marketing it in the video.
While the direct strategy might be better suited to satisfy immediate needs, like increasing sales, the indirect strategy might be better suited for long-term goals like positioning your brand or growing your social media presence. Regardless of the CTA strategy you opt for, it's crucial to always incorporate concise texts and links when sharing your video on various channels, such as social media platforms or your email marketing list.
These texts should reflect your CTA and let you be more direct about the next step you want your audience to take, even if you took the indirect or organic approach. The link you include will finalize your CTA by taking your audience directly to where you want them to go.
Examples of CTA links include:
- Your website's homepage
- The page of a particular product, service, or fundraising campaign on your website
- A custom-built landing page for the project
- A blog post on your website
- A specific social media channel page
Determining Your CTA Strategy
After deciding on your CTA strategy, there's one final question you need to ask yourself: Is this in line with my overall marketing objectives? The most effective CTAs are those that integrate smoothly into your wider marketing strategy and guide your audience toward the desired results.
Remember, the most successful CTAs are clear, and succinct, and tell your audience exactly what action you anticipate them to take next. Customize your CTAs to align with your specific marketing objectives, whether it's augmenting website traffic, enhancing sales, or building an engaged community.
After determining your call-to-action strategy, there is one crucial question left for you to ponder:
8. What is your budget range and timeline?
Knowing any possible deadlines is crucial. Is there a specific date on which the video needs to be shot? For instance, if a particular activity only occurs within a certain timeframe. Does the video need to be ready by a certain date? This might be the case if you already have a set website, campaign, or product launch date.
Of course, some projects don't have a rigid timeline or can afford to be more flexible about timelines. While you'll always want the video finished as soon as possible, knowing your actual timeline will help you make production choices that better suit your project's needs.
Determining Your Budget Range
Your budget range for the video is equally significant. Video production prices can fluctuate considerably between different types of projects due to the numerous variables involved. It's best to be realistic about what you're willing to spend and, ideally, establish a minimum and maximum budget that you'd like to work within.
Connecting with 07'06' Agency
Now that you've addressed all the questions discussed above, you are ready to reach out to 07'06' Agency for your video marketing needs. At 07'06' Agency, we specialize in delivering strategic, video-driven campaigns that sell, connect, and entertain. We're not just creators; we're innovators and storytellers committed to assisting businesses like yours to navigate the digital landscape effectively. Are you ready to embark on your video production journey? Let's connect.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What are the stages of video production?
A: The stages of video production typically include pre-production, production, and post-production. Each stage plays a crucial role in ensuring the video is completed successfully. The 5 stages of video production further break this down into planning, shooting, editing, finalizing, and sharing your video.
Q: Why is video pre-production important?
A: Video pre-production is essential because it sets the foundation for the entire project. It involves planning your video, creating a storyboard, and assembling a production team. This phase of the process ensures that everyone is on the same page, which can make or break your video.
Q: What should I consider when deciding on the type of video?
A: When deciding on the type of video, consider your target audience, the message you want to convey, and the platforms where your video will be shown. Different types of videos, such as explainer videos or video podcasts, require different approaches and production techniques.
Q: What happens during the video shoot phase?
A: During the video shoot phase, the production team captures all the necessary footage according to the storyboard. This includes setting up production equipment, directing the talent, and ensuring the video files are recorded in high-quality video formats. It's crucial to stick closely to the plan to achieve the best video outcome.
Q: What is involved in video post-production?
A: Video post-production involves editing your video, adding sound, visual effects, and color correction. It’s the phase where the raw footage is transformed into a finished video. This is when you ensure your video aligns with your original vision and meets quality standards.
Q: How can I effectively plan a video project?
A: To effectively plan a video project, start by defining your objectives, identifying your audience, and outlining your key messages. Create a detailed blueprint for your video that includes a storyboard, a budget, timelines, and a list of required production equipment. This thorough planning will streamline your video production workflow.
Q: What are the benefits of using a professional video production company?
A: A professional video production company brings expertise and experience to your project, ensuring high-quality video outcomes. They can help you navigate the complexities of the production phases, from pre-production planning to video post-production, allowing you to focus on your core message and audience engagement.
Q: How do I host my video once it’s finished?
A: Once your video is finished, you can host your video on various platforms such as YouTube, Vimeo, or your own website. Consider where your target audience spends their time online and choose the best option to maximize visibility and engagement.
Q: What is the importance of editing in the video production process?
A: Editing is a vital part of your video production process as it shapes the final narrative and flow. During this stage, you can remove unnecessary footage, enhance the visual and audio quality, and add effects that will elevate your message. A well-edited video can significantly impact viewer retention and engagement.
Q: How can I ensure my video meets its intended purpose?
A: To ensure your video meets its intended purpose, establish clear goals during the planning phase, understand your audience's needs, and craft a compelling story that resonates with them. Regular reviews during the production and post-production phases can also help fine-tune the content to stay aligned with your objectives.
