With the ever-increasing reliance on online marketing, businesses need to consider where and how their marketing budgets are spent carefully.
Video is one of the best tools for communicating your message to your audience, but there are many areas where clients needlessly waste time and money. Whether you are creating the content yourself or hiring a production company to produce your content, these tips can help you save time and energy.
Not Enough Planning
The first mistake many businesses make is rushing or skipping the planning stage of their production. Speaking on camera can be a challenge for many people, even the most confident among us. While you may think 'it'll come to you on the day' it is always best to be prepared.
Make sure you know what you want to achieve from your filming. What will the video look like? What shots do you/your production team need to get?
If you provide a filming location, make sure it is ready for filming before your team arrives.
Prepare any interviewees or team members that may appear on camera; let them know what they will be asked to do, and what time they should be available for filming.
Where possible, provide examples of projects you'd like to emulate, so everyone involved knows the production aims.
Ensuring everyone involved is on the same page before the shoot date is vital for a well organised and productive shoot.
Too Much Planning
Planning your shoot is important, but it can be tempting to over plan, creating a stressful and hectic production. A common example of over-planning is when too many interviews/scripts are scheduled for the same shoot, not allowing each interviewee enough time to get the best results.
A successful shoot schedule will include 15-20 min before each interview to allow for framing, lighting and audio tests and put the subject at ease. Production teams will also build in a contingency to ensure the shoot continues as planned if, for example, a participant is delayed.
Chat to your production team about what is possible in the time you have available before planning your shoot.
Giving it a go
'Giving something a go' during a shoot is not a problem, and the best teams will ensure there is time for your input during filming. Sometimes, however, business owners can get carried away on set and want to try many things.
The more prepared you are for a shoot, the more likely you will be able to try a few things out. Before you get to that, your team needs to get the shots they need to ensure a video can be produced.
Wanting the Best Quality
Of course, you want the best quality video for your business, but that doesn't always mean the best quality in terms of footage. There are many different cameras out there; you may have heard phrases such as 4K and Broadcast Quality when it comes to how videos are produced.
The quality of the footage is only relevant with regards to where the video is being shown. Unless your video is intended for broadcasting on the TV, there is no need to pay the additional costs of broadcast-quality cameras.
For most businesses, videos will be published online, so the standard HD 1080p footage is ideal; the good news is, all professional cameras will shoot in this format.
Not Reading the Fine Print
Okay, so this tip is less about saving you time and money now, and more about not wasting time and money in the future.
Throughout the film-making process, there are several releases that need to be signed; agreements that permit you to use certain things you will need to film and publish your content;
Anyone you interview/ who appears on camera.
Owners/managers of any location you use or show.
Any music, graphics, stock footage or photos that are used in the video.
It is vital to get release forms filled to avoid potentially costly copy-right claims or remove the video entirely at a later date.
What Strategy?
Doing any form of marketing without a strategy is most likely to end in an unsuccessful campaign, and this is as true with video as your other forms of content. Having a strategy allows you to plan your video content, whilst keeping in mind the milestones and goals you need to reach.
A strategy will also allow you to look at your longterm video content, and plan for shoots that encompass more than one marketing element. For example, it is often more cost effective to hire production crew for a day rather than half a day or hourly.
Our Ice Cream Model of Video Marketing details the types of video content needed to market your business, how it should be used and how to measure the results. Whatsmore, by using our Ice Cream Model, we can create comprehensive production packages, allowing you to spread the cost of your content over 6 or 12 months, whilst taking advantage of combined production rates. You can download our free Ice Cream Model Strategy Guide to find out more.
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