The marketing video is often the lost puppy that shows up on your camping trip. The grown-ups want to avoid it, the kids want to take it, and eventually, it’s either dropped off at the shelter or grows old with you and your kids.
After the branding, print, and other materials are conceived and designed, there’s always someone in the room who says, “We should make a video”. And then it’s up to you to sell the costs to your bosses who see the video, like the puppy, as a huge money drain for little tangible returns.
These days, considering the value and reach of video, it’s a puppy that needs to be adopted. The returns on video are clear and a good video will be evergreen, a sequoia standing proudly on the web forever.
But making a video is still expensive. It needs to be done right, and it needs to be different for it to get noticed in the crowd. And since the video is too important to be left in the woods to die from hunger and thirst, there needs to be a way to optimize them. So instead of the video growing out of a broader campaign, it should be at the center of it.
Here are some ways to optimize your video projects.
Take still images during your video shoot.
When hiring a video production company, also hire a still photographer. Still images can be repurposed in endless ways. At the very least, behind-the-scenes (BTS) shots can be put on your social media and blogs. You can also take more polished photos with the on-screen talent using the video lighting. This can be done between takes or before or after the shoot. Doing so will save time and money spent on a separate photo shoot, and you’ll have nice images that can be used on prints, websites, billboards, etc.
Some video companies will have photographers on the team, others won’t. Though similar, it’s a different skill and depending on the level of photos needed, you want to hire a professional who does stills for a living.
Re-edit and re-purpose the videos.
Plan on ways to re-purpose your videos. Either they can be re-edited into smaller bite-sized segments for social media, or made into a short branded content series. This planning should be discussed at the beginning.
Production and creative companies do this all the time, but it’s often a request that comes after the shoot. It’s much more organic and impactful if everything is planned during pre-production.
Put it all together and let it sizzle.
If you have a several similar videos (for example, customer testimonial videos featuring multiple companies and interviewees), edit the best of the best into a sizzle reel. This is an efficient way to show the impact your brand has had on a large client base.
Videos are important to any campaign, but unlike in the past, it’s not something that can be ignored. It’s no longer just an outbound tool, but an inbound one. Every website should have a video in addition to images and text. A link to a video on a homepage is an essential tool in converting buyers from the middle to the bottom of the funnel.