Video is now the undisputed king of content marketing formats. By 2022, video internet traffic will account for a staggering 82% of all consumer internet traffic, and with its increase in popularity and advances in digital technology, video is becoming more and more accessible and affordable to small and medium-sized businesses as an effective marketing tool. Of course, it’s not rocket science, but commissioning a business video for the first time can be a little confusing. Should it be short or long, animated or live-action, optimised for mobile or desktop devices? Will you be needing music, voiceover, a professional cast – or even perhaps a filming permit? And what on earth does bandwidth have to do with it?
The starting point with any marketing campaign is the strategy – so if you’re having problems understanding your POVs from your OVPs – here is Small Films layman’s guide to creating an effective marketing strategy and concept for your business video.
Define your business
Who are you? Start by taking an overview of your business. What is your ‘brand’ – your business character, your values, your mission? How does your audience currently perceive you and what do they need to know about you to make better purchasing decisions?
Who are they? To target your video correctly you need to know detailed information about your audience. What is your customer base? Do some market research in the form of surveys, questionnaires, interviews or social media polls. Develop insights into your customers base’s demographic, character and purchasing behaviour. It might help to create some user personas of typical customers to focus your efforts (you can find some tips on how to develop these here.)
Define your goals
The stats say that video is the most effective content marketing tool for businesses – but a video for video’s sake will not bring the desired results. Create some measurable objectives. What exactly are you trying to achieve – what’s your key message? Do you want to educate about your product, raise awareness of your brand, foster emotional connections with your audience, drive web traffic or generate sales? Be specific, set KPIs and make sure the outcomes from your business video campaign are measurable and fit in with your wider business goals.
Define the market
Who are your competitors and what are other people in your industry space doing with business video and content marketing? What are they doing well and what elements are they missing? What styles are they using and how are they using them? There’s no point doing exactly the same as the competition, even if they are doing it brilliantly. Find your niche. How can you be different or better? What can you do with business video to stand out in your industry space?
Define your platforms
Decide how you want to distribute your business video – will you be using it in email, embedding it on your website, advertising on Facebook, setting up a YouTube channel – or do you need your video to be optimised or repurposed for several platforms?
Define your budget
Make sure you have a ballpark figure of how much your business is willing to spend on video. If you are considering using a video production company or freelancer, any reputable professional will need a rough estimate of the budget to give you an accurate idea of what sort of video you might expect to get. A business video could cost anything from £1500 to £30k depending on the length, effects, location etc, so being transparent at the beginning of the process is the best way of managing everyone’s expectations.
Define your creative concept
And finally the fun bit! You know you need a business video. You’ve defined your marketing objectives and target audience, reviewed the competition, set the budget and you’re ready to go. Your final challenge is to come up with THE IDEA. That creative nugget that will strike a chord and prompt a (positive) reaction with the people that matter most – your potential customers.
Depending on which type of video you have decided to go for in line with your business objectives (case study, explainer video, brand film, interview, special event etc), decide what specific problem you are aiming to address. Then get brainstorming! Look at lots of examples of business videos across industries and make a note of styles, themes or approaches that you like. Come together in a team to review your ideas and make sure you are all on the same page. Do you want quirky, funny, professional, informative or inspiring? Pick one concept and then brainstorm specific ideas for how these might be executed. Think also about whether you would like extras such as voice over, music, special effects or animation. Again – don’t be afraid to use real examples – any extra information you can provide will ultimately help your video production company come up with the best solution for your business.
Now you have everything you need to get started with video for your small business. If you’d like to chat about how Small Films could help you take your business video strategy and concept further, contact us here.
Small Films is a video production company. By combining strategic minds with creative flair we create powerful stories with videos that deeply resonate with audiences, supporting our clients to achieve their ambitions in growing their organisation, brand or campaign.
