by Joe Monzo | Jan 27, 2021 | General
Being in business for over five years, you often start seeing patterns of success (and patterns of failures) for your work. From there, you can learn based on experience what works and what does not work for your clients and how your new clients (and recurring clients) can benefit from those experiences.
It’s no secret that having a multi-video strategy will get you the best bang for your buck, and either though having one video is a good start, there’s very rarely a case of a one-hit-wonder in the video marketing world. But while you may have tons of ideas on what kind of videos you need to create, perhaps, you don’t have the budget or don’t have time/resources to work on all 100 of them :).
So in this blog, we will explain the top 3 videos to have, why they are successful, and how they fit into your overall marketing strategy whether you are a private school, business, or non-profit organization. We call this the Sales Video Trifecta.
- Branding/Value video- This is the main video on your website, the flagship of your online presence, and perhaps the most important video you can have in your arsenal. This video sets the tone and tells the story of who you are, what you do, and what makes you unique in under 3 mins. While the goal is to help nurture leads, the approach this video should take is more of an emotional connection to the audience and is not necessarily meant to collect a sale at this moment (though it will depend on the structure of the organization). Having a strong call to action at the end will help continue nurturing those leads more effectively.
- Testimonial Video- Referrals and testimonials are the best way to get new qualified leads. There’s no denying that. Having a video (or in some cases, multiple videos) is a great way to showcase the consistency of your product, service, or organization and how it has improved the lives of the testimonial. Out of the 3 videos, this will most likely be the last video your audience will watch and will help increase the speed of trust for them to shoot you an email or a phone call to learn more.
- Promo Video- This video is often the shortest of the three videos mostly because this is the kind of video that will be used in social media ads…in fact that’s what it’s designed to be, to quickly catch the attention of your audience and get them thinking, “huh that seems interesting”, clicks on your landing page to your branding/value video and then they can check out some of the testimonials as well. Generally, you want to keep this video under 60 seconds if you can tell the story effectively in that time.
While there are many types of videos your organization can create these are by far the most important and have the easiest ways of fitting into your marketing and sales funnel. The best part is you’ll be able to repurpose some of the footage from all three from each other or use footage that maybe didn’t make the cut from the branding video, but makes it to the testimonial video. At the end of the day, the goal is to get more phone calls, more inquiries and ultimately grow your organization.
by Joe Monzo | Jan 13, 2021 | General
Okay, so the video’s concept, the budget, and the timeline have all been approved by the boss- Woo hoo! That’s always a great first step, but now it’s time to roll up the sleeves and get to work. However, many organizations don’t take the pre-production process seriously enough, or they spend way too much time trying to perfect the script. In this post, we’re going over some things you should expect to go into while in the pre-production process.
- Concept Deep-Dive
This is the foundation that was pitched earlier in the discovery phase but now is the time to dive deeper. The big question to ask is, how are we delivering the story? Are we using a formal script and a voiceover? Are we using interviews and/or testimonials to help create a narrative? Is there B-roll? How much B-roll? Are we using animation or motion graphics? These will help you with the discussion with your video production partner for the next few steps. Also, make sure that there are clear expectations regarding who’s job is it to do what; otherwise, mass confusion will happen!
- Marketing
This is one that often gets overlooked, but it’s important to understand- where is this video(s) going? How will it be utilized? What channels does it go on, and at what point in the funnel are the audience when they are watching the video(s)? This could affect how the story is developed, especially since some platforms do much better with shorter videos(or even a limit to 60 seconds) than others.
- The Story
This is perhaps the most important step of the Pre-production process. Understanding the story and connecting with your audience on a deeper level is crucial to map out. What does the organization do? What problems are their audiences having? How do they solve it? What is their Unique Value Proposition? What features help them achieve success? How do they overcome objections? What actions should viewers do after watching this video? These are some questions to consider for framing your story structure for interview questions and writing your scripts. You should think about what kind of music will be used, the tone of the video, and finally, how it fits with the organization’s overall brand.
- Aesthetics/B-roll
Depending on the type of video you are creating, this step can be more time-consuming than others. If you were creating an animation video, understanding the aesthetics and style will be important to nail down based on the brand of the organization. If you are shooting a video, then having some key scenes to the film will be important to write down and find ways to schedule them into the shoot day(s) and know how they help support the story being told. It is super important to make sure that every party is in the same boat by setting the proper expectations on the video’s look and feel. After this is done, this is the time to review any storyboards and scripts as needed. Your video production partner will guide you through what is needed to get stuff written down.
- Scheduling
This part is sometimes tricky. The goal should be to keep the shoot as condensed in calendar days as possible. Of course, life never really works out that way, but it’s important to understand how many days it will take to film the video. Some of this should be discussed during the discovery phase just before pre-production. Still, it’s also about coordinating various schedules for the video production partner and the talent, location availability, and any other factors to consider based on your shoot.
This process can be daunting, but it can also be fascinating — lots of ideas and concepts come out, and this is the time to really hone in on the best of the best. However, it’s important to know that just because you have a solid plan doesn’t mean you can’t deviate a bit. In fact, more often than not, you may find opportunities for improvising on the day of filming. If you have a project that’s a bit more formal (like a more scripted project), then be prepared to be aware of any potential challenges that arise and figure out how to address them.
I hope this gives you some insights on the importance of having a pre-production meeting (or meetings) to ensure your video’s success(s). DO NOT SKIP this step!
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