Video Strategy - From Concept to Release
A great video means nothing if it gets lost in the shuffle and no one sees it. Like with any piece of advertising or marketing materials, you need a great plan from the creation all the way through to distribution.
There are a lot of things to consider - from what kind of video should you be making to where you should be hosting it. All of those things work together and play off each other and ultimately affect the success of the final video results.
The Message and the Audience
While video is becoming more and more common for almost all audiences, its still important to consider what the video message is and how the audience wants to receive it.
The Message
Starting out with the wrong message can put you at at disadvantage from from the get-go. So, before you even begin, take a step back and think about what you are trying to say and how you want to say it.
Are you launching your brand? Raising awareness? Selling a specific product? Recruiting new employees? Combating a crisis? Each of these situations requires a different approach. Different visuals, a different script, a different call to action at the end.
Is your message better told in a short form social video or a long form narrative piece? Is it better told through colorful animation or experts being interviewed on camera? Through humor and jokes or a more serious tone?
All of that is easier to think about at the start, rather than mid-project. Maybe gather your team and make a list of your objectives and what messaging aligns best, work with an outside vendor or trusted partner to get a 3rd party look or even directly ask a sample of your audience what resonates with them.
The Audience
Your audience is the second important part of the up-front planning process. Who you are trying to reach should make a big impact on how you are telling your story and where it will likely get the most impressions. Are they more likely to watch tradition television? Streaming services? YouTube? TikTok?
There are so many places that people can go for video content these days that it's important to know which ones your audience is looking at.
Where are you putting it, When and Why
Once you know the message and the audience, you can dive into where you are going to put your video.
Demographics are a big thing to look at here, like average user age. Traditional television commercials and Facebook might skew older, while Instagram and TikTok have lower average ages.
Also important to consider if people are viewing on their phones or on desktop devices. The 9x16 video format, which is most viewable on phones, is becoming more and more prevalent with the rise of things like TikTok, Instagram Reels, Facebook Stories and even YouTube Shorts.
One thing those platforms can't offer, though, is the ability to post 4K resolution video. If you need that kind of quality, maybe for a documentary piece or some epic beauty shots, places like YouTube or Vimeo are a much better choice to showcase your work.
Once you have selected your platform, there are things within those options that can also impact viewing and engagement rates, like posting time and post frequency. Each platform has its own sweet spots for posting when people are likely to be online, and times where they are not. LinkedIn for instance, is primarily a business and job focused site, so more people are online during the work week, and more specifically, during lunches and right around 5pm. So maybe try posting during those times to catch the right people. Sometimes it's a frequency game like on Twitter. Feeds move so quickly that you are better off posting multiple times with similar content to make sure people are noticing your brand.
A final thing to consider as you make your plan - are you looking to get anything extra from the platform? Maybe things like shop-ability? Access to influencers? The ability to make playlists? Each platform has its own list of added features and possibilities that might help make your final decisions for you.
Reviewing and Adjust
One of the most important things to remember as you go through the process is to look at your analytics and adjust as needed! Maybe this video is doing better on Facebook and this one is doing better on TikTok. Just remember that you are never stuck and the best thing you can do is adapt as you go.
Maybe you can use the footage captured to rework the videos and try a different angle. Maybe it means starting over, which can be tough, but as long as you learn from your mistakes, it's still a win in the long run.
If things ARE working - great! Look at the content, the platform and the placement – and try to replicate the magic.
