Video Content Strategy

Believing these 7 myths about video production are keeping you from growing.

Are you still on the fence about video production and whether video content would be a worthwhile addition to your business marketing?

Many businesses hold back because of one or more of the enduring myths about video production. In most cases, these myths hark back to when making video was far more expensive, time-consuming, and less widely used than it is today.

Stay with us as we do some myth busting!

Myth #1: Quality video content and production is too expensive

This myth is probably the one we hear most often: Producing professional video content is just too expensive.

While this might have been the case in the past, it’s certainly not true anymore.

Yes, producing video can be more expensive than other types of media but it needs to be compared on the basis of the revenue returned rather than the initial costs. Quality video content can be used for many years and should more than return your costs in revenue.

Stats show that including a video on your landing page can increase your conversion rates by 80%. In email marketing, videos can boost open rates by 19% and click-through rates by 65%. Embedding videos on your website will also boost your Google ranking so that you’re more likely to show up on the first page of results.

There are options for any budget

If you’re on a super tight budget, you can still make an effective video yourself using your phone or webcam and free editing software.

If you have a little more to spend and you want to increase the quality and quantity of your video production, you could hire a freelancer to film or edit, or work with a video production company to hand off the whole project. This doesn’t need to break the bank.

Making video content is getting cheaper every day. Even for video production companies making professional-quality content, the cost is nothing compared to the hundreds of thousands that it used to take to create branded content.

There’s no sweet spot when it comes to the cost of your perfect video; it’s all down to what works for your business. But what everyone can agree on – and the stats speak for themselves – video is the most effective marketing tool to drive revenue.

Our advice:  

Be realistic about what you can afford and look at clever ways to get the most out of your budget. If you want a video with many people involved, several days of filming and complicated post-production, this will inevitably cost more. If your budget is limited, you may need to simplify your videos for now.

Creating content internally is an affordable option – you can always outsource for specialist skills and high-end tech or try for a half-half approach where you shoot content internally and outsource the editing.

Just remember that not all video content should be DIY. While people may forgive poor production on a Facebook Live video, for example, they will expect something more polished from pre-recorded content. Stats show that 62% of consumers are more likely to have a negative perception of brands that publish poor-quality video.

  “If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur”

Red Adair

The advantages of professionally produced video

Professional video production means working with individuals who know how to use video production equipment to the best effect.  They also know which steps have to be done and in what order to achieve the results that you want.

Video Production Professionals also understand how to repackage and reuse your video content across various different platforms, extracting as much mileage as possible from every frame of footage. One video can pay for itself many times over.

Video remains one of the types of marketing media with the highest levels of engagement and conversion, as it is able to connect directly with viewers. Properly used as part of an effective strategy, video production will bring in more money than it costs.

Myth #2: Videos wouldn’t work for my business

Many businesses, particularly smaller brands, believe that video won’t work for them. However, in today’s digital age, EVERY business can benefit from video content.

Increased conversions, more dwell time on websites, higher SEO rankings, and, most importantly, great content for an audience in a format that they’re likely to enjoy are just a few of the positives.

If any of those outcomes sound like they would help your business, then video content is for you.

You may have to think creatively when it comes to the type of video you make, but with all the different video styles at your disposal, something is bound to resonate.

Before we move on, it’s worth looking at some of the biggest reasons that people believe videos won’t work for their business – do any of them strike a chord?

• I don’t have any video ideas/creativity’s not our thing 

It can be challenging to come up with an idea that you know is worth executing, especially if you’re new to video marketing.

My first recommendation would be to write down every idea you have, even if you think it’s a no-go. The process of brainstorming will help you clarify your thoughts and might spark other ideas in the process.

Remember, you know your brand and your customers better than anyone and that’s invaluable. With your insights, you can be specific about the tone, messaging and purpose of your video.

Get online and find videos that you like. YouTube is a great resource and it’s always easier to get a clearer idea of costs if you know exactly what you want your video to be like.

Check out what your competitors are doing well and badly.  Brainstorm with your team, your boss, your friends, and your family (anyone who knows your brand) and be open to their suggestions. They may come up with an angle that you haven’t considered.

Even if you’re struggling to come up with creative concepts, all of the above is information that you can include in a brief to a video production company to tap into their creativity.

Our advice:  

Your first video will probably be the hardest to make, simply because it’s new territory. Give it a go though and you’ll find your customers like it and like you more.

And whether you’re making a video in–house or briefing an external creator, get involved in the video creation process to ensure that the video is on brand and you’re getting the biggest bang for your company bucks.

Working with a video production company can be a no-brainer if you struggle with creativity. Video professionals will be able to come up with a great concept and flesh out the ideas into a script and storyboard before bringing it to life in production.

• My business is too small for video  

This is another reason that many businesses decide video wouldn’t work for them.

They believe video is only for big companies with big advertising budgets.

In the days of big-screen advertising, it’s true that only the wealthiest of brands could afford video. But advances in technology and the growth of the digital world mean that video marketing has opened up to every business.

Our advice:  

It’s not your company size that limits your video creation but your intention and desire. All you need to do is start.

• Videos only work short-term 

Many businesses see videos as having a short lifespan in marketing terms. While a news update video might only be current for a few days, most other videos have value for much longer.

A good brand identity video, for example, can last for years. In fact, a lot of videos — especially those strategically posted on social media — will continuously build momentum.

Our advice:  

Talk to a video production company about the best way to create evergreen video content or how to create different video types from one shoot. You could, for instance, pull short testimonials out of a larger case study or brand video.

Myth #3: Professional video content is too time-consuming

Most of us are time-poor these days, so you may be worried that creating videos is too time-consuming to be worthwhile.

In the past, video production often did take a long time because there simply weren’t any of the sophisticated apps and tools that are available today. Things are different now, especially in the hands of an experienced video professional.

And let’s not forget that you can get a surprising amount of mileage out of each video you create. Allocate the time and resources now and it will keep paying you back in dividends.

A single piece of video can be repurposed into multiple pieces of content for the web, social media, blogs, editorial, for live events or internal coms, for HR and recruitment, or for customer service and sales reports.

Our advice:  

With so many tools available, an experienced company can help you to speed up the video production process.

Editing tends to be the biggest time-suck, so if your budget is limited and you’re only going to outsource one thing to save time then make it this.

Depending on the complexity of your requirements, most videos can now be completed within a few days to a couple of weeks.

That being said, a video takes as long to produce as it has to. A complex video, such as an important commercial, may take a few weeks to plan and shoot. A short explainer video or product video, on the other hand, may be able to be completed within a day.

Video production doesn’t have to take a long time to produce as a general rule. Hiring actors, writing scripts, and researching locations are tasks that will often take a long time. Even these tasks can be streamlined by a professional video production company.

Myth #4: To be successful with video you need a lot of views

There’s an enduring myth that the number of views is the best way to rate the success of a video.

While a high number of views is great, and it can let you know how many people are watching your video, one thing this metric doesn’t tell you is the number of people that are interested in the product or service that the video is promoting.

More sophisticated marketing methods and apps should be used to determine what the viewer does AFTER watching the video.

Do most of them simply click out and do something else? Do some of them do an internet search about the product or service? How many actually visit the website of the product or service being promoted by the video?

The answers to these questions can be much more effective at rating the success of a promotional video.

Our advice:  

You may believe that a video has to go viral to be deemed ‘successful’, but the reality is that very few videos achieve viral fame.

The most important thing is that your video content appeals to your brand’s target audience; you can confirm this by tracking the metrics that matter.

If a video goes viral, that’s great, but it shouldn’t be your benchmark for success.

Viral videos usually happen by chance – they capture a mood and get shared by the right people at the right time. There’s no magic formula.

Our advice is to make something that your audience will enjoy; the engagement will be worthwhile in terms of customers and sales, even if you don’t generate traffic in the millions.

Myth #5: For video content, the shorter the better

This enduring myth feeds – and is fed by – most of the other myths on this list. Brands often believe that shorter videos will be easier to produce in-house, cost less and, therefore, offer better value.

These days though, shorter isn’t necessarily better.

As consumers, we’re used to online streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime, bringing us long-form content on demand. It’s the norm to watch longer videos on mobile devices, as a result.

Both Instagram and Facebook offer long-form content platforms (IGTV and Facebook Watch respectively) – the latter reports that videos over 90 seconds in duration receive nearly 79% more shares and roughly 74% more views than shorter videos.

The reality today is that long-form video has its place and is well received when it’s targeted to the right audience for the right reasons.

On other occasions, short, snappy videos may be more appropriate.

Our advice:  

A video should be as long as it needs to be to serve its purpose.

While a testimonial video or product promo might be less than 30 seconds long, a video telling your brand story or providing a product walkthrough would probably need to be longer.

Your decisions should be based on your goals and the way in which you want to use video to connect with your customers.

Myth #6: Using video to promote a business means making a commercial

You may be holding back from using video in your business because you believe that the best/only profitable approach is to create a commercial.

Although this might have been true in the past, it’s certainly not true anymore.

Thanks to on-demand video services or the ability to record our favourite programmes on cable/satellite, most of us are used to skipping through the adverts. Even on YouTube, where you are required to watch ads to a certain extent, approximately 65% of people hit the ‘Skip ad’ option as soon as it appears (a figure that rises to 84% of smartphone viewers).

Therefore, it makes sense to look beyond traditional commercials or digital ads to other types of video.

For example, you could make a virtual tour video that shows off your office space or a how-to video that teaches your customers how to use your product. You could film behind-the-scenes videos or record some face-to-face testimonials.

Our advice:  

There is a huge variety of video options for you to use to grow your business. You no longer have to use one video to do it all.

The best approach is to consider the journey your customers go on from hearing about your business until after they’ve made a purchase, then create videos that speak to the crucial points in that journey.

You’ll want to think about how a video will be used. Will it appear on the Home page of your website? Do you want to share it on Facebook or send it via email to people on your mailing list?

The possibilities are endless and extend well beyond commercials.

Myth #7: Producing video content is all there is to video marketing

Do you remember the famous line from the Kevin Costner film, Field of Dreams, where a mysterious voice told him, “If you build it, he will come”? 

Well, many businesses still believe that if they create a video, the audience will watch, as though the process begins and ends with video production.

What many seem to forget is making the content is just part of the process. A critical step in an effective video marketing strategy is deciding what you do with your video after you’ve created it.

• Which platforms will you distribute your video to?
• How will you optimise your video for these platforms and your intended audience?
• Which metrics will you use to track the effectiveness of your video in achieving the desired results?

These are all incredibly important questions.  The answers to these will help form an effective video marketing strategy that you need to plan before you start filming.

Our advice:  

Ideally, you should think about how you plan to distribute a video before it’s produced. This is because the platforms you use can have a direct bearing on the length, style, approach and format of your video.

If a video isn’t properly distributed, it won’t be able to achieve the best possible ROI. Much of video marketing lies in effectively utilising the video once it has been created and the best video production companies double as video marketing experts too.

Conclusions

As we’ve seen, many of the myths surrounding video production are undeserved. In reality, video has many benefits from growing brand awareness to skyrocketing conversions and email clickthrough rates.

You don’t need to spend an exorbitant amount of money on video production and there are options for every budget. In addition, you can use a video in multiple ways and share it through multiple channels, which is more diversified and far-reaching than ever before.

A professional video production company can help walk you through the process or manage it on your behalf. While this requires more of an investment than going it alone, the payoff is high-quality, engaging videos that are carefully targeted to your audience.

Professionally produced videos pay for themselves many times over.