Video is an invaluable marketing tool that allows businesses to engage with consumers on a deeper level.
At the core of creating an effective video lies understanding what problems your target audience needs help with, so your video stands out among its competition.
Getting Started
If this is your first time producing videos for your business, the process may seem intimidating at first. But with proper knowledge and equipment, video production doesn’t need to be challenging!
Video can help create brand awareness, build trust between you and your target audience, promote products or services to them, educate clients about them, generate traffic and leads or any number of other objectives – whatever they may be! Video provides an effective platform to reach these audiences while helping your small business flourish!
There are various approaches to producing your first video, but the key is finding one that suits both you and your business best. Once this decision is made, then it’s time to begin!
1. Define Your Audience. To create successful videos, understanding who your target demographic is is crucial. Send out surveys, read comments on blogs and forums, communicate openly with both past and current customers can all help identify that perfect target demographic for your video.
2. Set clear goals for your video.
Having clear, trackable goals makes evaluating the success of your video much simpler, and helps identify what works and doesn’t so you can continually refine and enhance its content.
3. Plan out Your Workflow.
A well-organized workspace will save time in the long run by making it easy to keep track of files and effects as you edit. This step becomes especially essential as you gain experience editing videos as there are shortcuts that can reduce both stress levels and editing time when working on projects.
4. Record Your Footage. Spending the time recording content will provide high-quality, undistorted footage for use in your video project – especially if special effects or additional features will be added later on.
5. Select appropriate software for your video production.
Finding an ideal software will make working with footage easier, helping to achieve its overall goals more quickly and efficiently. Free editing programs such as Adobe Premiere exist; there are also numerous premium alternatives which could speed up this step in production process even further.
6. Create a Video Script.
Having a script written out can help organize your storyline, create narrative, and map out the flow of your video production. Furthermore, having something written can reduce anxiety while building confidence during filmmaking sessions.
7. Know Your Equipment and Budget. While expensive equipment can help produce higher-quality videos, it may not always be necessary for every project. In fact, sometimes it’s better to focus on creating quality content first before upgrading later as you gain experience.
8. Make an investment in good microphones.
A quality microphone will have a profound effect on the quality of your video recording sessions if your camera is less-than-ideal.
Pre-Production
Pre-production is the initial planning and development phase of video projects. It includes everything from choosing your production team to selecting content and audiences – it is an essential step in producing high-quality videos that meet KPIs of businesses.
No matter if it’s for your website or social media platforms, when producing videos it’s crucial that the correct steps are taken early on in the production process. By taking time for these important decisions and planning accordingly, creating high-quality content that gets results will become much simpler.
Start off the production process right by outlining your target audience and tone. This will ensure everyone involved knows who will be watching your video, while also helping determine its overall style and feel.
At the outset of video production, it is wise to establish the type and purpose of video you intend to produce as well as any specific goals for its creation. By doing so, you will be able to determine what types of shots and angles will need to be captured as well as set a budget for its production.
Once you have established the goals for your video production, it is time to start making decisions regarding equipment, lighting, audio and script that will be utilized during its creation. These decisions will ultimately shape the end result so it is wiser to make them at an early stage in order to avoid last minute decisions that hinder its completion.
If you’re creating an animated video, special software might be necessary. When filming live action scenes, however, scouting locations and hiring crew and equipment is paramount for successful productions.
As part of your creative brief and storyboard, it is also vitally important to plan how you will distribute the finished video once it has been completed. Your target audience and type of video production will determine which distribution methods would best serve your video project.
If you plan on uploading your video to YouTube, for instance, it is essential that you first determine its bandwidth requirements before recording begins. This will allow you to determine if your budget will cover everything or if any additional equipment, such as lighting and power sources for the camera will need to be added in.
At this stage, it’s also crucial to carefully consider editing and post-production of the video. This involves working with its footage to edit it into an appealing final product; adding music, narration or color correction; correcting color hues of footage captured; or adding motion graphics that enhance its visual aesthetics.
Once the pre-production phase has concluded, production can commence and you’ll need to capture raw footage for your video. At this stage you will also need to establish your shooting schedule.
As this stage is so thrilling, now is an excellent opportunity to prepare yourself for what lies ahead. Keep in mind that this phase could take quite some time so be sure to plan accordingly to avoid delays that could impact the final product of your video.