A video is still one of the best marketing tools available, and in current times where more content is becoming virtual, video is becoming even more important than ever. I have been working now for about 6 years as a videographer, mainly in the Chicago area. Over this time, I have learned how to get the best value out of video production for promotion of various businesses, services, and brands.
Know the Platform for Your Video Production
First thing to consider when planing a video production is what platforms you want to promote, where your audience is, and how to effectively engage them. Video renders will vary, depending on the platform. The ideal duration for a video on a main website page is about 2.5 – 3.0 minutes. This video should succinctly explain your product or service. It is very likely that the viewers will watch the video before reading any other material on the website, so the video has to be thorough. It is also assumed that someone on a website is actively researching your type of product or service.
On the other hand, instagram limit is currently 1 minute. However, the ideal video for an Instagram feed should be 45 seconds or less. Therefore, if you plan a video to promote your product or service you have to think of shorter cuts for Instagram. In addition, Instagram stories, Facebook stories, and IGTV are designed for a vertical video crop, given that the audience will be viewing the content on the phone. Another reason for keeping the videos for Instagram 45 seconds or shorter is that the content on that platform is viewed very briefly. Instagram viewers are not researching content like they would if they were browsing the net on a computer. They are looking for little snippets of entertainment. Therefore, when designing a video for instagram, avoid trying to explain your product or service in detail. That information should be left for your website. One good example of a successful Instagram video campaign I produced was for a dental practice in Chicago. 14 dentists were asked a series of questions like the color of their toothbrush or how cool they thought they were. We cut these into a series of 20 second videos. The content of the video had nothing to do with their practice as dentists but it showed their personality as they answered these goofy questions.
https://www.facebook.com/CameoDentalSpecialists/videos/222829796130896
a link to a Facebook 20 second video that was also use in Instagram video campaign
Know your Audience for your Video Production Campaign
Given the multitude of social media platforms that today can host videos, it is often unclear where one’s audience is at. I have been told by business owners before that their particular clientele finds them at a specific platform or that their clientel does not frequent social media platforms. I would warn against such limited foresight. For instance, one of my clients has a medical practice in south Florida focusing on muscle-skeletal injuries. His patient demographic tends to be mainly 50 years or older. However, as we have talked I learned that he was treating a gym owner who became a big fan of his procedures and began referring patients to the clinic. I suggested to him he should reach out to more fitness professionals, like personal trainers, who deal with older clients prone to injuries. Of course, every trainer is currently marketing their services on Instagram. Therefore, the smart course of video marketing would be reaching fitness folks who would then refer their older clients (who by the way might not even know what Instagram is) to the medical clinic.
Think Big, Think Video Campaign
Lastly, as a videographer, I now suggest to plan not just for one or two videos but instead a video campaign with renders for various social media platforms. In the past it was perhaps enough to create one video, upload it to Youtube and embed it on your homepage. However, chances are that your competitors are doing far more. A well planned video production day can cover enough material where many versions of a video can be cut. In case of the medical clinic previously described, we planned a 1 hour interview with the main doctor, during which we talked about him personally, the philosophy of his practice, his procedures, and asked for a few short health tips. The personal and practice philosophy material was mainly used for two brand videos. The procedure content served as a 1 minute video for each procedure landing page. Health tips were used as a series of 7-8 30 second free health tips video used for Instagram and Facebook intermittently throughout the year. Few of the procedure videos were also cut to shorter version targeting conditions personal trainers see and placed on Instagram. We also cut a few fun personal facts that didn’t make the main video cut, and once again used them as short 30 second videos for more instagram content and IGTV. In the end we cut about 20 videos from one 1-hour interview.
For sample of our work go to here
I have a new small business and I am considering adding some video production to my marketing strategy. For a successful video campaign, what is a good number of videos? In other words what can I get for one full day of video production?
Hi Terry, thank you for your comment. I am glad that you are considering adding video production to you marketing strategy. As I have stated in the article, there is great marketing value in video content. People tend to respond to videos better than any other digital content. Having said that, there is a no perfect amount of videos for any marketing campaigns. There are certain rules to the length of each video, and that is something I have discussed at length in this blog post. However, the amount of videos you will be able to produce depends greatly on how you plan your interviews. When you plan your interviews, you need to consider how you can engage your audience. You want to have content that is informative but you also want potentially content that is fun and engaging. Informative and fun content can be cut into separate video renders, giving you once again more video content. To conclude, you really want to have a thorough pre production process in place where you can think of every way you can squeeze as much content from your interviews. Video production is expensive so plan well and get the most out of your efforts. I hope this helps. Cheers.
This is a very thoughtful and a concise explanation of process & some helpful suggestions for what works in delivering effective video in today’s media platforms.
I am wondering though how the pandemic has changed production, ie: cast &crew limitations, locations, and other considerations?
I can imagine what some are through social distancing techniques, but curious to hear about any choices you have had to make as a director. Thanks
Hi Steven, thank you for your comment. Yes the pandemic has certainly changed video production and filming in general. I had few corporate video project during the pandemic. During these difficult times I got used to working alone on the set (always wearing a mask of course). Prior to the pandemic, many of my corporate video project I worked on required several crew members. However, it is expected now days that for small corporate videos production involves only one single videographer. Things take longer, as I set up and break down everything my self, but what helps is that the client expect more time for set up and breakdown. So I tend to plan longer shoots and at times break up a shoot into few days. Logistically, working by my self is at times easier as I don’t have to coordinate with other videographers.
Interestingly, I shot a music video in the fall of 2020 and the limitations of the pandemic forced us to make some creative choices. We wanted to create a music video with narrative story and we had to figure out how to do this with one actor. We came up with a apocalyptic concept and took advantage of decreased traffics and overall activity in certain parts of the city. Hence, the limitations in this case served as guide rails that ushered the creation of the concept.
In sum, the limitations of Covid19 had both negative but positive impact on video and film production. Success in these trying times depends on ones ability to adapt to a smaller, and perhaps, creative solution to video and film workflow.