We see a lot of content being produced that just doesn't get to the heart of the matter. For us, it's not so much about the form of the final product (a video because we want to make a video), but much more about the way it gets there. If you want to make a difference with (online) content, you need to choose a strategic perspective at the beginning of your thinking process instead of stubbornly sticking to the form.
Many companies and organisations invest in moving images simply because they want to make a video or because they have seen other inspiring examples within their sector. An approach that we find more successful is to only invest in video if it really turns out to be the right form for your content message.
Making a video and then building a whole strategy around it to put the production in the right context is not going to work. It is desirable to let the strategy be the engine behind every production.
There are seven steps that are all interwoven and that we would like to go through with you on the way to an effective online video strategy:
1. Your audience. Know for whom you want the film to be made.
Who is your audience? For which target group are you making this? Is this a difficult question? Then we can help you name your target group(s). This is a crucial step in the process. If you know for whom you are making a production, defining goals is easier.
2. Goals. Together we choose a goal and stick to it.
What goals have been defined for this target group? Here it is necessary to look beyond the very first briefing to make sure we have a clear understanding of the goals we are aiming for. Clear goals lead to the best, most creative translation into content.
3. Content. It what makes the meat of the story.
Film production based on an authentic story, genuine content and archive material.
The discussion of the two previous steps often leads to the first outlines of content. What do we want to get out of the interviews and how are we going to organise that? What about length, structure and topicality? The content ultimately also determines where and how you want to distribute it online. In addition, it can be a valuable addition to make use of existing archive material or we can research which historical images are still available in the existing archives of, for example, image and sound.
4. Distribution and conversion are at least as important as the content of your film or video production. Data give you wonderful insights in real time.
On which platform do you want to share the video? Do you use your own email list, website and networks. Or will you choose channels such as YouTube, Linkedin, Facebook, Instagram or Twitter? Or do you make use of services such as Google Adwords targeted audience or YouTube promoted content audience? The method of distribution has an effect on the production process because requirements for an Insta video are different from those for a video on YouTube. There is nothing better than your audience wanting to share your film or video production with their social network. How do you make that easy and how do you ensure that you get suggestions from them to refine your production?
5. Optimising video and film production content and SEO
How do we ensure that the video is found by the right audience and shared further? We distinguish two forms of optimisation that are important in addition to a distribution plan. That is the optimisation for the audience (content addition) and the optimisation for the search engines (search engine optimisation).
6. Measurability. From image to metadata. Gaining insight into the world you cannot see.
Unlike traditional (offline) marketing, online marketing provides a whole mass of data. To ensure that you are not buried under numbers and graphs of each platform, it is important to measure the success of the content based on the predetermined goals.
7. Production. This requires an effective and project-based way of working together that contributes to your film production goals.
Too often, clients like to dive into technical subjects such as cameras, software or in a discussion about the use of teleprompters, green screens or not. While the content should be leading.
But that is not the most effective sequence. The first steps are to get clear about the audience, the goals, the content, the distribution and optimisation approach and the way of measuring success. After these steps, we can move on to the process of filming and editing the content.