The reason video seems too expensive is because it almost never comes with a plan.
The thing is… you don’t just need a video. You need a video strategy, which has 2 components:
What video – or series of video – do you need in order to engage your audience and gain their trust?
How are you going to promote your video and make sure it connects you with the right audience?
So… do you have a video strategy?
A common mistake is to just dive in and start creating videos… without a strategy. Instead, it’s always a good idea to plan ahead:
What topics should you cover: are you doing product videos, covering more general market interest themes, or staff opinions?
What will be the tone of the videos: are you more casual, fun/funny, or formal?
What will be the frequency of your video posts: if you want to create followers, your content should come out on a regular basis – can you put together a calendar of videos for your next 1-2 quarters?
How about promotion: how is your audience going to find out about your content, what partnerships can help you? Refer to Synchrony Bank above. Yes, they have a much bigger budget but just a bit can go a long way with the latest targeting algorithms on YouTube.
Consistency is key
One thing to keep in mind is consistency. You have to keep publishing content regularly. Maybe it’s once a week or once a month that you’re posting a video. Make it regular and consistent so your audience learns to expect it and knows what to expect.
Persist for success
Results won’t show right away. It can take months, sometimes years (depending on your market, audience, etc.);. You have to keep at it because once you start gaining traction it can snowball. That’s where promotion and partnerships can accelerate results.
A great idea is to start thinking about your “Brandscape” early on. The concept is taken from Andrew Davis’ book Brandscaping. Here’s a 3-minute video summary for you…
But video takes A TON of time and A LOT OF $$$
Agencies make their money on big-budget ads. Talented videographers and animators get frustrated by the huge margins at big agencies and strike out on their own. But they too only know how to build the same type of content. They charge less, but still $10K+ for a 1-minute video with 1-2 actors is cost-prohibitive.
You have to create content differently.
There IS a way to execute your video strategy very cost effectively. Board Studios specializes in developing unique cost-effective solutions. For example, here’s what we can do:
1-hour kickoff call to help you develop a strategy and start your video-content calendar;
Then you and your team spend some time filling out our worksheets;
Then we do a 1-hour video-recorded interview to capture your content;
Then we spend a week to edit the content, transform it into snackable modules for easy consumption, and upload it on a user-friendly platform (for e-courses) or on your YouTube channel;
And finally we can help you promote your videos.
In just a couple of weeks you can have 10 videos in your arsenal and drip them through your YouTube channel over a 10-week period. And all that for the cost of 1 explainer video!