Behind the scenes on a client video shoot
It isn't all glam on a video shoot.
I thought I'd share some behind the scenes action and hints and tips from our WowBooks video and how it was produced. Sometimes a video is thought to be expensive, overwhelming and out of reach for many small business owners. These tips will make the process easier for you, ensure you get maximum ROI and give you some food for thought…
Plan, plan, plan
It took nearly two months to plan the shoot for WowBooks. The brief from my client was to create an engaging, uplifting video which told the story behind WowBooks on a budget. As long as you're clear about your brief and meticulously plan it, you can keep costs down. Don't rush or skip the planning process – these shortcuts will cost you in the long run.
Create multiple versions
Think about how your video can be used and where it will appear. As a small business owner, you want to get maximum return on investment. This is a big outlay so think about creating multiple versions and how you can repurpose it across your marketing channels. You may want to create different introductions and endings to refresh your video later on down the line and use with different audiences. Agree this upfront with your video production house.
What is your story?
Always think about the story you want to tell - what is the main message you want to get across? It may sound obvious, but break it down into 3 parts - the beginning, the middle and the end. Write down a few bullet points for each section. The introduction is crucial. It is estimated that one-fifth of viewers clock off a video within 10 seconds if they're not interested in what they see. It needs to hook the viewer and encourage them to view the whole video.
For WowBooks, Sharp Thinking wanted to show the slick business operation in the factory whilst weaving in emotive scenes showing the end consumer benefit. We looked at the whole customer journey from start to finish to then decide which parts to feature in the video.
Collect case studies
Start with some basic research. Look at your competitors to see what they've produced and jot down what you like and what you don't like. Also, collect some examples of other videos you really like outside of your industry. Sharp Thinking collected a bank of case studies from within the sector for WowBooks, but also looked at other best practice examples from other sectors to help set the tone and style.
Prepare a brief
Prepare a detailed brief. Start with your overall objectives. What do you want people to do as a result of seeing your video? Do you want them to make a booking, or contact you for a meeting?
Include some background to your brand and your brand values. For WowBooks, our video needed to convey our new brand values – it needed to be friendly, whilst showing efficiency and progressiveness.
Suggest some ideas for the setting/the location of the shoot, who will feature in it and any music requirements. A good tip is to use staff, colleagues, partners and colleagues in the shoot and use free music libraries for backing tracks.
Styling
Think about general styling, props and what everyone should wear. Consider the impression you want to make. The rule of thumb is to never wear stripes or small patterns, solid bright red or orange. The clothes you choose will immediately convey a message. Do you want to create any branded merchandise for the shoot or will you/your staff wear a uniform?
On the day
Take some behind the scenes pics on the day – they make interesting future social media content. You can easily turn them into blog posts.
Google loves video
Google loves video content. You’re 53 times more likely show up first on Google if you have a video embedded on your website. Since Google now owns YouTube, there has been a significant increase in how much videos affect your search engine ranking. To ensure maximum search engine optimisation (SEO) value from your videos, accompany the video with a well-written description that is tagged with relevant keywords to help boost the video's SEO.
Embed on your landing pages
Think strategically about where you are going to place your marketing video. Statistics show that embedding videos in landing pages can raise conversion rates by 80%. It is also best practice to include them above the fold where you can.
And here is a peek of the final video for WowBooks. We are delighted with it and the great job the team did at The Birdhouse Studio.
According to statistics, 80% of all internet traffic will come from video this year so it is well worth investing in a video for your business. Here is more proof from Social Media Examiner on the future predictions of video.
I hope you found this article helpful. For tips on personal branding and how to create great content visit my blog. If you would like a chat about your brand or marketing, then please contact me - I offer a free 30-minute consultation to all businesses.