Time and money. When it comes to creative undertakings, these two obstacles most often prevent content projects from seeing completion.
The production of video content, in particular, can require more than you expect. Scriptwriting, shooting and editing footage, and video distribution all need people, equipment, and other resources.
If you’re not careful, they’ll eat up your budget and timeline.
However, the visibility that video marketing provides brands is worth the investment. And the investment itself doesn’t have to be outrageous if you take the right steps.
“Making a video – any video – successful, be it live action, animation or mixed media, can be summed up in one word: planning,” writes Larry Cardarelli in Making the Most of Your Video Production Budget.
In this guide, the Vice President of MultiVu Production and MultiVu Creative walks through scene-stealing and money-saving tips to ensure your message shines.
This includes repurposing your videos for different channels and functions.
“No one should be producing video for one channel only. If you do that, you’re bound to be disappointed — and committing a cardinal PR faux pas,” Larry said to me when I spoke with him recently about the multichannel power of video.
“Producing video for multiple channels needs to be standard operating procedure for everyone.”
Audience first, savings second.
Repurposing or reusing video on different channels isn’t just a question of saving money. It’s about telling a better story and offering a seamless customer experience across every channel your audience frequents.
Paid, earned, social and owned media all offer opportunities for the video footage you produce — from YouTube, blog posts, Vimeo, and brand newsrooms to Facebook, product demo pages, Instagram, and Twitter. And don’t forget Snapchat, whose new Memories feature holds potential for brands.
With so many channels to choose from, what is a budget-savvy marketer to do?
Look to your audience.
“There are new channels popping up all the time,” says Larry. “Most channels don’t mean too much to a lot of us because they’re so esoteric like a PewDiePie with its 45M gaming enthusiast subscribers. For the rest of us, we want to hit more mainstream channels like Facebook. Keep in mind, though, that Facebook is skewing to an older audience. If you want the young folks, you’ll need to identify the channels they’re using today—maybe an Instagram.”
And don’t forget more traditional communications like press releases and email, which receive a boost in visibility when video is included.
“Do your research,” Larry urges. “Remembering who your audience is, is job one. It’s just a matter of discovering where they’re getting their information. Tailor your video planning to accommodate them and you should be fine.”
Tailor to each channel.
Once you identify which channels your video will focus on, it’s time to consider how to adapt the video’s story to each platform.
Repurposing video does not mean using the same exact video on every channel.
The reasons for this go beyond the fact that any overlapping audiences will tune out if they see the same video over and over again. The technical requirements and best practices for each channel also matter.
For instance, your website may feature longer-form footage, but social media channels require shorter videos — all with varying optimum lengths and platform-specific style and specs.
“You’ll want shorter versions of your video in the hopper because some channels aren’t going to publish your 6 minute video,” notes Larry. “They may want less than 30 seconds!”
It’s not just length that you need to consider. How you tell your story with visual cues like captions, text and graphic assets will be impacted by different channels.
“This is usually due to audio vs. no audio requirements or usage insights like Facebook, whose viewers are more likely to watch videos without sound,” explains Larry.
Planning makes perfect.
If you’re considering repurposing video across channels, it’s best to plan this as early as possible.
“There’s repurposing before the fact and repurposing after the fact,” says Larry. “Before the fact is easier and results in coherent video versions. After the fact is reactionary- like trying to get a square peg into a round hole. Things can get messy – not impossible (you can always use a hammer), but certainly not ideal.”
“How you shoot is critical,” he continues. “While a wide, locked down shot of your speaker will be fine for internal communications, if you decide later that you want a social version maybe with some audience reaction, then you’re in a jam.”
“Had you known you wanted this before, you could have had two cameras in use and cutaways to help with transitions.”
Planning ahead of time for behind-the-scenes and b-roll footage will help you succeed in creating compelling content and staying within your budget.
“We at Multivu Creative believe that all great videos are a result of one single thing,” says Larry. “Good storytelling.”
Download Making the Most of Your Video Production Budget for more tips that’ll drive your video content further and help you avoid the surprising costs that eat up video budgets.
Author Amanda Hicken is PR Newswire’s senior manager of strategic content and managing editor of Beyond PR. Follow her on Twitter @ADHicken for tweets about marketing, the media, Cleveland and comic books.
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