It’s a given (we hope) that your video marketing strategy should include the creation of high-quality, high-impact videos that resonate with your audience. But the reality is that it can be challenging to conceptualize and produce great videos in-house. That’s where a video agency partner can come in handy.
Here are three helpful tips, based on our experience, for achieving the best results when working with a video agency to create video content for your brand.
Identify a goal, not a creative approach
When brainstorming potential video projects in-house, it’s easy to get too far down the creative rabbit hole before first landing on the reason you’re creating the video in the first place. Don’t get caught up thinking about an inspiring brand video if what you really need is an informative explainer video (or vice versa). At Free Radical, we like to begin every video project with a conversation about your business goals and your audience. This information will always help inform your decision around what kind of video will give you the best possible results.
As a rule, it is always better to let your goal inform your creative approach, and not the other way around. Having a solid understanding of your goals will help kickstart the process with your agency. Answering some simple questions can help get you on the right track.
- What is the most important business goal you would like to solve with this video (e.g. drive traffic, increase conversions, etc)?
- Where will the video be used?
- What would be an ideal outcome of the video project?
To start, it can be helpful to think of video content in the context of your greater marketing funnel. As part of a long-term strategy, we recommend having high-quality video assets for each stage of your funnel to help nurture your prospects through the funnel. Start with the areas that presently have the most serious need of a performance boost, and build out your video content from there.
Think like a customer
It may sound obvious, but we don’t always follow this simple advice. When strategizing around what type of video content to create, think about the style and content of videos that you have found most helpful when you are the customer, not the marketer. Odds are you’ve recently experienced the effects of a great video with the right message, used in the right place as part of a funnel, to guide you in your purchasing decision. Was it short or long? Technical or high-level? Animated or live action?
By putting yourself in your prospect’s or customer’s shoes, you can gain an important perspective on how to effectively communicate your values through video. Look at your website homepage and landing pages as someone who is visiting for the first time? Where would videos be most strategic, and what messaging should you communicate to guide the visitor along on their journey?
Rely on agency expertise
You’ve done the due diligence to hire the best video agency for the job, and you’ve aligned on a creative vision for the project. Now it’s time to hand off your baby. It’s tough, and we get it. But we find that we have the most success creating top-notch video content when our customers trust us enough to do what we do best.
Whether it’s scriptwriting, casting, production, animation, or any other aspect of the video production process, give your video agency the creative license to execute on the concept that you greenlit. We guarantee you’ll get the best results this way.
Bio: Jason has over a decade of experience working with marketers in the B2B tech space to bring products and brands to life with powerful storytelling and engaging visuals. He is a Meta Certified Marketing Science Professional and Creative Strategy Professional, and has a Hubspot Digital Advertising Certification.