Corporate Video Needs: How to Prioritize, Plan, and Budget
It’s no surprise that corporate video needs are rising quickly to the top of many marketers’ list of priorities. Video is the fastest growing media and is an effective, proven marketing tool.Marketing professionals are taking advantage of the versatility and high engagement rates of video. However, figuring out your corporate video needs when beginning your video marketing strategy can seem daunting.
There are several types of videos—product demos, recruiting videos etc.—and different styles—live action vs. animation. Choosing the right video for your corporate video needs depends on what you want most out of the video and how it can help you achieve your goals. Once you know your goals, you can prioritize, plan, and budget efficiently for your video marketing needs.
Prioritize
It can be tempting to create a flashy product video, especially if you’re excited about a new launch. But, if your current priority is building out your internal team, you’ll likely want to prioritize a recruiting video instead. If you are trying to increase overall brand awareness, consider making an introduction video that highlights your company, what they do, and their mission and values. Educating your target audience about who you are is an excellent way to begin your corporate video needs strategy.
Depending on your budget, you may be able to create all of the videos you want, but since video creation and production are not instantaneous, it’s important to select the most important video to tackle first. One way to decide is to look at the pain points your company and / or customers face. How can a video address these and provide value? Once you know where to focus, you can begin planning your video.
Consider where the video will be posted or shared and how it fits into your overall marketing plan. This will have an effect on your content as well as things like length and style. Some social media platforms react better to longer form content than others, so keep that in mind as you brainstorm your corporate video needs.
Plan
Once you know the subject matter of your desired video, spend some time planning it out. How long do you need it to be? What style do you want to use? Do you want a voiceover and/or music included? Consider mapping out a basic storyboard and script to help answer these questions. Keep your overall brand guidelines in mind as you consider this. Search out videos that you like and that have been successful and dig into how to translate the effective elements to your desired video.
Start researching video production companies. Look for companies that have a full portfolio of content so that you can see the areas in which they specialize. If you want to do a live-action video, don’t focus on companies that only do animation and vice versa. Look for the most recent projects—these will be the best example of what they are currently producing.
Budget
The easiest way to figure out how much a video will cost is to reach out to the production companies you identified and ask them for estimates. Vendor prices can vary widely and, while the process can be time-consuming, it’s the best way to find out the pricing structure. When considering the price, keep the quality of past projects in mind. With video as with many other things, you get what you pay for. If you have a large budget, know that a higher-priced professional has those rates because of their experience and the quality of their equipment.
There are different ways to save money if you’re operating with a tighter budget. Some companies offer the option to write your own script, which they will then polish. If you are looking for a voiceover, it might be cheaper to have someone in your company do the voiceover or see if the production company has internal talent. The longer a video, the more expensive it will be, so tightening your script and keeping the video brief is another good way to keep costs in check.
Many companies shy away from creating video because they don’t know their corporate video needs and do not want to take on that time commitment. However, they are also missing out on the huge benefits video offers. Video enhances relationships by providing a personal touch, it increases organic search traffic, drives engagements, and can boost conversions by as much as 80%. The first step to creating a successful video is to prioritize what will bring the most value and help meet your company’s goals. Then, you can move on to planning the content and figuring out how to fit video into your budget.
Have any suggestions or tips on how to prioritize, plan, and budget for your corporate video needs? Comment below and fill us in on tips we may not of covered!
