The visual image, or more significantly, the moving image, will continue to be your main weapon in your communication strategy throughout this new year. Many factors will decide how you choose to utilize and execute this tool.
1) Understand your audience
Social media is a hungry beast and one which needs feeding constantly. Take time to assess where you should be sharing content and then seek to understand how best to deploy on those platforms.
Choose which platforms you know you can master and have the capacity to manage and stand out upon.
2) Leverage your content
Whether in-house or shot professionally, when approaching your shoot, ensure that you get as much bang for your buck as possible. Taking a ‘multi-platform' approach (sharing across your chosen social platforms and website) will ensure your campaign's best chances of success.
3) Know when to leave it to the professionals
Mobile phones are great – and the quality of their video capture has risen dramatically – but understanding when to hand over to a professional team will guarantee you don't risk missing the target.
4) What is your call to action?
It's all too easy to forget to ask for action at the end of your video. We push content out into the ether and often fail to request engagement in any form.
5) Vertical videos
Vertical videos are here to stay – and if you're sharing across the likes of Instagram and TikTok, you'll be very familiar with the increase in popularity of this format.
‘Stories, reels, and short-form bursts allow brands and creators to offer raw insights and behind-the-scenes insights and an opportunity to share professionally crafted content specifically created for these mobile-first channels.
6) Stay ahead of the curve
Keeping ahead of the trends, learning new platforms, and knowing when to take action is a full-time job. Learn from the experts in your industry and attempt to replicate success where you see it.
Keep one eye on the future and one eye on how you can make gains in the present. What are the trends in your industry? Perhaps you can take advantage of producing more short-form ‘reels,' offering webinars, or making a podcast.
7) To go short or go long…that is the question!
Our attention spans are indeed becoming shorter, so lean into this trend by creating a plentiful supply of short videos that can be scheduled and deployed over time.
Whilst it can be difficult to plan too far ahead, perhaps start by exploring a list of typical questions you could answer for your customers? What is your product USP? Once you have a list of topics, decide is something you can capture yourself or do you need professional help to bring these clips to life.
8) Play to your strengths
There will always be a time for user-generated content ‘UGC' and professionally-crafted videos. Knowing when to use each is critical.
9) Live Video
This one has appeared on our list for many years, and the ability to easily share your live rambles and events makes this option very powerful and time-effective.
Plan in advance and consider a content calendar to keep you organized.
- Deploy a strategy
Perhaps the most important takeaway from this is the need to create a strategy. The start of the year is the perfect time to plan the year and consider the following:
- What is the focus
- Who am I talking to?
- Where will I find this audience
- What type of content will best suit them?
- What does that look like?
Once you've answered these questions, you can assess how best to achieve your goals, create a time and execute against it.
Video Production offers huge opportunities for those who deploy it effectively – but like any marketing asset, how your approach your video marketing strategy should be explored in the company of a professional agency.
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