In today’s marketing environment, social media video production is an essential element of advertising and sales growth for several reasons. Not only is it one of the most efficient ways to get your products in front of new audiences; it also provides an opportunity to connect with your current customers. Social media can create a community built around your products or services, and video is a natural fit within this community, giving you the opportunity to connect with your customers in a way never before possible.
Almost 98% of people between the ages of 18 to 24 consume video content, and each and every piece of content consumed has the potential to influence the viewers’ buying habits. Now, consider the fact that there are more than 240 million video viewers in the US — that’s a lot of opportunity for potential customers.
Whether they’re watching an advertisement, a brand video, or their favorite influencer, the consumer is being exposed to at least one new product — even if unintentionally. As a result, customers increasingly rely on video at all stages of the buyer’s journey, from exposure to reviews.
Unfortunately, it isn’t enough to just have a presence in video. To ensure you get the most ROI out of your video marketing strategy, it’s critical that you create and share high-quality content that viewers want to see and consume.
While the term “corporate video production” can encapsulate a wide variety of video types, it’s important to remember that social media video production is different from video production for other mediums — such as TV advertisements. As a result, video intended for distribution on social media should be created with that medium in mind as you go through the four stages of video production: pre-production, production, post-production, and distribution. A few examples of videos you may produce specifically for distribution on social media include:
Regardless of the type of video you choose to create, remember that your viewers are not being forced to watch your video in full, unlike advertisements. This means it’s essential that you grab their attention immediately and hold onto it throughout the entirety of the video.
Additionally, the quality of production is essential, regardless of the type of video content created, so don’t make the mistake of thinking that you can put less effort into a TikTok video than you’d put into a product video. There’s a lot of competition for consumers’ attention online, so you make sure yours stands out in the crowd. Don’t let this intimidate you. Instead, let it motivate you to create video content that delivers the ROI you want and need to see.
If you aren’t feeling confident in your ability to produce videos that will help you succeed, you may want to consider outsourcing your video marketing. While it can be tempting to try to keep your video marketing in-house to save money up front, it can be a better decision long term to hire an external video production company. Doing this will save you time, help you maintain a consistent and relevant brand identity, give you the peace of mind of knowing your video content will be top-notch, and even save you money over time.
A professional firm can bring efficiency to a company’s video marketing efforts — because while you could potentially do everything on your own, how much time and money will you need to invest? Once you factor in the amount of time it takes to not only produce a video, but also to research, purchase, and learn to use new equipment — as well as learning the basics of video production — you will have lost weeks at best, months to years at worst.
Hiring a B2B video marketing agency can help you get more marketing done in less time — and more marketing can lead to increased sales and higher profit. By leaving this in the hands of the professionals, you can focus on building your business with the time saved by relying on professional video production.
Establishing and maintaining your corporate brand identity is an essential element of modern marketing strategies. Offering a consistent brand voice and aesthetic through your corporate brand video will ensure you’re able to attract and maintain the right audience for your brand. Trying to “make do” with cobbled-together equipment and existing staffing can make for inconsistent results or even potentially harmful brand messaging.
On the contrary, consistent, on-brand messaging and presentation can improve audience engagement and make a more favorable impression, potentially leading to better conversions. Professional video production firms can maintain an objective “third-party” take on your messaging throughout your social media video production process, and can help you tailor it to achieve your goals — ensuring your corporate brand video will represent the best things about your company.
Because their business focuses solely on video, professional video production companies keep tabs on the latest techniques, methods, and viewing trends — whereas you may not have the time to stay up-to-date on this information. If that's the case for you, professionals can help ensure that your video content stays fresh.
This is essential because staying relevant and fresh helps with engagement, share-ability, and memorability. Trends and best practices continue to evolve at an exceptional rate and missing out on these trends can mean missing out on key opportunities and potential sales. If you’re going to put the time and effort into producing video content, you want to feel secure in the knowledge that your videos will attract and keep the attention of your key demographics.
Producing first-rate video content is an expensive endeavor. The cost of hiring associates, purchasing equipment, editing software, and even courses on video production adds up quickly. Buying all the needed equipment and hiring the necessary personnel for in-house production can be a major cost center and can reduce the ROI of your social media video production.
You can avoid this cost by outsourcing your corporate brand video production to professionals who already have the skills and equipment necessary to make quality video content. Professionals invest in the equipment, but can spread the costs out over many clients, as well as over time — upgrading different pieces of equipment as the need arises.
The benefits of utilizing high-level, professional video production for your video marketing strategy are numerous. The professionals have superior equipment and software, as well as the experience and know-how to successfully use the equipment and capture the right shots.
Similar to how you wouldn’t expect to be a master chef simply by remodeling your kitchen, it’s important to remember that video production is a skill that professionals train for years to obtain. As a result, they can create better videos than you or your staff can, as they have the proper education and resources.
By relying on professionals, you can make your videos more compelling and engaging and free up more time to focus on other aspects of your business.
While it’s tempting to try to create all your video content in-house, hiring a video production agency can help make your video marketing more effective. Additionally, hiring an external company also offers greater efficiency over in-house video production by doing the heavy lifting of video production, offering an unbiased perspective, and matching current trends — all at a lower cost than it would be to create these videos internally.
If you’re ready to reach new heights through video marketing, consider reaching out to our team. Charter & Co has helped many businesses achieve their marketing goals through video production and would love to help you reach your goals as well. No matter what your current video goals, we can come up with a strategy to get you there.