The Framework For Effective Video Marketing
Over the years, we’ve been approached by dozens of businesses and organizations with a desire to create video content. And we discovered an interesting distinction between those inquiries.
There’s two types of people- those who connect their business and marketing objectives to the video content they want to create, and those who don’t.
We think of video as a business investment. Investing in video can be a smart business move, or not, depending on the ROI.
Effective Video Marketing
What is effective video marketing? – It’s achieving what you intended to. It’s seeing a return on your investment. Video is simply the tool, the tactic used to do so. And for certain marketing objectives, it’s the best tool for the job.
We believe effective video marketing lies in the right mix of video strategy, video production, and video distribution.
How so? Let’s take a look at each of these in more detail, and see how they work together.
The Blue Key Framework
Effective video, like most other marketing content, is driven by clear objectives and strategy. It’s created with intention and in strict adherence to the production plan. Its distribution is catered to the target audience, with guidance from the overall marketing strategy.
Think of the graphic like a Venn Diagram, showing the relationship between each separate component. The space where all three align- that’s where effective video marketing exists.
Video Strategy: This is where your video game plan is crafted to reach your goals
Video Production: This is where your video is filmed and edited
Video Distribution: This is where your video is published and gets seen by your audience
While these three phases are executed in linear sequence, they’re all considered and planned together up front during the strategy phase.
- Video Strategy
Effective video marketing starts with strategy. It involves clarifying your overall marketing strategy, and how the video will support your business and marketing objectives. It requires identifying a target audience- who needs to view the video in order to achieve the main objective, and gaining a thorough understanding of who they are, what they need, and how to provide them with real value. Strategy also involves developing the creative approach to your video communications, which is informed by key insights about the target audience and unique value you provide them. These insights are identified through a focused Q&A session, aimed at providing an accurate and thorough context to work from.
- Video Production
With a strategy and creative approach in hand, it’s full speed ahead. Time to execute your plan. Video production involves scheduling your video shoot and preparing everything you need to make it go smoothly. After completing the video shoot, the editing process can begin. It involves multiple review sessions at different points in the process to ensure that everyone stays on the same page as the video is pieced together. That way, the client isn’t surprised by an end product that doesn’t meet their expectations.
- Video Distribution
Once production is complete, your video is ready to be shared. Distribution involves getting your video in front of your target audience. When distribution is considered in the strategy process, before production begins, the video can be created in a way that’s optimized for the particular platform and device it will be viewed on. That way, it’s more likely to be effective by providing a tailored viewing experience that resonates with the target audience. Lastly, distribution involves measuring the video’s performance to determine its success. When key performance metrics are measured and analyzed on a regular basis, the video distribution strategy can be tweaked and optimized to see better results.
Counting the Cost
Business owners and marketing managers who inquire about our video production services don’t expect us to talk them out of spending money on video. But sometimes, it’s not an investment we’d advise, particularly when the strategy is lacking. That’s why before discussing the video itself and what it might look like, we always pull back and address strategy to make sure they’re moving forward with a solid plan to achieve their goals. And by using our framework to create effective video, we help them get there.
Schedule a free, no-pressure consultation to discuss your objectives and how we might partner with your business to accomplish them with effective video content.
