For many companies, a single explainer video makes up the extent of their “video marketing strategy”. But like any successful marketing tactic, video should be part of a larger roadmap. Certainly time and money are contributing factors when it comes to ramping up the video production schedule, but don’t let that hold you back.
There are plenty of quick, creative, and affordable ways to inject more video into your marketing plan. So let’s get to it. Here are 4 practical steps you can take to develop a long-term company video roadmap.
1. Brainstorm ways your company can leverage video
There are seemingly countless ways you could be using video to advance your company’s objectives. Here are just a few to get the wheels turning:
Explainer or Overview Video
- Budget: $18-25k
- Time: 8-10 weeks
Screencast Tutorials
- Budget: $5-12k
- Time: 6-8 weeks
FAQ Videos
- Budget: $12-15k
- Time: 8-12 weeks
Company Story Video
- Budget: $16-22k
- Time: 8-10 weeks
Customer Story Videos
- Budget: $16-20k
- Time: 6-7 weeks
Customer Testimonials
- Budget: $14-18k
- Time: 2-4 weeks
Educational Video Blogs
- Budget: $4-7k
- Time: 1-3 weeks
Product Videos
- Budget: $25-30k
- Time: 8-12 weeks
Branding Video
- Budget: $15-25k
- Time: 6-8 weeks
2. Prioritize
For most businesses, an explainer or high level overview video is top priority. These typically get the most visibility and can have an immediate impact on website conversions and sales. However, once you have your explainer video completed, it can be a little more difficult to figure out what comes next. Ultimately, the answer depends on your company and where you see the most potential value.
For example, if you offer a complex SaaS product, you may want to prioritize screencast tutorials or FAQ videos that walk your users through the most common problems. MailChimp does this very well.
Or, if you’re a high touch service business, consider a company story video or customer testimonials to help add a human element to your brand and solidify trust. Squarespace has mastered this with their Create Your Own Space customer story videos.
For those looking to share their knowledge and expertise with a larger audience, educational video blogs serve as a powerful content marketing strategy. Look no further than Wistia for a company putting these to good use.
3. Set a budget
Eventually it always comes back to the money question. How much will all of these ideas cost and how much can you realistically set aside? In order to answer the first question, you need to decide who’s doing the production. Is this something you plan to do in-house, or will you hire a freelancer or video production company? Or perhaps you’re going to mix it up and do some videos in-house and hire out others.
Either way, in order to get an accurate estimate you’ll need to create a project scope document or RFP. Take the prioritized list of all the videos you’d like to create and add as much detail as possible about the concept, goals, style (e.g. animation, live action, screencast) and length (e.g. 30, 60, 90 seconds). With this document in place you should be able to source accurate estimates from you internal team or outside vendors.
4. Create a video production schedule
With a prioritized list and budget in place, it’s time to get things on the calendar. Without a realistic schedule and a roadmap of target dates and priorities, it’s easy to lose momentum or get sidetracked. This is also the part in the process that can be the most difficult and almost seem like a guessing game if you don’t have much video experience. Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be exact – the idea here is to get some dates on the calendar that will help keep you and your team on track.
Begin by adding ideal start and finish dates to a Google spreadsheet for each video on your list. Knowing approximately how long each production will take is helpful (see step 1) and usually depends on video style, length, and complexity. In the beginning, I would suggest focusing on one video at a time, but depending on the resources and bandwidth you have available (and how ambitious your roadmap is), it’s possible to work on multiple video projects simultaneously. For simpler videos like tutorials, FAQs, or video blogs, you can often shoot 2-3 in a day (not including pre and post production).
Here’s an example of generic video roadmap:
Some of the world’s hottest companies and fastest growing brands are using online video as part of their everyday marketing strategy. Don’t expect to catch up overnight, but these 4 simple steps can help you kickstart a long-term video roadmap that will put you well on your way.
How does your company use video today? Do you have a video strategy and roadmap in place?