On January 7th, we hosted MNG Senior Advisor and author/actor Bob Wiltfong for a webinar on “Video Content Strategies for Your Healthcare Business,” which focused on low-cost ways organizations could produce and distribute great video to improve their marketing presence.
With video expected to reach 82 percent of all Internet traffic this year, and YouTube now the second-largest search engine (behind parent Google), it’s no longer a question of whether you should do video marketing, but how can you do it (and do it well)?
Budgeting and Resources for Video Marketing
Many smaller organizations have neither the wherewithal nor the budget to do large or even mid-size scale video productions with a crew. If you think about the daily rate of most crews (about $5k to $6k for a day) and then throw in the post-production costs, a single video can easily run into the $8k to $10k or more range. That doesn’t even include videos with additional on-air talent, scripting, and other pre-production costs. That leaves many organizations to try to fend for themselves with little knowledge about how to approach video. Our goal with this post is to help demystify that process for particularly smaller businesses that can’t afford large crews and more involved video shoots.
7 Steps to Producing High-Quality Video on Budget
We’ll say this upfront. While our goal with this post is simply to show you what you need to get a video done and how to do it, that doesn’t mean you should skip the first step, which is always planning. Whenever you get into video marketing, you have to make sure you think about several areas upfront:
- What’s my goal for the videos? What do I want to accomplish?
- What resources am I allocating for this? How much money do I have to spend either on talent, production or in some cases, paid distribution?
- What’s the target audience and how am I going to address their needs and challenges?
- How do I measure success?
We’re not going to dive into great detail on the above, however make sure to you give some thought to it before proceeding. Once you’ve answered those questions, here are 7 core steps to producing high-quality video:
- Getting the tools and equipment.
When you think about where to start, many don’t know the tools you need to have first, before you execute any video really well. Let’s break down the general equipment and software you need for both mobile-phone videos and laptop / stationary videos. To make it easy, we’re going to recommend specific products:
Laptop / stationary videos
- Webcam: Logitech BRIO Ultra HD Webcam for Video Conferencing, Recording, and Streaming – Black, $193. If you’re going to record high-resolution video, you need a decent, high-resolution camera. You can certainly do some digging around but we do like this one in particular.
- Microphone: Blue Yeti USB Mic, $128. If you’re going to film videos from a webcam or using a laptop camera, it’s critical to use a great microphone so you can have clear audio. Having a great mic can help you with podcasting, video animation voiceovers, and even the audio quality of webinars you might produce.
- Ring Light: Ubeesize 10” Selfie Ring Light, $49. Having a strong light on a subject (key light) is critical to producing quality video, and that’s where a ring light can come in handy. Most, like this one, also have a holder for your mobile phone so if it can be used for mobile videos or laptop / stationary ones too.
- Portable Green Screen: Emart Green Screen, Collapsible, $164. Using a background that doesn’t fit with the content of your video can not only be distracting but it can look unprofessional. In those cases, especially for stationary shoots, you’ll want to change the background of your video to something a little more appropriate. Perhaps it has your logo on it or an office background that you may not have access to. Using a green screen can help with that.
- Adobe Premiere Pro, $20.99/mo. If you want to do more involved video editing and post-production you can either choose this software from Adobe or Final Cut Pro. Either way, it’s helpful to have someone who knows his or her way around so you can add cool music, lower thirds, intros and outros, and video effects and animations if you so choose. You don’t necessarily need it all the time to produce great video but it adds that professional touch that can make the video more memorable.
Mobile phone videos
- iPhone 10 or greater: Great video has certainly been produced on earlier versions of iPhones too. But given many of you have phones that have amazing resolution, you shouldn’t have any concerns about the quality. Android phones work well too, but for the purposes of this blog, we’ll show a process using the popular Apple suite of products.
- Ring Light: Ubeesize 10” Selfie Ring Light, $49. Same as above.
- Selfie Stick/Stabilizer: Smove video stabilizer, $159 to $249. Having a phone stabilizer is super-useful in that you can use it for mobile videos where you’re on the move or those which are stationary in that it also doubles as a tripod base. This one that we recommend does a nice job with both, keeping your camera steady even if moving.
- iMovie (to edit), free: With you shoot video on an iPhone, for example, you have access to a free editing software (iMovie) that makes it easy to cut and blend together different types of video. You can add music, text and transitions as well easily with it. See our demonstration in the embedded video.
- Choosing the video type.
Depending on your imagination, industry, and your company’s existing brand/identity, there are any number of video types that you can choose from. For example, here’s a list of some various video types you can put together, many within reach even on a lower budget:
- Demo videos
- Brand videos
- Event videos
- Expert interviews
- ‘Talking Head’ videos
- Educational/How-to
- Explainer videos (fictional journey of a buyer)
- Animated videos
- Case studies / testimonials
- Live videos
- 360-degree/VR videos
- Augmented reality (AR) videos
- Webinar videos
- Video Blogs
- Gaming Videos
- Comedy Skits
- Haul Videos
- Unboxing videos (influencers)
We’re going to address a few of these here:
- Demo videos (mobile). If you’re doing a product demonstration (of a physical product), a mobile phone can help you accomplish this easily, assuming you have the right lighting and set up to capture good audio. As you’ll see in the embedded video, a few things will help: a. Filming a repeatable process that you can shoot at different times from different angles but make it look like there are multiple cameras; b. Making sure the phone isn’t too far away from any audio input (voice, product etc.). Run a few tests first just to make sure. See more in the embedded video.
- Selfie videos (mobile) for product introductions. Using the selfie stick / stabilizer, you can shoot videos while on the move. The stabilizer helps you to keep the camera steady. Or, if you like, you can use it for stationary videos, where you look directly into your phone, and use the stabilizer as more of tripod. One key to successful videos here (especially if you are introducing a product), is to make sure your background is appropriate for the content you’re delivering. If you are talking about, say, something at the office, shooting a video on the move outside at a park doesn’t quite work, because the content doesn’t fit the background. At worst it can distract from the viewing experience and mean that your audiences aren’t taking in the actual content. One option if you can’t get the right background is to use a green screen where you can shape what’s behind you in the final product (in post-production).
- Interviews with experts (webcam and meetings software). Using a webcam, microphone, a ring light and any meetings software (Zoom, WebEx, or GoTo Meeting), why not record you or your staff with some experts on topics your audiences care about. That kind of content where you can address core practical needs or even express your brand’s thought-leadership is not only easy to produce but also helps raise awareness of your own products and services.
- Interviews with customers (for case studies or testimonials). When the pandemic clears, why not invite one of your customers to come by (if you’re a local business) and film a quick testimonial about how your product helped him or her. People talking about your product is a form of social proof and it’s a great way to humanize your offering for people who are considering buying. If you don’t have access to customers in person, perhaps you can solicit videos of them talking about you. Give them a little guidance about lighting and quality and then have them shoot it and send it in!
- ‘Talking head’ videos (webcam). You can execute these videos with either a mobile and a stabilizer or a webcam. The final product, in this case, is simply you as an expert relating some of that expertise to your audiences, and delivered either looking straight into the camera or slightly off-camera. (See the embedded video above for more.)
- Animated whiteboard video. (Audacity + animation software). Contrary to what you might think, animated “whiteboard” videos can be done rather easily. And these types of videos are great as “explainer videos,” which show how a process or a solution works. A few things you can do ahead of time:
a. Think about the goal of your animated video and those audience challenges or pain points you want to address. Also, how does your product or service address those challenges?
b. Write a script that takes audiences through such a story or flow;
c. Once you have a script you can record that easily using your Yeti microphone (above) and a software program called Audacity, which is free to download. In the initial interface, just hit the red record button, start talking and then hit stop when you’re done. When you’re happy the final audio version, choose File / Export and export the audio file as a MP3, saving to, say, your desktop;
d. Now you can take that audio file and use animation software (we use Doodly) to match up the audio with images onscreen. You can see more in our webinar video embedded above.
- Doing the prep and planning (pre-production)
Once you’ve figured out the video type, now it comes time to address to think about what you need to do to make it successful before shooting any video. Here are a few areas to consider:
- Decide your content approach. Are you going to be funny, serious, witty, informative, practical? Make sure it works with the type of shoot you have chosen.
- Get someone good on camera. Regardless of the video type, select someone who is both comfortable and coherent on camera. If it’s not you, that’s OK. How about hiring a local theater student or a professional?
- Choose a good location or make sure you have a green screen. As mentioned, what’s in the background matters. Also, make sure whatever location you choose is nicely lit (If outside, good natural light).
- Make sure the audio can be heard. Noisy places don’t work well. So, don’t choose a location where trains run often or planes fly over unless that’s specifically what you’re going for.
- Prep any scripts (keep it short and to the point) and rehearse ahead of time. If professional actors have to rehearse, so do you. That means doing a few takes to see how you sound. Are you repeating words often? Try to cut those out the next time. Also, if you have a script, make sure you write something that you are comfortable delivering and avoid anything that makes it sound like you are just reading something.
- Setting up the lighting and audio.
One concept that’s critical to know is how professionals light various video shoots. While you may not have the same equipment available to you, the lighting itself can be done through different, more inexpensive means. The most key concept is something called 3-point lighting. Here’s a visual example, thanks to Frameforest.com.
The 3 elements of three-point lighting are:
- They key light: This is the light that shines more directly on the subject to illuminate the set for the camera.
- The fill light: This light is a secondary light that helps provide additional brightness on the subject from a more opposite angle to the key light and helps balance the overall subject so there are no big shadows on one side of the subject.
- The back light: This is the light more directly opposite the key light and meant to ensure there are no large shadows behind the subject.
Sometimes a simple ring light in different places can help you achieve this balance. As noted above, there are many inexpensive options here.
As for audio, if you are using a mobile phone and recording through that device, it’s key to make sure the phone is close enough to the subject that the audio comes through clearly. With a webcam, you can move the Yeti mic or other microphone around to test the best quality.
5. Executing the video.
After you’ve done the above steps, now it’s time to shoot the video! For more on that, the best way is to view our demonstration video above. A few quick pointers here, regardless of the video type:
- If it’s just you, it’s OK to have to shoot several takes to make sure you get quality content.
- Be cognizant of the lighting and audio and make adjustments for different takes to make sure it works really well.
- If you’re putting together a number of different visuals (audio, video, images), make sure you’re organizing and labeling them in such way that you can easily access them when you do the post-production edit.
6. Editing your video to create a final product.
Whether you use Adobe Premiere Pro, or iMovie, you’ll certainly want to consider adding a few things to make a professional looking video:
- An intro and an end screen. An intro isn’t completely necessary and really depends on the video type. Starting a video with your brand or product and service can help improve awareness of what you are promoting even if the core content is more focused on solving a particular customer challenge. An end screen might include your brand (again), as well as a URL for more information.
- You’re likely going to cut between different footage or voiced-over images. For that you’ll want to work in natural transitions between those. See our video webir for more here.
- Again, depending on the video type, this may not be completely necessary. But working in music in the background can help viewers stay engaged and also provides an additional boost to the mood you may be aiming at.
- Lower-thirds or captions. If you are interview people or have experts on camera, don’t forget to add their names and titles so people know who they are (and why they should be watching and listening to them). This is easily done with most post-production software packages and certainly something to consider as you edit your videos as well.
The examples above are just a few of the core options that you can do as you develop professional-looking video. For more, you can watch our video webinar, which tackles post-production editing for both the iPhone and for webcams etc. on Adobe Premiere Pro.
7. Distributing your video.
We often see organizations spend a ton of resources to produce great video, but then they don’t distribute it or promote it! As a smaller business with more limited resources, it’s critical that if you produce a video, you should promote it in multiple places. Here are a few areas you most certainly want to consider:
- Your website
- YouTube
- Email & newsletters
- Content marketing (blogs)
- Social media
- Product pages (particularly for product demos or walk-throughs)
- Paid Media (YouTube ads, social, native, search, more)
- Offer the video up to industry blogs (especially if you can produce high-quality video that addresses challenges beyond your own current audience).
Focus on YouTube for Video Distribution
Certainly, one area of focus any company’s video marketing efforts is YouTube. With 1 billion daily active users, it’s the largest video platform in the world. A few tips here to make sure your video is optimized for YouTube.
- Write Longer Video Descriptions: This seems contrary to common wisdom, but the more YouTube knows about the video, the more confidently it can rank your target keyword(s).
- Optimize Around ‘Video Keywords’: Ranking in YouTube is great, but ranking your video in YouTube and Google is better. Google gives YouTube videos an edge in some results – figure out what those keywords are.
- Share Video Library Liberally in Online Communities: This will hook your video up with the type of quality, high-retention views that YouTube likes to see.
- Encourage Subscribing: If people enjoy watching your video, expect it top YouTube search results. Ask for others to subscribe in the video itself. (See an example video at http://youtu.be/JvP8wBGEaT4 at 4:55.)
- Create Keyword-Rich Playlists: A keyword-rich playlist gives YouTube deeper information about your video’s topic. And like we saw with your description, more text-based content=more views.
We hope this has been useful to help demystify the video process as you consider your content marketing efforts in 2021! As always, we wish you the best of luck in all your digital marketing endeavors.
At Marketing Nice Guys, we’ve done a lot of work in video, both upfront in terms of scripting and video concepting, as well helping companies execute the video itself so it comes off professional-looking (and -sounding). Contact us for more information or about any of our services.