Top 10 tips for video production

Many years for producing marketing videos have taught me a few vital lessons. Here are my top 10 tips!

1. Get the creative right.
So do your research, consider different styles, look at what your competitors are doing, and what your target audience expects. Write a proper script and storyboard it.

2. Content is king.
It’s no good spending a fortune on beautiful filming and production if no-one bothers to watch, because it’s too boring, or not sufficiently engaging.

3. Define your target audience.
Know your target market. Plan and script it with your target market in mind – it’s less about what you want to say, more about what will get them watching.

4. Avoid selling.
Nobody wants to be sold to, or patronised. Why should they waste their time watching your video. It has to be interesting, engaging and important to the target market.

5. Avoid the ‘viral trap’.Many videos are trying to be virals. This won’t work – you just end up compromising the quality. The only truly successful virals are either rude, funny or violent.

6. Integrate it into your other marketing communications.
So ensure it’s on brand and carries the same positioning and messages as your other marcoms. Remember – the whole is worth more than the sum of the parts.

7. Consider the platform.
If it’s deep in your website, fine, you can say what you want, as the only people who are going to see it are obviously pretty keen on what you have to say. But if it’s on YouTube it has to cut through the clutter and work hard to win an audience.

8. Make sure it works on smart phones and tablets too.
Obvious to some, but many people are not aware that more video is now watched on these devices than on computers.

9. Keep it short and simple.
If that little bar at the bottom tells people they have to watch for the next 10 minutes to get to the end, you’re going to lose them.

10. Add interactivity, if appropriate.
The technology exists to embed an entire ecommerce or lead generation system in a video. Don’t waste the opportunity to capitalise on audience engagement.