Five questions to ask before starting a video production project

Alright, you’re excited. You’ve got a product or service that you’re proud of and you want to spread the word. You are ready to start your video production project. Brilliant! But before picking up a camera and booking a studio, ask yourself these five questions. They will help to shape your video content.

1. Who is your audience?

This is quite an obvious question to ask. But be critical here. Be precise and honest. There could be a big difference between your customers and the people who are actually using your product or service. An easy example are toys for children. The customers are often adults who spend money on a gift so a child can play. How does this relate to your product or service?

Another great tip here is not to be to analytical when it comes to your target audience. A description like this: “women, age 25-34, part time job, two children” is quite cold. Instead, use rich language to describe your customers. Give her a name and a context. Something like this could work: “Sara, is a happy mother of two small children. Her part-time job allows her to have breakfast with the little ones each morning and makes sure she’s available after school as well.” This persona gives more depth to your developing storyline.

2. Where is your audience?

Again, quite an obvious question to ask yourselves. Video marketing is predominantly an online experience. So where can we find your audience online. Are they active on Social Media? What’s their online behaviour like? Do they share pictures of every meal the have online or are they more interested in other people’s’ stories without posting themselves?

Let’s say you came to us for a homepage video. How likely is it that your audience will find your website. Which online call-2-actions are already in place to guide your audience to your website? Again use rich language to describe where your audience is.   

3. What’s your pitch?

Yes, there we go again. The elevator pitch. We all know how important it is to be able to communicate your value proposition in just a few sentences. Especially when you realise that your average online video should be between one and two minutes long. So when you are working on your video production project, make sure that you are able to contain it within 120 seconds.

4. Do I have the budget?

Creating engaging video will need a budget. Even if you are producing your video production project in-house you will need some kit and editing software. In this instance, you could consider your time as budget as well. The more time you spend on producing your video, the less time you will have to actually engage with your customers.

Speaking to professional video production experts is, in our opinion, the best way forward. Just as we outsource many activities to experts in our network, you should consider hiring the appropriate team. This is when you should carefully consider the budget for your video project. If you can present a video production company with a budget immediately, you are creating a lot of clarity from the off.  

5. Why should your audience care?

This is the million dollar question. If you can’t answer this question, you’re not ready for video. Why should your audience care for the solution you provide? What’s in it for them? How will your product or service change the lives of your customers.

Again, be rich in your answer. Does your solution save your customers a lot of time? Explain why and what this means in their daily lives. Use rich language to explain and describe the change your customer will experience when using your product or service. What is the result of the saved time? Will it perhaps be a higher productivity or are you looking at more time being spent with friends and family? Find out what your audience really cares about and adjust your message accordingly.

The secret sixth step in the process is to give us a call. If you can explain your answers to these five questions to us, you are saving yourself a whole lot of time in pre-production. And we all know that time equals money. So investing a little bit of your own time in getting a clear picture of the video you are looking for will save you a lot in the end.

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