Video content strategy is one of those buzzy new buzzwords in the business world. Everyone wants one, everyone needs one, and every marketing firm is trying to sell them. It seems obvious and simple, but many of us will need help to define it or develop our own.
Now, as with many things, the inverse provides the clearest perspective. The absence of a website for a company or brand makes it look unprofessional. It’s a jumbled mess, to put it simply. Your company’s messaging to customers will come off as disconnected, incoherent, and chaotic if you don’t have a video content plan.
Who is the target audience for content marketing?
Now, this is different for most reputable brands and enterprises. Thus most have already been unwittingly developing and using Video Content Marketing Strategy.
This is encouraging news and makes the entire subject much less intimidating. You most likely already have brand standards, whether they are rules for tone and voice, corporate branding guidelines, or market and audience research data. All of these are components of a comprehensive content strategy.
Of course, large organizations like Google have entire departments devoted to content strategy, but in most corporations, content planning falls under the purview of the marketing or communications department.
Why is it necessary to have a content strategy?
You might wonder why we, a video production company, are so concerned with content strategy. The text and the pictures that make up websites were the initial focus of the Video Content Marketing Strategy.
But times have changed, and nowadays, nearly 80% of all Internet traffic is video content, mostly watched on mobile phones while on the go. Therefore, video is a crucial component of any Video Content Marketing Strategy in the modern era.
Clients often approach us with an idea or a brief for a specific film. Before going to work, we often ask them how this video fits into their overall content strategy. Insights like these greatly help us produce a high-quality movie that delivers the desired results for our customers.
Although many of our customers have well-developed content strategies, we also see firms with some pieces in place but need a comprehensive plan.
This is where this post comes in. Although this is no exhaustive treatment of the topic, we hope these guidelines for developing and enhancing a Video Content Marketing Strategy, with a focus on the use of video, will be helpful.
Definition of a content strategy
There are several versions, but this one is the official US Government Content Strategy definition:
Strategy for developing, producing, distributing, and managing content is what “content strategy” is all about. Besides the text, the range also includes any visuals or audio that may be included. Improving the user experience of a website requires paying close attention to the site’s content and making sure it is relevant, valuable, well-organized, and simple to find.
Why should you have a plan for distributing and sharing videos?
As we mentioned up top, it’s probable that you already have some elements of a Video Content Marketing Strategy in place, even if they aren’t formally designated as such. Additionally, many of our customers have a solid grasp of the Video Content Marketing Strategy for their brand or company. Still, they have never put it on paper or made it explicit.
Don’t fret; many organizations, especially those on a smaller scale, can manage well without any more action. It’s natural, especially when you’re just starting or experimenting with video material.
Our most successful videos have been made for clients who initially needed a content plan. When you start considering various videos, multiple channels (mobile, web, app, etc.), or the interplay between your written editorial material, images, and video, a full-fledged video content strategy becomes vital.
Naturally, in the present day, this is true for a growing number of companies. This is also where many people need to correct; they make one or two videos, have great results, and then keep making videos without ever taking the effort to formalize the initial briefings and learnings into a Video Content Marketing Strategy. This can quickly give the impression that your posted videos are dated or unrelated, which can turn off your audience.
To sum up, don’t get bogged down in the beginning by drafting a Video Content Marketing Strategy encompassing all channels and eventualities; instead, start building one from components as you learn and produce more content.
As we’ve stated, think of this as something other than a hundred-page document that you need upfront, but it’s good to have the structure and essential components in mind to expand this over time. One alternative is to begin piecing together potential elements of a video content strategy.
How to create a Content Marketing Strategy?
1. Determine your objectives
Though it may seem obvious, content is often created without a common understanding of its intended purpose. Metrics are the same way; a high number of ‘likes,” shares,’ or watch time is considered a win, but without a reference point, it’s difficult to judge whether or not these results are promising. We still need to find out if a video that gets many views and likes is helping the brand or business in the ways hoped for, even if the numbers are above average.
It’s more complex to develop a clear, unified purpose statement for a single film or a collection of content used across different platforms. It’s generally avoided because of how intimidating it may be. According to our observations, this is usually an ongoing procedure. First, come up with a broad statement of your goals and some first ideas for measurements; then, as you move through steps 2 and 3, come back and improve.
2. Know your audience
Most of our customers have a firm grasp on who they want to reach. This can be gleaned from previous work experience, talking to and observing target demographics, or conducting extensive market research. Knowing your target market requires understanding their apparent likes and dislikes and the subtler factors that motivate them.
Why are they so thrilled? How do you turn them off? Incorporating these elements into your voice and tone guide will greatly help. Finding the appropriate tone might mean the difference between a great video and an average one.
Similarly, it’s helpful to have an idea of your target demographic’s cultural norms and expectations before you begin production on your video. Do you think the reference will make people laugh or go over their heads? Qualitative research methods are crucial here (or some social media sleuthing). Quantitative research will offer you the large picture and is especially beneficial in giving you the outlines. Still, you’ll need a deeper, qualitative understanding to come closer to the creative brief.
Many artists find it helpful to combine quantitative and qualitative data to form a “persona.” That’s just a realistic portrayal of one or more ‘average’ listeners (s). These “personas” make preparations for a specific target audience easier to manage by giving that audience a face, name, and interests. Remember that these personalities are more like suggestions to get the creative juices flowing than hard and fast depictions of your customers. Identifying a single “typical” or “average” human is impossible.
3. Recognize your strengths
There is more to marketing than researching and creating personas for your target demographic. It’s also essential to have a crystal-clear picture of your message, mainly how it will differentiate itself. What exactly is your “sweet spot,” if you will?
To what extent can your brand or company convey factual and relevant information in the eyes of its target audience? To put it another way, you need to identify the points of convergence between your content or business goals and the interests of your target audience. This cannot be accomplished by following a simple formula.
A creative brief will likely undergo several revisions as you work through the process. At this point in the process, several of our clients have already begun conducting audience tests to determine which potential messages are most likely to be received favorably. Once again, rules may have already been established if you’re part of a larger organization, brand, communications, or corporate identity. You can use these as a foundation for the rest of your video content strategy and creative brief.
4. Establish your content channels and lifecycle
This precisely differentiates a Video Content Marketing Strategy from a one-off project brief. The above mentioned procedures are crucial to any video production, but this article will focus on the big picture.
Before anything else, we’re not just considering the production and release of a video but also its afterlife. How long will it stay current and applicable: When will it be outdated and require a refresh? In its stead, what will exist?
As a second step, we’re analyzing how it works with the rest of the content your company or brand is promoting to the same demographic: When would this video play the best? How do you keep it from getting lost in the sea of other materials you release? Are there other factors to consider, such as whether or not your target audience will be preoccupied with other pieces of news, communications from competitors, or national events?
The third facet of a video content marketing strategy is channels and modalities, following time and lifecycle. From the objectives, you’ve outlined in Section 1 and the messages you’ve developed in Section 3, which medium will be most effective in achieving these goals? Is it a mobile video? How about a desktop video?
What other resources can you use to supplement your movie and increase its effectiveness? Captions and intro paragraphs are a must for any video; still, images may also need captions.
Wrapping It Up
Although the Video Content Marketing Strategy is not new, its significance and pervasiveness have grown as more material has been produced and distributed through more channels. Now that video is among the most popular and widely consumed forms of online content, the relationship between video creation and overall content strategy is more crucial than ever.
We encourage our customers to view their films as building blocks of a larger content strategy rather than as standalone products. While the term may sound mysterious, it is nothing of the sort.
Most businesses already have the necessary elements; the key is to move forward confidently and keep chipping away at the problem.
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