Video production was traditionally an expensive marketing option, reserved for businesses with five- or six-figure budgets. The broadband revolution changed that, and any company serious about marketing can now participate.
That same revolution created a gold rush. Nearly every social platform supports and rewards video. What happened to websites around 2010 is happening to video now — it has moved from advantage to expectation.
Video is a delicate dance
Production combines scripting, marketing psychology, creative imagery, interpersonal communication, visual science, graphic design, technical expertise and project management. Every element has to work in harmony to reach its potential.
From the lights, camera, tripod and microphones, to the script, talent, narrators and crew, to the computers, software, editors and designers — your final video will only be as strong as its weakest link. When all of it does reach harmony, the result rises above expectation and becomes something people want to watch and share.
The true challenge
You have roughly three seconds to capture attention, ten seconds to keep it, and about ninety seconds to tell your story. The more targeted the message, the more time you earn for detail — and the clearer that message becomes.
That focus matters. More than half of people watch some form of internet video daily, and a large share of television viewers are simultaneously watching something else on a second screen. You are not competing with other videos in your industry. You are competing with everything.
Questions to answer before you shoot
- What do you hope to achieve with this video?
- Who is your target audience?
- What is your core message — singular?
- Are you establishing a brand or selling a product?
- How long should it be, and how many videos do you actually need?
- If the message has multiple points, should each point be its own video?
- What style reflects your organization’s personality?
- Where will it live, and what does that destination expect?
- How will you track viewers and define success?
Judge success by quality of views, not quantity
Video can be the most powerful marketing tool available, but only with realistic expectations. You cannot judge success on view count alone — most videos posted are lucky to get a few hundred views, and that is normal rather than a failure.
Platforms offer detailed analytics down to the second. You can see the average percentage watched, where viewers rewind to see something again, and precisely where they leave.
Many videos drop sharply at ten seconds — the viewer sampled it and moved on. The next drop comes around thirty seconds. If you hold viewers to 45 percent of your runtime you are approaching better-than-average. Above 65 percent, you have a genuinely strong video reaching the right audience.
The most common first mistake
When a company produces its first video, the usual error is taking the path of least resistance — handing it to a friend or relative who does YouTube as a hobby. Even with the cost of entry at an all-time low, costs escalate quickly without a plan, and a cheap video that fails is more expensive than a considered one that works.
Video has a shelf life
This is the thing almost nobody plans for. Trends in culture, politics, style and social consciousness shift substantially every seven to ten years, while style and culture move every two to three.
That shorter cycle is your realistic maximum. After 24 to 36 months, a video needs replacing — or at minimum a refresh. Budget for that from the beginning rather than discovering it when a prospect mentions your hero video looks dated.
Start with the plan, not the camera
Every question above costs nothing to answer and saves a great deal to have answered. The productions that fail rarely fail in the edit. They fail because nobody decided what the thing was for.