Top Five Video Production Mistakes
The popularity of video content has led to videos being one of the most effective marketing tools used by businesses to gain traction and improve their brand reputation. However, without experience in video production, you may not know how to navigate the intricacies involved in the process and you could make serious mistakes. These errors could result in a subpar quality video, which could spoil your brand image and affect your business.
To avoid this, Tetra Films has compiled a list of the most common mistakes people make when making a video.
1. Lack of pre-production
Customers make this mistake because they are unfamiliar with the entire production process and the benefits they can get from being more prepared. A lot of headaches can be saved by doing more work in advance, in particular by doing more planning, scripting, and putting more thought into how their video will be ultimately used.
If adequate planning in pre-production is not done, the repercussions can be costly and disappointing. In particular, it is common that the video does not do what it was intended to do because the purpose was not clearly outlined, to begin with. There can be significant issues communicating the message (because it was muddy at the start), and the cost can significantly increase because decision-makers come in late and require significant changes, potentially delaying the project.
The simplest ways to fix the mistakes are to clearly outline the purpose and touchpoints where the video will be used in advance. Significant thought should also be put into who the target audience is and what the messaging should be that best speaks to that audience. Finally, outlining a clear production plan will help everyone stay on track.
2. Unclear messaging
The second common mistake we will look at takes a deeper dive into the lack of time spent clarifying what needs to be said in the video, i.e., the messaging. Customers often make this mistake because they are not trained marketers, and they don’t understand the language and format required when disseminating information via video. It is also common that customers legitimately don’t know exactly what they want to say, and who they want to say it to. Speaking clearly to your audience is absolutely essential. It increases your chances that the viewer will take action after watching your video. If you don’t communicate clearly, you waste valuable marketing and communications dollars and limit your chances of building positive relationships with your customers, staff, and anyone else watching your video.
The best way to remedy this problem is to first get very clear on who you are speaking to, i.e., your viewer or audience. Second, think about how they like to be spoken to and what is most important to them, this will help you decide on what is relevant and what is not. Thirdly, finalize the mandatory information that is required for your video. This information needs to be relevant to the purpose of your video, and generally, less is more.
Once you have the key messages, you can then work with a professional scriptwriter to integrate those messages into a video script. The scriptwriter will take into account how to not only literally or verbally tell your story, but they will also work with you to visually convey the messages.
3. Lack of management involvement
Many times companies set out an initiative to create one or more videos for marketing and communications purposes. The driving force usually comes from the management level position, and the implementation falls on a communications coordinator or marketing director. This can work great if everyone is well connected and has open and repeated lines of communication, but often, this is not the case. It can be quite common for the management not to be involved in the creation process of marketing and communications tools like video. This can cause issues with the development and execution of the video production process and ultimately affect the final product. It is important to consider management involvement throughout the video process because ending up with a sub-par video is no one’s happy place. It wastes time, money, and can weaken the companies brand. Keeping everyone involved right from the outset is essential. It helps everyone stay connected and refines the team’s vision for their video in real-time, nothing gets missed. Having clear checkpoints and milestones with approvals from everyone involved is very important and will help save needless reshoots and reedits, saving time and money and ultimately making a better video.
4. Lack of familiarity with the production process
Most companies rarely endeavor to create video content because it requires such heavy lifting. Even fortune five-hundred companies require all hands on deck when creating a video. Staff will inevitably be uneducated about the production process, and things will get missed.
Staff will underestimate the time that it takes to produce a great video and can get behind on other work, or the product itself will suffer due to lack of input and understanding of the process.
Ultimately the goal is to create a powerful tool that will help you save time, money, and build your brand to communicate your message better.
The key to success is to work with your video team to establish what will be required of your team clearly, this will help you better plan for all of the back and forth that will be required. Alternatively, as a side note, if you are buying a templated video solution, this can simplify the process, but it may reduce the uniqueness of your video. It’s always best to consult with a video producer in advance of your project even if it means spending some money on consulting. This will save you countless hours and dollars in the long run.
5. Lack of marketing spend
Right now, there is a tremendous amount of noise in the marketing and communications world, and whether you are creating internal communications videos or external marketing content, people only have a limited amount of time in their day with an overabundance of content coming their way.
So how do you breakthrough that noise? There are two ways. One, you can create something that is so outlandish or heartfelt that people will naturally share it, but on average, it takes up to three years for a video of this nature to “go viral,” and the odds of doing so are minute. In addition to this, very few companies have the stomach to create content that is shocking enough to make real waves online. The other way is to buy your way into your viewers’ hearts. This may seem overly simplistic, but with the number of marketing tools available to the average business and the relatively low cost of marketing online, it has become much easier to get your content in front of people.
Let’s say your company spends $10,000-100,000 on a new video but you don’t spend any money advertising online. Your ability to have that video seen is then limited to your newsletter and social and internal channels that are rarely looked at. This is insane, you’ve just spent a bunch of money on an asset that you are using at a fraction of its potential. That’s like buying a car so you can get to work faster and then leaving it in your garage... it makes no sense.
Paid ad spend to get your video seen on online channels is an essential part of getting the results many businesses want, such as more sales, more money, and better brand authority. It can also help you save massive amounts of time, pre-selling your customers before they arrive at your door to purchase. It doesn’t have to be complex either, YouTube and Facebook have amazing logarithms that help you target your customers cheaper and more accurately than ever before. On average, we would recommend that you could start by Imagining that you will allocate 40% of your total video budget to advertising, so if you can spend $10,000 total, then use $6000 to produce the video and $4000 to promote it. These are of course rough numbers and depending on the purpose, goals and usage of your video, you will need to refine your approach.
To avoid these and other mistakes, reach out to the experts at Tetra Films. As a leading corporate video production company in Vancouver, we can help you bring your vision to the big screen by creating innovative video content. We bring excellence and passion, attention to detail, and client care to any project we undertake. We aim to provide our customers with exceptional results and help them stand out from the crowd and leave an impact on their audience.
We offer video testimonials, event videos, educational and training videos, TV commercials, sales videos, studio production, online video ads, not-for-profit videos, drone aerial videos and other services to clients across Vancouver, Richmond, Burnaby, North Vancouver, New Westminster, Surrey, White Rock, Langley, Maple Ridge, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, West Vancouver, Abbotsford, Victoria, Mission, British Columbia, Toronto, Ontario, Calgary, Edmonton, and Alberta.
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