The empty page, the first step: Where do I start? It’s not just video marketing, it’s pretty much any endeavor into the unknown that prompts the question: Where do I start? With video there is no one starting point and some of you might already have video experience and have all the questions below answered and squared away. But, for the uninitiated, here some thoughts on where to start.I wrote in “Classic Video Marketing Mistakes” about the upfront need for clarity in messaging to a target audience, setting objectives and tying video(s) into an overall marketing concept. I would approach a video marketing “start” by asking the following questions:
- Where in my overall marketing and social media concept does video fit in?
- What does video do, that still images, audio pod casts and text cannot do?
- What are my video needs now and going forward?
- What kind of video do I need: live action, explainer, interview, testimonial, animation, motion graphic, etc.
- What assets do I have already that I can use for video: logo, colors, font, stock footage and photos.
If these questions raise more questions then they generate clear answers, I would suggest investing in a consultation with a video marketing professional to get answers to YOUR questions and to make sure you don’t make decisions in a limbo and find out later that your budget is on par with a James Bond sequel. This person should understand all aspects of video marketing and production from an overall creative, technical, logistical and financial perspective.
Next I would go and spend some time on-line “shopping” for videos. Look at videos in your niche, check out your competition, look at random businesses you think are your size, and search YouTube and Vimeo. Which videos do you love, which videos do you find most useful, what styles do you like, which videos to you not like? Make a link list and note WHAT you like and dislike.
I would separate the list into three categories:
- Same industry as mine if maybe different scale
- Same scale as my company but maybe different industry
- My favorite videos (here you can make sub-divisions if you like them for different reasons and have a lot of them).
- Explainer/demo video
- Funny
- Informative
With that done, I would say you have a GREAT start to actually get started with video production. Have a look at some videos I went “shopping for” in Other People’s Videos.