“The essence of strategy is that you must set limits on what you’re trying to accomplish.”
Michael Porter
All journeys may start with a simple step however they usually end better if you know where you are going first. It is the same when creating video content you first need to know what you are trying to achieve. Creating a video strategy will help ensure you achieve your marketing goals.
Your video strategy is a way of using your limited resources to achieve your desired results.Some important questions to ask yourself when creating your video strategy are
Does Your Video Content Reflect Your Brand?
“Define what your brand stands for, its core values and tone of voice, and then communicate consistently in those terms.”
Simon Mainwaring
When you invest a large amount of resources in building a brand that reflects your personality, values and corporate story that distinguishes you from your competition, you need to ensure that your video content becomes an extension of your other marketing efforts and not some strange outlier.
If your brand is all about fun and quirkiness your video should reflect this. On the other hand if you are known for high quality products or services your video content should reflect this. The key is that your audience immediately recognises your brand values in your video content.
Doe Your Video Content Communicate Your Message Effectively?
“Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something.”
Plato
Your video strategy should detail the message you are trying to share with your audience. Your strategy needs to clearly define your story and what you want your audience to takeaway from your video content. By defining what success will look like you have a better chance of achieving it.
Do You Manage Your Audiences Expectations?
“The secret of business is to know something that nobody else knows.”
Aristotle Onassis
You know what you want to say and if you combine this with your intimate audience knowledge you will understand how to say it. You need to use your audience knowledge to manage their expectations. No video strategy can meet all your audience expectations so you need to prioritise what they consider their most important problems and start there. Share the parts of your story that will help them most.
Do You Use Social Media To Promote Your Video Content?
“Social media is not about the exploitation of technology but service to community.”
Simon Mainwaring
A video strategy that does not tap into your social media network will fail. Your video strategy should look at the type of video content that suits each network the best. This is definitely not a case of creating 1 video and promoting it across networks such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Snapchat, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Instagram and hoping for the best. You need to create network specific video content and promot it separately. Remember if audiences wanted only one type of video content they would only congregate on one social network platform.
Do You Take Risks With Your Content?
“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.”
S. Eliot
Although it is important to be consistent with your brand values, you do however need to avoid being boring and take risks with your video content. You need to push your personal boundaries and embrace your creative side. It is about thinking of imaginative ways of sharing your story so your audience will care about your content.
“The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do.”
Michael Porter
Your video strategy will evolve over time and needs to be able to embrace new technologies and emerging networks. What worked today and yesterday will not work so well tomorrow, it is only a short time since technologies such as Drone Photography, VR , Dynamic Video Players and Live Streaming changed the way we tell our stories. The future is hard to predict, it will however guarantee change in the way we tell visual stories. Ensuring that your video strategy covers the basics means you will be able to take advantage of whatever technological changes occur.