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Video Production Social Media Marketing

8 Questions to Ask Before Making a Marketing Video

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Written by Jephte Jean-Claude
on October 29, 2020

We’ve explained before how important video is for your overall marketing strategy.  Not only will 80% of all online traffic consist of video, but 90% of consumers say that video helps them make a purchasing decision.

And from a marketer's perspective?  Well, 88% report that video gives them a positive ROI.

With marketing videos being both easier and more important than ever, you really can’t afford to miss out.

Video might be the best thing you do for your marketing strategy in a long time.  But in order to get started, ask yourself these questions first.

What’s the point?

What’s your ultimate goal for making a video?  You shouldn’t do it just because 85% of other businesses are doing it.

Are you hoping to increase brand awareness?  Do you need more visitors to your website?  Looking to boost opt-ins and landing page conversions?

Having a cut-and-dried purpose will give you direction throughout the planning and production process.  It should also force you to think about how you’ll measure results and ROI.

Who is my audience?

“Everyone” is not an audience.  Think of the person you most want to watch your video.  What do they want?  How do they feel?  What are they like?  Where are they in the buyer’s journey?

Narrowing in on who exactly your audience is will help you craft a targeted story and hone in on your key messages.

Where will this be shared?

In the same vein as knowing your audience, you should strive to understand where they hang out online.  Every platform has its own strengths and limitations, and the audiences of each will enjoy vastly different content.

Knowing where your finished video will end up can help you decide on the right format and style.  A TV commercial, for example, will be fundamentally different than a video for a Facebook ad.  Even users on Facebook and Instagram can have vastly different preferences.

How much do I need?

Do you have an in-house videographer or will you need to hire one?  Who’s going to be handling the casting, scripting, and post-production?

Determining what exactly you need is essential to successful coordination, smooth execution, and meeting timeline and budget constraints.

What will the setting be?

From the scenery to the music, each part of the setting will have a huge impact on your branding, tone, and the overall feeling of your video.  

Imagine a video featuring a nonprofit leader walking through their community with orchestral music in the background versus the same person talking in front of a blank wall with poor lighting and no music.

Think back to your audience and use that to determine the right setting for your own video.

How do you want your viewers to feel after watching?

This is the most important question to ask, according to the experts at Gydes.  Just like transformation is essential to any story’s plot, it’s also the cornerstone of your customer’s journey.  

Ask yourself: What were viewers feeling before they watched your video, and how should they feel after?  How can you use your video and message to guide your viewer from one state to the next?

What action do I want people to take after watching?

Ah, the good ol’ call to action.  If you want your viewers to do something after watching — opt-in to an offer, like and subscribe, pause to think about something in a new light — you need to tell them exactly what to do and how to do it.

The call to action is where you make the real transformation happen, and it’s where you’ll get the results you were looking for when you set your goals (#1 above).

How can I repurpose this content in the future?

One of the best ways to save money and squeeze as much value as you can out of every video is to repurpose separate parts of it into new content.

For instance, can you save the audio track and use it for a podcast?  Can you transcribe it and format it into a blog post?  Is there behind-the-scenes footage to put on Instagram?

When you get clear on the answers to these questions, you can move forward with planning, shooting, and promoting your video — knowing that you have everything you need in order to see it through from start to finish.

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Want to learn more about telling a powerful story that connects with your audience and gets them to take action?  Then you need our free ebook Videos That Create a Stronger Connection.

You’ll learn how to identify what your audience REALLY wants and how to create video content that meets them where they are.  

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