Three keys to making your video process strategic

I get it, you may not be an expert at video production because you haven’t been formally trained and it’s not your job to produce videos every day – and that’s fine.

If that’s the case, ensure your video producer has a strong foundation in strategic communications, not just video production. While many production companies excel at visual storytelling, it’s essential they also have formal communications expertise to ensure the key messages resonate and that they also align to the broader business goal.

Before we dive in, here’s one caveat: if you’re not encountering one or more of the following challenges when producing videos, then either:

• You’re absolutely crushing it - so hats off to you and your team, or;
• Your video production company is likely overlooking the strategic communications aspect. This means key elements like positioning and audience engagement may be superficial. The result? A visually impressive video that may fall short of hitting key performance goals. Having seen too many videos and heard countless prospects share similar frustrations, we know this is a common problem.

I’ve boiled down the most common challenges that hinder the effectiveness of corporate videos. And each of these challenges point directly back to a lack of a strategic communication-first approach.

1) One of the most common issues we see is trying to cram in too much content into a single video. When content overload happens, the video as a communications vehicle becomes too crowded with multiple messages so the viewer becomes cognitively overwhelmed and either tunes out early or can’t remember the call to action.

Yes, sometimes your colleagues try to insert additional or competing messages in your video to save budget. But when the video becomes meaningless to every audience, then it just becomes a very expensive exercise. When this happens, we’ll often break down the ideas into a mind map so that the client can see how each of their different needs can be met by video, or perhaps another better suited communication vehicle. A strategic communication professional brings focus and clarity to a video project.

2) Another common challenge is an insufficient understanding of the target audience(s) to produce a powerful video that truly resonates.

In some instances, we’ve conducted research to explore the competitive landscape and extract specific insights about customer and prospect pains that can be replayed in the video. This approach not only ends up speeding up the video process because you’re on the right track from the starting block, but more importantly it clearly defines what your video or series of videos need to do and why. The outcome provides a clear path forwards and the resulting video(s) make an impact with the target audience and help achieve stated business objectives. And these newfound audience insights can be put to use in other communication vehicles too.

3) The video is expected to serve multiple stages within the B2B sales funnel. I wish that we could produce one magical video that would captivate and serve all the disparate needs of prospects whether at the awareness, interest, consideration, decision, purchase and post-purchase stage of their journey. But, the fact remains that different stages require tailored content that addresses specific needs and concerns.

That’s why selecting a video partner whose foundation is routed in strategic communication, vs simply video production, is absolutely critical. For almost two decades, the Advantis team has been helping B2B companies, regulatory authorities and local governments across North America produce effective videos that support strategic objectives.

Ultimately, each of these common challenges can be overcome through probing with the right questions, conducting focused research, and taking a strategic approach that may be best executed by a seasoned communications expert. That’s why it’s essential to choose a video partner rooted in communication (the strategy), not just video production (the tactic). When your video aligns with your business objectives and audience needs, the results speak for themselves.

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