Where Do You Start
The most important thing a video production company can do when working with a new client is have a discovery session.
A discovery session is a facilitated meeting with the clients or stakeholders. In this meeting we assess their goals, the challenges that are getting in the way.
We look at their users, customers or current audience and try to understand their pain points and challenges.
We do this by asking a series of questions that challenge their assumptions about their brand. We then use the most meaningful insights as part of the video content strategy.
Who Are My Audience?
Your audience are your customers, the people who share your content and buy your products. It might might seem like common sense but a lot of companies don’t take the time to figure out who their audience is. When you know the answer, your entire content strategy can form from this point.
1. You are not your customer
This can be a difficult pill for people to swallow. We’re rarely our audience. You may have similar psychographics or fall into the same demographic, but ultimately you will not be the same. As a business owner or marketer you’re likely to have biases about the brand, unchecked these biases can lead you astray.
You can counter any inherent bias by analyising your current audience. Is there an even split on gender? Which social platforms do they use? Do they share common interests?
By asking questions and collating the information, you’re able to create audience profiles which further aid in the strategic process.
2. Find them through social media
The analytics from your social media are a gold mine of information. Which kind of people are following you, who are the people that are engaging the most?
Look at the positive and negative comments to see if there’s anything you can learn about the people who engage with your content.
Two websites that will help you manage your social content are Zoho Social and Hootsuite.
3. Scope out the opposition
Who are your competitors? The businesses in the same industry. You can gain understanding of your audience by looking at companies similar to yours.
Competitor analysis isn’t just about finding out what your competition is doing right. Are other companies in your field getting it wrong?
You can gain greater understanding of your audience by researching a rivals website or social media page.
4. Go to the source
Sometimes it’s worth removing assumption altogether. Conducting focus groups, interviews or online surveys can give you insight into your audience. Contact your followers via social, promote the posts as part of a competition to gain interest and anticipation.
Always take into consideration any constructive criticism an audience member gives. Struggling to find audience members directly, try getting in touch with clients and customers. Below are a set of questions to get you started.
- Demographics: Age, sex, marital status, number of kids, income, occupation, education, social class, religion, political affiliation, ect.
- Psychographics: Personality characteristics, lifestyle, attitudes, principles and beliefs, activities and interests, ect.
- Story: What’s their background?
- Expectations & Desires: Life goals, ambitions, what are they seeking and what do they expect?
- Obstacles & Objections: What’s stopping them from achieving their goals? What problems do they run into?
- Loves: Why do/ would they love your brand/ business/ service?
- Compelling Events: What makes them look for a solution?
- Awareness: How do they find you? What do they seek?
- Engagement: Why do they come to you instead of a competitor?
- Share & Repeat Business: What keeps them coming back? How do they share?
Be aware of the language used in their responses, you’ll be able to use similar terminology in your videos. After a couple of interviews you should start to see patterns forming which will help you develop your audience profiles.
5. Create audience profiles
Audience profiles should be one of the key marketing documents you refer to when making content for your brand. Taking all the information above and forming them into fictional representations of your ideal audience member may take some creativity, but ultimately you’ll be making videos for them.