The Importance Of Setting Goals
Having clear defined goals at the start of a project can help you assess how successful a video campaign is. It’s best to avoid going in blind hoping for a viral hit. There are several ways you go about goal setting but the most useful we’ve found is SMART.
What Is SMART?
- Specific: Avoid being vague i.e ‘I think a video with explosions and graphics might be cool.’ Consider the outcome first ‘I want to gain followers who are interested in products similar to ours.’
- Measurable: Define a clear metric, do you want to increase followers, sell more products or hit x amount of views?
- Achievable: Not every video can be a viral smash, especially if you’ve not got the followers or ad spend for the initial push. It’s important to be reasonable with your targets otherwise you could be setting yourself up to fail. Make sure you have the resources available to meet the targets you set.
- Relevant: Keep any videos that go out relevant to your brand. It’s not too dissimilar to how the other design elements work within your business. Just like you have primary fonts and colours, your videos shouldn’t be Comic Sans if your typeface is Helvetica.
- Time-bound: As with any project, deadlines are essential to keep the projects moving forward.
A SMART goal should look like this:
To increase the number of followers on Instagram by 30% by the end of the year.
Video Marketing As A Solution
Remember all those stats from the first 2 articles of this training? If you have a problem within your business, video is usually the fix.
Problems like, a lack of engagement, not having the reach on social or not converting enough sales. If you can identify aspects of your brand that can be improved upon, you’ll be able to integrate video in a way that solves those problems.
Hero, Hub, Help Style Content
Any kind of video project that you take on will fall into this format. There’s a winning formula in Hero, Hub, Help so here’s a little more information on it.
- Hero: These are the big budget commercial style video projects. This is content which raises brand awareness and attracts new clients. Product launches, events and brand films all fall into this category.
- Hub: Regular scheduled content for warm prospects, these are videos designed for people who know a little bit about your brand and will check in to see what you’re doing. Promotional videos that are episodic in nature, behind the scenes and promotional videos would be considered Hub content.
- Help: Content for your core audience who are already bought into your brand. Advise your audience and become an authority within your niche. Answer questions based on subjects people are searching for. How to videos, tips/ tutorials, testimonials and case studies fall into this section.
Notably you’ll be producing less Hero videos than Help and Hub but if you plan ahead you can get plenty of Hub and Help videos from your Hero content in the form of BTS and How-To videos.
Your Video Production Budget
It’s important to know your budget before going into a production. Typically, the less money you have to spend the higher the risk of the project failing or the quality turning out poor. There are a couple of steps you can take to mitigate that risk:
- Plan Ahead: Make sure you know exactly the amount of money/ resources you have available to work with before you start a project. This will help keep the scope of the project realistic.
- Schedule: Posting frequent content is key if you want to keep the spotlight on your brand. Make less Hero videos and more Hub/ Help to save on resources while remaining consistent.
- Delegate: Does your company have the facilities and resources to capture what you need in-house or do you need to work with a professional video agency? It’s worth remembering that video specialists are likely to know the medium to a greater level.
- Recyclable Content: Spending a chunk of the budget on a Hero video? Get some BTS footage too, interviews about the equipment being used and the process. Turn one video into ten.
The Contingency Plan
When setting deadlines be sure to give yourself enough time for re-shoots in case unforeseeable circumstances arise. There’s always a chance that an issue could arise with the location, be it a weather change or a construction taking place down the road interrupting the audio.
Flexibility is key, there is still a chance for risk even with the proper planning.
Which Analytics Should We Measure?
Once the video has been distributed, it’s worth checking the following:
1. Reach and retention
- Search Engine Ranking: Where are you ranking on Google and YouTube?
- View Count: Which videos are getting more views? Just be aware that views are logged differently depending on the platform you use.
- Watch Time: How long are people watching your content for? The statistics say that anything beyond 2 minutes for a social video could be too much.
2. Engagement
- Comments: Which kind of content is getting the most feedback, are comments positive or negative?
- Shares: Are your videos being shared to groups? Is it popular with the audience you’re trying to target?
- Subscribers: Are people choosing to follow you? Have you given them a reason to?
- Press Coverage: Are any websites talking about your video online?
3. Conversion
- Click-through Rate: Are people engaging with your funnel?
- Leads: Are your audience watching your Help content? Warm prospects like this are more likely to buy.
- Sales: Are your call to actions working? Are your audience buying your products or services?