When you hire a professional video team to make your content, you are paying a premium for the expertise, experience, equipment, and quality that comes from a professional. Depending on the size of your company, it can be a huge step, but one that can have a huge return on investment if done correctly.
There are a few things you can do to help streamline the production and save time and money in the process.
1. Be Realistic
You should expect to be spending money on a professional. With a budget under $1,000, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to get much done. If you have a budget under that, you may want to look for students who are currently studying video production as a possible solution. Doing a production yourself may also be an option, but work on it will take you away from what you do best and can ultimately do more harm than good.
2. Be Specific
The more specific detail you can provide about what you want of your video, the better chance the final piece will fit your vision and meet or exceed your goals. Things like:
1. What’s the purpose of the project?
2. Who is your target audience?
3. What are your key messages?
4. What is your timeline?
The more specifically you can answer these questions, the better the end product will be.
3. Be Prepared
Having assets, such as pictures and logos, at the correct size and resolution, prepared beforehand will help the production run smoothly. The bigger a picture, the better. Think, at least 1000 pixels in width and in height. Vector files (.ai and some .pdf files) allow you to enlarge and shrink the graphic without losing any quality and should be used if possible. If not, use the same rule of thumb as with a picture.
4. Don’t Wait
Waiting until the last second can be a headache and painful on the pocketbook. Take the time to look at what is coming up for your organization and decide then and there, if the video is something you want to be included.
5. If You Think You May Want It, Get It
You don’t always need to know what you’ll use it for right away. We hear lamenting from clients, all the time when something went by and they have no video to remember it or to use in videos later on. Having that footage in the future, even if you don’t know what you’ll use it for at the time, is going to be greater than the cost to capture it.
6. Be Decisive and Thorough
In order to get your project completed quickly, efficiently, and within budget, make sure to review the full video completely, before providing edit notes. It’s also important to have everyone responsible for the video, review it before providing edit notes.
7. Share Your Wares
You paid a premium to get a quality piece(s) produced. Now you need to utilize it so it can help you meet your needs. Whether that’s embedding it in your website, sharing it on social media, sending it in e-mails, using it at presentations, or, hopefully, a combination, your video will only be effective if it’s used. If you need help with this, ask your network or the production team for suggestions for someone who can help.
I hope you found this blog informative and helpful to make your next video project the most pain-free and fruitful experience! As always, if we can help further, feel free to give us a shout. Thanks!