Videos are invaluable tools that need to be utilized throughout an organization, from your website to your social media, the possibilities are endless. If you want our thoughts, check out our top 5 recommendations of where to share your videos. For the best result, videos need to become a monthly, weekly, or even daily occurrence for your organization, no matter your size.
That sounds daunting and expensive, but here’s the secret… not every video needs to be a big production with high-end imagery. There’s a range, a spectrum when it comes to video for your organization. Knowing when it makes sense to hire a professional with years of experience and top-end equipment and when it’s better to just record on your smartphone or laptop will help you save time, headache, and money. Today, we share the first of a three-part series on the video spectrum. Part 1 is about the DIY Spectrum…
Tier 1 – The Quick and Dirty DIY
When It Makes Sense
When your main goal is to relay a basic message and entertain your audience, this is the way you can go. Usually, these videos are shared through social media. There is little if any, planning involved, the message is unscripted and there’s not a concern for picture composition or audio quality.
Production Quality?
Very low. A video like this may be shot handheld on your phone or recorded on a platform like ZOOM. There’s usually not much editing involved and rarely do the videos include much, if any, b-roll, text, graphics, or music.
How Much Will It Cost?
These videos can be shot with the phone you already have or recorded from your computer and don’t require any additional tools. The only cost for these videos is your time to do any preplanning. Most videos produced in this way usually require little, if any basic editing.
An example:
The social media platform Tik Tok is full of great examples of quick and dirty DIY videos (though it allows you to easily add music and text). Many businesses have embraced their “content over quality” platform with great results.
Tier 2 – Prosumer DIY
When It Makes Sense
When you want to share a message or helpful hint that is related to your business, product, or service. These videos usually have a script or at least an outline so the speaker stays on point with the message,
Production Quality?
Low. Videos like these can still be shot on your phone or recorded off a laptop, but there’s some thought put into the location of your video, lighting, sound, picture composition, and stabilization. These videos usually are edited and include some professional aspects, such as text, graphics, and sometimes music.
How Much Will It Cost?
These videos can cost you a little more than time. However, it may be worth investing in some basic tools to make your shots or sound better. If you don’t know how to edit a video, it may be worth it to hire someone for that.
An example:
We work with our good friends, Bob Fish (co-CEO of BIGGBY Coffee) and his wife, Michelle on doing the editing for the videos they shoot on their phone for their blog, One BIGG Island in Space. Below is one of the videos we helped them produce.
Interested in learning more? Click here for our FREE video tutorial on how you can shoot professional video on your phone or laptop. We can help with the editing to snap up the finished product.
So there you go. The first 2 production types on the video production spectrum. Total or partial DIY productions are great if you are limited with budget, location, time, or have concerns about safety.
We hope this blog has been helpful for you and encourage you to keep an eye out for the second and third blogs in this series to understand when to utilize videos throughout the spectrum and what budget to expect for each. Need ideas of what type of videos you should be producing for your website? We can help with that, too. Check it out. Thanks!
*Note* This blog does not speak to the video quality spectrum of live video as it is its own beast. If you want to know more about that, give us a shout.