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10 Reasons Why Your Marketing Video Isn’t Working?

September 7, 2011 By 2 Comments

You just spent $2,000, $20,000 or $200,000 on your most recent corporate video project and it didn’t move the dial. What happened?

The creation of your corporate video should follow a structured development process. When it doesn’t your chance of success is low. Here are ten common mistakes made by companies developing marketing videos:

1. Poorly defined objectives.
Can you easily fill in the following blanks?: This video will help ___{this audience}____  understand that our product or service solves ___{this problem}___  and provides ____ {these benefits)____ . We will measure the success of this video by ___{this rating mechanism}____.
If you can’t clearly and succinctly fill in the first three blanks chances are your video will fail to achieve any measurable results.  If you can’t fill in the last blank you’ll never know what was achieved.

2. No clear message(s).
 “Expertocom is a world leader in the provisioning of leading edge solutions and robust, mission critical systems to it’s global client base.” Uh-huh. Even if you have a well defined audience, problem statement and benefit, you still need to communicate in clear and convincing manner. Some common mistakes:
- The video is all about you. No one cares about you, they only care about how you can solve their problem.
- B2N (Business to No one) If your message is so general that it applies to everyone it probably won’t resonate with anyone. Be specific. Pick one audience and deliver one really strong, concise message tailored to that specific audience’s needs.
- Jargon-loading. If you “utilize leading-edge best practices to incentivize and leverage your best-of-breed base through groundbreaking, synergistic and outside-the-box thinking” then… no one will understand you.
- Saying too much. “I’m sorry I wrote you such a long letter but I didn’t have time to write a short one” – Mark Twain. It’s really difficult to be succinct. It also seems risky. Script-by-committee is death to most video projects. In video, shorter is almost always better.

3. Your video doesn’t resonate with your audience.
The best messages work on a visceral level. They make you think, even better, they make you feel something.  If your video is dull (i.e. a talking head) and if you don’t use video effectively (show me, don’t tell me!) then you will quickly lose your audience. Facts are important but a good story is better. While it may be interesting to note that your lubricant is 27% more viscous than any other on the market it may be more interesting to show that your product is the one that your local fire department depends on. Translating the key benefits you are trying to illustrate into ideas and building that into a compelling visual story is done before any crew show up to start shooting.  This is the most important part of the video development process and it’s also the hardest to get right, yet it’s usually the piece that gets the least attention. How do you find a company with this type of experience? Look at their previous work. If it’s not engaging, yours won’t be either.

4. Loose, or no processes at all to develop and promote the video.
The most important part of the video production process is pre-production. Chances are that if you are either surprised or disappointed by the results of your video it is because the planning process was flawed. A well defined storyboard should tell everyone involved exactly what is being said and what visuals are being shown to support those messages. A shotlist tells you exactly what needs to be shot, with whom and when.  When the video is shot and edited a marketing plan tells you exactly what the video is supposed to accomplish, how you are going to get your video in front of your intended audience (…who may or may not ever show up at your website) and how the results of the video should be measured. Again, all of this happens before anyone shows up with a camera. If your video production company tells you what your video should look like with little or no input from you – it probably won’t help your business.

5. You started with creative.
“Our President has this really cool idea!” Just like graphic design is the last step in the pre-development phase of a website (often it is first),  ’creative’ is the last step in the development of a video script and storyboard. Again… too often it is first. Creativity is an essential part of the video production process but it should never be be the tail wagging the dog. Sure, if you have a budget to create a whack of branded entertainment, that’s a different story – but for most corporate video projects, branded entertainment is not the goal.

6. Your video doesn’t support your brand.
 Too often, videos are created in isolation. Your brand is the sum total of all of the experiences people have with your company, that includes video. Your video has to support and complement the tone and key messages that you want associated with your brand. {Warning: Wacky viral videos often do more harm than good.)  Video production is not an isolated activity. Your video production company has to understand how you are marketing your business and has to be keen to engage with your marketing department and /or the marketing agency that is helping guide your brand.

7. Budget isn’t large enough.
“We took a couple thousand out of our cleaning budget to do this video.” “Yep, that’s all we’ve got, but we still want it to look like Avatar.” “My cousin Eddy said it would only cost him $400 to make the same video.” The cost of video production has decreased dramatically over the last five years. That said, there is little point in developing a video if you haven’t allocated a reasonable budget for the project. What does a video cost: Here are 25 factors and their prices that go into the cost of developing a corporate video.

8. Wrong type of video.
There are many different styles, structures and purposes for corporate video. Here are 51 different types of video you can develop to promote your business.  A thirty second pre-roll promotion video is probably too long and a one minute recruitment video is probably too short. Hiring actors to speak to a technical audience isn’t a good idea.  Putting your President on camera may (or may not be) a good idea. A talking head is often a waste of time.  A detailed technical video won’t resonate with people in the awareness phase of the sales cycle but can work very well for people in the consideration phase. What type of video you develop and what structure you use for the video is just as important as what messages you chose.

9. No call to action.
What do you want people to do after they have watched your video? If you don’t know, your viewer won’t either.

10. No distribution, SEO or promotion plan.
 Even if your video is great, if no one sees it you’ve wasted your money. Are you optimizing a webpage with keywords to help promote the video? Are you promoting the video on industry portals or other related sites where you intended audience might be? Have you developed an email campaign to promote the video to key audiences? Do you have a process to move prospective viewers through your sales cycle once they have viewed the video? Have you tested the video before widely launching it to make sure it accomplishes what you want it to? Do you have any budget for changes or do you assume that you’ll get it exactly right the first time through? Do you have a social media campaign, a PR campaign, a media campaign or some other promotional activity to build interest and awareness for the video?

The video production piece (shooting and editing) represents about 1/3 of the total value in the video development process. Planning (building the right messages for your audience) and promotion (making sure the video is seen) are both equally important.

 

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{Note: regarding ‘Jargon -Loading’, thanks to Lindsey McCaffrey for inspiration on ‘Words and phrases I don’t want to see in your copy‘}

Filed Under: Corporate Video Production, General, Managing Video Projects, Marketing with Video, Resources, Starting a Video Project, The Effect of Video on Your Brand, Video Marketing, video production Tagged With: , ,

The changing face of the corporate video production industry.

July 2, 2011 By 5 Comments

Technology has had a dramatic effect on the video production industry over the last 5 years. A few years ago video production was a highly specialized service that required very expensive equipment. Today anyone can pick up some cheap equipment and start making videos. At the same time many businesses are starting to embrace video, primarily on the web, as a means of reaching their audiences with engaging and persuasive new content. It’s both the perfect storm and the perfect opportunity for providers and purchasers of corporate video production services.

I am often asked about the state industry – how it’s changing, where it’s going, so I created this brief summary of how I see the industry evolving.  The numbers are my own – based on observation, research and discussions with other video productions companies.

Level 1. Equipment Owners
(Trend – Growing number of providers, resulting in both new opportunities and risks for businesses).

For under $5,000 you can pick up an HD camera, a cheap three point lighting system, audio equipment, computer and software to edit the video and just like that, you are now a video production services supplier.  It may take you a few weeks or months to get the hang of it but eventually you’ll be able to produce some decent video: Simple point and shoot projects, talking heads and perhaps even a corporate overview. Most new entrants will start by providing free or virtually free services and most will exit the industry in under a year realizing that, in spite of hype, it’s difficult to make a full time living in video production. We’re bound to see a lot of churn over the next few years.  This trend is not new to the creative services industry. We’ve seen the same thing with photography and graphic design. When anyone and everyone can provide services the market has difficulty in discerning value and as a result, there is bound to be a fair degree of uncertainty and disappointment in the marketplace. Who benefits? – the businesses who find capable low cost video production suppliers and the video equipment manufactures. Those suppliers with both perseverance and talent will evolve to the next level:

Level 2. Experienced Videographers.
(Trend – numbers are growing but the capabilities of this group are also changing quickly)

The two principle distinctions with this group are 1. Experience and  2. They are usually one person businesses. Whatever their legal business structure (i.e. sole proprietor or incorporated business) this group have been shooting for a while – both for their own clients and also doing freelance work for larger video production companies. Some of these guys (over 90% are male for some reason….) specialize in weddings or events and some do mostly corporate work. The big change for this group is that they are doing more now than ever. They are having to sell and promote themselves in different ways. They are being squeezed by the equipment owners on price but they are also competing for the first time with the larger video production companies. It’s okay today if you are a one man band. It didn’t use to be -  primarily because it was very difficult (and expensive) to do it all. Today you can. Many videographers used to be just shooters, either because they didn’t want to do editing or they didn’t want to appear to be competing with their principle source of income -  the next group in the food chain – the video production companies. {Interestingly, you are also seeing video production companies downsizing to three, two or one man operations working from home – again, because the market and technology allow this to happen and also because the ongoing cost pressures demand it.}

Level 3. (Pure) Video Production Companies.
(Trend – this group is experiencing the most pain, the numbers of these providers are shrinking)

The traditional video production companies (two or more staff and lots of experience) are getting squeezed from both ends. They are seeing tremendous price pressure and are not able to sustain the same high rates that used to comfortably pay their overhead. Big studios, lot’s of expensive equipment, layers of management and admin are all luxuries that few production companies can afford today. Most people in this group started in video – doing sound, doing lighting, etc. The entrepreneurs eventually started their own production houses. Having experience isn’t enough, however. Sure, the market will still pay for experience – but what it will pay is a moving (lower) target. The other challenge this group is facing is that they are seeing people with other talents and backgrounds (i.e ad agencies, marketing consultancies, online media companies, etc) jump into the fray. The traditional video production companies will argue that these new entrants don’t have the required video production skills but the reality is that the market places more value on ideas and application than on technical competency. Shaky camera, focus hunting, imperfect lighting and a litany of other video transgressions are not only acceptable today, they are sometimes preferred. New entrants often shape a market in strange and wonderful ways…

Having great video production skills today are becoming table stakes for higher end productions. The next level is application – what do you do with the video.

Level 4. Value-added Corporate Video Production.
(Trend – this group will grow quickly over the next few years)

The ‘value’ in the video production industry used to be in the expensive equipment and the experience in using it. A few years ago ‘corporate video’ meant either a TV commercial or a ten minute video containing a whack of superfluous motion graphics. The number and uses of video are growing faster than anyone can keep track of (here are 51 different types of video being used by businesses today).

The value today is in how you apply video to your market, not in how you make the video. As such, there are a number of new market entrants to video production who are not only creating video but coming up with new ways to apply that video to specific business objectives. Social media, interactive video and mobile video are all examples of purpose-built content to solve a specific business problem. One size doesn’t fit all. You will start to see video production companies specialize in the creation and delivery (creating the video is only the first step) of video. You will also start to see video production companies specialize in certain types of video (like HR or PR) as vertical knowledge will become more important than general video production knowledge. As such, you are seeing either new hybrid companies with marketing or social media capabilities enter the video production industry of you are seeing very tight collaborations (sometimes evolving into new business entities) between creative or marketing agencies with video production companies. Ultimately all of these companies are trying to get to the top of the food chain:

Level 5. Regional Market Leader
(Trend – No change here, every region has a couple of leaders)

By ‘Market Leader’ I don’t mean “Our firm is a Market Leader that provides leading edge expertise in…”  Anyone can lay claim to leadership but there are only a couple of true leaders in every market. The leaders command the big budgets. They are the regional go-to companies for the biggest brands or government agencies. Every services company looks to become the leader for one reason (O.K…. probably more than one): Market Leaders command the largest budgets on jobs – and that means not having to compromise and that also means having the greatest latitude to do the best work. Sure, everyone is being asked to do more with less – but more is better.  These guys are easy to find. Their body of work speaks for itself. The reason they got to where they are will (most likely) be the reason they will also be able to adapt to new trends and changes in the video production industry.

Technology has had a tremendous impact on the corporate video production industry. That said, you still tend to get what you pay for ( you just get more now…)

Filed Under: Corporate Video Production, General, Managing Video Projects, Online Video Industry, The Future of Corporate Video Tagged With:

7 Habits of Highly Effective Video Marketing

August 3, 2010 By 5 Comments


7 Habits of Highly Effective Video Marketing

Video is now on every marketer’s to do list. Why? Because web video and rich media engages, persuades and motivates like no other marketing tool. In deference to Mr. Covey I present seven ideas that if done well will help make your next video successful:

1. Tell a good story.
Sure it sounds simple, even trite, but good storytelling is just as important to video marketing and advertising as it is to film making. Stories have a beginning, a middle and an end. They make us think. They make us feel. If told well, they inspire us.

At the heart of any good story is an emotional appeal – it may be subtle or it may be dramatic, but without that emotional connection, the story is quickly forgotten.

A good story has some or all of the following attributes:
Good stories don’t appeal to everyone – your story should be targeted to the people that you are most interested in communicating with. (These are also the people most likely to socialize your story) - if you try to appeal to everyone, you might end up appealing to no one. (B2N)
Good stories resonate – they are familiar and strike a chord with the audience because they can relate to the story being told. Have you tested your video idea with selected members of  your target  audience before you start production? If not, why not?
Good stories are credible – the story teller, the content and the outcome of the story have to work together and all have to be believable, trusted – your audience can see through the lies (the hype and the exaggeration).
Good stories are usually simple – they can be grand tales or ripping yarns but in the end the best stories have a simple outcome and a simple message. Keep the razzle to a minimum and forget the dazzle.

The goal should always be to create engaging presentations that tell a good story. What’s your story?

2. Show them, don’t tell them.
A video of someone using your product and extolling it’s virtues is far more powerful (and credible) than animated text or a series of photos.  Educators and trainers have long known that the true benefit of video is that it generates much higher retention rates because it engages more than one of the senses at the same time. Retention rates can triple when what you hear is being reinforced by what you see. That doesn’t mean a talking head is necessarily more engaging than an audio podcast or a brochure ‐ you still have to present compelling content that engages your audience.
The ability to show your customers how your product works, how it solves their problems and how it is used by others is where video marketing is unsurpassed as a vehicle to engage and persuade your audience. A page by page walk-through of your software interface may be helpful – but it doesn’t demonstrate to prospects the benefits of your product or how it fits into their processes or business cycles. It’s not about you or your product or service – it’s about how your product or service can help solve your customers problem. Show your customers exactly how your product or service  solves their problem! (this is especially important in the early stages of the buying cycle.)
Video, animation and interactive flash programming can build compelling visual examples of exactly how your products work and why they solve your customers’ problems.
• Testimonials are more compelling when you see and hear a customer talk about their experience with your product.
• Case studies are more engaging when you can actually see how a customer integrates your product in to their process and how your product measurably improves your customer’s bottom line.
• Product demos are far more powerful when you illustrate (i.e. using video or  information graphics ) exactly how your patented process works and benefits your customers.
The power of video and rich media is in its ability to demonstrate the tangible benefits that a product or service can offer.

3. Choose your words very carefully.
There are many important components that go into creating an effective video: Using the right equipment, the proper location, 0n-screen presenters, motion graphics, and music are all critical components to the creation of engaging communications tools. None of these however, are more important than the script (either a formal script or at least speaking points that summarize what should be mentioned in the video.)

Some things to consider when developing a script or on-screen talking points outline:
•Do you understand the key issues affecting your industry?
•What are the top three messages that you have to communicate?
• Are you clearly outlining the benefits that will best resonate with your target audience?
•Are you speaking your customer’s language?

The script is the ‘what’ in the video development process. Everything else is the ‘how’. Far too many corporate videos simply focus on the ‘how’. It is critical that the video development company you engage has expertise in marketing writing and positioning. Style won’t count for much if your message doesn’t resonate with your audience. Deciding on the right thing to say is always more important than how that information is ultimately presented.

Unscripted doesn’t mean unstructured.‘ Spontaneous’,  unscripted videos are becoming more commonplace on the internet as this type of presentation provides a natural tone and authenticity that resonates well with viewers. This doesn’t mean a lot of effort and planning doesn’t go into what questions are asked, how people on-camera respond and how the final product is edited. Even if a formal script is not developed, the business objective, structure and desired outcome of the video should all be considered and coordinated during the pre‐ and post‐production stages. You should never start a video project without knowing EXACTLY what you want the video to communicate.

4. Build‐in Interaction (and ultimately, conversion).
The more interaction you can build into the experience the more engaged the viewer is with your brand. Interest, engagement and interaction should be the goals of web-based video . “Click here to…” is a good start. What do you want the viewer to do when they have finished watching your web video? How deep do you want to take your viewer in
an interactive presentation? Here is a short list of options to include when building your online presentations:
•Click here to find out more about this service
• Click here to read a white paper on this topic
• Click here to watch a related presentation
• Fill out a quick survey to discover if you are qualified for this promotion
• Take a quick poll to see how you stack up in the market
• Click here to have a technical expert answer your questions
• Please help us improve our communications by rating this presentation
• Sign up now for our weekly industry update
Conversion is the goal. Whatever your conversion mechanism is you want your customers and prospects to take the next step.

5. Chose the right format, structure  and style of video.
Abraham Maslow’s quote, ‘If the only tool you have is a hammer – every problem looks like a nail’ applies well to video marketing. The number of web marketing service providers is growing. Many of these specialize in one specific format: ”business animation and information graphics” or ”only photo–based flash presentations.” Some proclaim that their presentation time limit (2 minutes, 3 minutes, 4 minutes, etc.) is “the right one for the web” or that “their platform is the only way to be truly effective”. Of course none of them are necessarily right… or wrong. Every business problem is unique and there is a multitude of rich media tools and methods to solve your important communications problems. Consider alternative approaches and formats before committing.

The term ‘corporate video’ made sense ten years ago when most corporate videos were the same. Today there are  many different ways (here are 42 examples) you can use video to promote your brand.

6. Consider the only perspective that matters: Your Customer’s.
It’s not about you or your product. There are lots of  companies just like yours and frankly, it’s getting tougher to tell them apart. Posting canned videos of your executives or beauty shots of your facilities to your website won’t move the dial. And unless you are Apple or Victoria’s Secret no one is really that interested in your product. They are only interested in the comfort, status, utility or pleasure that your product conveys. These are the things that you need to be promoting. Like any purpose-built marketing material, your web video  should be developed with a single goal in mind: How do I communicate my companies understanding of, and solutions to, my customers’ problems.

7. Define business objectives (and outcomes) first.
As the use of web‐based video grows in popularity it’s important to remember that video marketing is a means to end, not an end in itself. There are far too many marketing articles that discuss how to get video up on your website without ever mentioning why.
Indeed, a well produced video is one of the most persuasive marketing tools available and building interactive presentations is a great way to engage your audience. But putting an unprepared executive in front of a camera, re-purposing old corporate presentations or having some guys from the mail-room put together a ‘viral’ video won’t bear fruit. Worse yet, bad video is even harder to ignore than bad print material.
Consider the following when planning to implement video on your website:
• At what stage of the buying cycle are you targeting your prospects? I.e. Product presentations (that highlight benefits – the customer’s perspective) are more appropriate during the consideration phase. Product demos (that highlight features – your perspective) are more helpful during the comparison phase.
• Who is your audience? If your answer is “…well, everyone really” you’re probably wasting your money. The vast majority of YouTube viewers are not your audience. There is a considerable difference between ‘views’ and ‘targeted views.’ Creating one broadly focused web video might add value but you should also consider breaking your web video into discreet pieces that speak to specific audiences. Successful marketing always starts with targeting.
• What are the measurable business outcomes? How do you measure success? You should be able to quantify the business value by measuring click‐thru’s, registrations, time spent watching the presentation or some other objective business metric.

Filed Under: General, Managing Video Projects, Resources, Starting a Video Project Tagged With: , ,

7 things you won’t hear from your video production company (even if you should).

March 31, 2010 By 8 Comments

All video production is the same right?

Video production is growing in it’s importance as part of the overall corporate marketing mix. With that growth comes specialization, complexity and a host of issues that many video production customers may or may not be aware of.

Here are 7 things that you wouldn’t want to hear from your video production company:

1. “We don’t have general liability or errors and omissions insurance.”
What could possibly go wrong? One of the crew drives over a customer, they forget to get a permission form signed, they use licensed material that you don’t have a license for, a light falls on someone… etc. Chances are things won’t go wrong, but if they do you had better be working with a company that is well insured. Standard insurance coverage for a video production company is $2,000,000 for errors and omissions and general liability.

2. “We do a bit of everything – websites, PR, SEO, graphic design, print, advertising… and video.”
The market will always support a range of generalists and specialists that service the same business audience. That said, a good rule of thumb is that if the number of services offered by a company is greater than the number of employees you might want to consider getting a second quote.

3. “We don’t really understand the web, or social media, or marketing .”
The vast majority of corporate video today is being delivered either exclusively or predominantly on the web. Creating video for the web is not the same as creating video for broadcast, or for entertainment, or for presentation at an event. Viewing behaviors are very different online. You also have to consider delivery platforms, hosting options,  interactivity,  conversion techniques, social media aspects of your video and many other factors that are unique to the web.

4. “We just do corporate video to pay the bills, we’d much rather be doing television.”
Very few people go into video because they want to help businesses sell more products or services (marketing and sales stuff). Film or television is usually the goal, doing corporate work is just what pays the bills. While there are a number of great companies that do both very well, unless your video production company is working under the direction of an ad agency or marketing firm, or they specialize in marketing video you shouldn’t be surprised if your video is wonderfully irrelevant.

5. “We didn’t really focus on business results per se, but we think this video might win an award.”
Creative work is wonderful if it serves a business objective. If it doesn’t you’ve wasted your money. Very few industry awards consider business results in their selection criteria – which is unfortunate because business results are the only thing that matter.

6. “There will  be many different people working on your video project.”
You met the president of the company and his senior team. Are they all going to be working on your project? Every services organization operates with some form of distributed work model. It’s up to you as a client to ensure you get the best people working directly on your video project. If you’re not sure, ask.

7. “We’ve been using the same equipment for the last five years.”
Considering that video technology (hardware, software, delivery systems) is changing literally every month it’s hard to imagine any company not taking advantage of so many cost saving and output quality advances in video production.

Filed Under: General, Managing Video Projects, Marketing with Video, video production, Video Standards Tagged With: , ,

What does a corporate web video cost? 25 Factors (with prices) that affect corporate video production costs.

March 3, 2010 By 21 Comments

What does a web video cost?

Corporate Video production can cost as much or as little or as your budget allows.

You can borrow a flip camera, shoot some video and upload it to YouTube – all for free. Or you could hire James Cameron to write, produce and direct your video where you’d be looking at a budget just shy of  half a billion dollars when you include marketing costs and Hollywood accounting. Both options would result in a finished video but you’d probably need special glasses to watch the the more expensive option.

The good news for businesses looking to engage a corporate video production company is that many of the factors that affect the price of a video have been going down over the last few years. Some dramatically. Assuming you find a company that does great work (this is a critical first step by the way – if the company doesn’t do great work it’s not worth paying anything for) the first question to be answered is  ‘how much does a video cost?’ There is no simple answer to that question but here are 25 factors (ranked in order of importance to the overall quality of the video) that affect the price of a web video:

  1. Corporate Video Production Experience. Doctors, mechanics, lawyers, videographers… whatever profession you care to mention, experience matters more than any other factor and, all things being equal, you do tend to get what you pay for. There are many, many moving parts in the creation of a video but at the end of the day you are paying for the expertise and experience of the key people responsible for your video. 
    Costs:     You can pay $25/hour for a recent film school graduate or $250/hour for a top flight video veteran. On average most production companies will charge between $50/hour and $150/hour for the people involved in key activities such as shooting and directing.
  2. Concept / Script / Storyboard –  Doing video for the sake of video is a waste of money (although it’s great for the video production industry!) What measurable business objective are you trying to achieve?  How is this video specifically going to achieve that objective? And of greatest importance, do the people creating your video have the experience or guidance to create a video that will help move your business forward? Lighting, sound, framing and editing are all important but they don’t matter in the least if what you are creating has no value to your intended audience. Like companies that spend $10,000 on website development and little or no money on content for the site, many companies waste a lot of money on nicely shot but otherwise meaningless video.
    Costs: Expect to spend between $60/hour and $125/hour for an experienced marketer (does it make sense to have an entertainment script writer or video production assistant develop your marketing script?) to develop a concept, script and storyboard that serves as the blueprint for you video.
  3. Editing. The editing process is highly nuanced. Editing is where you create the style and substance of the video – you sequence all of the available assets into a cohesive story that communicates your key messages in a clear and engaging manner. Editors arguably should be the most highly paid (and skilled) in the entire process (quite often they are not.)
    Costs:     Editing costs run between $40/hour and $125/hour.
  4. Actors/Presenters. Do you need to hire professional presenters, actors or models to improve the quality of your presentation? Not everyone is good on camera. You may need to make difficult decisions about who should represent your company. In a broadcast commercial quite often it is not someone in your company. Even in a corporate video you may decide that hiring outside talent is the best decision.
    Costs:     Presenters, models and actors can range anywhere from $50/hour to $500/hour or more depending on experience, demand and union costs.
  5. Camera. The quality and flexibility of the camera you shoot with can make a huge difference in the finished quality and editing options for your video. Are you shooting on a $ 500 DV camera, a $2,500 DSLR, a $10,000 Full feature HD camera, a $25,000 RED, a $60,000 ARRI or are you shooting on Film? The pace of technology advancement in film and video is breathtaking and the features and capabilities of cameras are changing weekly.  Bottom Line: You should be able to see the difference in the final output quality in more expensive cameras. If you can’t, then it’s not worth paying for.
    Costs:     You will spend between $25/hour and $250/hour or more depending on which digital camera is used. Film cameras, lenses and stock will take you well over $1,000 /hour.
  6. Equipment. The more experienced video production companies tend to have a wide variety of tools and equipment on hand for each shoot. Do you need a track dolly or a jib-arm to create a shot with movement? Do you have a high quality field monitor to know exactly what you are getting (or not getting) as you shoot? Do you have all the necessary audio equipment (lav’s, direction mics, booms etc) to capture the audio you need?  Lighting and framing are everything in video. Do you have lights – lots of different lights to accommodate a wide variety of shooting scenarios? Do you have a variety of lenses to create the specific feel you are after – wide angle, fixed focal length or Cine lenses for narrow depth of field, etc?
    Costs. Equipment cost can run anywhere from $25/hour to $100′s/hour or more depending on what specific equipment is required.
  7. Crew. If you’ve ever watched a movie or television show being filmed you might wonder why you need so many people standing around idle on a set. Most business web video productions don’t require more than two people (and sometimes one is enough) but depending on the complexity of the shoot you may require a crew of three or more. If you are conducting man on the street interviews as an example, you need a cameraman, a sound man and a directer or interviewer. Concept videos like commercials will often require more people to help with the logistics of the shoot.
    Costs: Expect to pay between $ 25 and $75/hour/person for experienced crew.
  8. B-Roll / Cut-away shots. Most videos benefit from the addition of footage that supplements what is being said on screen. If you are interviewing a business owner who is talking about their new equipment you should cut away to shots of the equipment as they speak. Showing the viewer what is being described in the video is more informative (show me , don’t tell me) and also helps to keep the attention of the impatient viewer.
    Costs: The length of time and equipment used to capture the b-roll will increase production costs. You can add anywhere from 10% to 50% of the total shooting costs if you need to supplement interview footage with b-roll.
  9. Locations and production time. Where are you shooting? How long will each scene/interview/shot take?Are you shooting in one location or many? What are the specific requirements and constraints of each location? Are you indoor or outside? If you are shooting outside is weather a factor? If so what happens if it rains? How much set-up time is required? Are the locations close together? The most important factor is the total amount of time required for production. There are few economies of scale for time – but with good planning you can do a lot within a specific period of time.
    Costs: This cost is arithmetic. Two days of shooting is twice as expensive as one day. {If shooting extends for many days or is regularly scheduled then most companies offer a discount}
  10. Studio shooting. Do you require the use of a sound stage or studio? Do you need a controlled environment to shoot in? Are you shooting green screen and keying out the background in edit? The use of a studio has to be factored into the overall cost of the production one way or another. Larger companies may include studio time in their shooting costs and other companies include it as a line item as studio rental time.
    Costs: Factor in between $100/hour and $ 400/hour depending on the size of the studio. (If you need a studio you will be charged for it – one way or the other)
  11. Set, props, equipment, extras. Aside from video production equipment are there other special props or pieces of equipment that need to be included as part of the costs? Do you need to rent a van, rent furniture, hire extras, hire a plane or helicopter for an aerial shot or bring in special equipment for the shoot? These all have to be factored in to the cost of the shoot.
    Costs: Depends on what is required.
  12. Stock footage Do you require supplemental footage or images to support the video? There are many websites that sell high quality still and video footage. Some videos are comprised completely of stock footage, text and voice-over.
    Costs: Stock images can be as cheap as $3 and great quality HD stock footage can cost as little as $50, but for high quality images you will pay considerably more.
  13. Narration Do you need a voice-over to tell your story or to tie the video together. Video is a powerful medium but it is even more powerful if you take full advantage of audio to support what is being shown on screen.
    Costs: Voice-over costs have dropped dramatically over the last five years. Many voice artists work from home and can produce great work for almost any budget. $100 – $400 for a 2 minute video is reasonable depending on the experience and demand for the specific voice artist.
  14. Audio files. Do you require a music bed, special sound effects or other audio to supplement your video?
    Costs: Good quality music for video starts as low as $30 for a two or three minute track. Custom audio can cost $1,000 or more depending on the experience of the musician and what is required.
  15. Teleprompter. A teleprompter can save a shoot. Even the most experienced speaker can be intimidated by lights and camera. It’s true that you can usually tell when someone is reading a teleprompter but that may still be preferable to the agony of a shoot spiraling out of control because the CEO can’t remember his lines.
    Costs: Teleprompter and teleprompter operator usually cost between $350 and $600 for a half day.
  16. Geographic Location. New York is more expensive to shoot in than Central Lake, Michigan because the cost of living is higher in New York. Half day rates don’t exist in some large cities today.
    Costs: Expect to pay between 25% and %50 more if you are shooting in a large city.
  17. Digitizing, transfers, rendering and uploading. Video takes on many forms during the production process. If you shot on film you have to transfer it to a format that works in your editing system. After you edit it, you have to render it to a presentation format (for web, for broadcast, etc.) and depending on where it’s going you may have to upload it somewhere (your web server / YouTube / The Academy Awards, etc). All this takes computer and human time and you generally have to pay for both.
    Costs: Sometimes these costs are buried, sometimes they are line items. Tape transfers are still very expensive ($100′s of dollars).  Rendering and uploading time are usually buried in the costs but can also be charged out at an hourly rate ($30 – $75 per hour).
  18. Length of the Video. The longer the video the more it is likely to cost. Web videos tend to be around a couple of minutes although this varies considerably depending on the type and purpose of your video. Filming an articulate talking head (limited editing) for 10 minutes is much cheaper than creating a 30 second commercial. So…
    Costs: All things being equal (they never are) consider longer to be more expensive, but it’s not arithmetic. An extra minute of video might only cost you %10 more if you have planned the extra requirements into the overall workflow.
  19. Licensing/Union Fees. Are you using any media assets or talent that could be subject to ongoing licensing, usage or union fees? The web continues to drive all costs down including licensing fees – but they still exist. The best talent is usually a member of  SAG, ACTRA or some other union.
    Costs: Varies depending on the project and talent.
  20. Direct or Third party. Are you dealing directly with the video production company or are you going through an agency or other middleman?
    Costs: You should expect that you are paying at least a %30 mark-up if you are going through a third party.
  21. Interactivity. Are you creating linear video or are you building in interactivity? Is there a direct call-to-action that you want to get the viewer to follow? Do you require flash programming do build the video into a special player that will sit on a specific landing page? The future of video is interactive video.
    Costs: Expect to pay between %10 and %30 more to develop interactivity and flash support elements into your video. Back-end, database work will cost even more.
  22. Hosting. Your video is going to live on the web. Where is it being hosted? You might end up hosting it on different servers (your own, YouTube, a business portal, etc.) depending on your business needs.
    Costs: Hosting is either free or relatively inexpensive ($ 5 – $10 / month/video depending on bandwidth usage.)
  23. Formats. How many different formats does your video have to be rendered in? Where is it going to be seen? Do you need a short version (editing down) and a long version? Does it sit in a multiplayer or is it in three different players? Should you break it up into pieces to make the length of it a little less evident and also to allow the user a bit more control?
    Costs: Adapting multiple formats for a video could add %5 to %10 percent to the cost of the job depending on how much editing is required.
  24. Language and translation. Do you need close captions? Do you need language versioning? Do you need onscreen text to change per language? Do you need to dub in different narration for different markets?
    Costs: Language versioning can add %10 to %20 to the overall cost of the job. (Editing and proofing of different languages is usually much more time intensive than one language alone.)
  25. Miscellaneous fees. Ya, everyone hates lawyers ‘disbursement fees’. Video production has the equivalent in ‘Miscellaneous fees’: Travel costs, meals, mileage, hotels, transportation, out-of-pocket… it all adds up.
    Costs: Usually in the $100′s and sometimes in the $1,000′s of dollars on larger shoots.

Bottom Line?

Taking all of the above into consideration there are reasonable ballpark figures that you can use as a guidepost for budget purposes. A two to three minute web-based corporate video presentation might cost between $2500 and $7500 depending on the variables mentioned above. If you use the time honored “$1,000 a minute” for a professionally produced online corporate video as a starting point, that will give you a reasonable idea of where to begin in the budgeting process.

Budgeting Tip # 1: A reference video is a great place to start.

The best way to get a quick estimate is to have a reference video to compare to. (I.e. “How much would something like ‘this’ cost.”)

Budgeting Tip # 2: Share your budget

Every business has a budget and yet many are reluctant to share them.  I’ve been on both sides (client and agency side) and I always had better results when I said ‘Here’s my budget, here are my business objectives,  what can you do for me?” If you don’t declare a budget then the production company will have to guess at a budget. (I recently lost a job because the budget I guessed at was too high – even though the client really liked the concept that I had proposed. Does the company that guesses closest to your undeclared budget win?}

Budgeting Tip # 3: Be open minded.
Many businesses begin the video development process with; 1. A specific video type in mind, 2. A prepared script and/or 3. Specific creative approach in mind.  That said, it’s still a good idea to listen to alternative approaches.

Did I miss something?

Set, props, equipment, extras. Aside from video production equipment are there other special props or pieces of equipment that need to be included as part of the costs. Do you need to rent a van, rent furniture, hire extras, hire a plane or helicopter for an aerial shot or bring in special equipment for the shoot. These all have to be factored in to the cost of the shoot.
Costs: Depends on what is required.
Filed Under: Corporate Video Production, General, Managing Video Projects, Resources, Starting a Video Project Tagged With: ,

Six things to consider with audio (and one very bad example)

February 9, 2009 By 1 Comment

Audio quality is very important in a video. Some would argue that audio has more impact on the overall perception of a video than the visual component of the video, that great sound with a mediocre image is OK, but weak sound quality, no matter the visual quality will always make the video seem inferior. I’m not sure that this is always the case, but audio quality is often an afterthought in the video development process.  Good audio is not difficult  to do and represents a small percentage of the overall cost of production. Does it make sense to spend thousands of dollars on the production of a video and then get ‘one of the guys in sales’ to do the voice-over using a cheap microphone?

The video above is a case in point. The audio quality is so bad, you can’t tell why it’s bad. They obviously went to considerable effort to put the video together. They wrote a script, did a lot of filming and spent time editing it. Did they just run out of steam at the end?

Here are six things to consider when creating audio for your video:

1. Audio starts with the script. Everyone knows that ‘Your customers are your top priority’ (what else would your top priority be?) so think of something unique to say. If you don’t have something interesting to say it doesn’t matter if James Earl Jones delivers your corporate message – it won’t stick.

2. Equipment matters. Buy a good microphone if you are doing audio in-house - it’s a really good investment. Yes, you are compressing the audio when you optimize it for the web but the same rule holds true for audio as it does for the video component – garbage in, garbage out.

3. Elocution matters. Just like visual style, there are many styles of voice that could be appropriate for your video – folksy, authoritative, somber, funny… whatever. You need to have a narrator who can speak in a clear understandable tone, who can speak in an appropriate cadence - given the subject material, and who can enunciate. Voice professionals do this stuff for a living. Remember the voice on your video in some ways becomes ‘the voice of your company’. That’s important.

4. Chose your soundtrack carefully. Adding a soundtrack is a great way to create a mood, to add drama or excitement, to maintain a consistent aural tone and to simply tie the whole video presentation together. Not all video needs a sound track however and unless you are able to afford original music you run the risk of using the same tunes that everyone else is using.  If you do go with a soundtrack make sure you crank it down when your narrator starts to speak.

5. Test the audio. It’s very difficult to imagine that the audio in the above video was subject to a rigorous screening process. Mix the audio with the soundtrack or musical loop , soinds effects etc. that you are going to use and let people listen to it. If everyone starts turning their heads sideways and squinting, you may want to give it another go.

6. Language and accent are very important. Peter Jennings was considered one of the best American news anchors for many reasons including his neutral (Canadian) accent. If you are creating promotional video content for foreign distribution – make sure that you use a narrator that delivers English in a very neutral tone. If you are dubbing in another language make sure your translator and reader understand the local dialect and idioms.

Filed Under: Managing Video Projects Tagged With:

6 HD video hosting services compared

February 6, 2009 By Leave a Comment

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Josh Lowensohn - an associate editor for Webware.com has published an article comparing 6 HD video hosting services. He declares YouTube the winner which is impressive considering Yougle only dipped their toe into the HD pool a few months ago. Given that YouTube/Google can afford to stream a cazillion hours of HD video a minute, process and store video at a ridiculous rate and add new features almost daily (and inspite of the fact that they have yet to generate any significant revenue), the other companies should be looking to find some way of differentiating themselves from the GooTube juggeraut. 

The article includes side by side video and still image comparisons and is well worth a look.

Filed Under: General, Managing Video Projects Tagged With:

How to present video on your website

January 13, 2009 By 5 Comments

There are many ways to present video on your website. The cheapest and easiest is to upload your video to YouTube (or one of the many hosting alternatives) and place the embed code for that video on your site. The downside to doing this is that you can’t control the quality or of your video as well (although the ability to affect YouTube video quality and others is getting better) and you also have to deal with having other videos display at the end of the video in that player. Hopefully it’s not a competitors video or something equally distasteful.

Hosting Video

You can host your video on your own servers if they are relatively fast and you don’t expect much traffic to your video or you can chose a content delivery network that will host, serve and track your video. Your video will still look like it is on your site – it is just streaming from another server. (Refer to ‘Where to host your corporate video” for reference.) Once you have chosen where to host your video the next step is to chose a video player. All video has to be in a player to be viewed on the web. Flash Player is the standard. YouTube and most other video portals use flash, as do most corporate sites. Microsoft is trying to get Silverlight accepted as another standard. We’ll see how that goes. (Zune anyone…?)

Video Players

There are many options when it comes to implementing a flash video player on your site:

1. You can use the default flash player that comes with Adobe software.

2. You can purchase a customized flash player that has many features built in.  There are many available at under $100 such as Flowplayer (which I currently use)

3. You can build your own custom player – you would need some very specific requirements to chose this route.

4. You can use an open source player like the one being promoted by the Open Player Initiative .

5. You can use the service of a video production and or distribution firm that promotes a ‘platform’. Usually in this case you need to sign on for other services to use their player.

Whatever route you chose you will need to make a minimum amount of changes to the html on your site to accommodate the flash player. You will have to use the services of a web expert to help you plug the player into your site. The code that is required to implement a flash player on your site can be found at here: http://code.google.com/p/swfobject/

Filed Under: Managing Video Projects Tagged With: , , ,

When should you use a Teleprompter

December 6, 2008 By Leave a Comment

‘Unscripted’, ‘authentic’, ‘spontaneous’, ‘extemporaneous’ - this is the mantra of a new generation of online video producers. Unscripted is a great way to shoot video… sometimes.

Image this scenario: You’ve hired a camera crew, a studio, some special equipment and your senior spokesperson/presenter is ready to go. You’ve given your presenter speaking notes – and he assures he doesn’t need them. A couple hours into the shoot everyone including the presenter realizes it’s not going well. The presenter decides maybe he should refer to the notes, but now he can’t deliver them well because he can’t memorize them and they are not his words. What do you do?

Short form, off the cuff video segments are becoming more popular today as companies look to build their brands by communicating in a less formal manner and by trying to engage their audience using a more personal approach. Corporate presentations and company overviews lend themselves well to this format where an exec and/or staff member might deliver an unscripted, but heartfelt explanation of what makes their company great.

You can be successful with this style of video production if you have a good plan for what you want to get out of the video (and how you will be delivering it), a smart set of talking points to reference and a good presenter who is comfortable with this unscripted format. If on the other hand, you are shooting a detailed product demo or a particularly long or complicated presentation or if you have a presenter who does not have a lot of experience in front of a camera you should consider renting a teleprompter.

These are some of the situations where a teleprompter is well worth the investment:

1. Using a professional presenter/actor. If the presenter is not a subject matter expert then they either have to memorize a script (which is very difficult to do well) or read from a teleprompter.

2. Long presentations. The longer the video and the longer each speaking piece in the video is, the greater the need for a teleprompter. You only have to sit through one session where the presenter continues to stumble over the correct delivery for a prolonged period of time to wish you had invested in a teleprompter.

3. Complex presentations. Product demos, technical presentations and presentations that require a lot of different verbal and physical actions to happen at the same time would benefit from the use of a teleprompter. Product managers and business owners know their products better than anyone but that does not guarantee that they can give you a fluid and professional read if the verbal requirements are complex.

4. Experience in front of a camera. Your best trade show guy might be a crackerjack pitchman in front of an audience (large or small) but that can all change quickly when they are asked to talk to a camera under the glare of lights and no one there to provide feedback. {Shooting them talking to someone on screen (or off) may be a good compromise if that style suits your business needs.}

5. Failure is not an option. {This may be the best reason to consider renting a teleprompter}.  If you’re investing a lot of time and effort for a video shoot (which is usually always the case), if you have asked for senior exec’s or business owners time to shoot the video or if you are working to a tight deadline (which is always the case) the availability of a teleprompter might just save the day. 

The problem is that unless you have seen the presenter on camera before you won’t know how the unscripted format is going to go. Your video production company should be able to guide you on when and where to use a teleprompter but if you are doing the video yourself you should be able to rent a teleprompter and an equipment rental shop for between $300 and $500 for a half day (This includes a teleprompter operator – the person who loads and keeps the onscreen text moving). Conversely you can buy the equipment and software yourself for under $1,000.00. If you plan on doing a fair amount of in-house video then this may be a good option. You’ll just have to train someone on how to use the software (it is not difficult to learn).

 

 

 

Filed Under: Managing Video Projects Tagged With: ,

Where should you host your corporate video?

December 5, 2008 By 2 Comments

 

You have just completed shooting a three minute corporate overview of your company’s services that you want to put up on your website. Now what?

Assuming you know the answer to the following questions:

1.    Where on your website you want to place your video? (Is it on your home page, is it on a main section page, is it in a videos section, is it buried further in the site because it relates to some specific content )

2.    How the video will play on your site? (Will it launch a pop-up window that plays the video, will it take you to another page that contains the video in a player or will it simply play in place by simply clicking on a screen capture image)

3.    What type of player you will play the video in? (Will it launch in a flash player, in a windows media player, in a quicktime player, in the adobe media player etc.)

4.    What features you need in the player? (Play/pause, stop, slider/time bar , elapsed time/full time, audio control, enlarge to full window, and other controls)

You then have to decide how you are serving (hosting) your video to your website visitors.

Listed below are some of the decision criteria for determining the best way to host your video:

1.    How many people do you anticipate will watch the video – both in total (I.e how many people will watch it in one month) and simultaneously (What is the chance that 10, 20 or more people will watch the video at the same time.)

2.    How are you marketing the video – will people just see it when they come to your site or are you sending out one or more emails to drive people to the video (an e-mail campaign would increase the likelihood of many people viewing it at the same time)

3.    What capacity does your web server have – can your servers adequately serve video to people on your site – have you tested it with video? Have you tested it with multiple views of video at the same time?

4.    Where do you web visitors come from – are they local or in your region? Are they from all over the country or are they international.

5.    How important is the quality of the video experience to you – Will it matter to your audience if the video doesn’t play right away  (‘right away’ being a relative term), will it matter if the video pauses occasionally during playback.

6.    Do you just want to host it on a video aggregator like YouTube. – If the playback quality is not that important to you and you don’t mind having other videos appear with your video (could be a competitor’s video or a video of dancing cat) then a video aggregator site might be an option.

Placing your video on a video aggregator like YouTube is free but you cannot control the experience – you can’t control what videos play with it and you can’t control the quality (compression) of the video. Placing the video on your own servers is a good choice if you don’t expect a lot of traffic to the video and you have tested it and are relatively comfortable with the overall experience.

The best route is to use the services of a CDN (such as Akamai, Limelight, Amazon or Edgecast) either directly or through a third party who has a service contract with a CDN.  CDN’s have high speed, multi-server capabilities and redundant points of presence that allow for very fast and reliable delivery of video around the world. {Note: The video is served from the CDN’s server, but it will still appear on your website – the visitor to your site won’t know where the video is being served from.}

The video production company that created your video should be able to provide these services. If not, Google ‘Content Delivery Network’ – there are many service providers with many different price points and plans.

Filed Under: Managing Video Projects Tagged With: ,
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