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Video production can be a challenging process, but the effort is worth it. In 2022, online videos comprise 82% of all internet traffic. That means that whenever your audience is consuming content, it’s likely to be videos.
If you can figure out an effective way to make videos, then your social media presence will be booming. Here’s how you can figure out what type of video content is right for you.
With that being said, let’s talk about the various steps of bringing your vision to reality. The video production process has three main steps: pre-production, production, and post-production. Let’s talk about each step one by one.
Phase 1: Pre-Production
The first phase of video production is pre-production. This is the most important part of the process as you will be mapping out the entire plan for a video. Before you film the video itself, you should have a clear plan of what you need to do.
In most cases, the pre-production phase is the longest phase of video production. Once this phase goes well, the rest of the video production can feel as easy as eating cake.
List Your Objectives
Why are you making a video? You can only plan for something once you have a clear objective for it. For videos, you should list down objectives such as your goals, audience, and core values.
To make your list of objectives, you can use the SMART methodology. This involves creating goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-specific.
For instance, having an objective “to create a video for marketing” isn’t very comprehensive. Instead, it can sound something like: “to create a 1-minute product demonstration video for social media marketing by the end of the month.”
Find the Audience
Any successful video knows exactly who it’s appealing to. When you were creating your product or service, you might have done some market research on the target audience. Use that information here and figure out what type of content your target market wants to see.
Try to go beyond the typical age or gender demographics. Focus more on what problems your target market is facing and how your product/service can add value to their life.
Consider engaging some influencers on social media to understand what the target audience connects with. You can conduct your interviews, ask the audience for feedback, or even put up some social media polls.
Create a Video Strategy
Remember how we mentioned that your objectives need to be realistic? That’s where a video strategy steps in. Each decision that you make should align with your long-term vision for the business.
During this planning stage, you should plan for the logistics around video production. Consider your budget, locations, deadline, and goals. It is incredibly important to ask yourself how you can maximize the return on investment (ROI) with the video.
Get Creative
Now that everything else is planned, you can start getting creative. Any video that gets to the ‘trending’ pages on social media has a strong concept or connection with the audience. Brainstorm about what content your video will include, what will stand out, and how everything will be presented.
In this stage, you should also write a script for the video. Everything needs to be planned down the second if you want your video to succeed with no setbacks. Remember to never have a mechanical script for a video. Instead, let your creative approach guide you through the process while getting your brand message out.
To make things easy, you can use a storyboard to visualize what your video should look like. Eighty-four percent of people said that watching a brand’s video can convince them to make a purchase, so your video needs to be visually appealing.
Storyboards are often used to put your ideas into a tangible form so you can plan for them accordingly. By creating a storyboard, you can easily figure out how the video will be shot, where animations need to be added, and what the ultimate message is.
Phase 2: Production
Now that all the planning is done, the production phase involves filming the video. Since you already have clear objectives and a video strategy, you should know how long video production will take.
Short videos for social media can be filmed within a few days, whereas long advertisements might take more time. Whether you are a stakeholder or a producer, your goal should be to ensure that everything happens according to schedule.
For this phase, you might need to allocate the role of director to one or two individuals. Some brands prefer hiring a team of professionals for this part of the production schedule, but that entirely depends on your preference.
Directors guide through the entire process of filming the video. From getting the right angles to adjusting the lighting, a director is the backbone of the video production process.
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Phase 3: Post-Production
Once you have all the raw footage, it is time to enter phase 3 or post-production. Here, the goal is to take all the best shots and stitch them together to perfection.
You can use video editing software or hire a professional to complete the task for you. Cut every shot down to the desired length and piece them together one by one. If you are filming an explainer video, then you might need a voiceover. You can either record a voiceover yourself or hire third-party talent to do it for you.
To make your video more attractive, consider adding graphics, animated text, or other animations. This helps emphasize points and adds creativity to any script.
Remember to add some final touches with background music to keep your audience engaged throughout the video. You can read this article on the do’s and don’ts of video marketing to learn more.
When you are satisfied with how the video looks, it’s time for distribution. You can share the video on your social media pages, embed it on your website, or run paid advertisements. No matter what distribution channel you use, the goal is to get the video content to your target audience.
The Stages of Video Production Pay Off
Video production isn’t as complicated as it sounds. All you need to do is be organized, have a plan, and stick to the schedule as much as possible.
If any phase of the process sounds too overwhelming, you can always consider outsourcing some parts to professional video production companies.
If you can organize yourself well and have a focused strategy, then you can easily create an impressive final video that your viewers will love.