Confessions, ‘cool’, and strategic video
How much strategy have you put into your video output as a business?
It really depends on the size of your organisation right?
Why?
Video is as accessible as it’s ever been. Budget is not something that should be holding your business back from being truly strategic with how you approach video whether thats video marketing, employer branding, or internal communications. Money is being left on the table when you don’t optimise your video process and strategic input and money is leaving your pocket unnecessarily when you pay a fancy agency to do all the thinking for you.
This is where the confession comes. None of this is helped by the video producers (of which I’m one) who just want to create something ‘cool’. Everyone loves to see ‘cool’. Creators love to make something which shows off their creativity and clients like to see their brand associated with such creativity. ‘Cool’ tends to wow us and before we know it we’re bought in. But was your original goal to be ‘cool’? Are you measuring ‘cool’? Did you even have a goal?
Again, for the large organisations, they’ve spent enough money that a measurable goal would have been a prerequisite but for many of you it may not have crossed your mind to be this strategic about your new homepage video or social media ad.
And I don’t blame you. There is a time, a place, a budget where just ‘cool’ is perfect but in a world saturated with video creators I think theres an opportunity for some definition in the space between a ‘cool’ video and a million dollar agency contract.
This is why, as an individual obsessed with video, I have decided to start using the term ‘strategic video’. For us creatives who strive to bridge the gap between creativity and business function, who want to be more consultative in their approach and truly partner with clients to help them reach their goals.
As a client, you can be more strategic by defining the business goals of your video output, asking yourself how these goals are being measured, and importantly, how the content of the video supports these goals?
I believe these are great first steps in creating a mutually beneficial relationship between creatives and clients where the results do the talking and we can define our very own concept of ‘cool’.
(Gosh that was corny.)
What steps do you take to be strategic in your video output? Let me know in the comments below :)
