If you're a professional communicator, chances are you don't need to be sold on the power of video. The statistics for online video are nothing short of gaudy. According to Quicksprout, website visitors are 64% more likely to buy a product after viewing an online video ad than those who have not watched the video. Likewise, according to DigitalSherpa, videos increase people's understanding of products and services by 74%, and email click-through rates increase two to three times when marketers include a video.
Videos hold people's attention, appeal to both the heart and head, create brand recall and can be relatively easy on budgets. But finding your inner Spielberg and creating a great video is not as simple as getting your camera out and shouting, "Action!" It takes preparation.
On Wednesday, Matthew Schwartz, group editor for PR News, and Heidi Sullivan, SVP, digital content for Cision, led a webinar, "Film School: How to Use Video for PR," which covered video strategy and production best practices. Based on that webinar, here is a series of questions you should ask before committing to a video strategy for your PR programs.
- How will we produce this video? Will it be done in-house, or will it be outsourced? Think through how you want the RFP process to go. Also, figure out what your budget will be, accounting for equipment, space, talent, production, post-production, etc.
- How does video programming fit within our overall marketing strategy and how will it be relevant to our audience?
- What are the goals of the video, and how will we repurpose it across our various marketing channels, particularly on social? What is the SEO strategy related to the video?
- What is the purpose of the specific video? Think about the video's longevity. Goals may include building an online video catalog to distribute via your website, Vine or YouTube channels, generating leads or promoting your executive leadership or your CSR program.
Follow Matthew Schwartz on Twitter: @mpsjourno1
Follow Heidi Sullivan on Twitter: @hksully