5 questions we ask before making a video
We have a video briefing questionnaire that we send to clients. It has a lot more than five questions on it as we need to go into granular detail to really understand what success looks like for our clients. However, the questions can be boiled down into five main subject headings:
What is the purpose of the video?
We ask this because we want to know the aims and objectives, the goals for the video, the KPIs and the metrics that it will be evaluated against. We make videos for marketing purposes, for charities, for tech companies and for education institutions. Often these clients have very different reasons for making a video so we try to get to the bottom of what it is that has compelled them to ask us to make a video. Some of the reasons could be: For content marketing campaigns, to explain a product or service, for SEO, to increase engagement in social campaigns, problem to solution videos, lead generation or for a direct response campaign.
Who is the audience?
When we know the mindset and motivations of our audience we can tailor videos directly to them. We ask our clients whether they have audience research, have they conducted focus groups, do they have detailed personas? If so these are very useful for us to get a clear picture of who we’re making the video for. If this is a well targeted campaign we will be able to make a video that will make a large number of viewers feel like we’ve made the video just for them.
What do the viewers need to know?
We also ask, what the viewers want to know from you. This is very different and distinct from what you want to say to them. By putting yourself in the shoes of the viewer you can start to think of the information that they need in stages and deliver each stage in the appropriate time.
How much do the viewers know and how close are they to taking action?
This tells us at what stage of the marketing funnel the prospect sits at. If the intended audience know nothing about your brand then we need to create top of funnel content that will introduce them to the brand and leave them with a good impression. We should compel them to want to learn more. However, it’s unlikely that we’re going to get them to make a purchase within one video. If the prospect has already seen top of funnel content, and middle of funnel content like a product explainer then it’s likely that we are going to create content just to give them the extra guidance they need in order to make an informed decisions. This is a very different style of video to a top of funnel piece of content. It requires a different budget and a different approach to storytelling.
What is the call to action?
What is the call to action and how can we tell a story that compels the viewer to take action? Once we know the call to action we design every frame of the video to give the viewer the impetus to take action. The script is worded to lead up to the CTA, the music should sit in line with the ask, the voiceover or dialogue will be carefully selected to tel a story that leads to the natural conclusion that following the CTA is a good idea. We like to get a clear picture of what the audience should think, feel and do after watching your video.
How will the video get to market?
How will it be distributed? Can we help you to get eyeballs on the video? Can we help you run an advertising campaign, a social campaign, create material to support the video like white papers, press releases, graphics design etc. Once a video has been made it’s a crying shame if it sits on YouTube gaining a few hundred views and goes no further. In order to get maximum return on your investment in video we need to seed the audience to the right people and that’s where a good distribution strategy is worth its weight in gold.
After we answer all these questions we can start working on defining the right story to tell to accomplish your goals.