It’s no secret that video marketing and production is costly, time consuming and if not executed properly, it can be harmful rather than helpful to your brand’s reputation. However, video has been and will continue to be one of the most dynamic and engaging mediums through which to reach your target audiences. In fact, 54% of consumers want to see more video content from brands or businesses they support.

When video is done correctly, it has the power to move the needle for your brand in tangible ways—whether your objective is to sell a product, lease available space in a building, or communicate your company’s mission and vision to key stakeholders. If you haven’t at least begun thinking about implementing a video marketing strategy, it’s worth taking a second look. If you’re not sure where to start, consider the following keys to planning and executing a successful video marketing strategy to help you get the ball rolling:

1. Planning is Everything – As simple as Hollywood gurus may make it seem, you can’t just walk into a room, start rolling and yell “Action!” expecting movie magic to happen. The real secret to crafting a professional, cohesive video that meets your business objectives all comes down to what happens behind the scenes leading up to your video shoot.Before you pick up the camera, you need to flesh out the objectives of your video campaign. What message or messages are you trying to convey to your audience and how can you tell that story in a way that resonates with them? Do you need to include key executives from your organization or testimonials from individuals who have used your product or service? Would your content be best served in a single video or a series of shorter videos? Or both? You should consider all of these questions and more before beginning the filming process.

2. Video Length is More Important Than You Think – While there’s no “one-size-fits-all” approach to video length, there are some important rules of thumb you should take into consideration when content planning and editing.If you’re creating a video that’s going to live on your website, it should be approximately 3 minutes long. However, videos you plan to roll out in a social or digital media campaign should be much shorter—no longer than 15 to 30 seconds depending on the platform.It’s important to note that you can also repurpose your footage for use in videos of multiple lengths to optimize them for the appropriate platform. When it comes to content planning, the more flexibility you allow for in terms of video length, the better.

3. Strategy, Strategy, Strategy – One of the single most important pieces of a video marketing strategy is just that—the marketing. The last thing you want is to put hours of time, effort, sweat, and tears into creating and perfecting your video content and then once it’s completed, just simply throw in the towel. Video can be a wasted investment if you don’t factor in how you plan to capitalize on your content. Now that you’ve defined your objectives and goals for video as well as optimized the length for your chosen distribution channels, it’s time to determine your strategy for getting the content in front of your target audience.You have several options when it comes to distributing video content but some of the most common include uploading it to your company website, sharing via paid or organic social campaigns and through an email blast that links out to your content. Depending on the video or videos you’ve created and what your campaign objective is, your distribution strategy could include one or all these tactics and then some.

Lastly, if you’re feeling overwhelmed or don’t think your iPhone camera skills will make the cut for the professional video campaign you’re envisioning, consider working with an agency that can guide you through the process of developing and executing a successful video marketing strategy.

To learn more, take a look at a recent video marketing campaign we completed, or reach out to me today to discuss your content marketing needs.