Training videos, social media ads, landing page testimonials, TV commercials — the possibilities for producing branded videos are practically endless.
But even though 52% of marketers claim that this type of content delivers the best ROI, some businesses are still hesitant to fully integrate video into their marketing strategy.
The reason?
Well, more often than not, this hesitation stems from some long-held misconception about the video production process.
For instance, if you associate “video production” with Hollywood sets and large-scale productions, you might assume that you need to hire the next Spielberg before you can produce high-quality videos.
If this is your mindset, it’s only natural to then assume that video production is too expensive, time-consuming, and unrealistic for your marketing team to pull off.
Fortunately, this isn’t actually true.
This guide will highlight the main reasons why businesses should start and continue investing in video production — whether producing content in-house or with the help of a third-party expert.
5 Reasons Businesses Invest in Video Production
Source: Photo by KAL VISUALS on Unsplash
1. The statistics speak for themselves.
Businesses — and the marketing teams operating behind the scenes — don’t base decisions off of gut instinct and luck alone. They want to see relevant case studies, trends, updated statistics, and real data first.
So it’s one thing to say that video production is a smart investment, and it’s another to prove it.
With that in mind, here are some statistics that reinforce the importance of video content and marketing:
- Video is shared 1200% more than both text and static images.
- The majority of people (86%) want brands to produce more videos.
- 87% of marketers cite video as the reason for increased website traffic.
- Conversion rates can increase by 86% when video is featured on landing pages.
From higher engagement to increased traffic and conversions, statistics like these confirm that video generates the types of results that businesses are constantly chasing after.
With these numbers in mind, let’s unpack a few other reasons why it’s a strategic move for businesses to invest in video content.
2. Basic gear and expertise is all you really need.
The barrier to entry for video production is at an all time low, which means that you don’t need years of production experience and thousands of dollars to get started.
Whether you’re making 15-second social media videos or longer-form content, corporate video production always involves the same three stages: pre-production, production, and post-production.
With a basic understanding of the process and a few select pieces of gear, anyone can produce brand videos. And that’s true whether or not you have a large production team.
If you have a smartphone, you can film, edit, and share brand videos on the same device. And if you have the budget to rent or buy camera stabilisers, lighting equipment, and other gear, you can do that too.
Another option you have is to work with a company that specialises in video production, like Dream Engine. That way, you can produce great videos consistently even if your team doesn’t have much (or any) video production experience.
3. You can repurpose video for multiple channels.
The great thing about video production is that the footage you get from one shoot can be used in ad campaigns and social media posts now and later.
So if you’re filming a long-form video for YouTube, consider this an opportunity to repurpose parts of the video for Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, your website, and other digital channels.
Not only are you creating more brand awareness on multiple platforms, but you’re also directing traffic to the YouTube video.
Once the videos are uploaded, you’re able to monitor the engagement metrics and find out which types of videos have the most success. With this data, you know how to keep improving your content strategy quarter after quarter.
Another option you have is to share user-generated content (USG) from your customers.
This is a simple and effective way for you to earn consumer trust and boost conversions without personally producing the content — especially since prospects are 184% more likely to buy something when they visit your site via USG videos.
4. You reap the benefits of YouTube SEO.
Source: Photo by NordWood Themes on Unsplash
As the second largest search engine in the world, YouTube is a platform that businesses should leverage for sharing content, spreading brand awareness, and growing their audience. And that’s especially true from an SEO perspective.
If your business doesn’t have a presence on YouTube, you’re missing out on an opportunity to connect with a wider target audience (and, specifically, two billion global users).
By using tools like VidIQ, TubeBuddy, and YouTube’s Search Suggest bar, you can isolate the most popular search terms and use that information to create your video content strategy.
As you continue to do this over time, your content will start to climb higher in the organic search results, generate more views, and — with some optimisation — direct more prospects to your pricing page.
5. It’s never been easier to license music for video.
A key component in any video is the music, and that’s because good music and audio quality can make the difference between a viewer deciding to watch the entire video or bounce.
But this has also been a point of contention for production teams for one main reason: Music licensing is almost always a complicated, expensive, and time-consuming process.
Before you use music in your corporate videos — even if it’s only a couple seconds of audio — you need to have permission from the copyright holder(s) to secure the right music licenses (i.e., synchronisation, master, public performance, etc.).
If you don’t negotiate for these licensing rights, you could be facing major fines and legal backlash when the videos are distributed. And even if you do negotiate for the rights, you could still walk away empty-handed.
The bright side to all of this, however, is that stock music companies and resources like the YouTube Audio Library make it easier for production teams to find and license music.
Depending on which stock library you use, you can bypass licensing negotiations altogether and even license music in less than five minutes.
Conclusion
Whether you want to bring video production in-house or work with a third-party, investing in video content is a strategic move for businesses of any size and industry.
Not to mention, it’s easier now than ever before to produce videos (and license music for said videos) that deliver a great ROI without overextending the marketing budget.
By producing and distributing videos on social media or other digital channels, you’re statistically more likely to see higher engagement rates, increased traffic, and an uplift in conversions.
Mackenzie is a copywriter at Soundstripe, a stock music company that provides filmmakers, creators, and advertisers with different genres of background music such as sports music and folk music for video.
Ryan Spanger is one of Melbourne’s most respected and sought-after video production professionals. Ryan founded Dream Engine in 2002, and specialises in helping medium to large corporates, government departments, and the non-profit sector to connect with their audience more effectively by using video.
