Video Content Production FAQ’s

Pre-Production: Planning, mapping, casting, conceptualising strategy and storyboard, scouting and securing locations if necessary and scripting your video in line with your brand objectives. Production: Shooting the video in line with the storyboard. Post Production: Editing, recording voiceovers and touching up colour. This also includes adding text, graphics, effects and music during the editing. The final stage is rendering and distributing the video on the platforms, in line with the planned strategy, set out during pre-production.

Videos are easy for viewers to consume, making it very easy to implement effective strategies across platforms. Some ways that businesses use videos online include; using customer testimonies to add value to the brand and boost conversion and sales. You can also use video marketing to showcase new products or services online. Businesses utilise Google’s favour for video to their advantage by regularly producing relevant content across platforms.

Any business can benefit from marketing videos. Whether it’s real estate, ecommerce, educational or even retail, videos should form an integral part of your digital strategy. You can even use them for conferences, in-store displays or for running ads on social media or search engines. Dark Matter works with a lot of entrepreneurs, guest speakers and key note speakers to develop videos for a multitude of platforms.

While the pandemic certainly skyrocketed the use of videos, the most notable increases are seen in real estate industry, especially 360 and digital walkthrough of properties. Another excellent example is the education sector, both for children and higher learning. Healthcare also saw an increase in video across all major platforms.

Any video that’s developed to showcase your business is a brand video. Brand videos should tell a story that speaks to your customers and shares your unique selling point (USP). The viewer should know immediately that it’s your brand, so be sure to include your logo or a verbal cue of your business name. You should also ensure that it’s in line with your corporate identity.

Aside from Google favouring video format (especially for mobile) in search, the format itself is versatile, meaning you can apply video to almost any platform such as social media, Live video streaming even directly on your website. For viewers, videos are easy to consume, learn and share. Facebook alone has over 8 billion video views a day.

A good performance on YouTube means delivering a variety of content that’s relevant and that your customers will be interested in. Some industries that perform well include Manufacturing, Finance, PR, Real Estate, healthcare, e-commerce, travel and hospitality.

Video marketing strategies can take several avenues. Thought Leadership videos offer value to your viewers and allow you to engage with your audience. By keeping up with trends in your industry, you can create Q&A videos in line with these trends and your business. Another strategy is Social Proof; which is like testimonials/reviews from existing customers or employees. You can also use user generated content on your platforms (with permission). Product or service videos are an excellent way to showcase what your business offers. By incorporating these three different types of videos into your content strategy, combined with trends is a sure-fire way to generate sales and exposure.

Your audience dictates exactly how and where you should be producing content. Having an effective marketing strategy means knowing exactly who your audience is and what platforms they’re receiving your information. This information can be gathered from website and social media data and analytics, sales records and any other lead generating or surveys you have conducted. From here, you take this information and weave it into what type of information performs best and use it to tell captivating brand stories.

The number one way to make good videos is to have an established strategy in place before you film. For instance, look at current or upcoming trends in your industry and develop your content around that. Next, if your videos are for your business, ensure that the quality is good. Dark Space offers a fully equipped studio space, which includes lights, backdrops and microphones. All you need to do is bring your camera or phone and connect it to the tripod.

Framing: Ensure that your shot is made up of your subject, enough head room and the rule of thirds – Which means, if you had to put a 3 column grid over your shot, your subject should be intersecting the lines on either the left or the right. It’s also important to fill up the excess space with something in the background to balance the shot. Audio: We supply microphones that plug into your phone or camera to ensure that your sound is crisp. Levels for speaking should be around -12db when recording. Export format: Be sure to export your video to the specs of your desired platform. For instance, you don’t need 4K Ultra HD for an Instagram or Facebook video – these platforms will automatically compress your video. For more information on producing high quality videos, download one of our free resources or contact us here.