Here at Bear Jam, we help clients to create video with purpose. While these clients come from industries of all types and have a vast array of video needs, our approach remains the same because, well, because it works. But what exactly do we mean by “creating videos with a purpose” and why is it so important?
When you create video with purpose, it means you intend for your video to have a specific effect on your audience in a way that benefits your brand. Your intention is more than a hope or a wish, however, because you have created a strategy to support it. When you create video with purpose, it means there is rationale behind every aspect of the video; from the decision to make a video to the format of that video to the story you tell to the call to action to your distribution plan, etc.
The reason it is critical to take this approach is simply a matter of resources: Your own and those of your audience. Resources like time, money, and energy are limited and therefore you must wisely choose how you use them (and how you ask your audience to use theirs). In doing this, you keep your team on the same page, aligned with your overall business goals and you keep your audience engaged by establishing trust and loyalty.
Sometimes people fail to create video with purpose because they simply do not know what they are doing. However, we find that the most common reason people create video without purpose is a matter of quantity versus quality. People feel rushed to produce as many videos as possible in order to keep up with their competition and with industry standards. They’re too busy just trying to keep up, failing to understand that if they choose instead to direct their resources into creating fewer but higher quality video content for their audience, they will likely see better results. Fortunately, it’s never too late to make a change so let’s review how you can begin creating video with purpose today.
Planning
Planning is the first step, laying the foundation for your entire video campaign. You must understand two things: Your audience’s problem and your own business goal. Ideally, your video will marry these two things. The planning stage includes creating a buyer persona and mapping the buyer’s journey. You must understand who you are talking to and where they are in the buying process (Awareness, Consideration, or Decision) if you are to effectively communicate how your offerings help your audience with their specific problem and inspire them to act.
Production
The second step is to produce your video. In this stage you will address the problem your audience has by providing value via educational and/or entertaining video content in a bold way that separates you from the competition, delivers on the objective, and that your audience is in the right stage to respond how you want them to. That may sound like a tall order now but the insights gleaned from the planning stage should provide you with all of the knowledge you need to do this.
Distribution
Once your video is produced, distribution is the next step. Again, taking insights gleaned in the planning stage, you should understand how the video you’ve created fits into your overall marketing strategy. You will want to ask yourself questions such as “which customer segmentation is likely to be the most receptive to this video and what channels are they on?” and “how does my new video support my existing content and how does my existing content support my new video?”
Analysis
Analysis is your important fourth stage in the process of creating video with purpose. Based on your business goals, how did your video perform? Did one delivery platform clearly outweigh all others? In the audience feedback on your video, did you discover new problems your audience has that you can solve for them? What does all of this mean for your next video and your overall marketing efforts? Analyze your video metrics to answer these are the types of questions so that you can continually improve upon your video marketing efforts. Then (fifth and final step!), repeat this entire process again and again.
Nothing exists in a vacuum. Your customers needs will continue to evolve, your business goals will continue to evolve, video marketing capabilities will continue to evolve, your industry will continue to evolve, your offerings will continue to evolve, and so on and so on. Rather than being in constant reaction mode to these inevitable changes, follow these steps to ensure you are always in-tune with your audience’s needs and aligned with your own business goals. In short, stay focused and create video with purpose – That is a winning strategy that will remain constant.
Have questions, concerns, or ideas about creating video with purpose? Let us know by getting in touch, leaving a comment below or tagging us on Twitter @StickyPause!
