Online Video on a Budget

It seems like we’ve been waiting forever for video to meet our expectations over the web. It has come a long way in the past few years and the technology is finally to the point where it’s delivering a pretty good user experience. As a result, marketers are having to respond to the growing demand for online video from their users. The cost to implement full-scale video productions can be expensive, although worth it in many cases. If you want to take advantage of online video but your budget is tight, in some situations, a lot can still be done with a little. This article explores some common applications that are well-suited to lower-budget productions and some tips for getting the most value for your money.

Resources
Decent cameras are getting less and less expensive and if you’re just producing video for the web, there’s no need for the extra expense and effort to produce in full HD quality. While acquiring good equipment is hardly a barrier these days, you still need the right people to get the job done. It’s good to have a small crew that has basic knowledge about filming, lighting, directing and producing a shoot. Often times these skills can be found within your organization or through your personal networks. Other times, people at your company can get up to speed with a minimal amount of training. In any event, to keep costs under control and to ensure a smooth outcome, it’s necessary to start with a reasonably experienced team.

Creative Approach
Some styles of video have a convincing, authentic effect while requiring a minimal production budget. “Low-fi” aesthetics can be cool if planned and executed properly. Done wrong however, they can result in a disastrously “cheesy” presentation, doing more detriment to your brand than good. For example, capturing footage with just a hand-held, standard definition, relatively inexpensive camera can look like a high-quality production if the subject is well-lit and some basic editing and visual effects are thrown in.

Tell a Story
As always, content is king. Have a good idea and tell your story well. Even if the production values aren’t on par with Hollywood, engaging people with compelling content will move their attention away from the production values and immerse them in your story. Plan your content well in advance. It helps to storyboard your video before shooting.

Make It Short & Sweet
People’s attention span for online video is fairly short so strive to keep limit the length of your video. If your story is long, consider ways to break it up. On average, 3 minutes is the maximum amount of time that most people are currently willing to spend viewing most online videos. Shorter videos are invariably cheaper to produce as well.

Distribution on a Budget
The easiest way to publish your video is through your company’s social media channels; Facebook, YouTube, etc. Done correctly, they can be a successful marketing tool. Leveraging powerful social networks, the right kind of video can be spread virally and have much greater reach than by just publishing them to your company website. The types of videos that people are most likely to share with their peers are ones that make them laugh, move them, or educate them with helpful information. Just beware of your desire to go viral outweighing other important business goals, such as accurately expressing your brand, in a relevant way. Your content must be on-strategy at all times.

What Works and What Doesn’t
Certain types of online videos lend themselves better to a lower budget production than others. For example, one of our clients provides free education material online as an introduction to their paid services. Their free courses are an important first impression with prospects. Not only must they be rich in valuable information and leave the prospect wanting more, the presentation itself needs to be engaging and well-supported with graphics and visual effects. Because so much rides on these free courses, the client invested in a fuller-scale production, shooting on green screen and doing a number of enhancements in post-production to make it an impressive learning experience.

Alternatively, this same client uses video to present customer testimonials as an additional way to establish trust with prospects. Video testimonials from real customers are much more compelling than text-based testimonials. Our client has the opportunity to film new customer testimonials with each graduating class from their on-location courses, so they can update the videos on their website frequently. In this case, there is minimal overhead to capture the footage, edit and publish. To help boost the quality of the user experience for people watching these testimonial videos on their website, we designed and developed a custom video player application that frames the videos in a stylish, highly usable interface. We only had to do this once, and then all videos presented within the player application will have extra polish.

Another one of our clients is a social business enterprise that produces high-quality, hand-made artisanal goods while helping global communities in need. They have a powerful story about the lives they touch through their social programs and plans are in place to show that through ample use of online video. In this case, documentary-style personal interviews, basic voiceover, a little bit of b-roll and some panning shots of static images will produce a very convincing piece for a small amount of money. The raw quality of the filming, if anything, will just add to the brand’s authenticity.

Summary
If you have a good story to tell, video can help you make a bigger impact on your audience. Don’t let a perceived cost-barrier dissuade you from considering the use of online video to market your products and services. Talk with some experts first to explore possibilities that will work within your budget constraints. With the right approach, a little can go a long way.