Working with a Video Production Company

Working with a video production company 

Online videos are one of the most effective elements of your digital marketing strategy. But how do you create a strong online video that gets noticed and delivers the results you need? Although an increasing number of businesses are looking to develop video content many don’t know where to start or how to begin. That’s where the expertise of a video production company can prove so beneficial. When you engage a video production company there are lots of things to think about.

First and foremost, as you go about choosing a suitable company to work with you need to consider whether the business is really right for your business and the project. Video production companies vary greatly in terms of the services that they provide and their specialist areas, not to mention their capabilities to carry out certain tasks in house and their experience in using video technology. Depending on the nature of your project, you might be looking for something highly complex and technical drawing on specialist knowledge and skills. There may be certain things that you want the video production team to do such as capture professional images too, so this will be a pre-requisite when choosing a suitable provider.

Many factors go into finding a high quality video production company to create the video content you need. Whether you are looking to produce a demonstration, a branded documentary, an explainer or corporate video, most businesses will have a long list of things that they look for when searching for the perfect video producer.

Clear Objectives

As you start to work with a video production company, formulate a clear goal for your video so that you can communicate this with your chosen provider. When you hold the initial meeting with your project manager, they will ask you a lot of questions, so knowing what you want to achieve is really helpful. Your production team will want to know the basics such as the length of the video, the audience, your goals and the tone and style of the video to name a few.

Be Open to Ideas

Although having a clear idea of what you want is important, being open to new ideas is equally important. A good video production company will have experience on their side so when you let them know what you want from your video but let them offer their expertise. A collaborative and creative partnership will always work well. Your production team can help you finalise some of the strongest ideas and help you to implement them in creative or unique ways.

Budget and Timeline

When working on a video marketing campaign, two of the most important considerations are budget and your timeline. Unless you have a background in video production, you won’t know how far your budget will stretch or what timelines production teams work to. If you are looking to produce a video as part of a wider marketing campaign, give your production team as much notice as you possibly can. If you contact a production company a week before your deadline, the results won’t be as impressive as they would be if you gave them a month or even longer.

Plan your content

Whatever type of video that you are creating implementing an effective strategy will maximise your chances of success. If you put in place a good strategy you will be able to make better use of resources and budgets. A good video production company can help you:

Carry out an audit of your existing content
Create audience profiles
Map business objectives
Undertake competitor analysis
Refine your brand identity

A good production agency will have its own creatives who will work in house and these will prove instrumental in translating your brief and creating concepts for your video.

The pre-production stage of the process is all about coordinating the logistical elements of the video. Depending on the style, format and scope of the video content this can be either simple or highly complex. Some considerations that you will need to discuss with your video production company include:

Identifying a location or booking a venue or set for the video
Selecting the right crew to complete the video
Sourcing suitable actors and/or presenters
Ensuring that all of the relevant licences are in place if needed
Creating and managing the project schedule
Implementing contingency plans for any eventuality that may delay production

If the video is to be filmed at your place of work, consider how disruptive this will be to staff and day to day operations if you are interviewing members of the team as part of the production.

If you provide the creative team with a strong script and suitable storyboard, you will only need to be involved a little during the actual production process. The Director will shoot and film the video multiple times to ensure that the film appears as it should be. They will ensure that they have captured enough footage for the editor to collate a seamless video that meets your objectives.

In the post production stage, everything will be brought together as the team work toward the final video. There are multiple stages in the post production process including editing, adding visual effects and animations, managing sound and music, working with a voiceover and managing elements such as colour.

If you are considering producing a marketing video for your business working with a production company can help you in many ways. Taking the above into consideration will make the process much easier, both for you as a business owner and the production company that you decide to work with. Make sure that the videos that you produce fit in with your wider marketing strategy and they address your organisational objectives. Ultimately create video content that adds value for your target audience and helps solve problems or provide useful and actionable information.