As the web rapidly evolves and your website's visitors attention spans decrease almost as quickly, it's important to embrace web video as a means to elegantly and efficiently deliver your marketing message. This post explores best practices for how to make a great web video.
No matter if you are trying to attract the attention of your audience or looking for a way to increase sales, the proper web video production strategy can help you reach your goals.
Planning and Vision is Essential
It does not matter if you are shooting the video with equipment that you have or hiring an outside firm to do all the work for you, without the right plan and vision the project is going to flop.
Basic Questions for Getting Started
In an overall sense, there is going to be one question on your mind: how can I get attention and drive interactions on my website with web video?
Before you can answer this question, ponder these questions to explore your overall goals:
- Does the product or service need video, or can it be better explained through another method?
- What is the video going to entail?
- Where will the video shoot take place?
- Who is going to shoot the video? In house or contractor?
- Who is going to be on camera?
- What message do we want to capture?
Since video is more complex your planning has to be diligent. No stone can be left unturned during the planning process. Once again, if you have a good end goal in place it is easier to answer these types of questions.
Tip: make sure everybody involved with the project shares the same vision and goal. Everybody needs to be on the same page. For example, the business owner cannot be on a different page than the marketing manager.
Sound Considerations
If you don’t have much or any experience with video, you may overlook the importance of high-quality sound.
Sound is very important to the overall effectiveness of your video. You could have the best shots in the world, but if nobody can hear what is being said the video will be a bust. Poor audio quality makes even the best visuals hard to watch.
Tip: it is a necessity to use a camera that allows for an external microphone. Trying to use the internal mic to shoot a professional web video is a mistake. There is no way to ensure top-quality sound with this setup.
Will there be a voiceover? Will the person on camera do the talking? There are pros and cons of both options. With a voiceover, adjustments can be made many times over after the shoot during the web video post-production phase. This is not the case with having the person on camera doing all the voice work. That being said, on-camera voice work allows for less footage to be shot since you are getting the personality of the person.
Remember this: even with good visuals, poor audio can dilute your message.
Equipment Considerations
Before we go any further, note that this is going to change based on whether you are doing the work yourself.
If you plan on shooting your own video, there are a few things that you need at a very minimum.
First off, a standard video camera with an external microphone jack is a good place to start. As noted above, you cannot rely on the internal microphone to supply high-quality sound.
By spending between $600 and $1,000, you can purchase a nice “starter camera” that provides the ability to shoot HD video. For some, this may be enough. These people are not interested in the “best of the best” in terms of quality, but instead, want to get something out there sooner rather than later.
If you plan on making web video a regular part of your online marketing strategy and have the know-how to make it happen, purchasing your own equipment is likely a great option.
When buying a camera, make sure you understand which file formats it supports. You will need to download the video to your computer for editing.
Tip: don’t get caught thinking that you can edit within your camera, as this never works – not even for the professionals.
If you enjoy the filming of the project but are unsure of what goes into editing, don’t be shy about contracting out only this part of the job.
What are the Pros Using?
It is easy to believe that the professionals are using the best cameras on the market. However, this is not always the case. Did you know that some of the most expensive cameras cost in excess of $100,000? For web video, depending on the goal: there is likely no need for this.
Most companies that offer web video production services rely on a Canon or Nikon DSLR video camera. These are a step up from what most amateurs have at home, and cost anywhere between $1,500 and $2,500, or much less depending on the model and features you choose.
On top of the cost of the camera, professionals have a variety of lenses to enhance every possible scene.
Should I Rent or Buy?
If you are not going to hire a professional, you may be faced with the question of whether you should rent or buy. Those who don’t ever plan on using the camera again are better off renting. On the other hand, if web video will be a big part of your business moving forward it is time to think about buying.
A professional camera that would cost between $5,000 and $10,000 to purchase, typically rents for $500 to $600/day.
Tip: although you are getting higher quality when you rent top-of-the-line equipment, remember this: you will likely need to hire an operator. The higher in quality, the higher in complexity.
Web Video Post Production
Even if you have what it takes to shoot a video that you are happy with, there is always going to be some editing involved. There are thousands of solutions to editing, but not many good ones.
When searching for a post-production solution, consider this:
- What type of software and tools would you be most comfortable with?
- Will the post-production software be flexible enough to suit your needs?
- Are you able to take advantage of tools to improve color, add graphics, and insert special effects?
Let’s put it this way: most people with no experience are not effective when it comes to editing and post-production without going through the learning curve with the specific web video editing software they've chosen.
Common Mistakes
As you browse the internet, you are sure to come across web videos from time to time. Do you like what you see? Do you realize that some videos are of higher quality than others?
Sometimes, it takes a professional eye to point out the most obvious mistakes. Here are a few pet peeves shared by those in the industry:
- Placing the speaker/personality directly in front of a wall – can cast shadows and makes the video difficult to watch
- Using a blank white wall as the backdrop. This appears badly framed and flat.
- The ever-popular use of the green plant, hoping that it will add some dimension. 1970, anyone?
These are just a few of the things that can quickly downgrade the quality of your video.
All in all, you should attempt to create depth behind the person speaking as a means of drawing attention to him or her. Along with this, try to create “a reality of the person” by using a less defined location.
Video SEO
If you are going to produce a web video, you will be spending some time & money to make it worth watching. After investing the time and money into producing a great web video, you don’t want your video to go unseen, so plan for marketing and advertising related to your new media.
This is where video marketing and video SEO come into play.
If you've taken the time to create a great web video be sure to configure your website's Google Analytics or other tracking software in order to monitor and measure the pageviews and engagement of your web video.
The Final Word
If you have a product, service, or message that will improve your business, video has a longer-lasting effect than any other marketing approach. It is more informative, people can see the sincerity, and the level of communication is much higher.
And always remember this: people will stick around longer when you use video on your website.
Do you think video could improve your business? Now is the time to contact us to discuss your project in greater detail.
