Are you harnessing the power of video?
From watching escapist TV shows (looking at you, Queen’s Gambit), to streaming COVID press conferences, to mindlessly scrolling through social media, video is now a bigger part of our lives than ever before.
Even before staying at home became the new normal, video was a top marketing trend. And a recent Nielsen report showed that adults spend at least 35 minutes per day watching video on phones, tablets, or computers.
You can capture some of these eyes by incorporating video into your upcoming communication campaigns. Here’s how:
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Start with strategy.
If you haven’t already, take a step back to center yourself in strategy before starting your video project:
What objective are you trying to achieve? Having a single, clear call to action will make for a powerful video.
Which audience will you need to reach to do so? Knowing who you’re talking to will help you decide on the right style for your video.
Are videos a good way to reach this audience? If not, save this strategy for later!
What does your audience care about and where do they get their information? YouTube? Instagram? The answer to this will help you decide about the best format.
What core messaging will resonate with your audience and motivate them to act? This will help you create a narrative — or as they call it in the biz, storyboard.
Decide on a format.
From a two-hour documentary (!) to a 15-second Facebook clip, video formats vary widely. This is where that strategy comes in handy — build off your foundation to decide on the type of video you’ll create.
For example:
Submissions for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) are down this year in Kentucky, so the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education and GEAR UP Kentucky launched a TikTok challenge to address the issue. Knowing TikTok is popular among their target audience, they’re meeting students where they already are. Check out some of the TikTok videos here.
A strong call to action makes for powerful campaign videos. The nonprofit RAICES created a short 30-second social media video as part of their #KeepThePromise campaign launch. The video, sized for social, uses text, graphics, photos and music to pack a big punch.
Plan it out.
Start a storyboard to outline your video. This is where you’ll bring your messaging and imagery ideas together. There are plenty of free storyboard templates online, but often the easiest way to do it is drawing out your video shots by hand. Simply draw a box (or use Post-its!) for each scene and sketch out the scenes you want to illustrate. Under each box, jot down the script or text that will be shown. This creates a visual map to help guide your production.
Start creating.
Now comes the fun part, when you get to see your project come to life.
SHARE IT.
Time to get that awesome video into the wild! Share your video on the channels you know your audiences frequent. Tap messengers — people who influence your audiences — and ask them to help share as well.
We’d love to see what you create! Send us your videos or tag us with #comms4kids when posting them on social.
