Making Your Video Dollars Work Harder

So, you're thinking about
doing a video. Maybe you have
a trade show coming up, or
you need a new marketing
piece for an upcoming product.
A video sounds like a good idea, but you're just not sure it
will be worth the cost,
especially if you only have one
event to use it. Can you justify
the purchase? What about the
time you'll spend on it? Is there a way to make it last?
Can you stretch those dollars a
little further? Yes. Here's how...

With a little careful planning,
the work that goes into
creating one video can be
stretched to cover multiple
uses, and even several videos.
Say you need a marketing video, and also one for
training... would you have to
do two complete productions,
costing you an arm and a leg?
Not necessarily. It's simple:
shoot it once, use it over and over again. Get all the b-roll
possible in every location you
visit, keeping it in your footage
library for future use. After all,
if you already have the video
crew out and gathering footage, why not get a little
extra? You may not need it yet,
but it will come in handy when
you have that last-minute
tradeshow or CEO
presentation! The cost of video production decreases
exponentially when you
already have plenty of footage
to work with, so taking care to
cover all the visuals possible
will serve you well, both during the initial production
and beyond. Even if you just
need to do an update to an
existing video, freshening it up
with some different footage
can make a huge difference, without the huge price tag.

Another way to keep your
video production cost-efficient
is a simple marketing concept:
branding. Every company or
organization should have a
good branding strategy, with at least a solid base of a logo,
colors, and mission. Visual
consistency among your
products goes a long way,
both in video and in any other
sort of media. Maintaining a cohesive look and feel among
your productions allows for
quicker recall of the brand for
the viewer, which is always
beneficial for spreading your
message. It's also great for cost; a consistent graphic look
minimizes the time spent by a
graphic artist, and a clear
understanding of the
company's brand allows
producers and editors to spend less time trying to decipher the
company and how to convey
their message. Less time spent
equals less money spent!
Branding is good all around for
your company, and can save you some serious cash.