What is Video Strategy? There’s no shortage of opinions, definitions, and discussion on the topic. Some of this material is valuable, some isn’t. To further complicate matters, a fair amount of the advice currently circulating on video strategy is contradictory. The end result leaves a reader seeking to create and implement a plan to use video no better off than before they joined the conversation. Perhaps they’re even more confused, and therefore more afraid to move forward and access all that video has to offer.
I’d like to use this space to offer some clarity to the conversation.
Let’s start with a definition: video strategy is the creation of a plan to systematically use video to drive business goals. What, in the real world, does this mean? It means that companies need to learn to think differently about video than they have in the past, and then consistently implement video based upon this new thinking.
This new approach to video encompasses a wide range of thinking and actions, including:
> What kinds of videos should you make?
> What best practices should your projects adhere to?
> How do you get your videos in front of your audiences?
And perhaps the most-asked question of all…
> How do you know what you’re getting for your time and money?
For sure, these are big questions, and it’s an incomplete list to boot. And to make things more complicated, the answers to each of these questions are always unique to the business where video is being implemented. So how do companies, and the people within them responsible for video, create a plan to use video to its best success?
Our philosophy on this is simple; look at the companies that have been doing it successfully for quite some time, learn how they do it, and then translate the lessons learned to your efforts. “But wait” you ask, “Everything I’m reading says that video is a new phenomenon. What companies have been using video successfully on a large scale for a sustained period?”
Media companies.
Media companies have been successfully using video on a large scale to drive growth and revenue for a long time. They’ve developed a plan that accomplishes all the above-defined goals of a video strategy and more, they’ve made it scalable and profitable, and if you learn to think like a media company, I think you can too.
And now, a quick reality check: You are not going to become a major media company. You won’t produce comedies, dramas, reality shows and/or documentaries on a regular basis, and you don’t need to. But you might decide that it’s a worthwhile investment to regularly create video for the audiences that can grow your business. If so, then it’s time to start studying media companies. The trick to doing this successfully lies in how you look at them and how you translate what they do to what you can realistically do.
Hopefully, at this point, I’ve offered up the verbal equivalent of a good teaser, and I’ve got you hungry for more of the story. We’ve got a unique perspective to share, and in the coming months I’ll fill out this story, and offer up some practical advice on how to put these ideas to work for your business. So, in the tradition of broadcasters worldwide, I say: “Stay Tuned!”
Chat with us to learn more about developing a video strategy.
