Video needs to be part of your marketing strategy! If you are a small business, a global powerhouse, an entrepreneur or a solopreneur, you need to work out how to connect with your audience with video across multiple platforms.  

But from the conversations with brands and businesses that I’ve had throughout the years, I can tell you that there are a few common mistakes that a lot of you are still making, and it doesn’t have to be that way.  

Let’s break down the top 5 mistakes that I regularly talk clients around from. 

These insights will help you avoid common roadblocks and set you up for success.
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1. Trying to do it yourself. 

Sure, it looks easy and straightforward. You have the latest iphone and editing software on your computer, user generated content is cool now! However, there’s a lot more to story crafting and engaging a viewer than dragging and dropping a few pretty shots in order on the timeline and hitting ‘render’.  

Storytelling is what makes information stick. 

There needs to be a beginning, a middle and an end. You need to take the viewer on a journey. You also need to make them feel something. 

Engaging a video production team who understands this, is the first step to creating a video that your audience won’t scroll past. 

It also takes experience to understand lighting, composition, motion, design and how to direct talent (yes, even if the talent is yourself). 

Engage a specialised team who sit outside of your organisation and will see things a little differently and present ideas that you may not have thought of. 

There is no denying the time factor. I’m sure you also have a long list of other things to do and trying to work out how to use imovie is not one that you need right now. So instead of letting that subpar footage live on your hard drive unseen forever, give a video team a brief and a deadline and sit back and relax.
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2. Seeing Video as a One-off Rather than Strategic

Video is not a one and done deliverable but something you need to strategically pepper throughout your rollout. I’m not saying you need a new fancy brand video or even a fancy product video every week. Develop content with the flexibility to serve different purposes as your needs evolve and as your audience grows.

For more information, read my blog about ‘what types of live action videos should I invest in’. 
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3. Cramming in Too Many Messages

I often see briefs where a single video is expected to cover it all. Instead of being direct, the video becomes confusing. And you know what they say about that, “if you confuse you lose”.  

So when developing your brief, work out your ‘why’ and ‘what’ and put them in a different column. When you see it all laid out like that, you may have just written your entire video strategy. 

Your video team will love you for it. They can take that brief, and creatively suggest the types of videos that would best suit.
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4. NO CLEAR CREATIVE CONCEPT

When there’s no guiding concept, the look, feel, and style drift. Now, if you are producing a suite of videos like I suggested, you want your brand to be recognised throughout the strategy.

You want your audience to see, hear or feel your video and just know it's you before they even see a logo.

So understand who you are, what does your company stand for, what language does your brand speak or what type of music would it listen too. For more information on how to uncover your brands style, read my blog ‘What you need to know about developing your brand’s style.” 

At the end of the day, you won’t see the ROI you were hoping for if your video is mismatched in tone and purpose, resulting in content that doesn’t drive action.

5. Forgetting About Calls-to-Action

Now that you know your why and what, and your creative partner has come up with a concept for your videos, don’t forget to be clear about what you want your audience to do after they watch your video.
Do you want them to share the video, click to buy, sign up or follow your account? Should there be an obvious call to action at the end of the video? Sometimes, I don’t think there is any shame in that. Remember “if you confuse you lose”. 

Bonus mistake: Not being upfront with how much you want to invest. 

Don’t be shy. We all know you have a number in your head. This isn’t a negotiation where the first person to say a number loses. 

Video production can range from $5,000 - $500,000. So let your production partner understand how much they have to delegate and how much of their time they can invest. As a creative director, I love the challenge of coming up with ideas to match client’s budgets. So rather than losing time, share your budget parameters with me and I’ll shape a concept that’s both achievable and impactful.

There you have it. The five (or six) common mistakes that I see my clients come to me with. Hopefully this helps you think strangely about involving video production in your rollout. 

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