3 Deadly Traps to Avoid When Making a Video

Whether you're a video newbie or pro, avoid these to set yourself up for video marketing success

More companies are using video to help drive sales, educate their workforce and build brand recognition. Consequently, it’s more important than ever to be incorporate videos in your own sales, marketing & training efforts.

And while there’s a ton of different steps that go into making a great video – from the actual video recording or animation production, to the voiceover and the script itself – it’s crucial to avoid a few hidden traps before beginning.

Since our inception in 2012, we’ve learned what makes a video successful and what doesn’t. Let us save you some pain by sharing the top three traps to avoid when making a video:

1. Rushing the script

The script is the most important part of a video. You might think that a video maker’s time is mostly spent creating and editing videos. The truth is that when it comes down to those awesome videos, most of a team’s time was spent working on the video’s script.

Before you finalize your script and send it off for storyboarding, make sure you’ve explored as many options as possible; would it be best to take a character-based approach or simply dive into the product and features after a short intro? Work with your team and make sure you have at least a couple different script concepts to choose from.

A video with no goal is like a boat with no motor – you’re destined for a wreck.

2. No clear goal

A video with no goal is like a boat with no motor in open oceans: you’re destined to wreck. The second most important thing (after the script) when making a video is to make sure it has a clear and measurable goal. If you’re an online business, for example, that might mean your goal is a 10% increase in sales.

If your video is for internal training purposes, your goal might be to reduce the number of workplace accidents that happen annually. Implementing goals will measure your video’s performance so that you can improve on your video marketing in the future (video is here to stay, folks). After all you can’t improve what you can’t measure, right?

3. Working with a company who doesn’t provide unlimited rounds for revisions

When you work with an animation production company that offers unlimited revisions of revisions, you don’t have to worry about your video having an off-brand look-and-feel or a voiceover that just doesn’t sound right. Not all video production companies offer unlimited rounds of revisions, and some only offer them at certain stages.

Voiceovers, for example, many times aren’t included here as each voiceover artist charges the production studio a varying rate for each recording. So when you choose a video production company make sure you don’t get stuck with additional charges and choose one that offers unlimited revisions at every stage.

Conclusion

Incorporating video into your marketing program can offer a new, dynamic facet to your marketing arsenal. Make sure all of your people are focused on your goals. Make sure your goals are clear and concise with the ability to quantitatively assess your strengths and weaknesses in your marketing.

Goals need to be clearly understood by all of your team members, and if you decide to work with a video production company, make sure you’re getting what you need.