Videography

What is videography and why is it important?

Videography is a term that is often used interchangeably with video production. It encompasses everything from actual filming to editing and post-production.

Video is one of the best ways in which you can share the story of your business and your brand with your customers. There are tons of ways in which businesses and brands can leverage the storytelling power of videography, including:

• Short film production to promote their products or brand
• Recording and broadcasting live events
• Creating marketing assets
• Advertisements for online and television
• Video content for social media
• Training or course videos
• Livestreaming
• Explainer or instructional videos
• Customer testimonials

An estimated 86% of businesses are currently using videography as part of their marketing strategy. If you’re not one of them, you could be missing out big time! Here’s why:

• Video is estimated to improve conversion rates by around 80%, with studies showing that around 88% of people who watched a video about a product went on to buy it
• It offers a high return on investment (or bang for your buck!)
• It presents another opportunity to rank in search results
• It’s a great way to engage “lazy” potential customers – that is, customers who do not went to spend the time and attention required to read about your product or service
• It appeals to a broad target audience, with almost any demographic able to be reached through video marketing
• It is preferred by many customers, with 73% indicating video to be their preferred method of hearing about a new product or service
• It is “shareable”, meaning people are more likely to re-post or share your content on social media, therefore helping it reach more pairs of eyes
• It’s a great way to add value to any business, regardless of your niche or industry

Why should I hire a professional, instead of doing it myself?

A lot of the time, business owners figure “I have a video camera. How hard can it be?” and decide to give video production a go for themselves. Although this can sometimes work for businesses with a creative eye and some existing skills with video production, for others, this can be a recipe for disaster.

This is because many people are simply put off by low-quality, poorly designed videos, which can often result from businesses who decide to give video marketing a try without the right equipment and technical and creative know-how.

That’s why in many cases, it can be beneficial to seek professional help from an agency or videographer who is experienced in high-quality corporate video production.

One reason for this is which is that they’ll have all the right equipment (including DSLR cameras, tripods to minimise camera movement, and industry-grade post-production software) necessary to create a professional-looking end product.

Another is that they are highly skilled and experienced in their field, meaning they are best-placed to help you create video content that:

• Tells your story
• Appeals to your target audience
• Helps to drive sales from any stage of the sales journey
• Covers all the necessary information, without being too long or too short
• Looks natural, rather than stiff or nervous
• Has good production value (that is, that looks professional, not amateurish)
• Has continuity in its production (i.e. no awkward cuts, shaky camera movement, and so on)

Best of all, when working with a professional, you can be involved as little or as much as you like. Maybe you’re completely new to videography, and are happy for your videographer to look after everything from A – Z, or maybe you have a few of your own ideas. Either way, a professional will be able to work with that, and create video content that is of the high standard that your brand deserves.

What does the videography process look like?

1.   Creative brief

Your videography journey will start with us asking you a few questions so that we get to know you and your business. This will also help us to find out more about your brand, and what you’re looking for in your new video content.

Some of the questions will be more general, like:

• What does your business do?
• What products or services do you offer?
• Who are your current and potential customers?
• What sort of a message do you want to be giving your customers through your videos?
• What are your long and short-term goals?
• How would you describe your brand identity?

Some will be more specific to the video that we will be creating. For example:

• How will you be using the videos?
• Who will be appearing in the videos?
• What is the purpose of the videos?
• What product/s will the video be focusing on?
• Do you have any ideas that you want to share?
• Do you have any examples of other businesses’ videos that you like?

2.   Research

We’ll go away and do some of our own research. We will look at who the leaders are in your industry, who your direct competitors are, and what each one is doing with their video content strategy.

This will help us to find out what works when it comes to videography for your industry, as well as how we can make your content stand out from that of your competitors.

3.   Storyboarding

Next, we’ll put together a bit of a storyboard or plan. This will help us to convey our ideas for your video to you.

Typically, this plan will consist of rough sketches or drawings that will represent each of the different shots in your video. We may also put together a bit of a mood board to help you visualise the kind of look we have in mind.

We’ll also put together a rough script, which will cover all the information that you want included in your video in an exciting and engaging way.

4.   Feedback

We’ll then present our storyboard to you. You will have the opportunity to review it, and provide us with your feedback. We’ll then go away and make any changes required before we begin shooting.

5.  Shooting

Once you’ve approved our storyboard, it’s time for us to begin shooting!

6.   Post-production

When shooting is over, we’ll take all of your raw footage and put it together to create something great 

This process can involve a few different things, including:

• Editing individual shots together to create a single well-flowing piece of content
• Adding music and sound effects
• Making adjustments to the footage’s colour, brightness, contrast, or saturation
• Adding visual effects

7.  Feedback

We’ll then present our final cut to you. You will have the opportunity to review it, and provide us with your feedback. We’ll then go away and make any changes required to ensure you’re 100% happy with the finished product.

8. Approval

Once you’ve approved our finished cut, we will provide you with the final version as a high-quality digital file (usually either .wmv or .mp4). Moving forward, you will be able to access this file any time you want to use your video content.

We can also help you with the initial upload process if required – getting the video live on your website or social media channels, for example.

9.   Analytics

Once your video is done and dusted, we’ll continue monitoring it over time to see how well it’s performing, and report back to you.

Some of the things we’ll be looking at include the number of views, likes, shares, and comments your video content is receiving. We’ll also look at the amount of traffic, leads, and sales that is coming from your video, and provide you with an idea of your return on investment.

Get started

Tomedia’s professional videographers and camera operators are highly skilled and experienced in all aspects of corporate videography. If your brand has a story to tell, we’re ready to help you tell it.

To find out more about how we can help you to create quality videos for your business, contact us today at [email protected] or 0419 697 016.