I recently watched Cision’s webinar on “Film School: How to Use Video for PR.” Matthew Schwartz (PR News) and Heidi Sullivan (Cision) did a good overview of some basics. Here are some points that impressed me.
Video is more and more important.
I knew this, but the stats are impressive.
For example, mobile Internet usage surpassed desktop usage last year. By 2018, mobile video will represent 69 percent of the traffic (Cisco Systems and comSource). And 64 percent of viewers are more likely to buy a product after seeing an online video ad than the ones who haven’t watched it (Quicksprout).
Why? Here’s a nerdy factoid: 90 percent of the information transmitted to the brain is visual, and the brain processes visuals 60,000 times faster than it processes text (3M Corporation and Zabisco).
Impressive indeed.
Put another way, good video “works” because it:
- Is easy to understand
- Grabs and keeps the viewer’s attention
- Appeals to the heart and the brain
- Creates better brand recall
- Is budget-friendly
But getting the advantages of video requires creating good video. And here, planning is essential.
Pre-planning is essential.
Before shooting a video, it’s essential to define its objective (e.g., brand building, lead generation), and decide on the budget, the process (in house or outsourced), timeframe and the like.
Then develop the storyboard, which is like a blueprint that outlines the beginning, middle and end (the story “arc” if you will) that will guide your work. This leaves little to chance when actually shooting.
Plan for videos of different lengths. That way you can maximize your investment in the shooting time.
Remember to film B-roll, footage that is not part of the primary shoot. More and more organizations will need video libraries available.
Maximize the shoot time.
Do several takes at different angles. This is where you’ll get the footage for the different segments and for B-roll.
Then distribute the video through multiple channels. The goal is to “shoot once, and distribute many,” so make the videos available on your website; post them on YouTube, Facebook and other social media channels; tweet about them; and the like.
Obviously I have not covered all the material presented in the video, which is a good review of the basics. See the webinar for yourself here.
