Most organisations approach video as a series of individual projects. A brand film when there is a rebrand. An explainer when a new service launches. A fundraising appeal before the year-end campaign. Each one commissioned separately, produced in isolation, and then measured (or not) on its own terms.
This approach produces video. It does not produce a video content strategy. And the difference in outcome is significant.
What a video content strategy actually means
A video content strategy is a planned, structured approach to using video to achieve organisational goals over time. It answers questions that individual video commissions rarely ask:
- What role does video play in our overall communications and marketing?
- What audiences are we trying to reach and at what stages of their relationship with us?
- What types of video content do we need -- and in what proportion?
- How does each piece of content connect to the others?
- How do we measure whether it is working?
"A planned series of connected videos outperforms five disconnected ones with the same total budget almost every time."
The compounding effect of planned video content
Video content that is planned strategically compounds in ways that one-off commissions do not. A case study film feeds a social series. A brand film produces cut-downs for paid social and organic channels. An educational series creates SEO-friendly content that attracts audiences months and years after it was produced. A recruitment film built at the same time as a brand film costs a fraction of what it would cost commissioned separately.
The efficiency gains from a planned approach are not marginal -- they are often 40 to 60 per cent of the cost of the same content commissioned piecemeal.
What a good video content strategy covers
Most organisations have more usable video and photography than they realise. A strategic review identifies what exists, what can be repurposed, and what gaps the new production budget needs to fill.
Different audience segments need different video content. Prospective customers, existing customers, funders, recruits, media, and staff all have different needs and watch video in different contexts. A strategy maps content to each audience.
The right balance of brand content, product and service content, testimonials, educational content and social series for your specific organisation and goals.
Batching related content into planned shoot days rather than commissioning separately. A single well-planned day can produce content that would otherwise require three separate commissions.
Where each piece of content lives, how it is promoted, and how success is defined and measured over time.
Start with the strategy, then build the content
We offer video content strategy consultancy for Scottish organisations as a standalone service or as part of a production commission. If you have a video budget and want to make sure it works as hard as possible, a half-day strategy session before any production begins is one of the most cost-effective investments you can make. Talk to us about what that looks like for your organisation.