It’s easy to feel lost when it comes to video marketing, especially when what first comes to mind is big-budget commercials produced by large companies. At first glance it looks daunting, but video is more accessible than ever and can be done on a budget.

Connect with members and nonmembers alike

Video is the most effective way to reach your audience, as it establishes trust, communicates your brand, and delivers information more effectively than any other medium. It shows the personality of your organization and makes the audience feel more connected, not only to the cause or mission, but to the people making it all happen.
In a study about internet use, the U.S. National Library of Medicine found that while people have, on average, an attention span of 8.25 seconds, the average amount of time they will spend watching an internet video is 2.7 minutes. In the same study, data revealed that the average amount of words people will read on a standard web page (around 593 words on average) is 28% of them. Visual content is more likely to be engaged with for longer periods of time and shared on social media, and video content is more likely to rank your organization on the first page of a Google Search than standard text. According to ConversionXL, using a video as your call to action can increase conversions up to 30%, and according to BrainShark, including the word “video” in an e-mail subject line “boosts open rates by 19%, click-through rates by 65%, and reduces unsubscribers by 26%.” Users expect to see video, and using that video will draw them to your site, and build trust in your brand.

Where should an association start with video content?

An easy place to start is posting videos from partner organizations or members. Growing a social media presence that is more visual will help grow engagement in your online marketing efforts, and you’ll be able to test what kinds of video content your users engage with the most.
Beginning to produce your own videos can be as easy as someone with personality and passion talking about your product or mission. According to a study by Ascend2 and Vidyard, 52% of marketers agree that testimonials are the most effective method of video marketing. While marketers reported these videos the most difficult to make in commercial businesses, associations are uniquely positioned to produce these videos more easily because of the nature of their membership. Active members who are passionate about the organization’s mission, programs, and events are great resources for effective video marketing. Members will respond well to seeing someone like them talking about the benefits of conference, or all the good that is coming from funding your organization provides.
The Ascend2/Vidyard study also shows explainer or how-to videos are another effective way to engage a lot of users. Because this format forces clarity and simplification, users find more value in the information given in videos like these, and are more likely to share them with colleagues or even in their company or organization’s social media outlets. Providing value in your videos compels users to come back and look for more, and establishes a strong relationship.

What is the process for making video content?

When starting your own video content production, it’s important to understand your resources. Do you have someone on staff who has video expertise? Do you have video equipment? Do you have engaged and interesting members willing to participate? When you know what you have, you can move on to creating a production plan, and eventually producing videos and pushing them on social media and in e-mail marketing.

There are three major parts to video production, all aptly named for their place in the process: preproduction, production, and postproduction.

Preproduction is all of the planning that goes into the shoot. This is where you decide who will be in the video, what you need to make the video, when you will film it, whether you’ll be hiring a videographer or using someone in-house, and which, if any, members will be involved. The budgeting, scheduling, and resource management happens at this stage. The more work you do here, the less time the next two stages will take.

Production is the actual shoot. This is where you execute the plan laid out in preproduction. This can mean the member takes over and sends you their recordings, or that someone on staff or your videographer shoots footage.

Postproduction is where you take the material you got from the production stage and create a polished video, ready for marketing. You edit mistakes and add text, images, or additional footage together. Music and any animated text or images are added at this stage as well.

The final piece of the video marketing puzzle is measurement. This is where you track how well your video did: how many people watched it, where did people stop watching it, and which parts had the most effect? Measurement is crucial as you test your video strategy and make improvements to future video content.

Don’t let video production intimidate you. With the right planning and measuring processes, your organization can produce videos on any budget that will reach your target audience and help grow engagement with your users. Keep an eye out for more blog posts on each of the steps of the video production process, and ways your organization can start producing video content.

Carly Mangus is an Assistant Editor in AMC’s Creative Media Services department, and the resident video editor. You can connect with her on Twitter or LinkedIn for more information and conversation about video marketing.

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