Video content strategy, so every film you make has a job to do

What a video strategy is

A video strategy is a short, practical document written in plain English. It starts from a business problem, such as recruiting better people or explaining something complicated, and works backwards to the films that would help. It's the planning half of video marketing, done by the people who'll be making the films.

It answers the questions that usually get skipped. Who exactly needs to see this, and what do they believe right now? What should they do after watching, and which channels do they actually use? How does one film lead to the next, so the story builds instead of restarting each time? And how will your marketing and sales teams use the films once they exist, so they don't sit in a shared folder?

What you get

An audience map. A clear picture of the people you need to reach, written as people rather than segments. For each one it sets out what they know about you now and what they need to believe before they'll act.

The films that follow. A plan for the films themselves, usually a main film and the cuts and follow-ups that come from it, in the order they should be made. Some will be full productions and some will be quick social pieces filmed on the same day. We'll show how one shoot can feed several films, because that's where most of the value is.

Where they run. Which film goes where, in what shape and at what length. That covers the homepage film and the version the sales team send after a first meeting, through to the vertical cuts for Instagram and the long version for a conference screen. Planning formats up front means each one is framed for its own screen.

How they're measured. What counts as success for each film, agreed in advance so nobody argues about it later. For a recruitment film that might be the quality of applications, and for a sales film it might be how often the team sends it. We keep the measures simple enough that somebody will actually check them.

How it starts

Every strategy starts with the same thirty minute conversation as every film we make. We'll ask what's prompted the work now and who the films are for. We'll also ask what you've already got, because existing footage and old films can often be put back to work.

From there we spend time with the people who know the problem best, which might be your marketing team or your recruiters. The best strategies come from honest briefs, the ones that give the real objective rather than the stated one, and that's as true here as it is for a single film.

You'll get the strategy as a written plan you can share internally, with a recommended first film and a fixed price for making it. You don't have to make the films with us, though the people who wrote the plan are well placed to carry it out.

Who it's for

If video is new to you, a strategy means your first film is the right one, made for the right people in a shape you can use more than once. If you've already got a library of films nobody watches, it works out what to keep and what to recut, and what's missing between the films you have and the ones you need next.

It also helps a marketing lead make the case internally, because a written plan explains to a board where the budget is going and why. If you're thinking about a monthly package of social media video production, the strategy is what the first three months are planned around. That way you film what you need to say, which isn't always what's easiest to film.

Why it comes from a production company

A strategy written by people who don't make films tends to ask for things that can't be filmed, or that cost far more than they should. Ours is written by the people who'll be on set and in the edit, so every recommendation has been checked against what a shoot day can capture and what an edit can do.

That's how films we've made ended up working well beyond their first screening. Dojo's trade show film was cut from footage we'd already shot for other Dojo films. The ASK Partners investor films were planned as a funnel from the start, with each stage handing the viewer on to the next. The OakNorth culture film was built so candidates see the place before they walk in.

A video content strategy is one of our video production services, and it often leads into a piece of corporate video production. Charities, where one film has to work as hard as a whole campaign, can read video production for charities. If you'd like to see how a project runs from first conversation to finished film, how we work walks through every stage. The cost guide sets out the ranges we work in.

FAQ

What is a video content strategy?

A short written plan, agreed before anything is filmed, for who you're talking to, which films will reach them, where those films will run and how you'll know they've worked.

Do I need a video strategy before making one video?

It helps. It means the first film is the right one, made for the right people in a shape you can use more than once.

Do I have to make the films with the company that writes the strategy?

No. You get a written plan you can share internally with a recommended first film, and you're free to make it with anyone.

Start with a conversation

If you've got a film to make, or a pile of films that aren't doing enough, tell us the problem you're trying to solve. It's thirty minutes, and you'll come away knowing what to make first.

Start a project