1. Nail the brief
When it comes to video, planning is essential – and while making videos isn’t rocket science, being organised really helps. So the most important thing you can do in pre-production is write your brief. Let’s work through some key questions.
Who is your target audience?
The answer to this question will inform everything you do, from any creative requirements (length, visual, style, pace, etc.) all the way to whether you should create a video at all. The due diligence of considering your audience and how they prefer to consume content not only facilitates great user experiences, but also the most productive use of your time when creating content. If the answer to, “Will a video resonate best with my audience?” is yes, proceed to your objective.
What should your success metrics be?
This will be based on your goals as well as your delivery method. For example, if you’re a marketer planning ‘consideration’ content, your goal might be engagement, but what this looks like as a campaign objective on LinkedIn vs. Facebook can differ (For example, increasing company page followers or event registrations). B2B and B2C metrics can also differ for example, leads vs. sales. So it pays to think about your video’s delivery, as platforms often have native KPIs for measuring success depending on what you need to achieve.
That said, there are 5 basic metrics unique to video:
- Reach – How many people got served your video
- Views or Play Rate – How many people started watching it
- Average View Duration, Video Watch Time or Completion Rate – The average length of time people watched for
- Conversion Rate – How many people completed your CTA
- Engagement Rate or Post Engagement – How many people interacted with your video e.g. likes, comments, shares
You can learn more about these KPIs and the ‘waterfall method’ of measuring success here: