Imagine, if you will, a potential client calling our office frantic with ONE NEED: “We need a marketing video!”

This is what we love to hear. We want to make videos. We know how to make videos. It’s what we do. So, we start off with asking this very important question in response: “Why do you want to make a video?”

“Well, because our competitors are using video.”

You know what, that’s actually a valid point, but it’s not the only reason. We’ll try a different question: “What do you want to accomplish with this video?”

And here is where things get interesting. Oftentimes, they’ll say a variation of the following:

“I want it to do everything! I want this video to wear a superhero cape and it will have magic powers and it will teleport potential clients into our sales office and it will mind-meld with customers’ needs and it will establish relationships and educate the client on all our products and services AND it will make ’em smile and it will ride a unicorn.”

We admit, we’ve exaggerated a little bit: our clients don’t believe in unicorns. But sometimes they do put a little too much faith in the power of one single video to do EVERYTHING. First of all, one video does not make a video marketing strategy and, secondly, there’s no way one video can help with lead conversion AND product education AND customer retention WHILE ALSO improving customer service. An everything bagel is delicious, but an everything video doesn’t exist – just like unicorns.

You have to start with a clear goal, one per video, and establish realistic metrics to measure success. This is where a video marketing company can help. They’ll create and steward your strategy, and make sure your video content aligns with your overall marketing goals. They’ll show you your ROI in this investment and they’ll give you valuable insights on a regular basis that lets you know when your video strategy needs tweaks and changes to be effective. Working with a video marketing company will help you to be proactive with video rather than reactive.

Let’s take a look at a sample conversation that can help you answer WHY you want video for your company.

CLIENT XYZ: Hey, Mike & Eric. My company needs a video.

US: Awesome! Is this your first time making video for your company?

CLIENT XYZ: Yes, we want to use video to help us market our business.

US: Video is a fantastic medium for marketing. What is your goal for this video?

(If your company has never made video before, this can be a challenging question to answer. Give it thought. Talk to company stakeholders and find out what your overall marketing strategy for the year is, and use that as your starting point.)

CLIENT XYZ: Hmm. Well, to communicate our latest products to our clients. No, wait, to get leads that we can track. No, wait, to boost sales–

US: Video is great tool for all of that. It sounds like there’s potential to accomplish a lot using videos. Which goal, of the ones that you just mentioned, is your biggest priority?

CLIENT XYZ: Hmm. Well, then, we want to X.   (By the way, “X” is your fully articulated goal.)

US: Great! You want to X. In this area of your business, what do you consider a “win” for you?

(This is as important as defining your goal. It’s impossible to measure success if you can’t define what success is. This is true for video as well as your entire company.)

CLIENT XYZ: We think that if we can increase/decrease Y by Z%, that would be well worth the investment in video.

US: Be aware that you will probably need a number of videos to accomplish your goal. We can make just one video, but as a video marketing company, we know that a single video won’t get you there. Just like with your other content marketing – like blog posts – just one post or just one advertisement won’t build the awareness or get you found in searches.

CLIENT XYZ: Fair point. We have a tight budget, though, and we’ve just started getting used to marketing with digital content.

US: That’s OK. We work with companies of lots of different sizes and lots of different budgets, so we probably have a plan that’ll fit your needs. If we don’t, then we can customize something just for you.

CLIENT XYZ: I’ve got another meeting to run to, but can we chat about this again next week?

US: Great! Let’s talk again next week.

Our conversation the following week will be one where we continue to narrow down the focus to something manageable that makes sense for Client XYZ.  That’s stewardship.

Let’s talk about a different conversation with Client ABC, who has a bigger budget and a larger plan.

Client ABC: We want to roll out three videos a month focused on teaching people how to use our product/service. They’ll go on our website and social media. We also have a trade show coming up in a couple months, and we want to announce a new product/service.

US: Great. Sounds like you have a definite plan. Let’s start with most time-sensitive video. What’s the message you want to convey in the video for your trade show?

Client ABC: We need to give a brief overview of the company, but mostly highlight the new product/service/feature.

US: And what do you want this trade show video to do for you?

Client ABC: Well, first we want it to draw people to our display. But really, we want more inquiries about the product and we want to collect leads.

US: OK, great. What will you do with this video after the trade show?

Client ABC: We hadn’t thought about that.

US: You might consider using it in an email campaign to follow up with interested leads. You can also send it to existing clients and leads who didn’t go to the trade show. Adding a call to action at the end of the video is a good way to drive them back to your website.

Client ABC: That’s a good idea.

US: Thanks. We appreciate that you’re thinking about prospective new clients, and that you’re also thinking about your existing clients, too. “How-to” videos are an excellent way to give them something of value on an on-going basis. We can definitely help you build up a library and deliver it on your website, social media and in email. How’s that sound?

Client ABC: It sounds great.

Us: OK. We’ve got a basic understanding of what you’re going for. Let’s schedule time to establish how we’ll measure success, the messages, style and look of each video. We’ll create a plan together including number of videos over the course of the next year, and release times. The plan will also include carving out time to review data insights from your videos.

Client ABC: Great. Let’s talk again next week!

Client ABC has obviously thought about using video as part of their marketing plan. Their video marketing plan is proactive. They are planning around future marketing initiatives and incorporating video into them.

Our follow-up conversations begin to focus on each individual video project while taking into account the way they work together as a series. As a video marketing company, our job is to stand back and look for other possible ways to use the videos to ensure that the client is taking full advantage of their investment. Future conversations will establish metrics to measure ROI, and on interpreting the data and using it to tweak the plan.

Whether you’re a small company or a large company, whether you’ve used video before or not, whether you have a clear plan or not, it’s important to ask yourself questions like, “Why are we making this video?” and “How will this video fit into our marketing plan?”

Working with a video marketing company will help ensure your video plan and your current marketing plans are aligned so you can get the most out of your video investment.

ROI will be measured based on goals you’ve set, and the data collected behind-the-scenes. Your video goals will be practical and grounded in reality. With thoughtful consideration of your marketing plan and coinciding videos strategically with company initiatives we believe video can have an almost magical impact.  Minus the unicorns.