As an agency you want to kick butt for your clients and increase your own revenue. But it’s not always easy:
Getting reach on social media is harder than ever, and with content marketing, your clients are up against a mountain of similar content from competitors. In this environment, it’s no wonder your own marketing takes a back seat too.
But help is at hand:
Video allows you to cut through the noise and get results for your clients, while at the same time increasing the range of your offering. In this article, we will explain how to offer video as a service.
Why Video?
Online video is a massive phenomenon: by 2020, CISCO estimates that 80% of all internet traffic will be video. As a marketing tool, video is highly effective. Viewers are 64-85% more likely to buy after watching a product video. Some 70% of marketers think that video converts better than any other medium.
In the big agency world, it’s an arms race with many investing heavily into video production capabilities. Where does that leave your agency? How do you take advantage of the opportunity?
How to Offer Video as a Service
It’s important to distinguish between video production and video marketing. The former is what we do and the latter is what you do. Making the video is only part of the story – you need to make the right video in the first place and know how to promote it (more on that later). Here’s how to get started:
A Typical Journey
For most clients, the starting point is to get a company overview video made, e.g. in animation. A company explainer video is great for increasing website conversion rates and can yield immediate benefits. The journey looks as follows:
It’s essential to make a great first video because video styling/designs are an important company asset and can be used in future work.
Video Marketing
This is where you come in as a marketer. Having a plan for incorporating video into your marketing plan is a good idea. The field of video marketing is evolving fast. Back in 2015, most companies simply made an explainer video and were done with it. But nowadays marketers understand that video is a great tool to use across the sales funnel. This is a big opportunity because all this stuff is still in its early stages so you can get a jump on the competition.
Um, so how exactly do you do that?
We’ve prepared this super-comprehensive image below showing how to use video across the sales funnel.
That’s all fine and detailed, but: what content will work best for your client?
What Types of Videos Work Best?
It really does depend on the company, e.g. may depend on who their audience is and how they’re reached.
Website explainers and product videos are a good place to start (see this case study). Testimonials really really work. They’re a form of social proof and we’re a big believer in them.
But here’s a handy rule:
Take a look where you are already reaching a large audience. This can yield good answers for where a video can help improve performance. For example, if your client has a large salesforce then a video for its salespeople can be a powerful tool. You can also look at weaknesses in their sales funnel to see where a video might help.
The Economics
Making a video is a time-consuming task. In fact, it takes 150 – 200 hours to make a good video. See our breakdown here. Animation is particularly time-consuming but doesn’t underestimate the amount of work your agency will need to do if you are considering doing parts of it in-house.
Even when outsourcing the video production there is some time burden during reviews that’s worth preparing for.
White Labeling
If you need your own brand on the video then a white-label solution is something to consider, i.e. you focus on the high-level direction but outsource the production. Alternatively, many clients are fine with direct communication between the video creator and their client, for example working on the same project management system such as Basecamp.
Non-Disclosure & Ownership of Artwork
You may need to sign an NDA with your creator(s) if your client’s information is sensitive. Also, think about who owns and can use the final video asset. The usual arrangement is that the video asset is owned by the final client but the video agency is allowed to use it on their website and in their marketing or portfolios online. This is normally a good thing – a video creator’s portfolio is their best marketing tool so you’ll get a better creative result (sometimes dramatically so) if they are allowed to show the video after it’s complete.
Creativity & Timing
When making explainer videos for agencies there is sometimes more time pressure than normal. As an agency, you may want it perfect before showing a client but at the same time, the deadline is still the deadline. This can put pressure on the creative process so our suggestion is to have the client involved early.
Number of Feedback Rounds
If your client has many stakeholders involved in the video then it may be worth discussing extra feedback rounds with your creator. This is especially true if your client’s senior management needs to sign off but at the same time is reluctant to be involved and is inflexible on budget.
Stuff that’s Important when choosing a Creator
Video projects can and do go wrong. You want to be avoiding risks to your reputation here. Here are some things to look out for when choosing your video creator.
- Do they have a wide range of creative abilities?
- Are they responsive?
- Is reputation important to them? e.g. are they a serious company or a freelancer with a day job?
- Have the Experience? e.g anyone who’s made over 100 videos is likely to have a solid, proven process.
The Fun Stuff
Making a video is exciting, whether that’s making explainer videos for agencies or anyone else, and we hope this little article provides some help getting you going.
