Video marketing is one of the most effective means of digital communication to get key messages and content in front of your audience. One of the key elements of producing video content though is something that transpires across the whole marketing mix – consistency. As with any marketing activity, maintaining regular messaging and content is vital to keep your audience engaged and interested in your business. That is where a video production retainer can be the answer to producing consistent content but also allows you to plan ahead and create campaigns weeks or even months ahead with an idea of what you would like to produce.
For us as a video production agency, taking on clients who are looking for a video production retainer is a great opportunity to work with clients to plan and create meaningful, creative and targeted content and really show how video can be an effective marketing tool.
The current video production clients that we have, work with us in different ways according to what they are looking to achieve. One of our clients looks to us to assist with the idea generation, planning and creative concepts of their video marketing activity. We’ve effectively become part of their organisation and we meet on a regular basis to develop campaigns, marketing messages and tactics for their activity. At the other end of the scale, we work with a marketing agency who use video with their clients on a regular basis and their retainer package simply involves us being given a brief and filming and editing the videos that they have already planned. Both use the video retainer package in different ways but the end result is very similar – consistent video content.
It’s easy to say that producing a consistent stream of video content is the best way to go when looking at a marketing campaign. And essentially, it is. However working with a video production agency to deliver the content on a regular basis needs planning and careful consideration. Having an idea of what your key messages are for your business is a good place to start. You can then work out which videos fit into which key messages. This means that every piece of video content that you create can have a purpose rather than just creating random videos. This in turn means that your audience will understand your messaging, will get used to seeing and even start looking for your content and will develop a loyalty to your brand.
Working on your content weeks or months in advance will also help you get the best out of your video retainer. There will always be opportunities that come up randomly and you need to react in the moment but you can also be prepared for seasonal campaigns and key times of the year and create the videos months in advance. This way, it’s already done and ready meaning that you’ll have the capacity to create reactive content too.
Including the video production agency that you’re working with is also a great way to get the best from your video retainer. We work with one of our clients in a planning and consultative way and it means that we can contribute to how ideas can be created and give insights into tweaks and amendments to filming plans. We also bring the experience of working with other clients on their video marketing content for over 20 years and bring ideas of successful campaigns that we have been involved in. In addition we also bring an outside view of the industry sector and the campaigns that are being planned. Essentially we can bring an opinion that clients may not have because they are too involved in the subject. It doesn’t always have to be creative video content, there may be events that need to be filmed or you may need to create something like an explainer video for a particular product or service. Getting an idea of thinking beyond what you might have initially engaged with the video production agency is useful here to get the true value of your video content.
A retainer agreement can mean that you choose to create different types of content. It allows you to plan a broad variety of videos to keep your audience interested. From an animated video to a customer testimonial video as well as corporate videos and simple updates about what’s going on in your business. It just means that you don’t to try and cram everything that you want to say into that one video that you have booked in. You can take your time and produce meaningful content knowing that you can do something different next month and the month after. You’re audience will thank you for it and it will keep them coming back for more.
This also allows you to think about what your audience wants or needs to hear rather than what you want to tell them. You can address their pain points in the buying process of your product or service or if you know the reasons why they don’t make a purchase, you can address these with a video. The point is that you don’t have to cram everything you want to say in one video, you’ve got plenty of time and opportunities to say everything that you want to say.
As time goes by, you and the video company will get an understanding of what works and what style you want in the videos. So they’ll know what you want to do and how you want to do it including the messaging and brand identity. They’ll become an extension of your team and be able to develop your campaigns and strategy in a much more strategic way.
We work in different ways with different clients. With some clients, we simply schedule in a day each month to capture video content and create the planned videos accordingly. It tends to be the same day each month so that everyone is ready and aware and all the necessary plans are in place. With other clients it’s a little bit more ad hoc and they contact us as and when they require our services.
When we work with marketing agencies, it can be very sporadic. They speak to their clients about video content and then brief us accordingly. This could mean that we have projects every week or there are months without any video requirements from them. The most important thing is that you structure your retainer in the way that works best for you. We can be flexible as long as there is the basis of a plan in place.
Sometimes the structure of payment can be dictated by this too. There can be a flat monthly cost which dictates how much filming and editing time you will get or it could be based on a credit system where you pay for the time that you take up and keep topping up the credits accordingly. If you know what your usage is going to be or you have all your campaigns planned out, this can help you decide how you’re going to pay.
If your marketing strategy heavily involves video and you have a detailed plan of what you want to achieve, then a video production retainer could be the way forward. It can be cost effective and, as we’ve discussed, provide that consistent content that your audience will respond to.
Want to find out more about how we could help you? Get in touch and we’ll be happy to discuss your options.
Blog writer: Adam Snelleksz is a director of CMA Video and has worked in marketing for over 20 years. He has worked in video production in Birmingham for five years with CMA Video and has been using video for marketing for nearly 10 years. He also set up the video TV channel Blues TV, the official online channel of Birmingham City Football Club. Some of the projects that Adam has used promotional videos for include the Birmingham Half Marathon, the European Gymnastics Championships and the World BMX Championships. Contact Adam here.
Our video marketing blogs have been recognised as one of the Top 50 Video Marketing Blogs on the internet. We hope you enjoy reading them and gain valuable insights into CMA Video and show that we’re not just another Birmingham video production company but we do more from animation videos to event filming, video strategy to social media video campaigns.
