Video has become an essential tool for marketing professionals in small to medium-sized organisations. With its unparalleled ability to engage, educate, and captivate audiences, video content has the potential to take your marketing efforts to new heights.

However, producing high-quality videos requires expertise and resources that many businesses may not have in-house. This is where a professional video production can make a significant impact. In this comprehensive guide, we'll walk you through everything you need to know about video production and what to expect when engaging a team of professionals.

Why Invest in Professional Video Production?

Before we delve into the details of working with professional videographers and teams, let's explore why investing in professional video production is a smart move for your marketing efforts:

1. Quality Matters:

Professional videographers and creative video production teams bring a wealth of experience, technical knowledge, and artistic skills to the table. This ensures that your videos are of the highest quality, both in terms of visuals and storytelling.

2. Time and Resources:

Crafting compelling videos involves multiple stages, from pre-production planning to post-production editing. A professional team can efficiently handle each step and guide you every step of the way, allowing your internal team to focus on their core responsibilities.

3. Creativity and Innovation:

A professional video production teams bring fresh perspectives and creative ideas to the table, enhancing your video content's uniqueness and appeal. They stay updated on industry trends and best practices, ensuring your videos are modern and relevant and speak to your target market.

4. Brand Consistency:

A professional team will understand your brand identity and values, ensuring that your videos align seamlessly with your overall marketing strategy and maintain a consistent brand image.

Engaging A Professional Video Production Team: What to Expect

1. Initial Consultation:

The process kicks off with a consultation where you'll discuss your goals, target audience, message, and budget. This conversation helps the team understand your vision and develop a tailored proposal for your project. This is also where you can determine if you'd enjoy working with these people over the coming months (or even years!)

2. Pre-Production Planning:

Ahh Pre-Production: the neglected soul of video production. This ever-important phase involves scriptwriting, storyboarding, location scouting, casting, and planning the shoot schedule. A professional team will meticulously plan every detail to ensure a smooth production process, and an even smoother day on set. Never skimp on pre-production.

3. Production:

On the shoot day(s), the video production team (videographers, creative producers, directors, and stylists) will manage all aspects of the production, including setting up equipment, directing talent, capturing footage, and ensuring optimal lighting and sound quality. Whilst this ~feels~ like the most important (or exciting?) part of the video production process, it's just one small piece of a giant logistical and creative puzzle.

4. Post-Production:

This is where - as they say - the magic happens. After the shoot, the editors will carefully select the best footage, edit the video, add graphics or animations, and enhance audio and visuals to create a polished final product. Other creative personnel from the video production team may be involved in this stage of the process, providing feedback to the editors to ensure the video content meets the initial brief.

5. Collaboration and Feedback:

A reputable video production team will involve you in the editing process, seeking your feedback and making necessary revisions until the video aligns perfectly with your vision.

A hot tip for watching your video for the first time: you never get to re-do or re-experience your first watch! After the first viewing, immediately note down your first thoughts and response before watching it again. And again. And... again. Consolidate your entire teams' notes before sharing them with your production company to ensure feedback isn't conflicting or contradictory between your internal team.

6. Delivery:

Once the video is finalised, you'll receive the high-resolution versions in the desired format/s. As marketing professionals, you'll now have access to a range of video assets for your campaigns, promotions and channels. And don't forget you can often repurpose footage and have your production team edit it into additional assets over the coming months without having to reshoot any footage.

Choosing the Right Video Production Team

Selecting a professional video production team for your small to medium business or organisation is a big task, in fact, you may even have to work with multiple video production companies at the same time! When you're shopping around, keep these tips in mind:

1. Portfolio:

Your first go to should be to review their previous work to ensure their style aligns with your brand and message. Check their socials (including tagged posts for a different perspective), as well as their website for their latest work. Most companies don't post all their projects, so don't be afraid to ask the team for specific video content examples that are similar to what you are trying to achieve.

2. Experience:

Look for a team with a proven track record and a diverse skill set in various aspects of video production. Their portfolio and previous client list will help determine this, but you can also use LinkedIn to ask for recommendations, check Google reviews, and even reach out to their previous clients to ask for their feedback.

3. Communication:

Effective communication is key in creative collaboration. Choose a team that you enjoy working with, listens to your needs, responds promptly, and keeps you involved throughout the process. Be up front about how you and your team like to communicate and the platforms you use to make sure this aligns with the production teams methods of communication.

4. Cost and Value:

Don't be afraid to be up front with your maximum budget from the get go. A professional video production team will use this budget as one of the creative parameters they must work within, just like the parameters of location, time frame, and messaging. And while budget is oh-so important, focus on the value you'll receive. A higher initial investment in quality video content can yield greater returns in terms of audience impact and influence.

5. Flexibility:

Opt for a team that can adapt to changes and unforeseen circumstances during the production process. Because they will happen. This goes hand in hand with developing a strong working relationship with the team so you can both be flexible as if often required throughout a creative process.

There's lots that go into creating compelling and visually captivating videos that resonate with your audience. When it comes time to engage a team of videography professionals, we'd be happy to help you work through all the questions you have about the process and experience of creating great content together. Just get in touch with our team, or check out our blog for other great video marketing resources!