When Does Professionally Produced Video Make Sense?

Creating engaging video content, whether it’s a customer testimonial, company history, social video, blog, or other type of video content, is a fantastic and essential way to generate new business leads for your company. Video content, particularly professionally produced video, has increased in popularity over the last few years, making it an absolute essential component to a smart business plan. As a medium, videos have the power to demonstrate a concept and evoke a response from your audience.

A professionally produced video is one created by a specialized video production company which results in a professional and polished video presentation. In contrast, informal or DIY video production is one that your business creates using your phone and/or staff already available. When it comes time to produce a video, you might be at a crossroads; do you take a DIY approach and create the video in-house or do you utilize a commercial video production company?

The Sales Funnel

In an ideal world, you’d woo your audience with stunning visuals and meaningful, professionally-created video content for every step of the sales funnel, but realistically, budget comes into play and can limit what is feasible to create at any given stage. How can you know where to spend your money wisely and get the most out of your professionally produced video content when you do choose to invest that time and money?

The “Awareness” Stage

The best time to go all out with your professional video efforts is at the top of the sales funnel, or the “Awareness” stage. This is when your potential customers “meet” your business and are forming their initial first impression. Your brand only has one chance to create this lasting initial impression on the viewer, so this is where your investment in professionally produced video will go the furthest. It’s your “first date” with this potential client, in a sense, and it’s the best time to put your best foot forward. This type of content is often the most viewed, and the “stickiest” in the mind of the potential customer. If your budget limits the amount of video content you can commit to, this is always where we recommend our clients begin.

The “Consideration” Stage

This next step in the sales process is where your potential customer is now more familiar with your brand, but they’re still learning about your company and your products or services. When a customer is considering your company as an option to meet their needs, their focus begins to shift from overall impression, to the feel of the brand and your actual offerings. This step tends to contain content such as brand films, customer testimonials, and other forms of professionally produced video content. That said, this stage can also lean more DIY, such as social engagement and more informal videos if your budget is tighter. Production is valuable here, however it isn’t your first impression, and therefore can lean more casual if money is a limiting factor.

The “Conversion” Stage

When a potential customer has seen your value and is specifically looking at what they may like to purchase, they’re much more heavily invested in the details of the product or service rather than the warm and fuzzy feeling they may have gotten from your brand initially. While you can certainly invest in high quality videos such as product demonstrations or explanation videos at this stage, it’s not a must. As long as you get the consumer the information they are looking for, they don’t tend to mind if it’s a simple iphone video or a beautifully crafted production. They aren’t looking to be impressed, they’re looking to see if your product will work for them.

The “Loyalty/Retention” Stage

Probably the most DIY-able stage of the sales process is the retention stage. This is where you are helping your customers get the most out of your product or service, providing value through FAQs, one-to-one interactions, and more. These videos provide an entirely different kind of value to your customer than impressing or captivating them. These pieces of content just need to show that you understand your customer, that you value them, and that you can anticipate their needs and desires. If you’re able to do this with a cell phone camera and an idea, you’re golden.

Creating Your Strategy

Ultimately, much of your business marketing plan will revolve around time, money, and how much of them you have. For a company that has the resources, bringing on a professional video production company to take on the bulk of your video needs will create a polished and professional feel for your brand. However, even if you choose to go that route, DIY solutions and simpler videos mixed in are a great way to humanize your brand and connect more authentically with your audience. The ideal mix is out there for your organization, you just need to understand who you’re talking to and what matters to them in whatever stage they’re at.

Partner With Us

Looking for a highly skilled and trusted video production company in the Philadelphia area? AJI Media helps your business create an investment through the production of high-quality video content to engage your audience. We work side-by-side with your business to identify your goals and measurable outcomes, target audience, and the best platform to achieve your goals. Give us a call today to schedule a discovery session!