If you’re a business owner, you know that great content is the key to all your online interactions. You need to produce content to attract your leads and entertain your audience. If you want to stay ahead of the game, content needs to be delivered regularly, adapted to multiple channels, and ideally will be original and grab users’ attention. Sounds challenging, right?
That’s why creating a solid content production process is essential for surviving in the online world.
We’ll show you a simple guide to setting up a process that you can follow every time you need to produce a piece of content for your marketing activities. This could be, for example, a short video that introduces your product and could be used in one of your Facebook campaigns.
6 steps for creating an excellent content production process
#1 DEFINE THE PROJECT
First and foremost, you should start by defining the objective and making sure to follow it throughout the entire production process. If you’re new on the market, the aim might be to inform and introduce your product to would-be customers. The goal should be to show people what your product is all about and how it works (in a nutshell). You should define what you want to include in the video, making sure to mention your unique selling points (USPs) and the reasons why you’re the perfect solution in the industry.
Think about your mission and everyday motivations and how your future customers will engage with this video. Decide on the length of the video, ensuring the concept is easily adaptable to shorter formats. It should have a clear structure with an intro, main content with USPs, and finish with an endscreen and a call to action (CTA). The video should be concise, straight to the point, easy to digest, and, last but not least, engaging.
#2 DESCRIBE THE PRODUCTION PHASES
- Concept development
Concept development includes a creative session where you brainstorm ideas with your team or with the supporting agency. All stakeholders should be involved in this initial process to give their perspective on all the essential aspects of the project. We’re talking about the creative team, graphic designers, copywriters, brand managers, but also respective channel managers who’re going to use the video in their campaigns. In this phase, you should define the concept, style of the video (animated or live-action), budget, and resources.
- Production & Post-production
This phase depends on previous decisions. If you decide to produce an animated video that is created internally, you need to make sure to assign relevant people to this project and set a timeline to make sure the video is delivered on schedule. Production and post-production can also be split between the internal team and an external agency.
- Syndication & Localization
It’s important to already specify different video formats and designated channels in the first phase of the project, so the team is aware of how many edits will need to be made. For example, a longer version of the video could be used on the homepage to present the product, added to the newsletter, used in pitch presentations for clients and investors, for HR purposes to showcase the product during the hiring process (e.g. during an onboarding session), at conferences, or external events. Shorter versions could be used for performance marketing ads or even as a TV spot for offline campaigns.
Localization is a significant factor that can affect the entire concept. The question we need to ask before deciding on an idea is, ‘Do we need to localize the content?’. If yes, for what markets? Is the concept we like suitable for localization? From a language perspective, we need to decide if we’re going to use a voice-over or shoot the video in different languages.
#3 BRIEF CREATION
A good brief makes everyone’s life easier! Here is a list of what to include to avoid needless back and forth and misunderstandings.
- Background & Project Overview (Why are you doing it? Rationale, motivations, etc.)
- Objective (What’s the core goal of this project?)
- Target audience (Who’s this campaign targeted at? Who do we want to attract?)
- Concept summary (What’s the creative about? Describe the idea, key message, and overall style.)
- Project name (In order to improve communication between stakeholders.)
- Channels (Where will this video be featured?)
- Music (Will there be music featured in this video?)
- Formats & Material Specs (What formats will the video be delivered in?)
- Text/Copy for the video (What wording or copy will be featured?)
- KPIs / measuring success (How will you measure the success of this video?)
- Timing (What’s the deadline?)
- Considerations (Are there any other important factors or elements to consider?)
- References (Are there any visual or verbal references that could be useful?)
#4 PROJECT TIMELINE
A project timeline should be managed using a project management tool, like Asana, Trello, Jira, etc. or by simply using a Google spreadsheet. It’s crucial that all stakeholders have access to the tool or sheet and can track the progress of the project. You should split the project into these phases: concept development, production, post-production, feedback loop, and final delivery. It’s also important to make one person responsible for the entire process, a project manager or a producer. The estimated delivery timeline for each step will depend on the concept type and resources available.
#5 POTENTIAL ROADBLOCKS/ HICCUPS
Of course, it’s tough to be prepared for unforeseen obstacles, but we should do everything we can to avoid them. A precise plan helps the production process run smoothly and gives the people responsible for the delivery the chance to predict and get ahead of any potential hiccups. One source of conflict that can occur during the production process is when the stakeholders can’t agree on the final version, which can cause the feedback loop to take longer than expected. This can be avoided by assigning the final call to one manager. Additionally, the project manager needs to be held accountable for adhering to deadlines so that time is not lost.
#6 EVALUATION
Upon finishing the project, we should make sure that we’ve successfully met our objective, delivered the project in all requested formats, and met our KPIs. We should create a structure for reviewing what worked and what didn‘t in order to improve for future projects. It’s also useful to survey key project stakeholders to ask their feedback regarding the process and to analyze the performance of the video per channel together.
Now, you have all the knowledge and tools you need to create some kick-ass videos for your next online campaign! Here at MONSOON, we always make sure to support your campaigns every step of the way, and we can help you craft a successful content production process. Contact us to find out more!
