Have you ever come across a video so captivating that you sent it to a friend or colleague without a moment’s thought?
In the world of content creation and marketing, which is always changing, there’s one format that’s held steady through it all: video. In fact, consumer demand for video has only grown year over year. If your company hasn’t yet incorporated engaging video into your content marketing strategy, it’s definitely time.
But while high-quality video is important when it comes to targeting messages to a specific audience and improving engagement, creating an outstanding video takes time and skill that many companies may not have in-house. A video marketing agency can help, but not all organizations have the budget or even the need for this level of support.
Here, we’ll cover the video production services that an agency can offer and help you understand whether hiring one is the best choice for your business needs.
Why Video Marketing Is Crucial to Your Content Strategy
When it comes to your digital marketing strategy, you know there’s already almost too much to think about. From video ads to email marketing and everything in between, it can be difficult to visualize the next step of video marketing.
You may already have a few ideas or even videos already created, but how did they perform? Did they reach your target audience effectively? What was your overall ROI?
Do you believe you can do better?
The answer is probably yes.
Dynamic visuals are important for telling your brand story, generating brand awareness, staying relevant with audiences and for generating traffic. Check out the eye-catching visuals (including the viewer’s name!) in the branding video below that we worked with Kaltura on.
But this is only the tip of the iceberg because, ultimately, video is about ROI.
First of all, it’s what your customers want. According to the latest research, 83% of consumers say they want to see more video content but only 19% actually receive video content with any real frequency. And when people are lucky enough to get video content, they enjoy it — 82% of people report that they like the videos they get from brands.
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Brand videos are omnichannel and easy to share, ready for your next email campaign or in-app messaging. And video content is everywhere, constantly being consumed by viewers. According to Statista, online videos currently reach over 92% of internet users worldwide.
And the best part is that video marketing works. HubSpot found that 89% of people say a video has helped them decide to make a purchase.
Your customers want to engage with you more through video.
But maybe you’re worried that even creating a short video can take a lot of time and resources if you don’t have the right tools and experts at your side.
A video marketing agency, digital marketing agency, or freelance video content creator may have the answers you are looking for, but each comes with a price.
A video marketing agency can help you create high-quality videos that can boost your conversion rates and ROI. But do you absolutely need to hire a full-service agency?
Hiring a Video Marketing Company: Pros and Cons
Do you already have an effective video marketing strategy?
In order to truly understand whether you need a video marketing agency to get your content to the next level, you’ll need to assess your budget, current marketing resources, your projected marketing campaign and goals.
Consider the following pros of hiring a video marketing agency:
- Resources: Agencies have the right technology, equipment and expertise at their fingertips.
- Project management: Agencies will be able to take over an entire project from start to finish in a streamlined way.
- Versatile team: Agencies likely have staff and freelancers with very specific skill sets, for example, a film crew or an expert in 3D animation.
- Timing: Handing over an entire project to an agency may save you time (but may not).
- Performance monitoring: A well-rounded digital marketing agency will stay on top of your metrics and be able to track your campaign’s performance.
- Creativity: Getting a fresh take or expert feedback on your project idea could be extremely valuable.
- Scalability: It won’t be cheap, but an agency can adjust and adapt to changing dynamics and grow with the business.
On the flip-side, here are some possible cons of hiring a video marketing agency:
- Cost: Agencies tend to be expensive. Depending on the length and format of the video, along with other factors like technological demands, you could max out your budget on the creative, leaving less for distribution.
- Loss of creative control: No agency will know your brand quite as well as you or an in-house animator. Working with an agency often means giving up some creative control.
- Unpredictability with project timeframes: Changes to the project could set you back on your timeline, even if they’re minor changes. You’re competing against all the agency’s other clients for priority.
- Lack of flexibility: An agency typically sets the project scope at the beginning and likely won’t want to change it without an additional cost.
- Scalability: Wait — wasn’t this a pro? Yes, an agency can help you scale by creating more videos, but if you want them to scale up creating Personalized Videos, you’ll need a tech platform for that.
Choosing the right agency is key to getting the most bang for your buck. Here are some practical tips on how to choose the right video production agency.
One of the benefits of creating video content is that it is so versatile, and when it comes to creating something that truly meets your business and brand specifications, there are plenty of features and options to take advantage of. It’s important to choose a process that helps you stick with your marketing goals and needs while using the medium to its full potential.
Check out our gallery of videos for some inspiration.
Video Marketing Features To Stay Competitive
The truth is, you don’t always need a video marketing agency, though sometimes you do. With the right tools, there are so many ways to create unique and compelling visuals out of the data and content you already have.
Here’s an overview of some video marketing tools and approaches that can improve video effectiveness and usability.
Interactivity
Did you know you can create a custom video that the user can interact with to make it their own? As you might expect, this is great for boosting customer engagement.
And if you think about it, it makes complete sense — consumers want to feel like they are having a conversation or taking care of a task, rather than just being talked at by a big brand.
After all, don’t you feel more productive if you are engaging rather than just passively watching a video?
Try the Interactive Video below to see how you can change it in real time. Your name isn’t Morgan? Click the lightning bolt symbol in the player to change the name or even upload your photo and see what happens, but even without that, you can interact with multiple elements throughout the video.
Brands in industries ranging from travel to insurance use video interactivity to keep their audience engaged and coming back for more. Here are a few more Interactive Video examples for inspiration.
If you want to include interactivity in your video marketing campaign, just be sure to work with an agency or tech platform that offers this (as ours does).
Tutorials and Training
Where do your customers need help the most?
Most businesses have knowledge gaps that they routinely must offer instructions and tutorials about to staff and customers alike, but sending customers information in text-only format can feel overwhelming to the end user.
If you have common FAQs that need answering or products and services that could use a little explanation, consider adding some tutorial videos to your website or video marketing campaign.
This above example breaks down instructions on how and where to use your HSA card, including how much the customer has left to spend and by when. This explainer video is particularly helpful because the data is personalized for the viewer, guaranteeing it’s relevant and actionable.
Repurpose Existing Content
You already probably have some video content already as well as important customer data gathered. And I imagine you’ve been repurposing or at least cross-promoting content, whether via social media, your website, ads, email or elsewhere.
If so, you already know there’s no need to reinvent the wheel!
From testimonials to case studies, there are so many ways to incorporate your existing content into a fresh and dynamic format so you save time but your audience doesn’t feel like they’re watching reruns.
Take a look at this year-in-review video we made for Kensington Tours. We incorporated clips of existing film footage into a summary video to promote brand loyalty. The takeaway? You don’t always need to grab new creative. Freshening up your video content with something new — like a dash of personalization (as we’ll explain below) — can make it come alive.
Personalized Video
Speaking of personalization, are you ready to harness the power of your customer data to deliver a more tailored experience?
Digital personalization means that you are creating a video which speaks directly to the end user, and this can make a big impact.
According to the latest research, compared to generic video, Personalized Video is:
- 4x more likely to make customers feel valued
- 3x more likely to inspire brand trust and inspire a recommendation
- 3.5 more likely to lead to customer conversion or retention
Why do customers want Personalized Video? The answer is simple — it makes them feel valued as individuals. It inspires them to stay connected with you and talk about your business. This can foster feelings of trust and loyalty and even get them talking.
Here’s an example from the travel industry so you can see video personalization in action.
Data Security
Data security should be a top concern for any organization. Although you might not think of it as a video marketing feature, it becomes pretty important when you’re creating Personalized Videos which use customer information as part of the creation process.
If you’re partnering with a video tech agency or platform for a dynamic video campaign, make sure to choose one with the highest levels of security so that you can rest assured that your data is safe. At Idomoo, we adhere to the strictest security standards, including ISO 27001 certification, SOC 2 Type 2 compliance and more.
Learn more about data security for Personalized Video.
Hiring a Video Marketing Agency: Points To Consider
So do you really need to hire a full-service video agency to get the results you want and meet your marketing goals?
Here are some things to think about.
Consider Your Marketing Goals
Did you know that video marketing can be incorporated into any type of content? Whether you are focused on PPC, email marketing or ecommerce, video can instantly enhance almost any campaign.
And the video doesn’t need to be particularly fancy or high-end. It’s more about how you use it strategically. Is your video relevant to your audience (personalized)? Is it actionable and driving conversions (interactive)?
Our Next Generation Video Platform includes a full suite of tools that any agency (including our own) can use so you can instantly upgrade your video marketing and boost ROI.
Take Stock of the Production Process
If you’re not using a video production agency, you’re going to need to do it in-house. Even if you do work with an agency or perhaps a freelancer, it’s good to understand the steps involved in video creation and what you want from each of these.
Here they are at a glance.
- Pre-production: This includes elements like ideation, pulling data together if your video will be personalized, scriptwriting and storyboarding.
- Production: This may involve filming for live-action videos, creating the motion graphics for animated explainer videos or clipping together footage for product videos.
- Post-production: This is where video editing happens and where elements like the soundtrack, transitions and other effects are added.
This entire process can be complex, which is why having a pro can help, but it’s not required. AI video can now handle all 3 of the steps above, although adding a human element at the beginning to choose the video topic and the end for review is still key.
AI Features
Speaking of AI, when you’re talking with a new marketing agency, it’s always smart to ask them about their knowledge of AI and how they use it. Maybe you don’t want any AI in your video content — it’s good to tell them that. Or maybe you want to leverage AI to be cutting-edge.
Did you know? According to the latest research, 65% of consumers are open to receiving AI video from brands.
When you use it right, AI can be an exceptional tool to help save you time and money. It can help with tasks such as writing voiceover scripts or — as in the case of our Enterprise AI Video creator — handle the entire video creation process, from start to finish.
Video Marketing Agency Beyond Video Production
Marketing agencies that specialize in video often do more than just the video production. They may be able to help you promote your campaign to your audience. It’s not something every agency does, so it’s worth asking.
They may be able to work with you on how to get the most out of your video, like modifying it for different formats for social media videos, ads or whatever type of video you may need. There are even some digital marketing agencies that will have other experts and strategists on staff to help with a range of video marketing services. They may offer search engine optimization (aka SEO) and web design if you’re using video landing pages. Or they might provide customizable templates for shareable landing pages.
Either way, a reputable video marketing company, at a minimum, should do the following:
- Help you from start to finish, taking a project management approach
- Provide expertise via a creative team with multiple skills
- Help to ensure your video is of the highest quality
- Help you tailor the video to a specific format or channel per your marketing goals
- Help you use your existing customer data in a way that makes sense for your business
- Have exceptional security protocols when it comes to handling data
- Be on top of industry and technological trends
- Deliver your project on time and to your specifications
Whether you are looking at personalization, using AI options to streamline your process, creating explainer videos, developing product demo videos, or something else, there’s no denying that integrating high-quality video into your marketing strategy can be a game-changer.
And it doesn’t have to be hard or expensive. Lean on an agency or AI (or a combination of both) if you don’t have the expertise on staff.
Video Marketing and Beyond
With our focus on data-driven video (tech) and high-quality video production (creative), we believe we can offer the best of both worlds. We can help you create high-quality videos at a fraction that are scalable and drive real ROI better than your run-of-the-mill big-budget video production studio.
That said, we work with agencies all the time. They create gorgeous videos like this one. Then our award-winning SaaS platform powers the personalization and interactivity.
So whether you want to work with a video production company of your own or check out the magic our studio creates, you’ve got options.
Ready to learn more? All it takes is a 15-minute call to get started.
