TL;DR: Marketers have bigger fish to fry than getting bogged down in video post-production. By focusing on strategic management, hiring the right talent, and understanding video’s role in the marketing funnel, they can enhance engagement and drive results without getting bogged down by technical details.
So what? This article empowers marketers to navigate video content creation and promotion without mastering post-production techniques–focusing instead on management, strategy, and deployment. Thus, marketers must understand the importance of strategic oversight, stakeholder collaboration, and leveraging video across the marketing funnel to drive engagement and conversions.
In our recent B2B video marketing series, we’ve walked you through scripting and storyboarding, examples and best practices.
But what do you do after your video is produced?
In this final guide in our series, we’ll share our best practices in planning, publishing, and promoting your B2B marketing video to reach the widest audience.
Too many marketers follow up their video production with the question, “Now what?” This guide will empower you with the knowledge on how to use your video to drive real marketing results.
Strategies for Post-Production Management
Management of your video after the shoot is critical–in fact, most of the real work of video production happen after it’s shot.
Traditionally, post-production involves:
- Hiring and Managing Editors and Creatives: The video has been written, storyboarded, and shot. Now, you need to put together editors that can put together the final cut. Editing isn’t a one-size-fits-all job, obviously–depending on your work, it could take one editor or a team to complete a job. Even then, you must consider expertise: editors who specialize in animation vs. those who edit live-action, editors who specialize in short vs. long-form video, etc. Your most critical role here is understanding the nature of the video and the project, including timelines and budget. Think of yourself as a producer.
- Negotiating with Stakeholders: Just because an initial video was approved doesn’t mean the final project is approved as-is. As a lead on a video project, you’ll, at minimum, be in charge of presenting the final product to management, brand, or legal to get final sign-off. More realistically, however, you will encounter other ideas, perspectives, and flat-out roadblocks related to the final product. This could come from parts of the team not liking the final vision or product, the legal or brand team objecting to content, or even a client on board up to the moment of the final review.
- Publishing and Promotion: A B2B video is part of a larger marketing ecosystem, and it will serve a role to support that network. In many cases, a full-length video (anywhere from 1 to 5 minutes, depending on the content and context) will serve as a pillar for social media, blog posts, and more.
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Hiring Managers and Creatives After Completing a Video
Depending on the size of your organization, you may or may not have a full-time video editing pro on staff. If not, you have a few options:
- Hire an Editor: This is a good approach if you need someone full-time to handle many editing jobs year-round. The issue is that, with a full-time editor, you may need more work for them. Some organizations hire someone who can wear multiple hats (editing, design, etc.) where they can pick this work up as needed, but rarely will they have a full-time video editor–unless they are producing videos regularly all year.
Best for: Marketers who create videos weekly, and can expect the editing demand to remain relatively constant. - Work with Contract Editors: Most job application websites like LinkedIn, Indeed, or Glassdoor will allow hiring businesses to specify part-time and contract work ads. Not only is this good for businesses with fractional editing needs, but it also provides hiring managers with a way to vet an editor before providing more work. This approach can move faster than full-time hiring but much slower than a freelance engagement, depending on where you hire.
Best For: Marketers with semi-regular video editing needs who want to build solid, high-quality working relationships with fractional workers. - Freelance Boards: If you need editing right now, or if you just want to “play the field” to find a flexible part-time editor, then platforms like Upwork, Fiverr, and Toptal make locating and connecting with creatives and editors relatively easy. Sometimes, the quality varies due to the sheer number of professionals on these boards, so it’s not a great long-term solution, but it can work in a pinch.
Best For: Marketers ready to edit right now, who want a third party to handle portions of the hiring and payment process, and/or those who want more control over price and hour negotiations.
Considering Stakeholders in the Review Process
Creating impactful video content is a collaborative effort involving various stakeholders throughout the process. Understanding the roles and contributions of each group, internal and external, is crucial for a seamless and efficient review process.
Internal Stakeholders
- Marketing Department: This department is primarily responsible for aligning the video with the overall marketing strategy, messaging, and brand voice. They ensure the content resonates with the target audience and meets campaign objectives.
- Sales Team: Provides insights into customer needs, preferences, and feedback. Their input is vital for creating content that effectively addresses customer pain points and showcases the product or service’s benefits.
- Product Development: This company offers detailed information on product features, benefits, and unique selling propositions. Its expertise ensures that the content accurately represents the product.
- Legal and Compliance: This person reviews the content for potential legal issues and ensures it complies with industry regulations and company policies.
External Stakeholders
- Customers and Focus Groups: Early feedback from a segment of the target audience can highlight areas for improvement and ensure the content’s message is clear and compelling.
- Influencers and Brand Ambassadors: Influencers familiar with your brand can offer perspectives on how the broader audience might receive the video and suggest ways to increase its appeal and effectiveness.
Promoting Your Video
Effective promotion involves dissemination, strategic placement, timing, and leveraging channels to enhance visibility and engagement. Here’s how to ensure your video content hits the largest possible audience:
- Social Media Platforms: Each social platform has a unique audience and expectations. To tailor snippets or versions of your video, consider the format specifications (e.g., length, aspect ratio) of the platforms you will use.
- Email Marketing: Incorporate video content into your email campaigns to increase open rates and engagement. A compelling thumbnail with a play button can entice subscribers to view the video on your website or a landing page, driving traffic and prolonging engagement with your brand.
- Your Website and Blog: Embedding videos directly on your website or in blog posts can significantly enhance user experience, providing valuable information or entertainment to visitors. This increases the time spent on your site and boosts SEO rankings.
- Paid Advertising: Paid advertising on social media or search engines can amplify your video’s reach by targeting specific demographics, interests, and behaviors. Platforms like YouTube offer various ad formats to help your video gain visibility in front of a relevant audience.
- Collaborations and Influencer Partnerships: Collaborating with influencers or brands that share a complementary audience can expand your video’s reach. These partnerships can introduce your content to new, engaged audiences likely interested in your message.
Marketer’s Takeaway
Video is quickly becoming an important part of the B2B marketing stack. But marketers aren’t editors; they are managers driving a campaign across different parts of the process.
Instead of editing, you want to find the best editors and post-production specialists.
Instead of stamping a project as done, you must show it to stakeholders to ensure everyone has bought in.
And instead of pushing a button and forgetting about it, you have to plan and implement content distribution strategies based on how you want to get that video in front of your audience.
Instead of fumbling in the dark, start working with a marketing team that can help you shine a light on creating great video for each part of your marketing funnel.
The Media Shower platform can help you draft great video scripts, which you can send to our team of video experts for shooting, editing, and promoting. Click here for a free trial.