A Video Discussion Guide and 6 Ways to Use It To Achieve Successful Videos
You know you are ready for video, but how do you guide the internal discussion about video at your organization so that your project moves forward promptly, with clarity, and with everyone happily on board? Could you use a Video Discussion Guide like we’ve recently made available?
Use a video discussion guide to avoid video pitfalls
Here are six reasons you’ll be glad if you use our video discussion guide:
Pitfall no. 1: Not knowing where to begin your discussion. Especially if your organization is considering its first videos, you’ll find this simple breakdown of the elements of a video project scope helpful for laying out key issues concerning budget and implementation.
Pitfall no. 2: Not involving all of the departments affected by a video project. Successful video projects rely on cooperation and collaboration among organizational departments during their lifecourse. You may need cooperation from another department to secure your key interviews. And your web team needs input in your hosting decision. Use this document to walk through the stages of the project together—and avoid this pitfall!
Pitfall no. 3: Not creating a record of early discussions and agreements. We’ve created three easy ways to record what you and your team agree to: (a) you can print our pdf and fill it out on paper; (b) you can fill out the pdf on screen (and email it to us for an estimate); (c) you can use our online form to submit a request for an estimate. All of these create a record, and while you’re likely to tweak your decisions, you won’t have to reinvent the wheel.
Pitfall no. 4: Staff turnover derails your video process. While some videos take a short time to produce and distribute, other processes may take a long time. But any amount of time may be enough for staff turnover to disrupt the process. If a group agreed on all the decisions, losing one key staff member will not derail the process and the results you aimed to achieve.
Pitfall no. 5: The boss says what she wants at the 11th hour.It does happen. However, if you use this video discussion guide to get everyone on the same page at the outset, you’ll avoid the stress—and additional costs—of changing key aspects of your video late in the game.
Pitfall no. 6: Getting so bogged down in the issues and costs that you forget that video is fun. While you don’t have to have your meeting outside in a beautiful setting, we hope that by laying out the issues for you, we’ve freed your staff up to enjoy dreaming up your video and the goals you’ll set for it.
Our Video Discussion Guide will help initiate discussions and carry them through so that your video process reflects a solid agreement that will guide you through the whole process of conceiving, creating, and distributing your video. Here’s a rundown of the questions it asks.
Which key decisions should be made in your video discussion?
The first thing our estimate requests is that you specify the type of video you want and how many videos. You’ll realize great cost savings from multiple videos. Some common types of videos include:
Testimonials or other single clip videos (typical length: less than 1.5 minutes)
Short informational videos or video stories (typical length: 2-3 minutes)
Gala or event videos (typical length: 3-6 minutes)
The length of your video impacts editing time and, therefore, costs. We also ask if you want to add a voiceover and/or stock footage or photos.
The next thing we request is an estimate of the number of shooting days and locations. If you envision a testimonial or set of testimonials, you’ll probably want us to spend 15 minutes to an hour or a little more with each subject, depending on how exacting a clip you need. If your subjects can all come to one place on the same day, that makes things simple and relatively low-cost. However, sometimes this may not be possible, or you might choose to film people in their own environments to convey their stories better.
Short informational videos or video stories require about an hour for any interviews and additional time for gathering other footage. Gala and event videos may have a number of elements that require filming on multiple locations.
Your video discussion should include video distribution
If a tree falls in the forest, and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?
MiniMatters offers a variety of video distribution services to get your video watched and acted upon. These include search engine optimization, branded video players, custom action buttons, YouTube-related services, and more. We invite you to express interest in as many of these as you think you might want, so that we can provide some details on how they work and what they cost. If you know already which ones you want, so much the better. They make a huge difference in terms of return on investment—the best video in the world gets you nothing if no one sees it.
How will your video discussion include goals?
You may choose to begin your discussion here, but you’ll want to return to this question at the end of your discussion as well, which is why we’ve placed this last on our guide. Your video’s audience and goals frame the entire process. Some common types of audience include:
donors
potential donors
members
potential members
people who know a lot about your organization
people who know little about your organization but find its mission interesting
Some common goals for your video include:
increasing donations
boosting event registration
growing membership
building social media engagement
engendering a good feeling about your organization
disseminating key information about a change at your organization
to entertain attendees and create a sense of community at a gala
The possibilities are endless. We’re excited to work with you as you envision them for your organization.
If MiniMatters can help you with fundraising video, association video, or other video production needs, we’d love to provide an estimate through our online form, talk with you at 301-339-0339, or communicate via email at [email protected]. We serve associations, foundations, nonprofits, and businesses primarily in Washington, DC, Maryland, and northern Virginia.
Pitfall no. 1: Not knowing where to begin your discussion. Especially if your organization is considering its first videos, you’ll find this simple breakdown of the elements of a video project scope helpful for laying out key issues concerning budget and implementation.
Pitfall no. 2: Not involving all of the departments affected by a video project. Successful video projects rely on cooperation and collaboration among organizational departments during their lifecourse. You may need cooperation from another department to secure your key interviews. And your web team needs input in your hosting decision. Use this document to walk through the stages of the project together—and avoid this pitfall!
Pitfall no. 3: Not creating a record of early discussions and agreements. We’ve created three easy ways to record what you and your team agree to: (a) you can print our pdf and fill it out on paper; (b) you can fill out the pdf on screen (and email it to us for an estimate); (c) you can use our online form to submit a request for an estimate. All of these create a record, and while you’re likely to tweak your decisions, you won’t have to reinvent the wheel.
Pitfall no. 4: Staff turnover derails your video process. While some videos take a short time to produce and distribute, other processes may take a long time. But any amount of time may be enough for staff turnover to disrupt the process. If a group agreed on all the decisions, losing one key staff member will not derail the process and the results you aimed to achieve.
Pitfall no. 5: The boss says what she wants at the 11th hour. It does happen. However, if you use this video discussion guide to get everyone on the same page at the outset, you’ll avoid the stress—and additional costs—of changing key aspects of your video late in the game.
Pitfall no. 6: Getting so bogged down in the issues and costs that you forget that video is fun. While you don’t have to have your meeting outside in a beautiful setting, we hope that by laying out the issues for you, we’ve freed your staff up to enjoy dreaming up your video and the goals you’ll set for it.
Our Video Discussion Guide will help initiate discussions and carry them through so that your video process reflects a solid agreement that will guide you through the whole process of conceiving, creating, and distributing your video. Here’s a rundown of the questions it asks.