June 11th, 2016

One of the things I commonly hear talking to a businesses is that when it comes to using video as a marketing or communications tool, some folks are just not sure where to start. So, instead of looking further into a good idea, they often do nothing at all and push it to the back burner.

Unfortunately, the idea dies on the business vine. This is very understandable. It can be a little daunting to objectively look at your business or service and be able to focus on how you might best leverage a video asset. For most businesses, the sales cycle can be somewhat complex when it comes to harvesting a prospect, understanding what motivates that particular prospect, and then converting that prospect into a sale. The other idea killer that often happens is that a company can focus in on a message and usage and will then hope or expect that this one message will resonate across all their audiences.

Depending on your business and in most cases, one message does not fit all. When a company realizes one message does not fit all, it can further perpetuate the cycle of just not being sure where to start. Who do we talk to first? Who is more important? Why?

There are too many more important things to worry about like meeting pay roll this week. So, we do nothing. Unfortunately, the idea dies on the business vine. It doesn’t need to be overwhelming. In fact, if you have a little help in breaking it down into smaller and more relatable pieces, it can all start to make a lot more sense.

What is most important is to pick a starting point and then see it through. Think of it as a jigsaw puzzle. Each audience is a piece of the puzzle. You create messaging geared towards each particular audience. Once you have that piece built and fit into your overall strategy , move onto the next piece and craft that. It boils down to mapping strategies to cover your audiences.
This process is called message mapping. 

Does it mean you have to create more than one video? In some cases yes but this is not a bad thing. Remember, you goal was to try and create at least one video. Does that mean more money? Yes and No. Yes in the sense that there is more content to produce so more minutes can equate to more dollars depending on creative approach. No, in the sense that there is more value in what you are creating. What you are creating has a much better chance of being viewed and received as the content will better relate to that particular viewer effectively creating better results.

So, the content has a much better chance of moving that viewer to the next phase of the sales cycle. You can spend less money on one video but if the messaging is off and the viewer can’t relate to it, it doesn’t get viewed. If it doesn’t get viewed then it is a waste of resources.

Less is not more in this case. The trick is to design a campaign built around your video message mapping. Start small with what you can afford. Stay true to the map. Complete one piece and then move onto the next piece. Design a creative approach that allows you the flexibility and scalability to move and to reach each audience while not putting you in the poor house. It’s quite alright to roll your videos out over a period of time. What’s the biggest question holding you back?