52% of marketers worldwide name video as the type of content with the highest ROI. Yet, as video production experts, we still work very hard for every new client we acquire.
What are the reasons a business may NOT be creating video content for marketing, even when the data on video ROI is very compelling?
We often find ourselves on the same side of the marketing rep in a company who has the job of recommending marketing solutions. They get the bigger picture, yet it can be very difficult to convince the decision-maker. Why won’t the decision-makers get on board? Reasons we’ve heard include:
“We can’t afford to fail.”
“It seems so complicated for us.”
“We don’t need the kind of quality you offer.”
These are all real reasons that we understand even if we don’t agree. All reasons that we have heard from marketers who drop out of the pipeline at the last moment, or reluctantly accept a meeting to discuss their first video only to cut it short because, in truth, they know they just can’t sell it to the business owner.
We’ve seen the deer in headlights looks, the doubtful half smiles, and the impatient drumming of pens on the desk. We recognized the signs of an overwhelmed and seasoned business owner who needs a marketing solution, but can’t fathom how can something dominated by youthful You-Tubers can drive sales.
There are many reasons a prospect doesn’t jump to hire a professional video production company, but really there is only one word that covers it all.
That word is VALUE.
As in, “We just aren’t sure we can get the value we need out of video.”
Right there, all summed up, VALUE is the reason EVERYONE isn’t using video.
Value is the sum of many parts. Compare this to growing a kitchen garden. You want to be able to walk outside, pick a few handfuls of fresh herbs, pull up some nice root veggies and maybe a few strawberries for dessert. You want the healthy benefits and the great meals. You know you want this, and you also know you can’t have it today. You have to plan for it. Where will it be? How will you prepare the soil? What watering method will you use? Seeds are another business altogether: special order or local store? GMO or non-GMO? Then you must consider climate. If you live in Phoenix, a garden is a completely different endeavor than it is in, say, Maryland.
All this, and you haven’t yet turned one shovel of soil.
For business, every marketing tool added equates to time and cost, both to the business owner and their employees. Video for business in itself doesn’t accomplish great conversion; it must be intertwined with a strategy, and tended, like a garden. There is a period of planning, preparation, and adding resources to support the final result. There is testing, daily weeding, troubleshooting and lots of preparation to make sure every inch is readied to support the new young plants. By the time you have something to put on the table, you realize the hard work must continue if you want true results. You’ve grown it, now you must nurture it, or this is going to be one small meal that won’t be coming around again soon.
The value in anything is derived by getting out the minimum equivalent of what we put in. For business, breaking even isn’t enough value. When business owners say they aren’t ready for video, what they are really saying is they aren’t able to envision how video can work for their marketing because of any number of reasons. They’re saying they’ve tended, and plowed under, many gardens. What’s going to be different about this one?
How do you move your business from “We’re not ready,” to “Show us what we need to do to get started”?
You don’t start with the seed, or the plow, or the water. You start with the value. What do you want to get out of this video project? From there, you evaluate the resources available, where costs can be trimmed and time can be saved. You work to understand that video for business marketing is not a quick fix for supper, it’s a long term investment in a better way to grow and thrive.
We’ve got a tool for that. It’s not a fancy tool, but we like it. It’s a video budgeting worksheet we developed to help prospects evaluate their readiness for a video production. It asks questions that must be answered before turning the first shovel of soil. It defines what they will consider VALUE. It requires answers that reveal whether a company is truly ready for the exciting process of seeing their potential come to life on camera in ways they’ve never imagined.
Download it here, try it for yourself, and share your feedback with us!
https://bit.ly/Videobudgeting
