In a down economy, video producers and marketers have to get creative with more than just what they film. Shrinking budgets mean you need to do more with less. However, with a little strategizing, you won’t have to sacrifice quality or quantity. Executing an effective video strategy while navigating budget constraints requires you to utilize all available resources — from tapping team members who lack video experience to using limitations as creative fuel.
The current economic climate presents a host of challenges for video creators and marketers. So it’s essential to leverage every opportunity and get the most out of every dollar you spend creating videos. We offer expert tips and advice on this important topic “How to create a contemporary video strategy.”
Expert advice on effectively using resources to execute a video strategy
For the guide, we spoke to marketing and video production leaders who shared valuable insights into how they’re successfully navigating this challenging environment, including:
- Kyle Denhoff, Director of Marketing, HubSpot
- Lara Unnerstall, Video Producer, Descript
- Ryan Vig, Marketing Leader, Descript
- Lauren Zoltick, Director of Performance Marketing, Storyblocks
- Kaitlyn Rossi, Senior Producer, Storyblocks
Download How to create a contemporary video strategy to learn some how these leaders maximize every available resource to execute their video strategies.
Everyone has a role to play in executing a video strategy
A leaner budget means you need to empower everyone on your team to step up and help out. When we say everyone, we mean everyone — including those who don’t work with video on a day-to-day basis. While this might sound like piling more work on busy peoples’ plates, Descript Video Producer Lara Unnerstall says you may be surprised to find staff members are actually eager to lend a hand. “People get actually excited and happy about the chance to work on content like this. Especially if their job is a little less in the creative realm. They’ll actually want an opportunity to try their hand at this stuff,” Lara shares.
Tools like Storyblocks’ Maker For Teams can provide any member of your team with the resources they need to contribute to video production — even those with no prior experience. Maker for Teams is specifically designed to streamline your team’s creation process — and it’s user-friendly enough for virtually anyone to pick up and use immediately.
When you’re looking for help producing videos, your first impulse might be to only include social media managers or lifestyle marketers. The people in these roles may be the obvious first choice since their jobs are content related. But as Ryan Vig, Marketing Leader at Descript points out, you shouldn’t limit your search to those with directly adjacent skill sets. “I’ve seen customer support team members knock it out of the park on video content. I’ve seen some really stellar team members that you wouldn’t expect to be willing and interested in creating video,” says Ryan. He’s even seen some of the highest-paid team members, like engineers, recruited to help produce video content.
Want to learn more about tapping into your team’s creativity and getting everyone to pitch in?
Download How to create a contemporary video strategy for free.
How tighter budgets can fuel the creative fire
Necessity is the mother of invention, which helps explain why constrained resources can be a source of innovation for video production teams. When resources are in short supply, creative marketers and video producers scramble to ensure the flow of content continues without impacting quality. “I think we’ve learned a lot from needing to be a little scrappier in these moments,” says Storyblocks Director of Performance Marketing Lauren Zoltick. “Moments like this forced the team to be more creative and figure out new ways. Video production gets stronger and strategies get stronger, because they need to.”
Part of doing more with less means utilizing existing resources to execute a video strategy in new and creative ways. A great example is diving into your back content library. It doesn’t have to be complicated or time-consuming to transform old content into something fresh. In fact, it can even help get your content in front of new audiences with minimal effort. Refreshing old content not only reduces the time and cost of production, it enables even non-technical team members to join in.
When creating lengthier video productions, you can break it out into bite-sized episodes for different platforms. That way, you’re generating multiple pieces of content from a single production. Lauren notes this is a great way to creatively stretch your content budget, particularly when funds are tight. “This is a way [for us to be] a lot more creative. I think it’s going to be a lot more effective overall,” she says.
How to use social media for video marketing
One strategy experts are taking advantage of is using social media as a testing ground for new types of content. Posting on social media is a fast and free method of quickly getting content out to a wide audience. And it’s low-risk enough that not everything has to be a smash hit to justify the production.
You might even stumble on unexpected success from a piece of content you’d never have thought to produce. As HubSpot Director of Marketing Kyle Denhoff points out, “If one becomes a hit and does well, then we’ll bring that back to the editorial team and they’ll say how we can actually turn this into a long-form video.” It’s an approach that allows the company to experiment with short-form, inexpensive content before committing to a lengthier, pricier production.
Learn how you can use budget constraints to your advantage.
Download How to create a contemporary video strategy for free.
Give your team members the right tools to execute on your video strategy
Bringing in additional help to assist with creating videos is a great way to maximize the resources of your core video production and marketing team. But you need to make sure you’re providing the right tools for them. Access to basic editing software like Maker for Teams or a stock footage subscription is a great jumping off point for those who are new to video creation. By familiarizing your video non-experts with the basics of video production, you’ll ensure that they can quickly start helping your team create videos.
At Storyblocks, our own social media manager creates a lot of social content for TikTok with her phone. Once she’s done filming, she imports her footage to Maker for Teams for any edits and tweaks. Senior Storyblocks Producer Kaitlyn Rossi says it’s an example of how giving your team the knowledge and freedom to create can go a long way towards increasing your resources. “It reduces the amount of context switching the video team needs to do between all of the different projects going on at once. So we can focus on the things that require a little more attention,” Kaitlyn shares.
Of course, your full-time video production team members also need the proper tools to do their jobs effectively and efficiently. This includes everything from Adobe plugins to professional-quality After Effects templates. Access to these types of tools can save video producers countless hours and headaches.
Get more expert tips on finding resources to execute a video strategy
Marketing and video production teams across every industry are working with tighter budgets this year. But with some creative planning, you can keep the content flowing while getting the most out of every dollar. Whether you’re enabling video non-experts to pitch in, repurposing old content, or getting creative with a tight budget, there are lots of ways to do with what you have.
Want more tips and advice on how to get more out of your resources from these experts? Download How to create a contemporary video strategy guide for free today.
