As video has taken over the internet, brands are rethinking how they produce this kind of content.
More work is going in-house instead of through agencies. In fact, the ANA reports that over 70% of brands are doing this. The once fanciful in-house agency has become a reality for many brands looking to improve cost efficiencies and stay nimble.
Cost and turnaround time typically were justification to outsource video, but those same factors are now empowering the in-house movement. It’s not unusual for a 2-minute video produced by an agency or freelancer to cost upwards $250,000, with a timeline that runs weeks or months. And that doesn’t even account for the multiple video cuts and formats required for the myriad of social channels marketers need to cover.
In-house programs can also enhance the scale of video programs. According to a recent Wibbitz study, marketing teams that outsource production create one to two videos per month, while teams that produce video in-house turn out three to ten.
In-housing also allows brands to use video in innovative ways. S&P Global, for example, now includes video versions of its research and reports. Travelink, American Express not only produces promotional video for travel offers, but it also establishes its thought leadership through educational videos on topics like reducing travel-induced stress. AT&T creates videos for internal employee communications that improve message retention and engagement. And agencies like FleishmanHillard use video for everything from client pitches to reporting.
How can you get started? Here are three key steps to successfully move video production in-house.
1. Establish a video-first mindset
Video is no longer a nice-to-have, and your teams need to put video at the forefront of every project. Every initiative should include at least one video asset, whether to promote the campaign across social media, improve landing page conversions or to be the campaign itself. Incorporate it into all phases of your strategic thinking from the initial brainstorm through planning and execution.
Work video metrics into broader campaign goals and track them diligently. Making video part of your core content mix won’t happen overnight; it requires a constant push to prioritize video and a conscious effort to get your team thinking video-first during the project planning phase.
2. Equip your team with the right tools
Thanks to the advancement of video tech over the past few years, you no longer need to invest in expensive video equipment or a team of experienced editors to produce professional-grade content.
At Wibbitz, we’ve found basic but effective equipment to put together a simple studio with only a few key items. For example, we use DIY production studio lights, tripods, clip-on mics, a hand-held teleprompter, portable lenses that attach to an iPhone and a gimbal for camera stabilization. A 4K camera shoots video that works for most platforms and even an iPhone can do the trick for social video content.
Online video creation tools like Wibbitz are also essential for any in-house video team. This new breed of video editing simplifies the process of storyboarding a video, cropping and trimming footage, adding text and graphic animations and splicing in transitions so that non-professional video editors can produce high-quality video.
Since the Wibbitz online editor is cloud-based, it also facilitates video file storage and sharing between different teams and offices to make localizing content and supporting other internal teams more efficient.
3. Implement new creative processes
Successfully moving video production in-house requires a new set of roles and processes. Start by assigning owners for key production steps like writing scripts or treatments, filming, gathering assets and editing. Make sure to set design guidelines and expectations with a clear approval process.
It’s best to work with your design or video team to create video guidelines that meet your brand standards. These guidelines can be implemented as templates in tools like the Wibbitz Studio so anyone on your team can produce videos that meet approval requirements. Our guide to video branding can help you make sure you’re checking all the boxes as you build out these guidelines and templates and adapt a video-first mindset across teams.
Just like any strategic shift, bringing video production in-house must be done intentionally and might take time to optimize. But with the right workflow in place, it will quickly help lower production costs, improve efficiency and ultimately be an integral driver of growth for your business.
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Hilary Kay is the VP of marketing and communications at Wibbitz where she leads global brand strategy, content, digital, paid media, events and product campaigns. Since leading the U.S. market launch in 2015, she has played a key leadership role at Wibbitz, overseeing its market expansion in Europe, diversification of its customer base and recent rebranding and product launches.
