Here’s how to write the perfect video brief
How exciting! You’ve decided to invest in a video to get your message across, and that’s a great idea. Video is a powerful and effective asset to have in your marketing toolkit (and if you want to validate your decision – check out this blog).
But before you leap in feet first, we suggest you take a step back and set up some objectives, so you reap the returns you expect. Of course, your video needs to be fit for purpose, within budget and delivered according to schedule. But that’s just for starters.
Here’s our 6-point guide to writing the perfect video brief to help you get going, stay on track, and reach the grand finale.
1. Ask yourself ‘why?’
Yes, the most basic question of all, but it’s amazing how often people get swept away in the moment and lose sight of why exactly they want a video. It’s essential to treat a video project like any other business investment, and define its purpose – and desired outcomes.
So – what do you hope to achieve? Are you trying to build a brand personality, deliver a more engaging website experience, launch, or promote a product? Or educate your audience, train, or upskill your team, recruit new staff, support a campaign, drive Google rankings or website traffic, or establish yourself as a trusted partner? Check out the different types of business videos to consider here.
Tip: Once you’ve established your objective, make sure you continue to refer to it as you complete the rest of your brief.
2. Now, who are you talking to?
Defining who you are talking to will help establish three things:
- What type of video you need to produce to engage with and influence your target market?
- What content and approach will connect you with them?
- Where do you need to share it so it gets seen by the right audience?
As you can see, knowing who you are talking to is all important.
Tip: To stay focused on your audience, consider writing up a marketing persona (a little composite buyer profile) that represents the characteristics and behaviour of the market segment you’re targeting. Here’s a handy guide to writing personas if you’ve never done one before.
3. And where will you share your video?
While in your excitement and pride, it may be tempting to share your brand spanking new video everywhere, we suggest being a little more strategic – and for good reason.
Different platforms have different length limits. For example, let’s take those pre-roll ads that play before and during the main video on platforms like YouTube. If a viewer can’t skip your video, it should be less than 15 seconds long. If they are skippable, YouTube recommends a length limit of 3 minutes. Obviously, if it’s an in-house training video, you can go mad timewise, but we suggest you don’t if you value employee engagement! A three-hour movie in a luxury theatre is one thing, but 180 minutes sitting in a stuffy meeting room is quite a different scenario!
Video shape matters as much as size. For example, square or vertical videos work better on Facebook than a widescreen format. And we’re sure you will have noticed the rise of silent-autoplay on various platforms – so, for those instances, you need graphics and captions to get your message across and engage viewer attention, not depend on a voiceover.
And, of course, there’s no point in sharing a video that features a call-to-action to visit your website if the viewer is already on-site. Or promoting your video on a platform that’s unpopular with your target market.
Tip: To maximise the value of your video, extend how and where it can be used to maximum impact, and include in your brief the requirement to produce platform-specific variations. It will cost you less to plan now than do it retrospectively.
4. The nitty-gritty – what do you want to show and tell?
List your key messages. That’s the content important to your target market – not you!
Divide the points into mandatory and supplementary content – so if your video length is restricted due to budget or platform, you can make an easy call on what to include or omit. Be ruthless in deciding what truly resonates with your audience. Consider undertaking research to make sure you understand what they want to know or see – not just what you want to tell them.
Decide on your call to action. What do you want the viewer to do after watching your video? Visit your website to read more, or jump straight into your e-commerce shop? Request a meeting, or download additional content? Save your channel to revisit, or receive alerts when you publish new helpful content?
And don’t forget to list any non-negotiables when you write your brief – like logos, taglines, clickable links, colours, and fonts.
Tip: Prepare a must-not-have list to avoid copying competitors’ colours, or using words that are alienating, confusing, X-rated or simply off-putting to your audience.
5. Style and tone
Think about your audience, your objectives, and your content. And what your competitors are doing!
Your tone and style will determine your ability to connect with the right people. So, your video’s look, language, and approach should be appropriate to your brand and offering, and those watching it. For example, does it need to be professional, reassuring and trustworthy? Fun and exciting? Evocative, provocative and challenging? Or informal, humorous, or whimsical?
Tip: By building a marketing persona, you will narrow down the most impactful way to influence your target market.
6. Lastly, let’s talk money and deadline
Dreams are great, but budget blowouts and missed deadlines aren’t.
Include how much you have to spend (or request an estimate or quote) and choose a timeline based on planned activities and campaigns – not unrealistic dates plucked out of thin air.
Tip: If you have champagne tastes but a beer budget, let your video production partner know in advance so they can put on their thinking caps and suggest creative ways to achieve more with less.