It is nearly the end of the year, but not too late to get started on your video strategy for the new year! Video marketing can go hand in hand with paid advertising, or if you are wanting to showcase a specific event, like an important open day that might be coming up. Although there are many types of video all with different styles and methods of production, we have narrowed it down to five steps so that you can get started on your Video Marketing Strategy for your school.
When can my school use video?
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School updates
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Open days
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School trip montages
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Social media videos
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Holidays (Christmas, Halloween, Easter, etc.)
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Interviews with staff
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Live streaming specific events
5 Steps to video production
Step 1: Why are you making this video?
Having a clear objective and vision of what you want to get out of your new video marketing campaign is vital, but don’t go into it all guns blazing. If you start posting it everywhere, then it will start to look a bit like spam. On the flip side, too little coverage and it wont get the attention it deserves.
Let’s take a look at some key points when thinking about your marketing strategy:
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Audience/goals: Are you aiming your videos at prospective families or current families? Bear in mind all key stakeholders when crafting any strategy.
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Content: Think about what you want to get across to them in your video, and the key bits that they should be taking away. Think about where you can lead them after they have watched the video.
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Milestones: Set some goals and key checkpoints in your marketing campaign, as this is going to help structure and prioritise the areas that will need more attention and time than others.
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Budget: How much do you want to put into this campaign? Facebook and Google Ads are great marketing platforms for social media, and they are both very flexible with costs over short or long periods.
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Test: No matter how much time you put into planning, shooting and editing, you will need time to test out the video(s) on different platforms. File sizes, formats and frame sizes vary, so give yourself enough time to test the video before you upload.
Step 2: Style of your campaign
Now you have gauged the timeline of your campaign, the next step is to find the right style of video for your marketing strategy.
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Authenticity: You really don’t have to start from scratch. There are so many fantastic, intriguing styles out there so why not follow something that works, either something you like that another school has done or maybe tailor companies more corporate video to your school’s needs.
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Duration: As the attention span has dropped across the world due to advancements in technology, videos are getting shorter to cater to those who are simply scrolling through their phone. This is why you need to keep your video short and snappy (anywhere between 30 seconds and 4 minutes), with the aim to stop someone from scrolling to watch the video.
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Type: the actual style of video will vary depending on the nature of the campaign. The main styles you should be settling on for school marketing are:
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Explainer videos
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Testimonial videos
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Alumni testimonials
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Fundraising videos
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Open day videos
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Step 3: Filming and Editing
We aren’t going to bore you with the ins and outs of video production, but it is good to have a brief understanding of what is included, what you should be looking out for and what to expect from the outcome. Below we have detailed some points to think about when approaching the filming and editing of the video. Check out our previous blog if you would like to dive deeper into video production.
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On a tight budget? Get some overhead drone shots of the school grounds: great filler shots if you need to build up time.
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Vloggers usually have a pretty good setup already and they will be able to promote your video through their channel?
Bonus Tip: Live Streaming
You might not have the time or ability to produce these videos frequently, so get on social media and start live streaming. People love to see things as they happen, especially if they are engaging and topical to something that is happening right now!
Step 4: Send a clear message
So you have all the footage, and it is all cut nicely together: you even have a nice music bed or a short jingle that goes hand in hand with the visuals. But are you sending the right message? Follow these tips on making sure your video is going to stand out in the right way:
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Quality - it goes without saying that with all the hi-tech equipment out there (whether you have it or not), your video needs to look great and sound great. Don’t cut corners with audio quality and resolution - if you do, people will lose interest and move on.
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Passion - If your video includes a student or teaching speaking to the camera, make sure they are looking and sounding passionate. There is nothing worse than someone standing still, with no facial expression or hand movement speaking in a monotone voice. You may think that over acting looks too much, but it will rub off on the viewer and keep them interested.
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Storytelling - nothing is more engaging than when you feel like you are invested in a really interesting story. People will retain the information in your video much longer if it has a solid structure.
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CTA (Call To Action) - This is going to be the best way to get viewers to contact you, while making it feel personal at the same time. If you are talking to the camera, why not address the audience, by asking or telling them where to go to contact you, or maybe what video to watch next to gain a further understanding of the topic. If it is a purely descriptive video, then add some details and/or links in the bio. Make sure they are sharing the video around - this will help publicise the video. Another alternative is adding this text or a visual to the end of the video, giving the video a powerful visual cue to end on.
Step 5: Time to share
That’s it. The hard part is over. You have your masterpiece ready for the world to see. The next step is researching where to upload it and who to send it to. Like we said earlier in this blog, social media is going to be your strongest asset. Sites like Youtube, Facebook and Instagram have a high amount of interest, not to mention Facebook’s advertising can help push to reach your videos maximum potential.
Take a look at our blog post here on how to use Facebook Advertising to your advantage. Those really short videos can be framed to fit Instagram stories perfectly, but don’t stop there! Remember to share a video across numerous platforms to increase those views.
We hope these tips will help you with writing creating your perfect video marketing strategy. Are you having trouble with a specific stage of the process? We can walk you through each one in more detail. Enquire here if you need help with where to start your strategy, or even what to do with the final piece when you are finished.