Unlike that time you tripped and started jogging to cover it up, this misstep is more like a faceplant…
If the explosion of video onto the marketing scene caught you by surprise, you’re not alone. One day it was a thing that some brands did. The next day it was necessary for marketing survival. I bet most of you still have your very first video campaign fresh in your memory. You sought the necessary approvals, set a budget, developed a concept and worked with creative to make motion picture magic. That first video hopefully lead to a second, and a third, and so on. And each time you embarked on a new video campaign, you had a little more practical knowledge to help guide the process. But did you forget one of the most important steps? Think real hard. Whatdoes your content marketing strategy have that your video marketing strategy doesn’t?
A style guide is a set of content rules that direct every aspect involved in the design, messaging and voice of marketing collateral. Among its many purposes, style guides keep every person involved in content creation on the same page. The most successful content marketers have long followed a style guide for their blogs, newsletters, eBooks, etc. But somehow, this vital component got skipped when organizations dove head first into video.
Why You Need A Video Style Guide
If you thought video was big in 2016, check out what this article has to say about video in the year to come! It’s about to get even bigger, and as your organization races to keep pace, it will become easier and easier to stray from branding, messaging, and eventually — your target audiences. A video style guide will ensure this doesn’t happen by:
Supplying guidelines that simplify the development of video content.
Creating tone, voice, message and image consistency, which helps audiences recognize and trust your brand.
Encouraging extensive audience and market research.
Ensuring that content is created according to the audience for which it is intended.
What to Include in Your Video Style Guide
1. Company Mission/Value Statement
Your mission or value statement is the reason why your organization exists. Every shred of content you produce should support this statement. Ergo, you can’t align your brand and business goals with your video content until this statement is defined.
2. Communication Concepts
Messaging, imagery and tone depends entirely on how well you know yourself. Personify your brand by defining the tone of voice, personality, and characteristics that embody its existence. These elements will determine how your brand speaks, communicates and interacts with target audiences.
Pro Tip: Here’s a handy questionnaire to help get your team thinking deep about its brand, mission statement, and how audiences perceive it.
3. Video Intent
Define what types of video campaigns you intend to create. This will help later in the planning process when we push you to define specific design, background, and formatting details.
4. Design Specifications
In this section, cover everything from high vector logo style, font styles, typefaces, and color codes to attention bar placement, and specific scene/background expectations.
Pro Tip: Design specifications will vary depending on the type of video you are shooting (hence the importance of defining video intent). For example, an interview with the CEO of your organization will require a much different background/setting than a product highlight video. Be sure to consider this as you develop design guidelines.
5. Formatting Specifications
Set a standard for general technical details, resolution and format. To build out this section of your video style guide, you will need to consider where and how your videos will be viewed. Optimal formatting recommendations will vary between platforms.
6. Legal Obligations
This section should define how your brand will display its copyright notice and URL at the end of each video. You should also include a video release procedure for employees to follow. A video release is a legal document that gives consent and must be signed by every person who appears on camera (A- and B-roll). Don’t overlook or wing these details. Your intellectual property depends on it!
Create a PDF version of the style guide and store it in a place that’s accessible to all members of the team. Also, keep the style guide at a reasonable length to ensure your team references it regularly. If it’s the width of an Oxford Dictionary, it may intimidate some people. Finally, adopt an “all hands on deck” mentality as you dig into the creation of this guide. Each department and team member will have valuable insight to add.
Pro Tip: Your video guide IS NOT a permanent document. It will change and evolve as your brand, audiences and business goals do. Don’t let the specificity of this document deter you from making progress. You can alter details at any time.
Seems like a lot of work, right? That’s because it is! But the time and effort you put into your video style guide up front will save your team time and effort in the long run.
If you’re skeptical about getting this major step in video marketing strategy correct, reach out to a video production agency for help. They are experts at translating data into action, and will have a specific process in place for developing a thorough video style guide that uniquely aligns with your brand, target audience and marketing objectives.
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