Video Production seems easier than ever. Anyone with a smartphone can, theoretically, be a video producer. That said, if you want to create an immersive video that engages wide audiences, there’s more to it than simply pointing a phone at your face and talking. Taking steps to improve your video production process will reap big rewards.

One of the best ways to improve your video production workflow is to streamline the process. Here, we’ll take you through some streamlining strategies which can give your final product a big boost, as well as some other tips and tricks to make your video production a success:

Production

The production itself can be stressful, especially if you haven’t hired a trained team and are working by yourself or with freelancers. On the other hand, it can also be a huge amount of fun!

A smooth, streamlined, high-quality production will usually result in a much better video. So here are some ideas to make sure that your production goes as smoothly and enjoyably as possible:

1. Choose high-quality equipment

These days, it’s not hard to produce a high-quality video for a relatively low cost. By hiring a professional production crew, you can get excellent quality and expertise, which helps to bring the best out of your video technology.

That being said, there are definite advantages to choosing higher-quality equipment over, say, filming your video entirely on your phone. Better microphones give a crisper, clearer, more immersive sound. Better cameras not only capture better pictures, but they also give you many more options when it comes to creative shots and camerawork.

Better quality equipment is also key when streamlining your production process. It’s much easier to use and edit from high-quality equipment. For example, you’ll spend much less time trying to convert file formats or sharpening up images taken on a sub-par camera.

2. Practice smart budgeting and resource allocation

We’re speaking a lot about streamlining as a whole in this article, but we’re going to drill right down into the specifics of streamlining here. Smart, strategic budgeting and resource allocation are key to streamlined video production.

To create a smooth, streamlined production, you need to know exactly what you want to achieve and exactly what you need to achieve it right from the start. So, clarify your intentions and needs, and then dig into the resources you need to achieve this.

Prioritize what you need in terms of resources so that when it comes to budgeting, you can be smart and specific about it. If you’re not sure what’s already available to you and what you need, cloud based ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software can help. You can use it to get an overview of all your business data. Helping you to see what you have, what you need, and the funds you’ll require to bring your vision to life. 

3. Study and determine film techniques

There’s a lot more to producing a video than simply pointing your camera at something and pressing “record.” Good technique can make all the difference to your production.

The right film technique for the right production, in combination with the right team and the right equipment, is a winning formula, but if you have to pick only one of these, a knowledge of film techniques is a good idea.

The more you know about film, the better you will be able to determine the shots, props, lighting, and direction that will best suit your production. These elements can make for a compelling video, even without the benefit of expensive equipment or big-name talent.

4. Direct your talent

Making a video is a collaborative process in which new ideas and feedback should be welcomed at every stage. That said, it is important that your video production has some structure. You can provide that structure through direction.

Your production will be much more streamlined and result in a much more immersive video if you have a clear idea of what you want your talent to do, why you want them to do it, and the effect this will have on the audience. You convey this vision to your talent through direction.

Directing talent involves:

• Guiding actors or speakers.
• Coordinating the crew.
• Explaining the vision.
• Creating atmosphere.

Post-Production

Between production and distribution is the post-production stage. This is a crucial time during which you can carve your raw footage into something truly engaging and immersive. Here are some ideas for how you can best use this time:

5. Gather team and client feedback

Getting feedback from your team and clients will help you hone and refine your video into something audiences will love. Ask your team and select groups of clients what they think of your video content, and take their feedback on board.

This is another area where you can benefit from a production company, especially a long-term production partner. Production teams are experts in the industry and are likely to have great ideas about how you can improve your production. They will also have plenty of tips and tricks for distribution and promotion. 

6. Enhance your visuals

If your visuals are disappointing at first, don’t worry. It’s common for early visuals to fall a bit flat. You can make your vision come to life with clever editing.

With modern technology, it’s fast and easy to create the visuals you want on a granular level. From simple things like toggling saturation levels and tints to more complex things like adding CGI and animations, there is a huge amount that you can do to your visuals during editing.

Remember not to get carried away when enhancing your visuals. The ultimate aim of your visuals is to clearly convey your message to the viewer. Lighting effects, color choices, and more can greatly influence this, so be careful with your visual choices.

7. Create clear communication and feedback loops

Post-production can involve lots of different people working on different aspects of your production. For example, you may have one team working on visuals, another on sound, and yet another in charge of screenplay rewrites, etc. 

It’s vital that all these teams can communicate as a holistic whole rather than becoming siloed in their own departments. The better the communication between post-production workers, the smoother your final production will be.

So, create clear communication policies and feedback loops for your entire team to use during post-production.

Distribution and Promotion

Having filmed and refined your video, now it’s time to send it out into the world. You may think that you have done everything you can to improve your video production process at this point, but in fact, there are still things you can do. Here are some ways you can get the very best out of your video production workflow even as you release your video to audiences:

8. Choose the right platforms

There’s no point in having a fantastic, beautifully-produced video if nobody ever sees it. You can get the best results by posting your video on the channels and platforms that your target audiences use the most.

If you’re not sure where to find your audiences, your ERP or CRM software could help. With an ERP project software, you can pull data from all your marketing channels, customer service channels, databases, etc. You can then use this data to determine insights about your customers and prospective audience.

Whereas, you can use your CRM software to gather data about your customers communication preferences and to gather cross-device insights. 

9. Optimize for SEO

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) will make your video rank highly on Google. As such, video SEO is a must for anyone who wants their video to be findable through search engines.

SEO is a big topic worth looking into if you’re not well-versed in it. When writing your video descriptions, or any text that goes with your videos, make sure that you understand how to make that text stand out to Google. 

If you are releasing your video on YouTube, there is a specific branch of SEO called YouTube SEO (or, sometimes, simply YouTube Optimization). This involves things like making video titles that appeal to the YouTube algorithm, editing your content to fit YouTube’s community standards, and choosing algorithm-friendly thumbnails.

10. Engage with your audience

Platforms, search engines, and social media channels universally love engagement. The more you engage with your audience in things like comments and messages, the more your videos will be boosted on your chosen platforms.

Perhaps more importantly, engagement helps you to build relationships with your audience. Videos give you a chance to quickly connect with audiences on multiple levels. You can reinforce that connection by engaging with comments and user feedback. 

Audience engagement will help you to build your brand reputation, develop deeper relationships with your audience, and encourage online platforms to boost your content. All in all, it’s a very good idea to monitor and respond to activity on your video.

Streamline Your Production Process

Streamlining your video production workflow can make a big difference both to the experience of making a video and to its final impact. Things like thinking strategically about your resources and budget, getting the right equipment, creating effective communication and feedback loops, and having a solid understanding of film techniques will all have a big positive effect on your video.

You can get a lot of the things we’ve recommended here in a bundle when you hire a professional production company. Professional teams work together beautifully to pull in all the elements needed to create a great video. They work in a streamlined, knowledgeable way and can lend their expertise whenever needed to make sure that you get the best possible results.

So, if you want to improve your video production process and create fantastic videos, Lemonlight can help. We’ve produced over 16,000 videos for brands just like yours. Contact us and one of our experts will be happy to walk you through a tailored plan to take your video marketing game to the next level.

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