![Video Brief: A Step-by-Step Guide [2023]](https://media.designrush.com/articles/256965/conversions/video-brief-details.jpg)
If you want to create a video for your brand, it should begin with a well-crafted brief. A well-written video brief solves multiple issues while its guidelines can successfully navigate its course to fruition.
Video marketing trends' benefits are endless, and creating a video just to add more content to your brand name is meaningless.
These videos, and their corresponding briefs, can be:
- Landing page introducing the company
- Promo showcasing the benefits of the offering
- A how-to video
- A testimonial video
- A location videos
- An event video
- Showreel
Table of Contents
- What is a Video Brief?
- Make an Overview
- Determine a Video Objective
- Define a Target Audience
- Establish Video Content Type
- Video Distribution
- Evaluate the Competition
- Come Up With Core Messaging
- Define Visuals
- Relevant Platform
- Assess Other Creative Brief Examples
- Consider Deadlines and Budget
- Ensure Keeping it Precise
- Why Do You Need a Video Brief?
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Video Brief – Key Takeaways
What is a Video Brief?
A video brief is a written document that brands use to communicate the project’s requirements with the concerned team.
A creative brief for your video project gives the clients an idea about the project before the video marketing strategy initiation. A video brief template may help every time a video is to be created and helps fill in detailed specifics before taking the first steps. It helps start from the point of clarity and saves time on iterations.
A video creative brief combines important briefs into a centralized repository to ensure that the video development team doesn’t miss anything. A video brief is essential while working with an internal team or an agency. This ensures that everyone is on the same page, giving processes a direction to move forward.
Like any other brief, video briefs must be detailed while encapsulating multiple aspects.
Now let's look at the entire process of creating a video production brief that ensures error-free video production.
1. Make an Overview
In a nutshell, the overview is the big picture of the video production brief. This brief serves as a guide for the team involved, from pre-production to post-production. It confirms how the video fits into the brand and marketing strategy.
Having a good understanding of video marketing will help you define the specifics of your overview, including the target audience, key message, project timeline, and budget.
2. Determine a Video Objective
While the overview covers things from a broader perspective, the objectives should be direct, concrete, and attainable. Objectives should include the goal brands wish to achieve, the business situation, and the solution. Without a goal, processes will be directionless.
Describing the objectives in the early ideation stages provides answers to the following questions.
The goals of the video should also be defined. These include:
- Making more sales
- A brand image change
- Promoting signup
- Increase the website traffic
- Increase in conversion or leads.
This helps the team to create metrics that depict the proximity to achieving the goals. The production and the planning process will also depend upon the objectives.
3. Define a Target Audience
Finalizing the target audience refers to those who watch the marketing video content. The audience can be broad or narrow. A narrow audience will be impactful, while a broader one will be less impactful.
The audiences could be made of:
- Potential clients
- Current customers
- Industry experts
- General public
- Stakeholders
- Funding organizations or investors
Post describing the audience, it is vital to speak to them in an aligned tone. This should include demographics (Age, occupation, gender, ethnicity, and income level) and creating user personas.
Unaware of the target audience, brands cannot tailor the content well. These insights can hook the audience’s attention effectively.
Furthermore, brands can assess how audiences feel, think, and do after viewing the video.
4. Establish Video Content Type
Brands must finalize the type of marketing videos they intend to create. As mentioned above, these could be from a varied range.
The video type will also showcase the logo, tagline, and signature sound. This aspect of a video production creative brief aspect should also highlight what must be avoided, such as industry jargon and colors similar to the competitors.
Since there are diverse video types and goals, they are also shot differently. Deciding the content type also figures out the technical answers.
5. Video Distribution
Ensure that the video is crafted toward the method of distribution.
According to Hootsuite, people spend an average of 2 hours and 27 minutes on social media daily, making it a priority to outline the targeted platforms. Different platforms require different formats, ensuring that the video is contextual and aligns with the distribution method. For example, platforms such as YouTube will require modifications, such as a special resolution and a call to action.
They might also have different ‘tags’ on various platforms. The alignment can be based on the following:
- Time length specific
- Variations in an aspect ratio
- Introducing the silent auto-play feature
- A relevant call-to-action
The platform helps brands conclude how it will be filmed, the length, the type of audio, or if it will include an onscreen message.
The video can be posted on:
- The website
- Social Media
- Conferences
- For emails to prospects
However, videos on owned media, such as a brand’s website, may not require adjustments. This requires gauging the resolution and the image quality beforehand.
6. Evaluate the Competition
According to Emerald Publishing, 90% of Fortune 500 companies practice competitive intelligence, making it an advantage for firms to keep ahead.
The evaluation can be based on the competitors’ specialty, their current needs, and how they are addressed.
While comparing the offerings, brands must also compare competitors' additional benefits.
7. Come Up With Core Messaging
The key to creating an engaging explainer video for video marketing is having a clear and powerful message.
The core message can be condensed into one or a few sentences. The message should perfectly answer the question – what's in it for me?
This ensures that the message is not only understood but rather acted upon.
The core message differs from the objective because it is about how brands convince their audiences to take action. Brands should spend time testing and refining the messaging with tools such as A/B testing.
It's best to keep things simple and work on one core message at a time. Once the core message is established, a supporting sub-messaging can explain it in detail.
Besides communication, tonality is vital to building a relationship with the audience. A sub-messaging solidifies the message. It could be funny, corporate, or friendly.
Ideally, the tonality should be parallel to the message.
The brand tonality can be pivoted if brands need a total revamp. Adding the communication basics can let the concerned team use a specific tone during video development. As communication lays the groundwork for the brand personality and the video narration, the aspect shouldn’t be neglected.
8. Define Visuals
A mood board is a collage of images that can be created to showcase the look and feel of the project.
This can also include a storyboard slide to accentuate and communicate the feel of the mood board to the rest of the team.
9. Relevant Platform
Effective distribution is as important in your video production project as creating a well-written brief; hence, its production should match the distribution platforms. By partnering with a skilled video production company, you can ensure that your content is tailored to the specific distribution channels for maximum impact and reach.
This will call for rethinking the video production process. It should also depend on who the audience is and the ideal platform to reach them.
The production of the video will change depending on the platform it is viewed on. These platforms could be the website, TV, or during training.
10. Assess Other Creative Brief Examples
Assessing other creative brief examples helps identify potential gaps in the process.
Try to find an ideal example that matches the scope and size of your project while also aligning with the industry.
11. Consider Deadlines and Budget
These considerations give an idea about the production cost and its requirements.
If the video is based on a trend, it will be required as a priority. The scale and scope of the project are crucial pillars in determining the deadline and budget. Specific content updates can, however, be done cost-effectively in less time. Creating a budget ahead of time helps establish realistic financial boundaries.
Highlighting significant dates and milestones may help. For example, if three campaigns are to be delivered, outline the timelines for each delivery. This can also help to measure marketing success.
In case of changes, briefs can be updated to ensure smooth communication.
12. Ensure Keeping it Precise
Being thorough with the necessities and expectations of the brief doesn’t require endless texts. Hence, it is desirable to be concise and brief with only detailed aspects. A short paragraph explaining each essential item would be ideal.
This may include necessary background info for developers to understand the brand. This could include the website link, brand message, background information, and facts. You can list the must-haves in bullet points. This also prevents burdening the team with unending ideas in one document.
Other important aspects include drawing a line for the approval process, maintaining a central point of contact to collect feedback, preventing conflicting situations, and managing the expectations of the team.
Why Do You Need a Video Brief?
Companies have always devised ways to improve workplace processes, particularly for collaboration and communication. A video brief is one of those improvements. Here are some reasons you need a creative brief for video projects.
Budget
A video brief is detrimental to sticking to your project budget. A video production company can provide quotations based on your video brief as it shows exactly what you want. While aligning with what you’re searching for, it can also help a video production agency come up with an appropriate quotation.
Focus
As we’ve mentioned above, having a creative brief for video projects reduces distractions and iterations. Whether you have an in-house team or outsourcing it to a video production agency, a written document that outlines the specifics of your next video project will help you focus.
Shareability
A video brief template is used as a blueprint to outline the purpose, tone, style, and messaging of a creative video. Taking the time to create one makes your vision more shareable with other members of the team. As a result, you can save time because you’re not scheduling a massive number of calls to ensure the desired outcome for your video project; you can simply send them the creative brief for your video and ensure its success.
Timeline
Aside from outlining your video’s tone, style, and messaging, a video brief outlines each stage of the production process, including script writing, casting, filming, and post-production. This outline is important to allow you to allot adequate time for each step of the process and ensure that you deliver the video on time.
Additionally, having a video brief helps you identify and prepare for potential issues and challenges that could cause delays in your timeline.
Frequently Asked Questions
When To Use a Video Brief?
A video brief should be used when a clear and concise direction is needed for a video project. It’s particularly useful when the project involves multiple stakeholders, requires significant investment, or has a specific target audience.
What Makes a Good Video Brief?
There are many characteristics of a good creative brief for a video project. Firstly, it should fulfill its core purpose: providing the project’s target audience, tone, style, messaging, and objectives. Then, for the more technical stuff, it should outline the deliverables, timeline, and budget.
Video Brief – Key Takeaways
The more details included, the smoother the process will be making it more probable to meet the defined objectives.
Moreover, unnecessary calls and meetings to explain the basics can be time-consuming. Hence, a video brief lays a strong foundation for the process. It will also summarize fundamentals and must be customized per the project's scope.
Being organized right from the outset of the project reduces the possibility of going off track and lets teams revisit the brief when required. It can also make marketing success consistent and cohesive rather than a complex one.
A column can be added for expert suggestions from the video production team.
Outsourcing a professional video marketing agency can help you with this whole process, so we advise looking for the right agency to partner with for your project.
