How to write a video brief

15th February 2017 by CH

Corporate video is no longer up-and-coming. It’s here to stay and has become a meaningful part of a well-thought marketing strategy and internal communication. It’s a powerful way to portray your brand story, explain your value proposition, and build relationships with customers or your employees.

If you’ve decided you want to add video to enhance your marketing messages, the first step you need to take is getting started on your video brief. Read on to learn more about what a video brief is and how to write a clear video brief in 5 easy steps.

A video brief is the first point of call for both the client and agency to understand the content needed and its main purpose. This is a significant stage in the process as it’s the first opportunity to get under the skin of the aims and objectives of the video and it can help you better plan the production schedule, making the entire video production process easier.

Ready to get started?

Step 1 – Be clear on what you want to achieve by outlining the purpose of the video you want to create

Perhaps you need to excite your audience about a new product, explain detailed information to colleagues, or create a bespoke animation for a digital advert. As an agency, one of the first questions we always ask a client is “ Who is your audience? ”. It’s essential that the style and content of your corporate video is tailored to your target audience, in order to make sure your desired message resonates with them.

Is the audience internal or external ? Do they already have some knowledge of the message you’re trying to convey? Where and how will they will be watching? These are all important factors to consider as you’re working on defining the purpose of your video.

Step 2 – Choose the right video duration

Although video durations vary depending on your audience, they are another key thing to consider at this stage. With engagement and attention spans decreasing, we recommend short and succinct videos, no longer than three minutes.

However, social media content is a different story as you’re usually thinking in seconds rather than minutes. More detailed content being shown to an audience already engaged in the subject can easily justify longer lengths. Complex documentary style films can easily go up to 10 minutes. Yet again another reason why knowing your audience is key.

Step 3 – Pick a suitable video style

Video styles can vary a lot, depending on who your target audience is, the message you want to convey and how long your video is going to be, which is why making sure you pick a suitable approach that ticks all the boxes is a crucial part of creating a successful video.

You may already have a video approach in mind and perhaps a draft storyboard or script for interviews, voxpops, motion graphics or 3D animation and voiceover, for example. With so many different video styles available out there, this might seem like a challenge, but if you’re not sure of the ideal option, we can suggest different styles and approaches to achieve the best results.

Step 4 – Set a deadline (and then stick to it)

It may be a given, but the delivery date is another must at the briefing stage. You could have a couple of weeks or a couple of months to produce a video, but either way, schedules are very important to plan deadlines to ensure a smooth transparent production process for all. Making a video requires various resources such as producers, editors and camera crew all of which need to be booked in to ensure your video is delivered on time. Being clear up front about delivery dates and sticking to them, ensures the resource is assigned and there are no delays.

Step 5 – Establish the budget for your video

At this point you should know what kind of video you want to create, who your target audience is, the message you want to convey, how long your video is going to last and when is the deadline for the production process. Before you move forward with the pre-production stage, however, you need to agree upon a budget for your video.

Needless to say, a bigger budget will usually translate into a more impressive video, but when budgets are tight a great agency will always have creative ways to make sure your message is still brought to life. If you have a strict budget or are open to ideas, we can always suggest options and help find an approach to best suit you.

There you have it! Five easy steps to help you write a video brief for your corporate video together with the agency you’ve chosen to produce it.

For more advice or information about corporate video production, don’t hesitate to contact the CH Video team on 01189 676 494 or email hello@ch-video.com. We’re here to help your business bring messages to life through video.