Make the Most of Your Video

Re-use and Recycle Video to Make It Go the Extra Mile

Ah, early Spring in Milwaukee, when the snow transitions delicately into mud, a young person’s thoughts turn to those of vaccination, and Cadbury rolls out its classic Creme Egg “Audition” commercial for Easter.  

(My personal favorite is the lion.)

Now, I don’t know where you stand on the Cadbury Creme Egg as an Easter treat, and frankly, I don’t need to know. That’s between you and the Easter Bunny. The point is there is a reason they drag a nearly 30-year-old ad out of storage every year - because it works. Every year, I laugh at that dang lion. 

Cadbury (or, more specifically, the creative minds who wrote the ad) found a way to make their content resonate across the decades first through humor, and as the years passed with humor and nostalgia. In doing so they likely saved themselves millions of dollars in the development of new campaigns and production of new commercials (not to mention the money they could have potentially lost if one of those campaigns resulted in a drop in sales). You could say Cadbury’s “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” policy has paid off pretty well for them in the creme egg department.

Don’t expect your video project to have that kind of longevity. Cadbury is more the exception than the rule. Ideally, a longer-lasting video for your company will be relevant to your business for three to five years. Of course, not EVERY video project you make needs to last that long, but you can make one (or even a series) of videos to stand the test of time.

You’ve heard of recycling, right? I’m just gonna go ahead and assume you have. Well, it’s not limited to paper, plastic and pop music. With a good foundation and some forethought, you can recycle and reuse the video you create for years to come. 

CHOOSE YOUR PROJECTS WISELY

This is generally good advice when it comes to video (or any other project), but what does it mean?  When it comes to reusing your video, it means foresight can save you time and money. 

Choosing the right video project ultimately starts with knowing who you are as a company - what you stand for and what you want (both for your business and your customers). Does your company have a brand platform? Your brand is the foundation of what will make your video last. It is also where you will find direction in the tone, look, and feel of your video.  (Btw, if you don’t have a brand platform or wonder if you need a new one, Kane can help!)

Of course, the look and feel of your video can be amazing, but if the content doesn’t resonate with your audience, your video will be soon and easily forgotten. So that makes the type of video you choose to create very important, too, when it comes to longevity. 

SEE THE FUTURE

The goals here, folks, are twofold - create videos with a shelf-life of three to five years without losing value to the company, and accumulate material to be used later in other videos. 

The types of video content that stand the test of time focus on what matters most to your core business - your values (what you stand for), your key service lines (what you do), and your mission (why you do it). These videos will last longer because they are bonded to the reasons you are in business in the first place.

As you can probably guess, a “recap” video touting your company’s achievements over the previous year will have a decreasing value over time. Why is that, you may ask? It’s a time-focused project, meaning its relevance is automatically limited. As the next year progresses, you will likely see the number of views steadily plummet. Again, I’m not saying you shouldn’t make that video. Short-term benefits (in employee morale, for example) are still benefits and have their own value to your company. A company that doesn’t have a large budget for video, though, will get more bang for their buck out of a video with staying power.

PLAY IT AGAIN!

Speaking of saving money, don’t you just love those lifehack videos where they show you how to repurpose a household item to do something that proves to be more useful than its original purpose? I kid you not, I saw one where they used banana peels to slide furniture around. I just wish I’d remembered to take the bananas out first. Live and learn.

Reusing your video footage will save you time and money, and will NOT leave a trail of banana sludge on your floor.  

For example, let’s say you create a five-minute video highlighting your company’s four key service lines. Content from that video (specifically of each service line) can be repurposed into four individual videos, each about one minute in length, highlighting a service line. These videos will then be ideal for social media posts. Instead of paying a production company for another two days of shooting, you can pay them significantly less to re-edit the existing footage.

THE BOTTOM LINE

When it comes right down to it, the one thing that will help you get the most out of your video content is to have a well-thought-out plan going in. In other words, you should have longevity in mind when you shoot your video. Your videos will enjoy a long life when they resonate with your values, your mission, and your audience. 

Check out our YouTube channel to see examples of our video work.