Be a Freaking Video Hero, Sans Camera

Marketing departments are endlessly busy. Each one has different internal and external expectations about what they can (and should) accomplish. I mean, everybody’s a marketing whiz who watches the Super Bowl, right?

If only it were that easy. Marketing departments are regularly expected to accomplish a wide range of goals.

Ingeniously.
Inexpensively.
Instantaneously.

Consequently, when your goals are big (and your marketing department is small) you must get crafty or you’ll never put a dent in that mega-sized to-do list of onsite content strategy objectives. Never is this truer than with video.  Everyone wants it, but unless you have countless thousands to spend, it takes time and specialized nerdery.

I know what you’re thinking:  “But all my special nerds are doing other things…”

Your Problem
You know what kind of video you want but you don’t have someone internally with fancy video skills or the dough to get it done elsewhere. Oh, and you have no time, zilch, not even enough to finish reading this sente…. Video is expensive. Even when you try to make it on the cheap. Sure, you could quit your job, start wearing a beret and go to film school, but I’m pretty sure your Mom/spouse/bank account would get mad.

However all is not lost: one of our three clever solutions below just might make all your video hopes and dreams come true.

Clever solution #1

Make a fancy video-like Prezi—we tried this and it worked out really well. In fact, look at the fruits of our labor.

Watch on Prezi

What you’ll need:

• One designer
• One copywriter
• 8 hours (roughly)

Steps

1. Have designer draw a polished story board
2. Use each story board frame as a Prezi slide
3. Use the Prezi embed code to put the video up on your site
4. High five each other in celebration of efficiency and togetherness

Clever solution #2

PowerPoint 2010. The latest PowerPoint version allows you to save your presentation as a Windows Media Video (.wmv) file. Although I don’t know much about weirdo file types, I do know that this innovation will allow you share the video easily without worrying what software your audience has available on its computer.

What you’ll need:

• One designer
• One copywriter
• 8 hours (roughly)

By creating a video in PowerPoint 2010 you can also:

• Embed additional video into a specific slide (it will play seamlessly)
• Choose the size of your file and the quality of your video
• Time and record audio and pointer movements over the slides
• Easily control movement and animations without wearing a beret

Look at this PowerPoint 2010 video example. Yep, it’s a homemade Angry Birds movie. Imagine the possibilities…

 

Clever solution #3

Crowdsource.  Ask people to submit part of the video you’re trying to create. Maybe they send a clip of them explaining why they love your product in 5 words, maybe it’s a video of them showing a unique product use, or maybe (just maybe) it’s a 15-second clip of their favorite movie re-enacted. Best example on the Internet is this stitched-together version of StarWars:

 

What you’ll need:

• A page on your site asking for people to submit video
• One kick@#$ video editor
• Probably a ton of hours, but it’ll be EPIC

If you’re smart you can achieve great things with less effort and time. Granted, they may not always be perfect but they’ll help you accomplish your goals and allow you to learn along the way.

Because I like motivational posters ironically, but I also like them for real, I present to you an inspiration poster about achievement and celebrating on top of a mountain…

ACHIEVEMENT “It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed” –Theodore Roosevelt