Answer These Questions Before Doing Your Next Video

A video is only as good as the pre-production planning.

Most organizations want to create a video. They’ll jump in head first, but fail to nail down a solid plan. As a result, the messaging is unclear, the interviews are scattered and the shots are not strong.

This, is as you may imagine, is self-destructive, and the video will not generate traffic or money.

I don’t want you going down this path.

Here’s a list of questions to answer before you create your next video.

You should at least have a basic answer for most questions.

1. What is the main goal or objective of your video project?
2. Who is the target audience?
3. What message or story do you want to convey through the video?
4. What does the video need to address?
5. How will this video align with your organization’s overall mission and values?
6. What action do you want viewers to take after watching the video?
7. What is your budget?
8. Do you have the equipment, software and people to create a high-quality video?
9. Should you hire a professional videographer or production company, or can you handle the video production in-house?
10. How long should the video be?
11. Where will the video be shared or distributed? (e.g., website, social media platforms, events)
12. What is the timeline for completing your video project?
13. Are there any legal or ethical considerations you need to address, such as obtaining consent from individuals appearing in the video or copyright issues for music and visuals?
14. How will you keep this video on brand with the colors and fonts you use?
15. How will you measure the success of the video project? What metrics or indicators will you use?
16. Have you identified any potential risks or challenges associated with the video project? How can you mitigate them?
17. Do you need to create graphics?
18. What should the call to action be?
19. What should the visuals be?
20. Whom, if anybody, should you interview?
21. Have we considered accessibility and inclusivity aspects, such as captions, transcripts, audio descriptions, etc.?
22. How can you leverage the video project to build relationships with partners, donors, or other stakeholders?
23. Have you found any videos to use as references?

You deserve to make timeless videos with a strong ROI and one’s that tap into your audience’s love of video.

You just need to figure out your strategy before getting too deep in the weeds.