The Importance of Strategic Planning

Strategic planning, in our opinion, is the most important part of creating video. Because why create a video at all if it doesn’t have a purpose? 

 

When approached by a client with a video request, many creative agencies will dive right in and say, “Let’s do it!”But at Metamer we always ask “why” first. We believe each video should have a purpose, a call to action for the audience, and achieve organizational goals.

Video with Purpose

Many of our clients are non-profit organizations which means they have a mission that drives them. They also don’t tend to have an endless budget to blow on creating any old video. They need to know that no matter how they spend their budget, it will contribute meaningfully to their goals or mission. 

 

That’s where strategic planning comes in. Without clear goals, it’s easy to waste time and budget. Strategic planning defines what success looks like—whether it’s increasing brand awareness, driving sales, or educating an audience.

 

Before we even start a project with a client we like to get to know them, their goals, their audience, and what problem(s) they’re trying to solve.Then we ask ourselves if video can help them solve their problem(s) or achieve their goal(s). 

 

Knowing Your Audience

In most cases the answer is yes since video has such a wide variety of applications and use cases, but the very next question is what kind of video or videos would work best for their specific needs?

 

The kind of video(s) we offer our clients depends largely on their audience and what action they want them to take. Good strategy ensures the content speaks to the right people. Knowing the audience will help to tailor tone, format, platform, and messaging to match a target audience’s preferences and behaviors. 

 

And with every video we create, we ensure that a call to action is built into our strategy. It could be “learn more,” “sign up,” “get involved,” etc. Whatever it may be, we establish our call to action in our initial pre-production process, well before we start developing any videos. This helps direct all of our content to our end goal.

A Roadmap for Storytelling

Strategic planning can also provide a roadmap for storytelling, visuals, and tone. It helps to keep our content consistent and focused, avoiding creative tangents that dilute the message. In our pre-production process we work with our clients to establish a clear look and feel that will speak to the audience. 

 

We lay out key words that will describe the tone of the video(s), establish a graphic style, and even give examples of music tracks that help set the mood. We’ll also plan out the narrative arc of the video even if we are just capturing interviews. This helps us to develop the right questions that will guide our narrative in the right direction.

Maximizing Budget

Strategic planning can also help to maximize any size budget. With a clear plan of action, we can allocate resources wisely—choosing the right platform, format, length, and distribution plan that will best reach the audience. It helps our clients spend less and achieve more because every decision serves a clear purpose.

 

But our strategic planning not only includes high-level creative vision and messaging, but a practical, actionable process that minimizes trial and error. With a clear timeline and detailed procedure locked in from the start, the project runs more smoothly and avoids costly do-overs. 

 

Oftentimes, production can be the most expensive part of the video creation process because it requires many people on-set for sometimes multiple days at a time with costly and extensive equipment. That’s why it’s important for us to be diligent in ensuring all our ducks are in a row and every detail is accounted for before we even step foot on-set. We not only have a plan A for production, but a plan B, C, and sometimes D just in-case anything doesn’t go according to plan. Expect the best, plan for the worst.  

Content Worth Creating

Lastly, and maybe most importantly, our strategy includes how we plan to track video(s) performance. Whether it’s number of views, engagement, conversions, website visits, policy change, etc., we need to know that our video or videos achieve whatever goal we set out to accomplish. Without this key element it can be difficult for our clients to determine if they truly got their return on investment. Or if the content was worth creating at all.

Strategic Planning is Crucial

So whether you are a non-profit organization looking to use video to drive your mission or you’re a tech company looking to use video to drive sales, good strategic planning is crucial. It aligns goals, audience, and message to ensure every decision serves a clear purpose. It helps define objectives, target the right viewers, guide creative direction, and allocate resources efficiently, ultimately maximizing return on investment. A solid strategy also streamlines production, reduces costly rework, and provides a framework for measuring success, making your content more impactful and results-driven.

 

If you want video content that’s built on strategic planning and accomplishes your organizational goals, feel free to drop a line to benjamin@metamer.io and of course check out our digital storefront at www.metamer.io.