Is your calendar brimming with events?
Did you know they could provide amazing engaging content for your video strategy?
Exciting content is at your fingertips! We’re here to help you get the most effective video footage to improve your marketing and client engagement.
How to collect your content
It can be quite tricky, figuring out how to package your content in the best way.
There are a few options to explore, but your decision will depend to a large extent to the event itself, your video strategy, and the resources at your disposal.
On a budget
Whilst we would all like to have a professional multi-camera camera film crew running around, capturing breathtaking footage, it’s not always realistic within the budget available. Your Hollywood blockbuster may have to wait…
However, not only is it not always possible, quite often, it’s not required. In fact, more often than not it is a colossal waste of money. There are even some instances that it could be counter productive, especially when you need to connect with your audience on a more personal level.
Check out our 4 recommended ways to maximise your events using video. They will help you capture effective content whilst avoiding any major pitfalls.
1. Go Live
Live video is a great tool in the hands of any marketer worth their salt!
The idea of live broadcasting might seem quite intimidating at first, but technology has made it so easy that anyone with a phone and a half decent internet connection can broadcast live to the world.
There are various options available, depending on your budget and needs.
DIY – A simple phone can do the trick! You can set your phone up on a tripod to stream directly to your social media channel.
Go professional – Hire a professional crew in to stream a single camera or even a multicam mix
Streaming live creates a sense of urgency and drives engagement as your audience feels they are part of the experience.
Take advantage of the content!
Before the live stream – Use your social media to advertise the event. Spark excitement with posts leading up to the date to create a buzz and active following.
After the live stream – You can repurpose some of the content by clipping it into smaller sections and sharing them periodically, thus getting an extra bang for your buck.
When streaming live it is important to keep the sound and lighting quality in mind. It is incredibly frustrating trying to watch a livestream and the audio is inaudible because it’s distorted or too low. Similarly make sure you have a good internet connection so that the stream is not interrupted.
2. Event highlights video
I might be shooting us in the foot here, but to create a highlights video of an event doesn’t always need a full-on crew. Sometimes animated stills from the photographer combined with animated text will do the trick.
This requires a bit of post-production skill but there certainly are occasions where this is the best option. The ideal is to have a professional crew record the event and produce a highlights package that shows the substance and atmosphere of the event.
You can stretch your content by splitting the videos:
Maximise your content from the event by editing highlights, clips about different aspects or themes from the event.
One video can be about the stage presentations, another can be comments from the attendees or organisers, etc. However, the guiding principle should always be brevity.
With the average person’s attention span lasting 12 seconds it’s best to keep your videos as short as possible, with an eye capturing beginning!
3. Vox pops
Events draw large numbers of people, and this creates a great opportunity to hear from people you otherwise would not be able to get on camera.
Vox pops, as they are referred to in industry parlance, is a quick comment or two from a number of people. Depending on the kind of event, you can ask people to comment on the event or you could ask them to comment on your product, service or company.
If you don’t have any budget, you can try filming these on your phone and send it to your agency to edit or you can hire a crew for the day to capture the footage.
Plan in advance
It’s always a good idea to peek at your editorial calendar and see what videos you have coming up and try to grab a few comments that could be used for future videos.
If you are capturing the clips by yourself on your phone just make sure you keep the background noise in mind and make sure you record in a well-lit area. If you are grabbing the footage on your phone be prepared for the fact that some of the footage may not be usable due to factors beyond your control, so make sure to grab a lot more than you think you will need.
4. Event replay
If you have made use of any of the formats above previously, you could quite possibly have footage of the complete stage presentations, especially if you hired a professional crew to capture the footage.
A great way to maximise the content you get from your event is to package the presentations into shorter, digestible sections so people who are interested can watch them later. These can be distributed across your channels over time keeping the buzz going a while after the event has passed and excite people for future events!
If you would like to have a conversation about how we can help you make most out of your events using video, please get in touch on hell@foxfifth.com
