This time of year, I always find myself reading trends for the upcoming year. Most of them say the exact same thing as the year before. However, there are a few that really stand out. One point in one articular really stood out. In e-Marketer’s recent post, the author ends with a final “trend for the new year,” stating that the pivot to video will claim more victims. I have to admit that when I first read that line I wasn’t exactly thrilled. But as I read on, I realized he is right.
During hr last few years, companies like Buzzfeed Fox sports and Vice have made huge shifts to video. Some have worked, some have not. But while the jury isn’t quite out for many of these companies, one thing for sure, staffing a large video team in house is expensive. Unlike writers, video creators require equipment and lots of it. Cameras, editing software, studios, they call cost a pretty penny. Not to mention it all depreciates pretty quickly.
Companies now have four choices
1. Bring everything internally. While the cost can grow pretty quickly with a large team, having a person on your staff that can create smaller pieces of video content is huge.
2. Hire a media agency. Having worked with large external agencies in the past, this definitely has it’s benefits and its drawbacks. The benefit is that you are working with some of the best. The quality of content is commercial and film-like which will awe your audience. The downfall is that it comes with an enormous price tag and it typically happens at a snails pace/
3. Work with a smaller content creation or production company. This option will help keep you costs down and will still offer you a very professional product. Also a smaller company or individual will be able to move a whole heck of a lot quicker than a large agency.
Perhaps the best line in the entire article that I am referencing this entire time, is the last one, “That’s not to say video doesn’t have a place in the mix, but a full-scale pivot isn’t always the best way for a publisher to monetize its digital assets.” I love this. We run a video creation company and even we know that by only creating video, you’re likely setting yourself up for failure. Media companies and brands both small and large need to find the right balance between text, video, imagery, and other content mediums in order to be successful.
