How to Create Content for Different Channels

Posted: 4th March 2021

If you work in the field of digital marketing, you most likely already have some experience in the production of content for different digital communication channels and you know that there are some specifics when it comes to communication channels, but also when it comes to the form or type of content.

Video is currently the most widely used content employed for promotional purposes for digital marketing. According to some analyses, as many as 90 % of consumers pointed out that video influences their purchase decision.

So, building a website using some of the numerous templates that set the style and general layout of your website and creating the written content is no longer enough. Nor good visuals followed by quality copy posted on your social media channels are enough.

Here, we will go more closely through the production process, the roles in that process, and some common activities. If we look at the statistics – a billion hours of video a day are viewed on YouTube, users are 1.5 times more likely to watch video from a mobile phone, and almost a million minutes of video content will go through the Internet per second – it is clear that you need to think about creating video content for digital marketing.

First a Brief and Then Everything Else

The process of working on the production of content usually begins with a brief, i.e. a task. A brief is a document in which you will provide detailed information about what you need and what your goal is. You can create a brief by yourself or in cooperation with an agency that will help you define the description and scope of work that is being agreed upon.

Also, it would be good to have defined deadlines and a budget for production. A brief is, in addition to preparatory activities, the most important in production planning. At the very beginning, you will be able to convey what your expectations, goals, and needs are, and the production team will know how to respond to the brief in the best way.

We know that for many, the most exciting part of the whole process is creation itself, i.e. content production. Do not rush into realisation and make sure that everything is clear to you at the very beginning of the project. If it happens that you skip some items, or imply them, later in the process there can be an error, extension of the deadline, and an increase in costs and budget.
Depending on the project and the type of content you produce, the brief will vary.

The basic elements of each brief are:

• Project name
• Details about the brand, company, and project
• The target group
• The goal
• Examples of content

The last item of those above (examples of content) is especially useful when you have just started thinking about production. The suggestion is to look at some existing examples of websites, posts, photos, videos… find the ones you like and dislike. More importantly, if you give specific explanations why you like or dislike something, the examples will help the production team a lot.

In this way, through understanding the possibilities and specifics of production, what are all the steps in the process and the sequence of activities, how to form timelines, and plan a budget for the production of content – you will get the content that is most appropriate for you.

Planning and the Importance of a Clear Goal

Depending on the project, the resources you need will vary, as will the teams, deadlines, and budgets. If you take the time to prepare a brief first, production planning itself will be more efficient.

What can further help you in planning is that if you already have a content strategy and goals set, you will very easily be able to define a goal for the production you are planning. Maybe you already had in mind in the annual marketing plan that you will be doing content production, that is, you already have a defined budget. If you are involved in the decision-making process, it is not necessary to know all the details regarding production planning, but it is important to understand the process and have information about what it may involve.

In case you are planning to produce photos of your employees, you should know that you will need a make-up artist on the set. If you plan to record video with multiple participants, you will most likely need more than one camera and one microphone. Also, you cannot start video production without a pre-approved script or, at least, a shooting plan.

Clear expectations are important, as is the goal – both on your part and on the part of the production team. Share what is expected from each stage of the process and from each team member, what result you are looking for, and what kind of communication you expect. Agree at the beginning how you will monitor the status of the production, when you need to look at and approve something, etc.

Effective communication will contribute to the production being done within the deadlines and budgets you have planned, and if everyone on the project agrees on a common goal, the project itself will be successful.

Stages of Production

The whole production process and timeline must be well placed because each part of the process leads to the next stage of production. At the beginning, of course, you are in the preparatory phase. Then you initiate the project and set goals and a brief. After that, you work on gathering information, developing a plan or scenario – you enter the production.

Depending on the project, you will potentially already be working on the development of storyboards, shots, casting, etc. It would be good to do a risk assessment, i.e. whether there may be unforeseen circumstances that may occur or not. At the end of this phase, the necessary approvals are provided and the so-called production checklists are set.

Now we move on to the production phase – you have come to the very creation of content. Here, it is important that the lists are ready, that it is known what kind of photos or recordings you produce, what formats are needed… so, everything you need for the final content. In this phase, you will work on the preparation of graphic elements for video, voiceover recording, etc.

Post-production usually involves the stage of editing, animating video, or processing photos, and so on. In this part of the process, it means a lot to make sure you are on the right track so you can approve a sample, first draft, or preview material first. Feedback should be precise and unified so that the production team knows specifically what changes are needed.

After final approval, the content can be placed on digital channels. Do a project evaluation, but be sure to take care of the further performance of the content and collect lessons learned so that you and each subsequent project will be more efficient.

What’s the Production Budget?

The budget depends on the project. The specificity of content production for digital marketing is that no project is the same, nor are budgets, deadlines, and resources.

For example, you need a 20-second TV spot that would be filmed in multiple locations, with a large number of actors/participants. We will stop here because it is clear that a project like this requires more days of filming on the scene and more time needed to do the casting of the actors, the script, and all the preparatory activities.

Maybe you need a 2-minute how-to video to showcase the use of your product, without hiring actors or extras. This kind of video can be shot in one day at one location – in the studio. Unlike the previous example, this kind of content requires less recording time, as well as fewer resources and budget.

In the beginning, we emphasised the importance of the brief. If you are precise in the brief, the production team can respond very well and show you which items will be needed for the realisation of the project, and that way you will reach an agreement and solution more easily.

Content With Purpose

We must note that the content you place in a digital marketing strategy should have a purpose, to contribute to a goal. The goal can be to spread brand awareness by telling a story with authentic photos where you would, for example, continuously work on unique content tailored to your target audience.

The point is this – strategically placed communication and designed content can move entire communities, let alone just your followers and website visitors, so if you already have an idea of what you want from content production, go ahead right away and help your business grow to unimaginable heights.