Make Your Content Work For You

We all have to deal with it. The desire to be a significant contributor online, balanced with the stress of visioning, finding your voice, uploading, rendering, aspect ratios, hashtags, etc… And will people even relate to our work! With respect to video production, we have a few thoughts on how to make the process more palatable. It all begins with discerning the ratio of quantity vs quality:

The Quality Matrix

Every agency, brand, company, or influencer has to navigate the waters of what and when to post. But let’s assume you are already convicted to execute your content strategy… you are probably still thinking about how often you should post and if your frequency is feasible. Do you have enough time to create a beautiful production every week or is this a quarterly goal? Is my video on brand? Will it match the voice of my initiative or get lost as a meaningless post? Whatever you decide is the right balance between making a connection on your social media, and creating legendary products is an intimate brand decision. Regardless, you should reflect on what your threshold is, and identity KPI’s that are useful. Once you have mulled over this we suggest looking at a “batch approach” to content creation…

The Batch Approach

Batch Approach: Scheduling dedicated times to create certain types of content, with the intent to post regularly for your followings consumption.

Why We Do This: In 2019 our team found it challenging to create consistent content, frequently enough. We would have weeks or months of great success with creating videos or posts on a schedule, but then when a big production was about to start… our social media presence disappeared. It was frustrating because we always felt like we were taking 2 steps forward just to slide another 3. After feeling enough frustration we decided to do something about it. It was October and we had a slower week with client work. We triaged our efforts and booked out a studio for the week to focus solely on content for us. This week proved successful. We reflected on our positioning in the industry and decided to film 30 videos describing our video production process. Catering to the professional community, to flex our muscles as industry professionals.

The Result: After a week of dedicated content creation, we edited the footage into bite-sized clips to post once a week on our social media. Our team then enjoyed about 20-30 weeks of engaging, focused content that set us apart from many small production firms. We started receiving comments and messages about how much people enjoyed this content. Over time our new business revenue increased. This was the proof we needed, and frankly the only way we would be able to consistently post while staying wedded to client projects.

Real-Time vs Batch Content Creation

Some will argue, “I already have a marketing manager or team whose sole purpose is content creation for our brand”. Good point. Posting real-time content, live videos, and capturing moments of inspiration is important, but it is not a stand-alone solution.

By creating consistent segments, series or types of content that are produced using a batched approach you have more flexibility to communicate. Foundational content becomes a consistent post that your followers become accustomed to seeing and hopefully look forward to. Combine foundational content with off-the-cuff posts, and you have a model that will really start paying dividends.

This strategy has been useful and we will continue to create using this model for Vek Labs. The principle echoes the all too cliché “work smart, not hard” statement. But we find it to be true.

Combining batch content creation with a powerful social media management tool allows you to schedule content across all platforms. Vek Labs’ uses Buffer. Having used other social media management web apps, we find Buffer to be the best, simplest platform based on price point. But here are some more great alternatives for you to consider:

Sendible: Streamline how you manage social media for brands - from planning and collaboration to engagement and analytics.
AlgoraPulse: Schedule your content, get reports, and engage followers with one simple tool.
Hootsuite: Connect with customers, get results on every social platform. Hootsuite has the tools you need to succeed on social media.

Regardless of which tool you use, the importance should be that you are creating content series that are being posted well into the future. Free up your time!

Hope this was useful. From the Vek Team to yours… ROCK ON… Stay hungry.

Andrew founded Vek Labs in December 2017 with the goal of bringing cinematic visuals to the corporate and documentary sectors. With over a decade of experience as a designer in UX/UI, branding, editorial, and audio production, Andrew has a diverse background that informs his work. His time in Rome, Italy, included work as a marketing consultant for various non-profits and institutions, including the Holy See. At Vek Labs, Andrew has been involved in the production of documentaries that have reached wide audiences and secured syndication deals. His primary interest lies in the thoughtful combination of video production and musical scoring to tell meaningful stories.