WHAT IS SINGLE SOURCING AND WHY IT MATTERS TO YOU?

The constant need for more and more content is a real marketing challenge.

“In 2023, there were 244.4 million digital video viewers in the US, and 91% of consumers want to see more online video content from brands. Short-form videos are found to be the most engaging type of content on social media, with 66% of consumers paying the most attention to them”

– https://www.oberlo.com/blog/video-marketing-statistics

In 2022 digital video consumption surpassed TV viewing in the US for the first time. The upward trend that demands video content from brands is not going to change its trajectory. Marketing teams must pay attention to what their target audience wants, and then deliver on that want. All the data points to the same thing – customers want video content. We see video utilized across so many touch points and for many reasons in the marketing landscape such as:

• Product demos and video reviews to increase sales.
• Quick and effective communication of products and services to customers who are time poor – but need your services.
• Skimmers who can’t spend 15 minutes on your website reading about how great you are but will watch a quick video.
• Team member insights and behind-the-scenes video content to build trust in brands across all social media platforms.

The single sourcing mindset and process

So how do you create all this video content? Where do you start? What should the video be about and look like? And how can you create video content without blowing your marketing budget for the year?

The ideal range of video content is 15 seconds to 2 minutes. That’s quite the range, so the length of your video depends on the message, target audience, and where the video is posted. We often say, “If we can’t effectively communicate your message in two minutes or less, hire another video company”.

At Hayman Studio we believe that one video is no longer an acceptable deliverable. Clients need to receive a series of videos that fill this 15 second to 2-minute range. Around the Studio, we’ve borrowed a term from the technical writing field, and we call this process Single Sourcing (and video is not the only place we apply it, but that’s another blog post). Most clients come to us with a video need that falls into the 2-minute range. We then work with the client to identify how we can parse out this video into smaller segments or identify other content we can capture during the same shoot that supports this main video. This process provides anywhere from 2 to 15 videos without much impact on the cost of filming – you just need to approach the project in a different way and have a video crew that understands how this mindset and process works – like us.

The funnel

Video provides opportunities for many touch points in the client journey.  By approaching each video project with Single Sourcing in mind you will have the video content to implement up and down the conversion funnel. What’s the funnel? Ryan draws these in meetings all of the time, here is one:

how it worked for penn state college of medicine

Recently we applied Single Sourcing to a video production for our friends at Penn State College of Medicine.  They were having a one day event that key stakeholders from across the country would be attending.  We had to take advantage of this opportunity and produce as much video content featuring these stakeholders as possible.  Their main desire was to create a 2-3 minute video recap of the day.  This video would include interview footage and b-roll footage of presentations and meetings captured throughout the day.  That’s a great video concept, and we could have created that and delivered it, but how much traction would that one video create? If posted to social channels that one video would enter people’s feeds, be there one second and gone the next.  It could live on a website page, but how would they drive traffic to it? Not much of an impact. With Single Sourcing in mind, we approached the project knowing we needed to deliver a library of videos. PSU could then post bite size videos over the course of weeks and months to drive traffic to the main video and website. Here viewers would discover more information and a call to action that would lead to a conversation and hopeful conversion (the end of the funnel).

We were already capturing b-roll and interview footage for the main video, so we decided to Single Source that footage and create an additional 60-second promo video of the day, plus twelve 30-second interview versions.  They came to us for one video and received 13 videos – all with no additional filming or time on site required. We just planned and edited the project with Single Sourcing in mind. They now have 12 additional videos to post across social channels, add to newsletters, and incorporate into blog posts. Plus, individual copies were sent to everyone interviewed, allowing them to distribute these videos across their channels and networks too.  That’s the type of impact and traction we are looking for with any of our video productions.

Our friends at Penn State did not have a unique situation that allowed this model to work, this same mindset and process can be applied to almost any video production.  You can have great looking video content and not blow up your budget, you just need to approach the project with Single Sourcing in mind and plan accordingly.  Here at Hayman Studio, we do this every week.  Our team has accomplished this goal on countless video projects across multiple industries.

Want to discuss how Single Sourcing can help you achieve your video marketing goals? Let’s have a conversation – every great project starts with a conversation.  Email or call the Studio and talk to Ryan. 717-843-8338