Video Strategist - The new video Paradigm with Ben Amos

Good day, guys. Dan here with another episode of the Video Business Accelerator Podcast. Now, this week, I've got a guest, Ben Amos. Now, Ben and I have known each other a little while online. I was actually a guest on Ben's podcast last month. Ben's a video producer and a video strategist who has been running his company for 12 years, been in the industry for 20. And he also has something called the Online Video Blueprint, which is a program he's created to help video businesses and creative businesses who want to engage in video as a marketing tool. And what's really fascinating about this interview with Ben is he's talked about, you know, how he's moved from just being a video production company to offering additional services, which include boosting and publishing content for clients. So his mission is to help other creative marketers, entrepreneurs, video producers, better understand how to attract, engage, and convert audiences online with video. And what's so interesting about this is a big factor of one of our nine accelerators in the program, and that is how can you offer additional services to clients? You know, once you've got a client working with you, how can you actually offer them more? It's the classic, would you like fries with that? Can we upsize your meal? It's really powerful because once you've built a relationship with a client and a client with you, the supplier, it's so cool to then go, hey, what else can we help you with? And this is a great episode which delves into just that. Now, before we get into the episode, we are getting very close to our next accelerator event in Melbourne, Australia. And if you're interested in learning more about that, go to videobusinessaccelerator.com accelerator program and fill out the form. And if you're interested, we have a couple of seats at the table that we actually invite people who are thinking about maybe joining the program along to the first day at no charge so you can get a feel for the program. Meet some of the other folks in the program and see if it's a good fit for your business. So check that out and enjoy this episode.

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Enjoy this episode.

Ben, it's so nice to finally have you on the show. We were fortunate enough to have a coffee together because we live actually surprisingly close to each other here in The Sunshine Coast a few weeks ago. How are you today, mate?

I'm doing very well, Dan. Looking forward to having a chat with you on your show.

Absolutely. So, Ben, I want us to dig straight into this. The thing that I wanted to.

To.

The main reason I wanted to bring you on the show was you have done something very unique that I think all production companies should be thinking about because the landscape is changing and that is around not just making content and giving it to the client, but actually getting involved in strategy. Can you share with me a little bit about how that started for you and the journey you've been on the last five or six years?

Sure. Look, I've been running my own video production business here in Queensland, Australia for about 12 years now. And we started out filming weddings. And after about five years we migrated into doing work more with businesses locally here in our local area. And these, these businesses were coming to us for a video. We could make a video. So we made a video, we would hand over the video and then the business would go on their merry way. We would get paid and would be happy. But as we started doing this more and more, I started to see something that now is. Is really clear to me and that was that we were potentially failing our clients. So basically the long story short is there was one particular business that we'd created a video for. It was a brand story type video. So the goal was to really communicate, you know, what this business was all about, to tell a bit of a story around the business. And we produced this video. They paid about $5,000 for this and they were stoked with the outcome. It was a, it was a great video. Everyone was happy. We patted ourselves on the back, we got paid, we handed over the video and moved on, just like we did with every other project. But in this particular case, around about six months later, because it was at that stage, it was a video that we're particularly proud of. I checked back with that video to basically see, well what happened. And all that the client had done was stuck it up on YouTube. And on YouTube it had a lousy 34 views. And I remember that really distinctly as that moment of realization where I was thinking to myself, you know, how did that return on that $5,000 investment for this business when the video has only been seen 34 times and most of that's probably by the business owner's mum or, or staff, you know, so that basically was about six years ago for me. And that kicked off a journey of discovery and learning where I realized that as A video producer. I needed to understand video marketing, I needed to understand video strategy and, and I needed to understand this whole world of online video, not just as a creative tool, but as a marketing tool which is designed to return on investment for an actual business. And that's kind of just led me on this journey now to where I'm at today, where what we call our business is a video strategy company. So yes, we do video production, but we focus on a strategy first approach whereby we're ensuring that the content that we create is the right video for the right purpose and that it's actually used in the right way to get that roi.

So walk me through a typical journey. So, you know, for many videographers and filmmakers, you know, they're passionate about making the films, the passionate about the gear, the passionate about the tools, the telling of the story. What's different with what you do and how have clients received that?

So I think what it comes down to is understanding that what clients actually want from us when they're coming to us for a video, they don't actually want a video. Like I said before, what they actually want is a result for their business. And sometimes they have a clear idea of what that result is. So the business is coming to you knowing that they want more sales, they need more awareness of their brand or a particular campaign goal. But in many cases, the clients are usually coming to us for a video and they're just wanting a video. And I call this video for video sake. And the problem with video for video's sake is that we can do that. You know, as video producers, as creators, we can make video. But I'm sure most people listening understand that the world of online video is huge these days. Every video platform, every social media platform is a video platform. So if you would create a video and just stick it out there somewhere, it's going to get lost in the noise. And if we're going to create videos for our clients that actually returns on their investment so that they come back for more, then we need to be ensuring the videos we create are actually going to work for that business, not just be a beautiful, cinematic, creative piece which might look good on our showreel. But I think what we're doing business for is not for us to look good on our showreel, it's to actually get results for our clients. And that's the way I approach it anyway.

I love that. You know, I do believe that especially now, there has to be a focus on video as part of a marketing strategy. The hero Corporate video days, I believe, are over. There just isn't the return.

And now video just becomes part of a marketing strategy. Do you partner with agencies? How do you work that with a client in real terms? Can you sort of walk me through a typical client journey?

Sure, absolutely. So I think this. This whole world of video production and marketing is changing. You know, years ago, a business would have taken their marketing budget and gone to a marketing company, and that marketing company would have had their relationships with video producers. And typically that would have been more of a broadcast approach where they were producing TV campaigns or that kind of thing. We're talking, you know, pre social media, pre digital. The thing is, now that I talk about the democratization of video content and the idea that the ability to create video content is now in the hands of everyone. In fact, it's in the hands of our clients right now as well, through their smartphones or through affordable video camera equipment, which in many cases they have their own teams equipped to be able to produce video. So the world's shifting. And what that means in many cases is that the clients, the end clients, are actually, in many cases, bypassing the agencies. So you think for your listeners, for those people who are running their own video production business, they would have a potentially a percentage of their work that comes through agencies. But for many, increasingly, the clients are coming directly to the business owner, to the creative business. So we're bypassing the agencies. So what that means is often those big marketing conversations, those core and critical marketing conversations are not happening. So if as a video production company, we're focused on simply making a video that the client says that they want, and we can do that, we're good at doing that, but we're leaving so much uncontrolled. So that's where I feel like the typically, to answer your question, around the typical flow of a client to us is they're coming to us typically for a video. And that's because something's been triggered in their business where they're like, okay, well, we need a video. And typically it's they've seen someone else using a video or they may be creating a new website, and the web designer said, hey, you should have a video on the front page of your website. Whatever it is, they're coming to us for a video. So our role as video strategists is to change the conversation right from the start and say, yes, cool. We can talk about the video that you want, but let's first talk about what you need to achieve in your business. So this is where we change from being video for video's sake to be video from a strategic point of view. And that's often where it starts, is just diving deeper into the business, the audience, the goals that they want to achieve and then aligning the content that we plan to create with those, with those things. And then understanding from that what distribution channels we're going to use online, how we're going to optimize those videos to be actually seen by the right audiences that are intended to see it, what metrics we're going to measure. So understanding the data which is critical to proving ROI and success of a video and then all of those decisions should determine how we actually make the video. Okay, so I talk about production decisions being the last decision that's made as part of a video strategy.

And so do you get involved in amplification of that content after and look after distribution? I mean, do you run campaigns? How far do you go and where does the line stop for you?

So it's a good question. And that's been changing over the last number of years in our business. So we three years ago, very much, we positioned my core business as a strategy first production company. And that's a term that I now use when I'm working with other business owners, other video business owners as well. And this is often the easier transition to move from becoming, from being a video producer to moving into this world of video strategy services for your business. So the easy step is to be a strategy first production company, which means effectively we're having different conversations prior to pre production rather than just a conversation around what video do you want to make. And okay, well let's talk about what's going to be involved in making that video. Put together a proposal or a quote or some pre production documentation and then move into production, which is a standard production company approach. As a strategy first production company, which is what we were a few years ago, we would have that strategic conversation first. So we would be diving deeper into their, their audience, their business goals. We would be mapping out a strategy for them based on, you know, the intended distribution channels. And we'd provide them with the advice once we'd completed the project so that they would go out and be better prepared to get return on investment. So what we did in that strategy first production company approach is we would become the strategic advisors, not the implementers. So we wouldn't be running the Facebook ads for them or uploading it to YouTube on their behalf and all that sort of stuff, but we would provide the strategy. So that we knew the content we were giving these clients was the right content and we would provide advice and consultation with them to make sure they understood what to do with that content to get results. Now, I mentioned that we've changed that over the last few years because now for probably 60, 70% of our clients, we're now doing what I would call a full service video strategy agency approach, which is basically we are handling now what happens with that video after the fact. Okay. Now when you move into that approach, obviously the ROI becomes more critical because their clients are actually paying you often for us on a retainer basis to actually make, manage their content across digital platforms now that they've got it. Okay. So we need to be able to prove that the content is getting the results that they intend it to get. So that's kind of the transition we're on. We've still got 30 to 40% of our clients who are, when we're handing over the content and we're just providing advice as to what to do with it. But that's the, that's the journey that we're on.

And imagine there's some challenges with that because you could have a very great product and be running great ads and having a great marketing strategy, delivering leads, for example, if that's what a client's looking for, into their sales channel. But if they're no good at selling, they're not going to see a return. What are some of the challenges that you have in that regard or if you've had them at all? And how do you protect yourself and how do you make sure, like, you know, delivering the leads, the leads are being converted. How does, is that something you've had a challenge with?

It is a challenge and it's how you position the services that you're offering to the client. So what we never do is guarantee a particular result. There's no guarantees here. We come alongside the businesses that we're working with on the distribution and the strategy management side of things. We come alongside them as basically the video arm to their marketing department. So where we're aligned on a lot of things, but there's also a clear understanding with these clients of, of where we, where we fit and where the responsibility ends. And what I'm very cognizant of is not planning campaigns where we're, like I said, offering guarantees towards. We're going to deliver you this many leads. Okay. So what we tend to do is if our client is looking to, for that sort of a result, then we're actually pointing them and working with partner agencies to run specific paid amplification strategies. So, you know, Facebook ads, experts and things like that. So we're leading them towards that. So in our business specifically, we're focused on the organic distribution of content when it comes to paid ads, which is where the direct ROI can come from. Then where we're partnering with, with ad agencies to do that because that's their, that's their expertise. Did I answer your question?

That's where it can become really complicated. And I was just curious to know where the line is drawn because it is, it is a bit of a mindful. If you start getting into paid amplification, then the client's paying you to run the account, but they're also paying for the ad spend and there are so many variables that are out with your control. So thank you for clarifying that. So what kind of results do clients report back to you? Clients who've taken on the full service? What I'm trying to understand is if there's someone listening to this thinking, oh, I could offer that to my clients. First question is what are the typical kind of monthly retainer fees that you've experienced kind of are palatable by a company and then secondly.

How do they feel about that investment?

So it really depends obviously on your, on your industry, on your target audience, where you are geographically and.

The state of business that you're working with at the end of the day as far as what's palatable. So, you know, I've seen, and you know, I coach with other business owners who are doing similar sorts of things, you know, which usually these retainer based opportunities come from being able to produce content, video, content marketing over an ongoing period of time. So what we're doing is we're designing the strategy around how these businesses are going to use content across their social media platforms and email campaigns. And then we're producing the content on an ongoing retainer basis. So it's not just making one video and that's it. Now we're just going to, you know, push it out across all different channels for the next six months. It's about producing regular content, whether it be video, blog content or, or social media video, you know, snackable, bite sized videos specific for social channels. So that's the core of what we do on a retainer basis. So we work with clients on packages anywhere between a thousand to two and a half thousand dollars Australian per month, which is a certain number of deliverable videos based on the strategy that we've designed with them. And then we're handling the organic distribution of those videos. Now some of our clients have, are working with Facebook ads or paid ads company as well to promote some of those videos or use some of those videos as paid video ads or even just to boost some of those organic videos. But what we're aiming to do through the work we're doing is to provide quality, engaging content on an ongoing basis or natively across social channels using video. And that's where our clients see the value. So it's not about, they're not looking for a direct.

Dollar for dollar kind of return on spend. Right. What they're looking for is a robust and engaged social media audience and they want to see growth on those channels. Okay. So in many cases the metrics we're tracking against is engagement metrics, channel growth, whether it be subscribers or likes on a page. And we want to basically be working to grow robust and engaged social media content for our clients. And that's the core of what we do.

Yeah, I think I understand that fully. Now you basically you're providing a service to a marketing department that's a lot lower cost than them hiring someone to make the videos in house and distribute them. Because as we know, social media at its first sort of, you know, barrier is an awareness leveling platform. You know, you put content out consistently to raise awareness in the market that your product or service exists to the target market. So it sounds like if I got this right, that's really where you add the value.

Yeah, absolutely. And I think, you know, there's also, you know, when business production businesses are considering the business model or the opportunity in adding video strategy services, there's also a critical component there around the actual strategy design process. So for many businesses who are considering using video and considering their marketing spend that they're allocating towards video in a particular period, what they often don't do is spend the time really working out what the strategy for this marketing spend is going to be. So what they tend to do is they sit down in a room with whoever and they go, okay, we need, we're going to do some videos this quarter. What should the videos be? What are we going to do these videos about? And then people are throwing all these ideas around about what the video should be and then maybe they land on a few ideas and then they go to a video production company and say, hey, we want to make these videos and how much is that going to cost? That's typically how it tends to happen. Right. Particularly as more and more businesses are getting into the world of online Video because it's kind of everywhere these days and they feel like they're missing out if they're not using video. But the opportunity is, as a video strategy company is to come in much earlier with your, with your businesses that you're working with and say, look, we're going to get involved in the strategy design process with you guys again. And we monetize those workshops in many cases. So we actually charge a fee to do a half day or 12 hour or half day workshop, whatever it may be, and to help them design a documented video strategy so they understand where they're going to spend and how that's going to align to the goals that they have for their business. And that's the opportunity, I think that, you know, is really out there for video producers who become video strategists and get confident in that ability to advise their clients on that.

Fantastic. And so, and you've been finding this being, it sounds like really well received because if you've got clients on retainer, there's several things that happen there, aren't there? You get stable cash flow. You're also providing a greater service to the end client.

Yeah, absolutely. And we have a percentage of our clients on retainer, which, you know, there's a underlying stable cash flow there. But still for us, a lot of our work is still project based because apart from our good retainer clients, we still work with a lot of businesses on designing the strategy and then producing the content as a project and then, you know, handling the distribution of that project for a short period of time. So when it's not that ongoing video content marketing, retainer thing, then it is still project based. And you know, where we see the value in video strategy there is, it's about positioning yourselves differently than a video production company down the road. So even in the sales process to be able to have a conversation with your client around what they're actually going to do with this video and how this video is going to return on investment, investment and actually reach their audience on the right platforms in the right way, it changes the conversation. So if a client, say, getting three quotes from three different video production companies and your quote doesn't matter what the price is, but if your quote is coming with some clear strategy advice and understanding, the client's going to think of you differently. And the huge benefit that we find is our clients, like, we rarely lose a client because even if it's one project, we've positioned the value in the next project and they understand that they're coming back to us because of the service we provide, not just the videos we deliver.

And what are some examples of the types of companies who are taking you up on these kind of strategy then production, then retainer kind of deals. What kind of businesses are they looking at, what kind of revenues they do? Because question I always, always have is from, from people is oh well, you know, it's all very well if the client, if the client's doing 5 million a year, what about a smaller business? Just to help the audience understand where you, where's the sweet spot and what kind of companies are taking this sort of thing up.

Sure. So we're based on the Sunshine Coast. It's a regional area in, in Queensland, Australia. And you know, even though it's not too far down the road to, to Brisbane, the capital city, a lot of our clients who are on this retainer based opportunities are basically based here on the Sunshine Coast. So they are small businesses. We specifically target professional services. So professional services, you know, whether they be lawyers, financial planners, brokers of various sorts, that's where we find the sweet spot because, and often they are small businesses or individuals but they have knowledge in a specific area and helping them understand that what people are buying from a professional is the person. Right. So they can get the same law expertise, for example from lawyer A or lawyer B or lawyer C effectively. But what they don't get from lawyer C is the personality of Lawyer B, for example. So if we're working with Lawyer B, we're creating content. Typically we kind of, we call this say video blog content or vlogs. It's not kind of like your Casey Neistat type vlogging behind the scenes kind of stuff. It's short, bite sized educational informational videos which we produce for our clients in a batch of. Typically we do a batch of eight videos once every two months and then we're managing the distribution and rollout of those videos across different platforms on their behalf. So for those busy professional service people who just, they need to just concentrate on billing the hours that they can, they've got this undercurrent of value based content that's going out across their social channels, across their YouTube channel for the huge benefits for SEO, they've got content for their email campaigns that's not just here's our weekly newsletter and it's kind of done for them. Our tagline is you be the expert and we do the rest. So that is the core of what we do which leads to that retainer approach. We also have some other clients which are More in the. More in the tourism space. So accommodation providers. And that's not where we're producing video blog type content. That's where we're producing short videos for social media which are highlighting the area and things to do and you know, different aspects of their accommodation options and you know, events in the local area. So that's where we're basically working on a retainer to create some great video content that engages people quickly on social media based around effectively we've got a library of content for them like a B roll library and we just come up with creative ideas to use that B roll library and we add to the B roll library over time and that's quite successful as well. So that, that's where we're currently playing. I think there's plenty of other opportunity for different types of businesses to lead into this kind of approach, but that's where we've found success so far.

I think that's really helpful. Thank you so much for sharing that because it really helps to put a kind of target market and professional services makes perfect sense. Ben, it's been really lovely talking to you. Where can people find out more about you?

Sure. So everything that I'm doing around this space of video marketing particularly is at engagevideomarketing.com I'd love for people to, if they can head on over to engagevideomarketing.com Den D E N for Denleny, then what I'll do there is I'll have a copy of my Video Producers ebook for effective online video strategy. So that's absolutely free. It's an ebook which, which I wrote a few years ago, but I've updated yearly which basically shares what video strategy looks like as a video producer working with clients. And it gives you the background information to start to transition from video producer to video strategist and to provide better results for your clients.

Well, that's very kind of you. That's very generous of you. Thank you so very much and I hope we can talk again soon.

Thanks, Denny. Absolutely.

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