Content is king. As we progress into digital media this saying becomes more and more true. With a lot of advertising and engagement moving to online spheres content has become increasingly important. Of all the types of content, video is really booming thanks to the advances in internet speeds and devices. For those with an eye for video production, creation and editing there is a great business opportunity with a lot of growth potential. A video production or editing business that caters for the content needs of businesses on social media is just the thing.
Video
When we talk about video content we are looking at short-form videos that contain live footage, animations or a mix. The social media age has also come with shorter attention spans or at least that’s what the social media companies pushing us to 15 and 30-second video content would have us believe. Whether that’s the real reason or not this is what we have to deal with. Of course, longer-form videos for advertising, product introductions, product explanations and more still have a place on the internet. So you will have quite a broad market to look at though narrowing down on specific needs would be a great idea.
Skills
The obvious skills you will need are in video editing. This is not the hardest part of the business though. Video editing has become so much easier to the point of being commodified thanks to the app age and the numerous applications available on all platforms that can create the task. They have developed amazing creative tools with subscription services that provide you with tools and templates to use in your video creation or editing. The hard skills are marketing skills. There is a difference between putting an advert together and putting a great advert together and that difference is usually understanding the market you are aiming for. Design and editing skills will open the door for you but it is marketing skills that will keep that door open. Consider marrying your video skills with digital marketing skills.
Equipment
It’s important to note that the business here is not videography. You turn ideas and or video footage into video content for social media. So at the very bare-bones level, all you need is a computer (at worst a mobile phone) that has the capacity to process and edit video. That said what you will find when you’re working in a world where anyone who can pay the subscription for the software has access to the same themes and templates as you the difference will be your ability to add great visuals of your own creation. Like visuals that capture the Zimbabwean essence and communicate Zimbabwe to the audience. So capturing equipment is not essential as a start but a good DSLR camera will come in handy down the line.
Market
Your market is businesses that want to communicate with their market. A demonstrated ability to understand your customers market will certainly do you favours but ultimately remember who your market is. Ironically, pleasing a customer’s market will not always mean pleasing the market and this is something you must always be aware of. I have experience working in a design environment and this is one of the hardest-hitting realisations in this business. Understanding your market is also very important when it comes to your offerings. The Zimbabwean marketing environment, digital or otherwise, has a very “me too” approach to it. Brand X did this, we must do it too. Being in such a trend based environment means you have to be very good at understanding trends but also at surfing them. The advantage of this for you is that the work is fairly standardised.
Marketing
Do yourself a favour here and show don’t tell. You can read up on that concept to understand deeper but here I will simply say you are in the business of social media video and nothings says I make social media videos like making social media videos. You are going to have a much better time selling your products by showing people what you can do rather than telling them what you can do.
This is a great business idea with lots of future growth potential as we move deeper and deeper into the online age. Got skills? Give it a try. With such a low investment threshold to get started, it’s not hard to start.
