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Low Production Quality Internet Video Can Be OK

You know that old expression “you get what you pay for?” Turns out, when we’re talking about Internet video, that’s not always the case. There’s an awful lot of emphasis on video production quality in the marketing world, and when you call your local video production company you may find out that shooting a relatively simple 2-3 minute video can cost thousands of dollars to produce.

While we’re not suggesting that top-quality video production isn’t necessary, your company doesn’t necessarily need to invest in top-quality production to make a useful, high-performing online video.

Successful Low-Quality Video Examples

1. How-to videos: This video explains how to remove a scratch from a DVD – yet it uses just one camera, the lighting isn’t perfect, and it wasn’t shot in HD…but it’s a great video with nearly 4 million views to prove it. Q&A videos – such as Matt Cutts explaining Google’s webmaster tools system – are another format where low quality is A-OK (provided the content is good).

2. Socially appealing videos: Examples include viral videos, behind the scenes with the crew videos, check this new gadget out videos, and so on. If you think your video would be socially interesting without regard to your company or your industry – such as this bizarre office behind-the-scenes video from ThinkGeek – then low quality is fine.

3. Entertainment for entertainment’s sake: There are tens of thousands of examples of companies producing videos, but very few companies are just trying to entertain. It’s probably because it’s difficult to calculate the ROI on making something funny.

TIP: Funny isn’t easy, and when it goes wrong it can be a disaster. Tread carefully.

4. Simple text and photo videos that summarize an article. These videos won’t win any awards, but they provide visually inclined people with a way to read an article without actually reading it. For example, check out this video about Google Analytics Basics and Terminology. It’s good enough to complement a more in-depth blog post.

The big takeaway: You don’t always need to spend money on top-notch production to make a great Internet video. If your video is informative or entertaining, it can get by on a shoestring budget.

Here’s our unofficial video production quality decision tree that sums all of this up:

Internet Video Production Quality Decision Tree

Some things to think about before investing in production quality for your company’s next Internet video.

Featured image copyright: georgejmclittle / 123RF Stock Photo

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