I’ve lost count of the number of people shooting good video despite the kit work supplies them with.
Yet drawing up a business case for the kit to shoot video needn’t be this hard and yet often is.
So. I’ve blogged some pointers for you.
There isn’t a specific one size fits all business case but here’s some pointers for you to personalise for the organisation you work in.
YOUR AUDIENCE // Your audience is consuming media on the go. They’re online across all age ranges for between two and fours a day depending how old they are. If that’s where they are it makes sense to communicate with them there.
For video, 70 per cent of the internet is video and 85 per cent of people are more likely to act on a video call to action compared with the same in print. There’s more stats for you here. So, people are consuming video.
TECH // Most smartphones after 2014 can shoot broadcast quality footage. Android or ios is fine. However, Windows phones and BlackBerries are not up to scratch because there isn’t the editing or social apps. Avoid.
EMERGENCY PLANNING // This is a strong card to play. Talk to your emergency planning person and enlist their support for you. You’ll need a device to communicate in an emergency and out in the field. You may even have an emergency planning comms plan that requires this. So, of course you need the kit to make it work.
POLICY // Have a chat to your policy people. Ask about the policies that talk about ‘digital by default’ and other tech. There’s often something that suggests this. If there is great. Include this as further justification.
CONSTITUTION // Have a look at your constitution. I know, I know, this isn’t something you usually do. But there’s often something that you can find that’s helpful in the document. In the council I used to work for there was something that talked about the need for the required equipment and also that the advice of professional bodies carry weight. So, that means the CIPR and there’s things you can pull in from there.
KIT // Aside from a phone, at the workshops I run with my colleague Steven Davies we recommend a small tripod I’ve got one like this one and a clip-on microphone like this Rode SmartLav+.
For more information about the ESSENTIAL VIDEO SKILLS FOR COMMS workshop head here.