How to guarantee your video advances your mission without micromanaging

No one on the outside understands your Catholic organization like you do. That is absolutely, 100% true. After all, you are the communication or development director, you intimately know your group’s history, its values, its initiatives, its people, its hopes and, even, its mistakes.

So when it comes time to hire a video crew to help you craft a video about your organization, you are understandably a little hesitant. Video production is full of judgment calls, so these people will have an immeasurable effect on the message of the video and, ultimately, whether or not it will advance your mission.

But you also, very likely, don’t have the time or the desire to micromanage the video crew. You’re hiring them to make your life easier, right? And because they are the experts when it comes to crafting video.

So how do you balance those desires? How do you guarantee your video advances your mission without micromanaging the crew?

The solution is all handled upfront, most of it is done before you even hire them.

First, you yourself need to define, in crystal-clear terms, the goal of this video and how it fits into your greater mission strategy. An easy formula to write out your goal is who and what. Who - Who do you want your video to reach? Think through, not just the demographics, but also their hopes and fears, ambitions and struggles. You also need to know where they are in their journey with their organization. Do they know you exist, or are they unaware of you? Are they passive observers or dedicated contributors?

Now define the what - what do you want them to do? Again, be crystal-clear. If you want them to visit your website, what page specifically do you want them to read? Do you want them to fill out an inquiry form? To make an online donation? This is also informed by where this person is in their journey with you. If they don’t know you exist, a good “what” would be to simply watch the video to completion.

Now that you have the video’s goal clear in your own mind, it is time to engage the video crew.

You do need to make sure you trust them. Some of our other videos talk in depth about how to build trust with your crew, but it is absolutely worth mentioning here. You must trust your video crew, and you do this by scheduling a conversation with them before you commit to hiring them. In this conversation, you share all about your organization and gauge their reaction. You also ask questions about their past projects, knowledge, and experience. Go with your gut and only hire a crew if this conversation leaves you with a confident trust in how they will handle your project.

Once you have confidently made your choice, you can share your video’s goal with your crew and ask for a proposal. Spend some time answering their questions and sharing your ideal vision. Then, you can unleash them to make their creative plans. Ultimately, the video team should provide you with an outline of their concrete plans on how they will craft a video that achieves the goal you defined.

Remember, this is all done before the camera rolls, so you can review these plans and, if needed, ask for changes. Changes are easy, and expected, at this stage in the process. 

Once you feel confident about the plans on paper, you can let the video crew take the wheel while you sit in the passenger seat and watch the magic happen. This is where the video experts really will shine as they film your content and refine it into an impactful video. And, because you did all the upfront planning that is the foundation of the video, you don’t have to worry or micromanage anything. And once it’s done, you can be sure that video will truly advance your mission.

For more mission-driven marketing tips like this one, subscribe to our newsletter at thinginapot.com. And let us help you to grow with video.

_______

Katie Rutter is the COO of Thing in a Pot Productions. She has received multiple awards for her work, including a nomination for a Chicago/Midwest Emmy in 2021 and being declared Video Producer of the Year in 2018 by the Catholic Press Association. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive our video Mission Driven Marketing tips in your inbox every month!