31. Creating Video Content That Delivers Genuine ROI for Clients

The ever-present question haunting videographers today isn't new, but it's taken on fresh urgency: Can we truly deliver meaningful ROI to our clients in this content-saturated world? Drawing from years of experience, this episode tackles this challenge head-on through powerful storytelling and practical wisdom.

Through a compelling case study of an orthodontics practice, we explore how understanding the specific hesitations and barriers that prevent customers from choosing a business becomes the foundation for creating truly effective video content. The traditional approach of focusing solely on features and services misses what actually drives purchasing decisions – the resolution of specific customer concerns. By identifying what makes potential clients hesitate and demonstrating how a business solves these problems, videographers can create content that converts at a remarkably higher rate.

This episode redefines ROI for modern videographers. Beyond immediate financial returns, we explore how building a library of problem-solution content creates a trust foundation that functions as an always-on sales pitch. When potential clients encounter your business online, they're moving through a decision journey before ever reaching out. By the time they contact you, they should already be sold – that's the new ROI.

For videographers struggling to demonstrate value, this insight-packed discussion offers a practical framework for creating content that genuinely impacts client businesses. The secret lies not in fancy equipment or technical wizardry, but in becoming skilled translators of business solutions into compelling visual stories that address real customer concerns.

Ready to transform how you approach client projects? Listen now and discover how to create video content that delivers genuine business impact. Share your thoughts about redefining ROI in the comments – we'd love to hear your perspective!

FilmStory Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/filmstory/id1641955836

What do we do: https://myfilmstory.com

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@myfilmstory

Transcript

Introduction and Weekly Update

Speaker 1 0:00

Hey guys , damien here , welcome back . Hope you're having a great week , hope the week's going strong . We're kind of right in the middle of it . If you cannot hear until by now , I am getting over being under the weather . I'll make sure my mic is working . Yep , I'm getting over being under the Um , my , my son daycare , if you know . You know , man , uh , what a , what a , what a , what a tornado of just back and forth sickness really since the year began . Um , uh , don't , I'm not a hundred percent , but I wanted to go about getting this off because it's been coming up a lot throughout , just , I think , the underlying of social media and the under , just just going one under in regards to everything that's happening on the internet .

Speaker 1 0:59

Um , there's this conversation , especially that comes up

The ROI Question for Videographers

Speaker 1 1:02

in my , you know , my connects and conversations with peers . Is this conversation of ROI and videographers actually producing ROI for customers ? And it's different now and is it actually possible ? And you know that's that's not technically a new question , but I think the way in which things are going now , where you have so much content creation , where you know video companies are , you know , maybe becoming , you know , offering more social media services and , you know , trying to continue to meeting potential customers where they are and kind of having to pivot a little bit into this world of social media and how they can actually meet them there . I think it's interesting to see how we , as the video videographers , the content creators , the cinematographers you know anything you want to call it how we are even amidst that , are still trying to meet us , meet , sorry , the businesses where they are Right . And so I wanted to go through , uh , kind of talking about this a little bit , because when it comes to ROI as a video company towards a business , it's definitely possible . Um , I think there's actually different , many different levels of it , different layers of it , so I want to walk through this story . You know we've had many opportunities to to provide ROI in different ways for different businesses .

Speaker 1 2:51

Time , uh , my thinking and understanding , through the grit of like hustling and like learning

Case Study: Orthodontics Business

Speaker 1 2:54

and adapting and changing and molding , came into fruition and I was like , oh , okay , wow , this is interesting . What I was actually thinking is actually correct . Um , and so the story goes many years ago , you know , we had a project that we took on , um , uh , an orthodontics company , um , where I was living before in Georgia , and I'll leave those things kind of unnamed for now and , uh , we brought them on . Sorry , I recognize them nose a little bit but we recognized um . They reached out to us wanting to film some promotional content for the business . Um , there were very uh known in the area but , you know , trying to build up , you know , their brand online , trying to build in , of course , some people coming in , some customer acquisition , you know getting some more people , doors , et cetera , et cetera , and they wanted to really create some like solid flagship promotional content . At this point would live on their website . So whoever's viewing it , you know , trying to get more information about the company , of course we'll watch that video and get insight regarding the business . You know their services , you know who they are , how they are , why they are , the process , et cetera , et cetera . And so , uh , we loved it .

Speaker 1 4:08

You know we went , we went through it , had an initial meeting excuse me guys , sorry , oh , sickness . We had initial meeting , um , where you know I got to connect with uh . I mean , honestly , I don't , I don't think it's , it's . I'll just I'll keep it private . I was going to start naming names , but it's fine . We started to meet with their uh marketing coordinator , uh , and you know , she began to just tell me a little bit about the business , tell me about what they're trying to do . She began to tell me about , you know , the goals of the company , why they're bringing me on , and , as I continue to get this understanding , um , I thought this would be perfect , uh , an opportunity to try to see how we can actually meet those needs . Um , right where the people are .

Speaker 1 5:01

You know a lot of the times when you do these . You know when you , a lot of times when you do these kinds of projects , these video projects , these promotional video projects , you're getting people potentially to speak in front of the camera or something like that , and you're trying to get people to say the right thing , like , we need them to say this thing appropriately , the best way possible , the clearest way possible , with as few syllables as possible and that way that the message comes across clearly , et cetera , et cetera , um , but I've recognized that you know we , we , we , we didn't really have to force that . You know there's a way where we can get authentic responses , which is exactly what people need . Um , to help , you know , bridge that gap for a person that's wanting to watch these videos and to see the video and then choose yes , I want to go with them .

Speaker 1 5:53

And so one of the things that we were speaking about , the marketing director of the orthodontics company and myself was trying to figure out , okay , we want to create promotional content . Trying to figure out who we want to focus on . Create promotional content , um , trying to figure out who we want to focus on , you know , kind of our , our avatar . You know the intended audience , um , and we recognize that mothers . Uh , was that and um , you know , I'll just share everything . Uh , the company was , was Hester and Morris orthodontics ? Um , and we , as we were talking , we , we , uh , we were sharing you know who the intended audience was . Excuse me , who the intended audience was um , talks about mothers . Um , you know , trying to bring , you know , the kids in , et cetera , et cetera . You know that's who we want to focus our , our , our , our , our marketing efforts and things like that on . Okay , great , marketing efforts and things like that on , okay , great .

Speaker 1 6:47

So we began , I started to implement . You know what I thought , what I knew back then , as you know , the steps to take . Okay , so , if the mothers are the intended audience , what would hinder a mother from choosing Hester and Morris as their children's orthodontic service provider , right ? So you know , thinking about just as tangible as possible , right ? You think about work .

Speaker 1 7:10

You know , well , it's tough because you know I have to leave work , pick my child up from school or children , maybe it's multiple stops , I don't know . Whatever Pick them up from school , take them to Hester and Morris , do their thing , take them back to school and then , if I have time , get back to work . And it really kind of disrupts almost the entire day , even maybe half a day , and all I'm trying to do is an orthodontist appointment , right , Because a lot of times it's tough on weekends because there's grocery shopping and kids have soccer and church and Sunday school . You know , like you know , there's that main thing of of trying to get them from , uh , the school to the Hester Morris location is tough , right ? Um , secondly , I don't want to . I want the orthodontist to to do their thing and to really , really , you know , make sure that they're giving my children the best care possible . But I want to kind of be a part of the process , like I want to see what's happening . I want to . I want to kind of see how the teeth are moving or , like you know , what's happening

Problem-Solution Approach to Content

Speaker 1 8:19

in the mouth , not saying I want to be there , right as you're , like inside my child's mouth , but I just kind of want it to be a little bit of a of a kind of an open door concept , so that way I can gain insight without a feeling like a doctor's office where everything's behind closed doors , right ? And thirdly , my , my children are great , right ? Uh , you know , they're little angels , but they can be a little rambunctious sometimes and I want to make sure that , uh , if I'm not there , that the staff there like if I have to drop them off and come back or whatever the staff there is truly able to take care of them , not just sit in a room here , be quiet you know we'll be with you in a minute but actually like truly taking care of the children . I said , boom , all right , this is great , all right .

Speaker 1 9:11

So now we figured out at least the three main things as to why this would be . You know the parents' difficulties , right ? And so we could have said four things , we could have said five things , but you know , at this point we just talked about the three main things , right ? So we got that . We said , okay , um , we figured out what's struggles like what hinders them from choosing Hester Morris . Hester Morris , how are you guys able to solve these problems ? Right ? And to mention , we brought in mothers and had this conversation , right ? But to fast forward , reach out to Hester Morris . Hester Morris , how are you guys able to solve these issues ? We'll say , hey , one we've developed a relationship regarding getting the children to the schools , to Hester and Morris , and back to the schools .

Speaker 1 10:08

We've built relationships with every school in the area pretty much , and we have what we call orthotaxy , which was this Hummer , it was like an H2 or something , and it had Hester and Morris vinyl wrapped all over it , something and it had Hester and Morris vinyl wrapped all over it . And so they have these relationships with the schools , where they would literally go to the schools , pick up their children , right , because they have to be certified . You know they're here to pick up their children . Pick them up , certified , authenticate , take them to Hester and Morris . You know , sign in , sign out , you know keeping track of everything , do their appointment and then take them back to school . So now the parent , the mom or even the dad doesn't have to , you know , lose half a day of work or kind of go through kind of the inconvenience in being able to do so .

Speaker 1 10:58

Right , so you have that , um , in regards to the sort of open door policy for , uh , the , the , the mother or the parent , to you know , the doctors or the nurses there , um , uh , or the uh dentist that would . You know what I want , that the care providers that are there . Excuse me , I'm not fully in that world right now , but slightly sick , forgive me guys . Yes , they have an open door policy where after every appointment , they literally bring the parents in , they show them the x-rays , they tell them okay , last time you came , this is what it looked like , this time this is what it looked like . You can literally see how this tooth is beginning to do this . They have examples of like the little teeth in there where they can show you what's happening If they want to . They can kind of be a part of the process when they're examining , et cetera , et cetera . They can ask questions , they can ask their child how they felt going through the process , if they're comfortable , like they have that kind of a culture at the location . And then , thirdly , as far as making sure that the staff there can take care of their children every single staff member that works at Hester Morris was trained in , like child safety or whatever was needed . That was our prerequisite for anyone to work at Hester Morris . So everyone there is trained to help children , to make sure that they are OK , that they're certified , and it was probably like CPR , et cetera . Et cetera , training , and they're good to go .

Speaker 1 12:29

Great , now , this is what we need to talk about in the video , right ? So this is the . This is the thing that I really try to get across is we're not guessing anything when we're trying to say how do we create video content that really pinpoints how this business is a solution to a customer's problem ? We don't need to guess . I don't need to guess that . Right , it's really a process of following through on the communication and following through on . Okay , I really want to get outside myself .

Speaker 1 13:06

I'm thinking about this business . Okay , why would this customer not choose your business ? Like , what's their initial hesitation beyond ? Some other customer does it for , or some other business does it for $5 cheaper , okay , sure , but why , if they're ? If all the companies cost the same , what are the things that hinders this mother from choosing Hester and Morris ? List those things out , hester and Morris . How do you solve those things . Listed those things out .

Speaker 1 13:34

Okay , this is what we're going to talk about in the video . Right , we're not guessing , because once they recognize man , they've answered every single inquiry as to why . I would even hesitate . There's not really much less . There's not really an another . There's not really another piece of hesitation , there's not a hesitation point . There is only inquiry . Right , there's only inquiry . There's nothing left to what else ? Okay , come up with something else . All right , hester Morse , how do you solve that ? Answered , right .

Speaker 1 14:04

And it leaves , especially with something like this , where it's an orthodontic service provider . It leaves you with I don't want to say no other choice , because there are always choices , but it leaves you with nothing but anticipation in working with the family or anticipation in working with the business , because , man , they've thought about all these things . That's a great like . I love that . I don't think I've ever heard of anyone having a stretch a Hummer that goes and picks out . Sorry , it wasn't stretched out , it was like a limousine . I mean , it was just the vinyl was wrapped around it . It was a regular size Hummer , but Hummers are big , it doesn't matter . Um , but that's that's what I'm talking about , right ?

Speaker 1 14:47

And so we created this video content where we literally interviewed a family from the mom's perspective , sharing her insight on that staff and with the doctor and with just how the process was . So you get , as a parent looking at this video , you get the insight from the parent that shares all the reasons as to why she might have said no and how Hester Morris said check , check , check , got it . Then you get the perspective of each child , which are two different ages , so you have one that's older , in high school , and one that's maybe middle elementary school , both hearing it out , their perspectives . Got it , got it Right . So again , at the end of it , you're left with where do I sign up ? Right ? Um , because there's there's not really much else to come against . Is pricing some , like maybe , maybe if , pricing some , but in this case we're talking orthodontics . It was probably insurance coverage , but that's we're not even going down that line , right ? We're just talking simple creating actual content that is solution based , understand the core of who the business is through the perspective of their customers . So that's what I mean , like that's a part of story .

Speaker 1 16:12

First right Is being able to get the human aspect of this business first . Before we , you know , we haven't talked about all . They have this new gadget at Heston Morse . They got the new , you know , gum cleaner 8000 . You know what I'm saying ? We haven't talked about any of that stuff , right , Because it's secondary to the people and the story and the culture of that there , right , and how that thrives and how they're able to answer those questions for their customers , and so that has to be the priority when it comes to creating solution based content . That's actually that it can stand as like a flagship promotional for the company's business , right .

Speaker 1 16:55

And so we created that video content and it's you know , it's probably on YouTube somewhere , hester Morris and so we created that content . Video turned out great , answer the questions , etc , etc . And so we uh , of course , gave it to heston morris , put it on their website , etc . Etc . As time went by , I um continued to keep up with them , hear from , uh , heston morris and see how things were going , how the video had been doing , and I was finding out that their uptick in just customer acquisition had a solid increase . We're not going to talk specifics as far as numbers , but I remember her mentioning to me many times that there have been people that have mentioned seeing that video online and it was really cool to kind of , they love being able to get those questions answered beforehand .

Speaker 1 17:55

And again , that's another point , these videos serve as part of the funnel , so they go through the video and whatever's on the website , services , et cetera , et cetera . By the time they're actually signed up they're sold . They're not questioning like man , I don't know , maybe no , no , no , they've gone through it , they've gone through the hesitations

Redefining Video ROI Today

Speaker 1 18:20

and have recognized how they've answered those questions Right Again , not guessing . So they've gone through that and so now they're on the other end of it and saying where do I sign ? Let's go . And so they saw a significant uptick in bodies and seats at Hester Morris and very just easily seeing the ROI from that video content .

Speaker 1 18:46

And that's that's all we did . That's that's the content that we created , and it was really cool to see how it just came into fruition by really focusing on the people , the business , the people in the business , the customer , um and and , and really trying to shed light on that problem solution method . And uh , I understand , you know , maybe that's grassroots , maybe that's too simple , I don't know . Maybe we're looking for something else , I'm not sure , but it's it's , it's really fundamentally us . It's just a great move to be able to recognize what would hinder someone from choosing your services and then being able to answer how you are a solution to those hindrances , right To give a person to really go through those things or those hesitations and then getting them answered . And that's why getting feedback and hearing back from our customers is so important to our business , because we can't even tell for sure for answering the questions , or we can't even tell for sure if we answered the question , the initial inquiry . If we don't come back and say , hey , like , did we do this ? All right , like your problem was initially this provided this , Did that work , what were you thinking ? You know we have to get that feedback and that's another story . But , yeah , so that's how we did that right . So that was that ROI . Right , leave it on that note , because now we're in a time where ROI is not just financial .

Speaker 1 20:52

Most of the most of the processes by which we go about getting ROI , like that process , like the stuff I just mentioned , as well as if you're just building your brand online , the ROI is what I shared earlier regarding by the time they actually get to you know inquire , they're already sold . That's an ROI because they've gone through your content , they've seen you share things online . They've seen you share certain problems that you have , but it was with some other client or whatever , but they shared those problems , they shared how . Uh , you like , I'll just say me , I've shared how I was a solution to this customer's problem and I have a whole library of that . So when they go through all those things online , they see the Instagram posts , they see the LinkedIn , they see this , this brand , this library of man . This business has really done a lot of work in trying to trying to to solve this problem . By the time they get to the website and they go through what we do , our services , et cetera , they're already like no , no , no , we need this guy sold .

Speaker 1 22:01

That is an ROI . Right , that is that like for B2B . That's an ROI because you're building trust , you're building brand identity , you're building truck brand trust . I mean , I don't know , you pick , you pick the fancy marketing terms and that is a lot of the times , what , excuse me , that is a lot of the times .

Speaker 1 22:33

What gets kind of trotted on the ground because , in the words of Mr Wonderful , but how do I make money ? Though , right , Trust is good , but how do I make money ? Right , and I . I believe that the more trust you have and the more trust that you create and the more trust that you build online , the more you'll have , you know , that money . Long story short , the more people will easily say , yes , I want this from this person .

Speaker 1 23:02

Um , yeah , I think one leads to another right , and I think it's hard . I think it's hard to do the money without the trust , right , and so that's , that's a lot of times overseen , overlooked it's , it's trodden on , trodden on Um , and it shouldn't be , excuse me , on um , and it shouldn't be , excuse me , it shouldn't be um , that stuff , man , people , sorry , oh , sorry , guys , it's sickness , all right , that stuff is . I mean , that's , that's the lifeline , that's what that's , what does our marketing for us ? So that way , when we get inquiries , when you're not in front of your computer making content and posting , and you're not doing that , and some people are going through your content online , they're seeing your website and seeing the content that you've made , they're seeing all of these things . That is your sales pitch , right , and that , in return , becomes your ROI , as far as if you are like what I am like a videographer , content creator , are like what I am like a videographer or a content creator , graphic design , like whatever you pick .

Speaker 1 24:20

You know you pick your medium , um , but that's that's worth something , man , to be able to build that , to be able to build that trust to the point , to be able to build a library where you expose those , those problem solutions , and to be able to separate from those things , have that speak for you , have potential customers come and meet you where you are with all of that information , recognize your ability to answer those problems that they have . They go to your website . They see now , they see literally the content that you have created as a videographer , a content creator , graphic designer , whatever . And they see literally how you've done this again , solve the problem that many of their , of your customers had and they say , yeah , that whole process is is your ROI ? And that's big , that's huge .

Speaker 1 25:25

So I don't want ROI to just sound like , yeah , we have to provide financial ROI and we have to , um , you know , when we're creating the video content , a plus B has to equal more money and that , honestly , can happen . It happens plenty of times . That is the solution , right . But what we have to focus on as videographers , I believe , is more than just you know and I know videographers , cinematographersographers , filmmakers , whatever you want . You know you call yourself what you want . I'm not trying to , that's on you , but , excuse me , we have to wrap this up because , uh , after it's coming , we have to focus on meeting the people , like where they are right .

Speaker 1 26:18

So , so how we do that ? Of course , social media , but creating the content that helps show that you are the solution to their issues , right , and a lot of times that looks like being able to share those times where you've worked with certain customers and done certain things , et cetera , et cetera , et cetera . And then the next tier , your website . They go to your website , inquire more . They want to see the work you've done , they want to see how you are , they want to see you as a person , they want to get to understand Right , and after they fall in love with you , I want this person inquire right . That is also an ROI , so I don't want um , roi is still possible in many ways , but ROI is still possible in many ways . We can definitely still produce stuff like that .

Speaker 1 27:03

I know there are many ways and I've heard stories as well where we try to do content and it didn't work out and this video that we did did not get a good ROI for this business . What's interesting with that is thank you , wrapping it up . Wrapping it up , sorry . What's interesting with that is , a lot of the times , when it comes to video video , you don't need one video , you need an entire video plan , right ? What does somebody do after you post that one flagship video ? What does somebody do a week after you post that flagship video ? How do they find your business online ? How do they connect with your business online ? How do they figure out , you know , if they're in your budget ? How do they figure out how your process works ? You know , and I understand this sounds like a funnel , but I'm actually talking about video content right now . You see what I'm saying . All these things you can shed light on and answer all of those questions before they even get to your website . So now , when they get to the website and they want to inquire , you've answered every single hesitation that they may have . Is it beginning to click ? Right , and so that's the goal , right ? So that's what I'm talking

Creating Video Plans, Not Just Videos

Speaker 1 28:49

about . That's , yeah , that's what I'm talking about and being able to take steps forward in that . Now we're talking about intentionality . Uh , take steps forward in that , now we're .

Speaker 1 28:59

Now , we're talking about intentionality Now . We're talking about being able to create meaningful , purposeful content that sticks , and not just throwing stuff out there and hoping it lands Right . Um , sure , if you want to , there's . You know . Internet , social media is fun , right , but when we're talking about growing a business , there has to be a little bit of a plan for it , right ? And so video plans .

Speaker 1 29:27

If this one video didn't work and it helped this business get an ROI and that's what they're looking for then maybe we need to create more than just one video , maybe we need a little bit of a plan so that way they stay coming up , you know , in front of their potential customers , if it's B2B or if it's B2C , that it comes up in front of the right people , whatever it is , um , that has to be a part of the plan , right , cause that's the time we live in , that's the day we live in , right ? So , anywho , I hope this helps , hope this makes sense , um , something I definitely wanted to get off my chest for a little while , and I wanted to get it off because , um , the way things are now , um , I don't know hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow , but the way this week is going right now , it's like if I didn't get this on now , that I wouldn't get it out this week , and I want to get it out this week , trying to keep a momentum going with all the stuff we're doing podcast , uh , social media clips , you know , interviewing and and and and interact with these amazing people . Um , another , another series coming up next week . We wrapped up this week with Marley . Marley Sinclair photography , slash wild , magnolia studio , um , with her speaking on it .

Speaker 1 30:37

Great episode . If you haven't go ahead and check that out episode . If you haven't go ahead and check that out yet . If you haven't yet , go ahead and check that out . Podcast story first . And thank you , guys , for the time . As always , if you have questions , let me know . Links are somewhere , some by somewhere near . And thank you again for listening . All right , catch you later . Have a good one , I'm going to get some tea . All right , bye guys .