Video retainers can add rocket fuel to your marketing strategies. Why? Well, the days of just 1 video doing all the heavy lifting is gone.
You’d throw out a social media agency that suggested one social post every four months. You’d laugh at an SEO agency who said one blog a year would suffice. So why would you trust a video strategy agency that will only produce one standalone video?
What is a video retainer?
Video retainers are becoming more and more in demand by businesses throughout the UK. Video retainers guarantee you fresh and consistent videos, so you always have compelling content ready to distribute to potential clients.
A video retainer moves away front the traditional one-off video projects that we saw boom in the early 00s and 10s. It replaces this with an organised and calculated system of producing and releasing relevant, strategic video content for our audiences to consume.
Why is this way of working so popular? Because the results are phenomenal. Video retainers lean on the principle that the total is greater than the sum of its parts. In other words, having a series of six videos which are connected, thought-out and orchestrated is much better than six individual random projects that work in a silo.
Why video, and why video retainers?
The reason why video retainers trump the old way of doing things is simple; consistent marketing is only true marketing that works.
That’s why retargeting is so effective. It’s why writing that one blog a year would be absurd, or one social media post every four months obviously wouldn’t work.
We know the digital landscape is extremely fluid. We also understand that our audience is consuming content at an ever-increasing rate… plus, with so much competition, creating thoughtful and compelling content is key to driving growth and differentiating yourself.
How does a video marketing retainer work?
Video retainers can come in a variety of shapes and sizes. The two most simple models are Output Based and Value Based.
With an Output Based model, we would plan out 6, 9 or 12 months worth of content. We would agree on the ‘Output’, i.e. the number of films, strategies, different versions etc, and then plan the logistics and creatives.
There is always flex with this type of model, as you may want to be reactive to certain topical themes. This is accommodated because at the start of the deal, you would agree a set number of filming and editing dates (again, allowing for some flex).
This is great for companies that want to have that consistent stream of content, and have multiple products and services to market, or even multiple customer personas to target. The fee for this type of retainer can start from £1000 per month.
The second model is Value Based. This model is based on results; the fee is connected directly to the success of the video strategies. So that we can track success, our Value Based clients sign up to our partner Vidyard to allow us to gain in-depth video analytics. Value Based clients also commit to a monthly ad spend, so that we can use this to get real traction from your video.
In this retainer model, the production of the video content is free – you just pay on results and per lead. This is great for businesses really looking to leverage paid media, but it’s not as suitable for businesses that have long sales cycles, as it can become tricky to calculate accurate attribution to closed deals and generated leads.
We do offer both video retainer models at Life Media UK, with the majority of our clients opting for an Output Based model.
What’s included in a video retainer?
When it comes to the videos that are actually included in your retainer, it’s completely driven by your needs and requirements as a business.
If you’re looking to generate awareness, then we would create strategies that achieve that business objective. If you’re looking to increase web traffic, then we would create a different strategy altogether.
The reality is, most businesses want to achieve a mixture of things, so all of our video retainers are bespoke. We take a look at your needs, and offer up 3 packages with different budgets. This gives you full control over how many videos, and what type of videos, you will receive.
Here’s what a typical retainer could look like…
£1500 per month for 6 months
3 x Case Studies
2 x Testimonial Adverts
6 x Video Blogs
15 x Short Teaser Snippets
Total = 26 films. That’s 1 new film for you to release each week, all for under £350 per film!
Is it worth it?
We like to think so – check out this testimonial to see what our clients say:
How to get started
To find out how you can fire up your marketing channels with a constant stream of high-quality video content, simply book a meeting here.
