If the explosion of video onto the marketing scene caught you by surprise, you’re not alone. One day it was an option for some brands, and the next, it was necessary for marketing survival.

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But think for a second. What does your content marketing strategy have that your video marketing strategy doesn’t? A style guide is a set of content rules that direct every aspect involved in the design, messaging, and voice of marketing collateral. Among its many purposes, style guides keep every person involved in content creation on the same page. The most successful content marketers have long followed a style guide for their blogs, newsletters, eBooks, etc. But somehow, this vital component gets skipped when organizations dove headfirst into video.

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Why You Need a Video Style Guide

Video is getting bigger every year, and as your organization races to keep pace, it will become easier and easier to stray from branding, messaging, and eventually — your target audiences. A video style guide will ensure this doesn’t happen by:

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• Supplying guidelines that simplify the development of video content.
• Creating tone, voice, message, and image consistency help audiences recognize and trust your brand.
• Encouraging audience and market research.
• Ensuring that content is created according to the audience for which it is intended.

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What to Include in Your Video Style Guide

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1. COMPANY MISSION/VALUE STATEMENT

Your mission or value statement is the reason why your organization exists. Every shred of content you produce should support this statement. So, you can’t align your brand and business goals with your video content until this statement is defined.

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2. COMMUNICATION CONCEPTS

Messaging, imagery, and tone depend entirely on how well you know yourself. Personify your brand by defining the tone of voice, personality, and characteristics that embody its existence. These elements will determine how your brand speaks, communicates, and interacts with target audiences.

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3. VIDEO INTENT

Define what types of video campaigns you intend to create. This will help later in the planning process when we push you to define specific design, background, and formatting details.

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4. DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS

This section covers everything from high vector logo style, font styles, typefaces, color codes to attention bar placement and specific scene/background expectations.

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5. FORMATTING SPECIFICATIONS

Set a standard for general technical details, resolution, and format. To build out this section of your video style guide, you will need to consider where and how your videos will be viewed. Optimal formatting recommendations will vary between platforms.

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6. LEGAL OBLIGATIONS

This section should define how your brand will display its copyright notice and URL at the end of each video. You should also include a video release procedure for employees to follow. A video release is a legal document that gives consent and must be signed by every person who appears on camera (A- and B-roll). Don’t overlook or wing these details. Your intellectual property depends on it!

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Create a PDF version of the style guide and store it in a place accessible to all team members. Also, keep the style guide at a reasonable length to ensure your team references it regularly. If it’s the width of an Oxford Dictionary, it may intimidate some people. Finally, adopt an “all hands on deck” mentality as you dig into the creation of this guide. Each department and team member will have valuable insight to add.

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Remember, your video guide IS NOT a permanent document. It will change and evolve as your brand, audiences, and business goals do. Don’t let the specificity of this document deter you from making progress. You can alter details at any time.  

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Seems like a lot of work, right? It is, but the time and effort you put into your video style guide up front will save your team time and effort in the long run.

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If you’re skeptical about getting this major step in video marketing strategy correct, reach out to a video production agency like Tattoo Content Studio for help. We are experts at translating data into action and will have a specific process in place for developing a thorough video style guide that uniquely aligns with your brand, target audience, and marketing objectives.

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Tattoo Content Studio | 704 Morris Street, Charlotte, NC 28208 | 704.900.7150

Email contentstudio@tattooprojects.com or click here to schedule a call.