Content vs Video Content: Two sides of the same Content Marketing Story.
In case you have been wondering, yes, this is a true story. And yes, this has been one of the most pointless discussions I had to make in my life. Could I have avoided it in the first place? I leave you to be the judge.
As a content writer, you are a lone wolf or a lone ranger, whichever you prefer. I do my job. One on one with the client. That's it. Yet, every now and then, I have to become a part of some team, more or less voluntarily. In most of the cases, I have to work with designers, animators, and similar. Not such a big deal, you may say. We all play in the same team. We want to get over with our jobs, get paid, and move on. It makes sense.
My returning client has decided to change something about his approach. We was obviously aiming huge. Almost a dozen short animation videos explaining and promoting his services. That's OK. I was invited to write the scripts for these videos. So, what's the problem? When you write a video script you have two possible scenarios. The first one is to write a script and based on your script the animation guys make the video. You don't have to guess twice that this is my preferred choice. The second option is to write a script based on an existing video. This is not great, but what can you do about it? It's just like you are a song writer and some other guy makes the music. Which one comes first? Well, the client sets the rules.
I couldn't possibly blame my client. He bought a dozen of video templates and stuff. Something like fifty bucks a piece, give it or take. That's understandable. I know that video production and animation can be quite expensive. We are talking about tens of thousands of dollars. Don't forget the guys who are in charge of narration. Usually, the US, UK, German, and French language. Even Russian and Chinese may be required. So, it's a small Hollywood in your own office. I accepted the project. My job was to write scripts based on existing video animations. The guys from the animation and video production team are supposed to adjust these videos. You know to change some pictures or put the client's logo. Something like that.
So, one of the videos included some points about the advantages of video marketing. Like you have better chances that people will notice your services, if you use videos, etc. Some statistics. The usual, but a little bit annoying and overused stuff. So, I change my script and suggested that animation guys should change a thing here and there. The reaction was absolutely unexpected and surprising.
This video production guy was furious. Like I'm undermining the importance of video content, which was a ridiculous accusation from my point of view. I said that in fact we are talking about the same thing - the content itself. First, you need to write something, and later you can turn it into audio ro video content, make an animation, or do whatever you want with it. Right? But, first you need to write something.
It turned out that I was adding fuel to the fire. I heard that it is in our nature to notice and remember impactful video material. Right again, but let's not make a rocket science out of it. Eventually, I got so annoyed that I told him to go to Hollywood to learn a lesson. As I expected he was completely confused. I used an opportunity to remind him of one of the latest guild of writers or some other association, which completely paralyzed the entire Hollywood production. I didn't know all the details, but I knew for sure, it was serious. The writers got what they wanted. This way or another, it all comes down to the money.
Luckily for both of us, the guy who is supposed to read and record the text reported the problem to the client. There was no need for an arbitration. He warned us that we should do our job, otherwise he would easily replace us. So, he personally checked all of my script's versions. I guess that the video stuff guy was happy about it. All points about the importance of video content were shamelessly emphasized. There was really no need to blow the things out of proportion, but hey, I was here to do my job, take the money, and sing Kumbaya at the end of the long working day. Finally, I sure hope I'm not going to meet that animation guy in one of my future projects.
Was all of these really necessary? Aren't we talking about the same thing? You have water, then you boil it and you get the same thing in some other form. Right? You can also play with the temperature in the opposite direction and you will get the ice. You write and you play with the form of the words. You can do whatever you like with them. That's the point with the content marketing. That's basically the same thing, which can be expressed in many forms. Content or video content or audio content or something else, we are talking about the content marketing all the time, aren't we? Why was this so difficult for that animation guy to accept?
As a content writer, you are a lone wolf or a lone ranger, whichever you prefer. I do my job. One on one with the client. That's it. Yet, every now and then, I have to become a part of some team, more or less voluntarily. In most of the cases, I have to work with designers, animators, and similar. Not such a big deal, you may say. We all play in the same team. We want to get over with our jobs, get paid, and move on. It makes sense.
My returning client has decided to change something about his approach. We was obviously aiming huge. Almost a dozen short animation videos explaining and promoting his services. That's OK. I was invited to write the scripts for these videos. So, what's the problem? When you write a video script you have two possible scenarios. The first one is to write a script and based on your script the animation guys make the video. You don't have to guess twice that this is my preferred choice. The second option is to write a script based on an existing video. This is not great, but what can you do about it? It's just like you are a song writer and some other guy makes the music. Which one comes first? Well, the client sets the rules.
I couldn't possibly blame my client. He bought a dozen of video templates and stuff. Something like fifty bucks a piece, give it or take. That's understandable. I know that video production and animation can be quite expensive. We are talking about tens of thousands of dollars. Don't forget the guys who are in charge of narration. Usually, the US, UK, German, and French language. Even Russian and Chinese may be required. So, it's a small Hollywood in your own office. I accepted the project. My job was to write scripts based on existing video animations. The guys from the animation and video production team are supposed to adjust these videos. You know to change some pictures or put the client's logo. Something like that.
So, one of the videos included some points about the advantages of video marketing. Like you have better chances that people will notice your services, if you use videos, etc. Some statistics. The usual, but a little bit annoying and overused stuff. So, I change my script and suggested that animation guys should change a thing here and there. The reaction was absolutely unexpected and surprising.
This video production guy was furious. Like I'm undermining the importance of video content, which was a ridiculous accusation from my point of view. I said that in fact we are talking about the same thing - the content itself. First, you need to write something, and later you can turn it into audio ro video content, make an animation, or do whatever you want with it. Right? But, first you need to write something.
It turned out that I was adding fuel to the fire. I heard that it is in our nature to notice and remember impactful video material. Right again, but let's not make a rocket science out of it. Eventually, I got so annoyed that I told him to go to Hollywood to learn a lesson. As I expected he was completely confused. I used an opportunity to remind him of one of the latest guild of writers or some other association, which completely paralyzed the entire Hollywood production. I didn't know all the details, but I knew for sure, it was serious. The writers got what they wanted. This way or another, it all comes down to the money.
Luckily for both of us, the guy who is supposed to read and record the text reported the problem to the client. There was no need for an arbitration. He warned us that we should do our job, otherwise he would easily replace us. So, he personally checked all of my script's versions. I guess that the video stuff guy was happy about it. All points about the importance of video content were shamelessly emphasized. There was really no need to blow the things out of proportion, but hey, I was here to do my job, take the money, and sing Kumbaya at the end of the long working day. Finally, I sure hope I'm not going to meet that animation guy in one of my future projects.
Was all of these really necessary? Aren't we talking about the same thing? You have water, then you boil it and you get the same thing in some other form. Right? You can also play with the temperature in the opposite direction and you will get the ice. You write and you play with the form of the words. You can do whatever you like with them. That's the point with the content marketing. That's basically the same thing, which can be expressed in many forms. Content or video content or audio content or something else, we are talking about the content marketing all the time, aren't we? Why was this so difficult for that animation guy to accept?