1. Planning your content needs

Brands struggle with needing content because they haven't thoroughly planned out what content they need for ALL channels before booking production.

One image can go in many different places:

WebsiteProduct PageLanding PageEmailSMSAdWithin VideosBox InsertsMailersBillboards / OOH

TEN PLACES!

You might have even more, but those are just ten spots I can think of as I write this newsletter.

I know you might not be using all of these channels, but do you see how you can maximize just one photo?

Planning is essential, and understanding what you need for each channel is vital.

When a potential client first comes to Goodo Studios, they might say they need photos, but after a long conversation, we uncover a few other needs for video and graphics.

It is crucial to find a creative partner that understands business and marketing so they can help guide you and plan.

Before you hire a creative partner, think about every channel that you want to get new content.

Certain channels require specific types of content; for example, SMS can only do images and GIFs.

I would list each channel with sub-bullets saying what type of content you need plus how much.

Here is an example:

SMS

Three GIFsThree ImagesOne Graphic

Email

Ten ImagesFive GIFs

2. Find the overlap of content needs

Let's take our example from above.

Do we need to create eight GIFs or do we need to create five for email and use three of them for SMS?

Five GIFs will be cheaper than eight GIFs.

Do we need 13 images or do we need ten images and use three for SMS?

You will start to see the overlap as you go about the many different channels.

Having a creative partner that can walk you through your needs for each channel is a game-changer for you and your brand.

3. Produce once, edit over many months

You might identify many content needs, and maybe you can't do it all at once - here is how you can slowly build that visual brand and content library.

The significant lift of creating content is the production.

The setup to shoot all of the content takes TIME.

Here is an idea of what it took from one of our recent shoots:

I have started to suggest to clients to pay for production first, where we shoot a ton of content and then edit out videos, graphics, and images over a few months.

Instead of paying for new production and planning each month, you consolidate the costs and produce content every quarter.

You know the content that you want and how much, just do all of the production up front, and then space out the editing over time.

Again, most creative partners do just one job like create UGC or just do photography, so be diligent with who you partner with that can help you with everything.

Finding a creative partner that can do the full stack of creative work will save you money in the long run.

4. Ads Remixing

When brands come to Goodo Studios for ads help, usually they haven't exhausted the creative assets they have already.

We usually go in, get all their content, and create 30 new ads to test concepts.

We then do variations of these ad ideas.

Realistically, we could turn a library of content into 90 to 120 ads within a few months.

Usually, after that, we need to start shooting new content.

Some brands don't have enough content, so we advise shooting more, so this is a case-by-case basis.

You can take all of the images and videos you made for your marketing channels and then go one step further and turn those assets into ads with different angles and variations.

Heck, we turn images into videos by using this ad we made for Huron.

5. The thing about UGC creators

If you want to invest in UGC, here are some things that will help you in the long run for time and money.

Dealing with a lot of creators takes a ton of time and organization.

Even if you go cheap on the creators, you might spend a ton of time on management which is expensive because you can't get time back.

A lot of videos you get back will have text on them, so you can't use those videos again or remix them with other videos.

Pay for the rights to have the RAW footage or a variation of the video with no text added on top.

You will be able to use that footage to remix ads like we talk about in the previous point.

UGC creators are valuable, but they can't fulfill most of your brand's needs for content creation.