If you’ve worked with us or checked out some of our other blog posts, you probably already know that we advocate for using your video footage as an asset to your overall marketing strategy. You should be getting the most out of the video you’ve invested in! Need some ideas on how to make this happen? In this post, we’re sharing three smart ways to repurpose b-roll footage from a video project you’ve already completed. Just because the project is finished doesn’t mean your footage has been used to its fullest potential!
This one is both a way to use your footage (in future projects) and a necessary step (archiving) to begin using your b-roll footage in any capacity. It may seem obvious, but it’s worth noting that in order to use footage from a finished project, it must be organized and saved properly. In terms of organization, think about a file structure that will work for you. Is it better to organize your footage by date? Project? Location? Division? Spend some time thinking about what makes sense and will make your footage easy to locate when you need it.
Once you come up with a file structure for your video library, be sure to share it with anyone else who will be saving or accessing the footage.
The goal is to simplify the process of finding the video footage you (and others) want to use. You don’t want to be looking for a needle in a haystack and be tempted to give up on finding the file you’re trying to locate. Taking a bit of time to organize your files on the front end will save you a lot of time and aggravation later.
When building a video content library, you must also think about how to efficiently save your footage for the long-term. Redundancy is an important part of keeping your footage safe. We’ve posted this before, but just saving on one hard drive is not enough. Hard drives can fail, so backups are necessary. If you’re using a solid state drive that fails, everything you have stored on that drive is gone. So, be sure you have at least two storage drives that house your video content library.
Once you have protocols in place for saving and organizing your video footage, you are free to use it as needed for any future video projects. Many times, the amount of b-roll needed for a video project can be underestimated. So, you want to make sure you have more than enough! Particularly if you find yourself revisiting certain topics or particular aspects of your business, it can’t hurt to have plenty of corresponding b-roll footage in your archives to supplement any new video footage you are recording.
For clients we work with regularly, we keep archives of their video footage for this very reason. Especially for longer videos, it is not uncommon for us to go into our video library to retrieve the right b-roll clips to finish their videos. The fact that we also maintain a library of the footage we have recorded for them is added value for our customers. It makes it much easier and more cost effective to hire us for a project since we have access to the previous b-roll footage to supplement current projects.
Filling your social media feeds is never-ending, right? At times, it can be a challenge to think about exactly what you should post. Let your archived b-roll footage be a resource for you! Footage from almost any video project can have another life as a reel on your social media channels. Set your b-roll clips to music, and use text and/or graphics to further communicate with your followers. Be creative!
If you’re partnering with a video production company (maybe you’re one of our clients!), it can be pretty inexpensive to add a social media video or two onto a larger video project, repurposing footage from that project. Be sure to ask! It is often worth the cost to take the reel editing off your plate and close out a project with multiple deliverables in hand, ready to use in a variety of ways.
As you know, it’s important to keep your website engaging and up-to-date, and video can be a part of that. A great way to repurpose b-roll from a video project (or projects) is to create or update a video reel for a section background on your website.
If you spend some time looking at business websites, you’ll notice that you generally see this type of video used in two places. The first is the top section of your site, often called the hero section. When a potential customer visits your site, they should have an immediate impression of who you are and what you do. Used in conjunction with an overlay of text, graphics, and a call to action, video is very effective at giving your site visitors a visual representation of what your company is all about.
We created a b-roll reel for BMWC Constructors and their website is a great example of using a reel in this way.
You’ll also see video backgrounds used on a section as you scroll further down the page. Not only does this serve as a way to keep your visitors engaged by breaking any potential monotony in your design, but it’s also an eye-catching way to highlight content of particular importance. Whether it’s a significant section about a new product or a certain call to action you want your customers to focus on, using a video background signals your site visitors to give their attention to that information. So, if you have content that makes sense further down the page but want to make sure potential customers don’t miss it as they scroll, this is a great tactic.
What it comes down to is making the most of the video footage you’ve invested in. It should be an asset that propels your business forward in a variety of ways. It’s all about communicating with your audience, whether through a big video project or your social media and website content. So, the next time you finish a video project, don’t just think about the finished video — think about what else you can create with the footage you already have. Hopefully, we’ve given you a few ideas for ways to repurpose b-roll footage. With a little planning, the video footage you already have can continue providing valuable content long after the original project is complete.
If you have video project in mind or need help building your media content library, get it touch!
