5 Ways to Come Up with Innovative Video Concepts

When you create videos regularly or you find yourself constantly pushing out new content, it can be difficult to define new video concepts that will compel your audience or at least keep them engaged. Fortunately, we’ve defined these 5 ways to come up with innovative video concepts to help you get the creative juices flowing for your next project. Follow the steps outlined below to define exciting video ideas in minutes.

1. Focus on Solving a Problem

Whether you’re solving your problem or the problem of the visitors, or ideally both, the first step to creating innovative video concepts is to focus on problem solving. What is one problem you want your video to solve? How can you solve that problem with a video?

What is one problem your visitors have? How can you show them, with video, the ways that your brand can solve that problem? Make a list of all the ideas that come to mind when you are problem solving–both solving your own problems and that of your viewers.

Use your audience insights here to help you define problems that your visitors have. If you don’t have audience insights, consider reviewing some of our other posts that go into greater detail the steps to getting to know your audience.

2. Brainstorm Ideas – There is No Right or Wrong

You may recall doing this in school, the teacher would say, “take out a sheet of paper, and in the center write the main idea and then I’m going to give you 5 minutes to brainstorm as many supporting ideas as you can. Write them all down. Don’t second guess. Just write as many as you can.” Remember?

This is similar. Keep in mind the creative brief that you are wanting to achieve or the problem you want to solve and work to write down as many creative ideas as you can in a few minutes. It doesn’t have to be a fully fleshed out plan, just a brief idea that you have that will solve a problem or help you to fulfill your customer’s needs in some way.

Some of your creative ideas may include things like:

• Corporate training to help HR.
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• Comparing your company to something or someone else.
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• A promotion of yourself or your brand.
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• A how-to of a product or service.
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• A “why choose” for your brand or service.

Brainstorming has no right or wrong answers. Just write down as many ideas as you can possibly come up with in the time that you set aside. Maybe it’s five minutes or ten minutes, or maybe you opt to come up with at least 10 ideas before you stop. Whatever it is, just let the creativity of your brain work, uninterrupted.

Don’t place restrictions on the types of ideas you come up with. Instead, seek inspiration from an outside source. Perhaps you brainstorm at a certain time of day or at a certain place where you are likely to have the highest ability to think, unfiltered, about your audience’s needs. Keep a record of everything you come up with. If you have other members on your team, have them do the same. You’ll be amazed at how creative your brain really can be.

3. Get the Team Together & Review Ideas

Coming up with innovative video concepts often takes a drastic turn when you put the creativity of several people into play. It’s a synergistic approach in which the creativity of one brain may be very little but the creativity of several brains working together comes up with an entire list of innovative ideas. Get the team together, pool all the ideas that everyone can come up with, and discuss them at large.

This is the time to be critical and realistic about the ideas. Note any major flaws or additional concepts that come to mind as you talk with your team. Finally, decide on a list of several favorites to work with.

4. Pick a Final Idea

Once you have outlined all ideas, discussed them with your team, picked favorites and voted on a final idea it’s time to consider how you will use the idea to your creative advantage. Of all the ideas that you and your team generated, what makes this idea so special?

This is the stage where, all of your ideas should be great ones, but one should simply stand out beyond the rest. Your gut instinct is where you should go this time with the idea. Whether it’s something totally innovative and never before heard of, or a new twist on an old plot—this is where your creativity culminates.

Step 5. Repeat the Process to Execute Creative Concepts for Production

Now that you have come up with a core idea that is innovative and exciting, it’s time to determine a path of execution that is equally innovative and exciting. Begin by defining a more detailed description of the look, sound and practicalities of your idea. What steps can you take to innovatively bring the idea to life?

This process should be fun. You have a core idea that is innovative and exciting.

Consider the following potential execution options to bring an innovative idea to the next level:

• Choose a well known video style and film in that style with your own approach.
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• Use animation to shed new light on an otherwise not so interesting subject.
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• Shoot a promotional film that uses valuable actors as members of your brand.

Repeat the various steps of brainstorming ideas, cutting the worst, keeping the best, and deciding on a set of ideas that will help you to bring the concept to life in an innovative and fun way. Consider coming up with ideas both alone and in a group setting. Use mood boards and other creative methods of outlining ideas. The sky is the limit and there is no right or wrong when you use these 5 ways to come up with innovative video concepts.