How to Create a Video Case Study: A Preliminary Guide for Success

Are you looking to increase sales and convert to high customer retention rates? Social proof is one of the leading causes for conversions online, but developing a high sense of social confidence in your business can take time. Video case studies are one of the leading ways for marketers to achieve social proof for businesses, but they’re also some of the most in-depth and technical forms of content to create. Learning how to create a video case study is certainly a process that requires substantial knowledge of filmmaking and adequate time investment to get the job done. But with more than 60% of marketers claiming that video case studies are essential to generating leads and boosting conversions, one cannot overlook the importance of this critical piece of marketing content.

At Beverly Boy Productions, we create video case studies on a regular basis. So we thought it would be good to put together a short, step by step guide, that outlines the processes that you can expect as you learn how to create a video case study for your own business or brand.

Step 1:  Pre-Production Case Study Video Steps

The initial phase of planning and preparation for your video case study is pre-production. This is essentially all of the steps that will take place leading up to shoot day, and there will be a lot of work to get done. During pre-production, the following occurs:

• A customer is chosen for the purpose of the case study interview. The customer should be someone that is happy with their relationship with your business and who is comfortable speaking about their experience on camera. They should also be someone that closely represents the prospective customers or clients that you’re trying to reach with your video.
• Interview questions are prepared and the interview process is planned out. The purpose of this step is to come up with compelling questions that are easy to answer but that provide the correct data for your study.
• A shot list is created with notes for all major shots that will need to be filmed on shoot day as well as with additional plans for any b-roll footage that will be captured to support the interview answers.
• Plans for equipment and gear are set forth to ensure that everything is ready on set the day of the shoot. The film crew will decide on what lighting and audio equipment will be necessary based on the shot list and the film location which are planned in pre-production.

There are other potential steps that will come up in pre-production while you’re planning your case study video such as setting a goal for the video and having a clear objective for your study. Essentially, any planning steps that come into play leading up to the shoot day fall into the pre-production process when you’re learning how to create a video case study.

Step 2: Production & Shoot Day

Production is all about capturing the raw footage required for the case study video. This is where you’ll find out whether you did enough pre-production planning – or not. On set, time is money, so it’s very important to have all of your gear, equipment, and filming needs in order ahead of time. During the shoot, the following will occur:

• Your customer will be prepared for their time on set. Hair and makeup will be done in preparation for the interview and a costume might be provided if necessary.
• All equipment and gear will be set up on location so that interviews can be filmed and any b-roll footage will be shot.
• Your customer will be interviewed on camera so that they can answer the questions that you came up with prior.
• The film crew will shoot more footage than what you might think. They typically capture more than is necessary so that there is plenty for the editing team to work with – you would be surprised at how much footage it actually takes to complete a 5 minute video case study.
• Each of the shots from the shot list will be captured. Some will be filmed several times as the Director aims to get everything just right. This is where the finer details matter most.

During production, it’s very important to be quiet on set. Turn off all electronics unless they are absolutely necessary and avoid being a distraction to the film crew. Remember, time is money!

Step 3: Post-Production

Learning how to create a video case study requires substantial knowledge of the various steps in the production process and they all lead up to this final stage, called post-production. During post-production, the raw footage that was planned for and filmed during production will be edited by professionals and the following will occur:

• The addition of graphics and animated features are incorporated into the final cut.
• Text overlays, animated text, and the inclusion of visual graphs, charts, or other assets might be incorporated in during post-production.
• If your case study video is the style that has a narrator, the narration is included into the final cut.
• All of the raw footage that was filmed is reviewed and the best clips are edited into a full final cut for review.

Learning how to create a video case study is a process that generally requires the support of a professional.  For more on creating a video case study for your business give Beverly Boy Productions a call!