Getting a video brief right makes everything easier. A clear brief saves time, keeps the project on budget, and means you’ll actually get the video you need. Here’s what we look for when clients approach us, and why each piece matters.
What the video needs to achieve
Before talking about style or length, tell us what you’re trying to do. Are you launching a product? Explaining a service to new customers? Recruiting staff? Training a team?
The clearer you are about the business goal, the better we can advise on format, length and distribution. A 90-second product launch film is a completely different beast from a 15-minute training video, even if they’re for the same company.
We also need to know how success gets measured. Is it views, conversions, engagement at an event? This shapes everything from the call to action to where we suggest hosting it.
Who you’re talking to
Your audience determines the tone, pace and complexity of the content. A video for C-suite executives at a conference needs a different approach than one for graduate recruits or existing customers.
Think about what your audience already knows. If you’re explaining a technical service to people unfamiliar with your industry, we’ll need time for context. If they’re already halfway through the buyer journey, we can skip the basics.
Also tell us where they’ll watch it. A video for LinkedIn performs differently to one embedded on a landing page or played at a trade show. The platform affects aspect ratio, length and how we structure the opening seconds.
Practical details that matter
Budget and timeline are obvious, but they’re not the only practical factors. We need to know about locations, availability of key people, and whether you have existing assets we can use.
If the video involves your premises, tell us about access, parking, noise considerations and whether we need to work around business hours. If it features staff or customers, let us know scheduling constraints early.
Existing brand guidelines, logos, fonts and colour palettes are useful. So is any previous video content, even if you didn’t like it. Knowing what you want to avoid is just as valuable as knowing what you want to achieve.
What good looks like (and what it doesn’t)
Examples are genuinely helpful when you brief video production work, but context matters. Rather than just sending links, tell us what specifically appeals to you. Is it the pacing? The interview style? The way they’ve handled a tricky topic?
Just as useful is explaining what you want to avoid. Overly corporate, too casual, too sales-focused, too long. These boundaries help us pitch the right approach from the start.
Don’t worry about having a shot list or script. That’s our job. But if you have strong preferences about format (interview-led versus voiceover, for example), mention it.
How decisions get made
Tell us who needs to approve what, and roughly how long that takes. Video projects can stall at script stage, after the shoot, or during final revisions if the approval process isn’t clear.
If multiple stakeholders need to weigh in, it helps to have one main point of contact who can gather feedback and avoid conflicting direction. We’ve seen projects double in timeline because every department wants input at every stage.
Getting started
A good brief doesn’t need to be formal or lengthy. The best ones we receive are often just a few paragraphs covering the essentials: objective, audience, budget, timeline, and any specific requirements or constraints.
The video production process works better when both sides know what to expect. If you’re planning a project and want to talk through what you need, [get in touch](https://zealousmedia.co.uk/contact) and we’ll help you shape the brief.