Why IMPACT video training is a marathon, not a sprint

I have a confession to make; outside of IMPACT, I’m addicted to fitness. If I’m not at my home office, I’m at my CrossFit gym training, training, and training some more. 

And not only am I training myself, I coach group classes as well. My classes all have a variety of fitness levels; it’s not uncommon that I have a 74-year-old grandfather and a collegiate gymnast taking the same class, performing the same workout. 

As a trainer, it’s my job to take the workout presented, and not only teach my athletes how to modify it for their fitness level, but also to break down the purpose and show them how it fits in overall with the plan they have made to invest in their long term health and wellness.  There’s an understanding that we’re all on the same fitness journey, but we’re all at different stages. 

Since joining the IMPACT team as a video trainer, it’s remarkable how much coaching CrossFit classes and video training are related. 

But more importantly, like fitness, whatever the regime, a long-term plan is important to remain successful and to stay on track with your goals. 

In comparison to my fitness clients, our video training clients come from different backgrounds of the video world. They have their own unique styles and abilities but by investing in video training, they all have a similar goal. 

What’s the goal of your video strategy?

The goal of video training at IMPACT is to establish a culture of video using the principles of They Ask, You Answer.

Investing in three months of video training is a good start, but I would equate that to a new athlete coming into the gym, having never touched a barbell and telling me, their trainer, that they want to qualify for Olympic Weightlifting. Or someone who comes in with a 14-minute mile saying they want to run a marathon in three months. 

As a video trainer, I can give you the tools to be successful on this journey: in three months we can cover the basics, review the concepts and implement the content and be on our way. 

But there is so much more to master that is focused neither on the skill level of the videographer nor the understanding of the types of videos to create. Production quality, process creation, and the general strategy of inbound sales and marketing video is easy to learn and understand. It’s simple information transfer.

But to consistently take action on that understanding is another story entirely. These habits that must remain long after working with IMPACT involve a cultural change, which happens much more slowly than the informational understanding.

To really adopt a culture of video, we need to think of it as a marathon and not a sprint; there are many factors that come into play, nuances to master with team personalities and stylistic techniques to conquer that really require at least six to nine months to embody adopting a video culture in a company.  

If we look at the Michael Phelpses, the Tom Bradys, and the Mat Fraserses of the world, they all have coaches who pick apart the small details of their game to make them better athletes and overall optimize their performances.  

What is video training? 

Let’s get this out of the way, when you start video training, we’re not teaching you how to be a videographer. 

True to the TAYA principles, video training is centered around creating video content that answers your customers’ questions, and using those questions to build a library of video content that positions you as an industry leader in educating your customers. 

Even though this journey is one you can take on your own, enrolling in video training can get you to where you want to go faster. 

Hold up, didn’t I say earlier that this is a marathon, not a sprint? I did, and that’s still true. Working with a video trainer will shorten the learning curve to producing the best educational video content for your company, but refining that content and producing it is still going to be time-consuming.  

We’ve worked with top-class videographers who needed more than a year of weekly meetings to create the change in their company they required to be successful.

Previous video training clients who truly become the most trusted visual educators in their space have invested $22,500 (nine months) to $45,000 (18 months) in weekly training sessions and offline video review.

A snapshot of a long-term video training relationship

Below, you’ll find a breakdown of what to expect when you commit to video training for a year. It’s important to point out that the first three months might feel a bit clunky; this is where we'll do a lot of experimenting with video in our organization and really hone in not only our brand style, but our voice as an educator in our industry. By the end of the first three months, we should have a clear bird’s eye view of what our plan to implement video for our organization looks like. 

In the next six months, we’ll put our process to the test and create videos to be used on our website and YouTube channel. We’ll also integrate with our sales team and build the foundation of video as part of the company culture. 

Missing out on three and six months would dramatically decrease our productivity, and could be overwhelming to the videographer once they realize how much content they really do need to create to be successful. Having an established relationship with a video trainer for at least a year will ensure that adopting a video culture can be a smooth transition, and set clear goals and expectations for the journey of creating consistent video content. 

First 3 Months: 

• Define Production quality standards and video creation processes
• Produce the basics of website and sales enablement videos
• Determine the common subject matter experts that will be on-camera
• Streamline what is required during pre-production to begin filming
• Master the Video 6 Formula to ensure that all videos have a specific purpose and value.

6 Months: 

• Create a YouTube channel that educates your prospects at an industry-level
• Produce Big 5 content for your website and YouTube learning centers
• Improve the communication between sales and marketing teams so that sales team members begin to request videos needed for their processes
• Refine the tone of your videos to feel as unbiased, honest, and highly produced as possible
• Introduce 1:1 video that your sales team uses during sales processes to assign content and humanize interactions
• Produce a consistent two to three videos per week that are being properly published and maintained online

1 Year: 

• Challenge the creation process to ensure that habits have been formed and tested so that two to three videos will be able to be created in perpetuity
• Identify ways for a video culture to be better implemented in the organization’s sales & marketing teams
• Meet with Sales leadership to ensure that best practices are being followed with 1:1 video and assignment selling video
• Ensure that communication channels are as solid as possible and video is being adopted and leveraged by the entire organization
• Review video viewership analytics to identify how they should adapt the sales process with specific prospects and how the marketing team should improve the production of future content.

The end goal of video training

This is an oversimplified statement, but generally, a company is ready to stop working with a video trainer once they have successfully adopted a culture of video and have become the most trusted visual educators in their industry. 

Video training graduates understand how to measure the ROI through their videos, they are able to produce two to three videos each week, and their sales team members are both asking marketing for new videos and are also effectively using video throughout the entire sales process.

I recognize that a service like “video training” can sound vague and difficult to buy into without understanding exactly what you’re going to be covering, but the truth is that this journey is very consultative and the path for each client is very different. 

What stays consistent across clients is the outcomes that we strive to achieve together.

We created our 6-Month Video Training Roadmap for new clients trying to wrap their heads around what they will receive from video training. This roadmap is a general overview of the topics that will be covered during Video Training. 

To be clear, no one follows this roadmap exactly. There are many clients who are able to skip entire months worth of training in this document. But the important information to understand here is the outcomes that we’re striving for from each month. 

That’s where we’ll keep our gauge of what’s important for your team, and what’s not. Everyone’s path is different to achieve the same end goal.

Is video training right for my team?

Just like starting a new fitness routine, you can do it yourself. 

You can go online, educate yourself using free resources, and start creating video content. And you’ll hit plateaus and milestones. You might even master it on your own, but creating all that content will most likely take years of frustration, trial and error. 

If you’re committing to invest at least six to nine months in a relationship with a video trainer like me, then you’re agreeing to implement a culture of video the right way, the fastest way, and the most permanent way. The relationship requires a lot of work on your end, and your team will only be successful if there is buy-in for this change from the top-down.

When one of my athletes hits a milestone in their training, we celebrate, but we also look forward to the next milestone. 

Video training is a journey that takes time, effort, honesty, and an open-minded attitude. The investment in changing your company culture to include video — in a world that relies heavily on this medium — will set you up for success for years to come.