Video content has become a must-have for any good marketing departments. Over 80% of all consumer internet traffic is online video. Youtube is one of the most visited websites on the internet, second only to Google. Why? Because video is the most dynamic way to convey information and tell a story. Light, sound and timing all work together to engage the viewer. When produced at the highest level of execution, video can even be an art form.

And like any other art form, the creation process varies from project to project. But there are still best practices and general rules of thumb that one should follow when producing a video. They will save you time while ensuring that you get the most out of your project.

Among these steps, pre-production is the most important one in the workflow. Novice video producers will try to skip it to save time and money. But in reality, that's how they will likely make the project more expensive and longer to finish. So our biggest advice from a video production standpoint is this: don't skip pre-production. Follow these guidelines instead.

Today we are interviewing Matt Johnson, Matt is co-founder of Taskable, a smart to do list and personal productivity assistant that keeps you in flow.

"I used to find content creation a tedious, ineffective process. I would spend hours trying to think up a great blog post. Then several more hours banging my head on the desk trying to write it. Then, I’d finally post it, and by the time I got to this point, I was over it. More often than not, the post would fall flat and get minimal traction. I would then be reluctant to reshare or repurpose the content.

That all changed last year when I started working on Taskable. And what catalyzed this change was the beginning of the process for how I source ideas for content."

Visuals are much more engaging than text. That's not a surprise. Thousands of studies have shown it, and it's common sense. We can communicate much more information in one image than we can in a word. And since we have a very short attention span, we are more likely to engage with visual content. An image gives us a complete message within seconds of looking at it. So we can quickly understand the meaning and form an opinion on it. On the flip side, if getting a message requires reading, we're more likely to move on before we even know what the content is about.

But it costs much more to produce an image than to produce a word. Whether it's a piece of art, a video, a photo, or an illustration, it can take minutes, days, or even months of work. So how can we increase engagement on social media using images without depleting our resources? That's what we're talking about today.

Have you heard of Lil Miquela? What about Bermuda? Not the British territory, no. I'm talking about the growing trend in the world of online influence: virtual influencers. They're made up characters who live fake lives through social media. Their creators use artificial intelligence to create their faces and bodies, and then place them in real life situations. Is this the future of influencer marketing? Is influencer marketing really worth it? How should it fit into your marketing strategy? Let’s answer all of that.

A plethora of tools let you create web designs that are both professional and affordable. Yet, so many companies still pay little attention to the importance of good design. This is especially true for companies that are very technical, or not technical at all. Often, these sites are hard to use and/or visually unappealing.

If you, too, don't believe in the importance of design, you may find the following stats interesting. Almost all consumers (94%) base their first impression of a company on the design of their website. And over half of them (52%) will come back to your site because of how good your design is. That’s because good design establishes your credibility and makes you look trustworthy.

Design isn't simple icing on the cake. It can have a significant impact on your customer acquisition. So do spend the time and resources needed to make your website look good. Step one: let’s look at what you should absolutely not do when creating your website design.

Illustrations are the epitome of brand maturity. Young companies often use pre-built assets to illustrate their website. Like these "100 icons set" and other "3D Workplace Concepts" you can find on design marketplaces. As businesses grow, they begin creating custom designs, starting with their logo. And before you know it, they hire an artist to develop a complete brand system. The reason why all companies end up there is simple: illustrations are the most effective way to differentiate your brand. That's often how people remember a brand. Think the CocaCola polar bear.

But making a good drawing is only the first step to using illustrations to your brand's advantage. Many founders who don't get this end up paying a lot to create illustrations they don't use to their fullest potential. Here is how to do it right.

What’s the one pre-production step that most video creators want to skip? Storyboarding, without a doubt. We all want to move to production right away once we have the script. We have our vision for the video and can’t wait to bring it to life. But here is the problem: one’s vision can be very different whether you are the director, producer or customer. Conflicts between different visions will arise on shoot day, and can become even worse during post-production.

Storyboarding will ensure that every crew member “sees” the same video in their head. It provides a common vision they will work towards. It also sets expectations with the customer. That way if someone is unhappy with a shot during post-production, you can refer to the storyboards for discussion. So unless your video is a simple talking head with b-roll, you should always take the time to storyboard. Here’s how.

It takes less than half a second for your brain to react when you see a familiar logo. 400 milliseconds, to be exact. And if it's the logo of a brand you like, you'll feel the same way you would feel if you saw an old friend. That's how critical a logo can be to a brand. Yet many businesses spend too little resources designing their logo. And most underestimate the work and thoughtfulness required to create a meaningful logo. Here's how to do it right.

As we discussed in our previous episode, brainstorming doesn't have to happen face-to-face. A video conference works well too, since the goal is to let participants see non-verbal cues. That being said, offline brainstorming can be fantastic. It can make the discussion more dynamic and interactive. The secret is to make sure the environment is conducive and neutral. Here are 4 ingredients to create the perfect brainstorming location.

Not knowing your persona can make it that much harder to connect with customers. Sure, you can try a bunch of different strategies and see what sticks. But it will cost you a lot of resources before you get the answers you need. Most importantly, you may deter customers even more. A survey found that 34% of US Consumers had “broken up with a brand due to receiving poor, disruptive or irrelevant marketing messages.” It’s a high risk to take when you can simply find your Persona instead. Here’s how.