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.