23rd February 2018

How ProductionHUB Built its Massive Community for Video Professionals

ProductionHUB has rapidly grown to become the world’s largest and most active production community search site. We spoke with Katrina de Leon, the Director of Marketing at ProductionHUB, about how they use original video content to engage this large community and what the future of video production looks like.

Read our full Q&A session with Katrina below.

1)  Can you please provide a brief description of ProductionHUB?

ProductionHUB is the global network of local crew & vendors, for all your needs — from corporate media and live events to film, television, digital media, and everything in between. We reduce the headaches and uncertainty associated with hiring in this extremely specialized industry by connecting you to the best vetted, professional content creators and vendors to bring your project to life.

For nearly 20 years, ProductionHUB has been a B2B resource for professionals behind-the-scenes in media & entertainment; but now with the popularity of high-quality video, thousands of businesses, agencies and studios rely on us as their video staffing & procurement partner.

2)   What role does online video play in the business? How do you see the gap that ProductionHUB bridges in today’s online video market space progressing in the future?

Although the original need for ProductionHUB’s services was born from the film & television industry nearly 20 years ago, it’s no secret that the majority of businesses now require high-end video in their marketing arsenal (and have increased this portion of the marketing budget accordingly).

Cisco now predicts that 80% of all Internet traffic will be streaming video content by 2019, up from 64% in 2014. And in a recent market survey by research firm Demand Metric, 74% of B2B marketers reported that video now converts better than other content types.

That’s where we come in. With numbers like these on the rise, this has opened up the future employer market to our user base exponentially. While the need for high quality video increases, so will the hiring opportunities for the 100K+ video professionals on ProductionHUB. Example of the diversity in the markets we now serve. Time is money, and hiring managers don’t need to waste theirs searching and procuring the perfect video vendor when they can simply use ProductionHUB to connect with the best company (or freelancer) to match their culture, style & budget for that particular project. A whopping 86 percent re-hire the pro they found on ProductionHUB.

3)    How do you incorporate videos in ProductionHUB’s online marketing strategy?

Often, we’ll use video to showcase tips & tricks on using a part of our site, for example – how to enhance your profile to get hired on our site, or “how to post a job,” etc. that change periodically whenever new features are announced.

We also use videos to increase engagement and improve awareness of some of our big trade show activities. For example, prior to NAB, we’ll release a promotional video quickly outlining some of our pre-show opportunities and booth announcements like happy hour, raffle prizes, sponsorship availability, etc.

We also are lucky enough to receive video testimonials from happy customers gushing about all the new clients they have received from using ProductionHUB to market their production services. Sometimes we will capture these at events and create a success stories compilation for the site and social media.

4)    On which social media platform(s) do you find that videos promote the most engagement?

It’s no secret that Facebook has still remained the Goliath compared to all other social networks. Month after month, our analytics prove that Facebook video has the most value, through engagement such as sharing and likes. With such a substantial amount of users, there is more room for engagement.

Other channels that are proving to gain a considerable amount of engagement from video are our YouTube and Instagram channels. In recent months, we have seen a drastic increase of users on our Instagram page, because our social strategy focuses on growing our user’s businesses and interacting with our customers when they have something newsworthy to share or comment on. 

5)    How has the creation of original content for ProductionHUBTV (event coverage and interviews) helped grow the community?

Our readers and users trust us and our news outlets, such as our blog, The PROspective, and our microsites – NABHUB, 4KHUB and IBCHUB, to deliver the most up-to-date news, tips and interviews in the production industry. Everyone is busy – by bringing the industry show news to them via video, we are ensuring they won’t miss out on any announcements that will help them learn new gear, software or services pertinent to their career and business growth.

Also, by reaching out to our contacts and our amazingly talented and experienced profiles for story ideas, we provide content that comes straight from the set of a movie or a marketer who knows the difference between video marketing and advertising. By providing honest, exclusive content for our readers, we are giving them something to look forward to and letting them know that when they need resume tips or how not to screw up when hiring their next crew, we will have the answers. 

6)   What is the biggest mistake businesses are making when it comes to using video?

A few classic video mistakes that a lot of businesses tend to make these days:

1.) Trying to create one-size-fits-all content – sure it’d be great to create one video that could get the job done, but we also wouldn’t write just one blog post and hope that our SEO significantly improves. Having enough different types of video is going to create better engagement and better results.

2.) Creating a confusing video. Sometimes the message of the video gets overcomplicated. Take a step back and simplify.

3.) If you are going to create video, do it well. Poor quality videos aren’t going to gain the results you hope, and often hiring an amateur leads to having to re-hire a pro to get the job done right shortly thereafter.

4.) Lengthy videos and videos that aren’t promoted properly are other killers. 

7)    How do you think online video has affected the production world and what future changes do you anticipate in the next 5-10 years?

  • The attention span is constantly shortening, thus must the videos. You want concise and targeted vs. long and convoluted.
  • VR, immersive storytelling & 360 will only continue to rise.
  • The War of the Ks will come to a head.
  • Mobile-first mentality when it comes to online video will be crucial.
  • Streaming media and the ever-evolving tech & services need to make everyone a ‘futurist’ – it’s impossible to predict what’s coming next, but those who are adaptable, fluid, open-minded (and keep their customers in mind first) will be the ones who prevail.

Katrina de Leon is the Director of Marketing at ProductionHUB and responsible for marketing strategies and tactics, media relations, advertising, brand management, social media efforts and assists in business development initiatives. She consistently fosters partnerships, creates programs and manages projects that have helped grow ProductionHUB more than 440% since she started, resulting in recent honors such as being named one of the top 10 B2B Rising Stars for B2B Marketing Magazine and placing ProductionHUB in the top 15% of the Inc. 5000 list.

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About the Author

Anish hails from London and holds a degree in software engineering from the University of Manchester. Following his education, he worked for several years in the financial industry as a platform administrator before founding Revolution Productions in 2008. In addition to over seven years of video production, Anish is seen as an industry professional, adding his insight in publications such as VentureBeat, ReelSEO and Wistia.

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