Let’s face it, most of us aren’t jumping on the video marketing bandwagon yet because we think it’s time-consuming and as a startup or small business, time is money. The perceived amount of planning and effort involved to produce quality video content means your business has probably put video marketing efforts on the back-burner, classifying it as a low-priority need in your overall marketing campaign.

However, incorporating more video into your daily marketing efforts is not as difficult, complicated, or time-consuming as you may think. And you may have the best resource to launch your video marketing campaign already on your team — interns!

Especially in the summertime, it’s nice to have the extra help on your team to take on projects (like video) that you’ve pushed to the side for too long. Getting help from interns to launch your video marketing campaign not only makes their experience more fun and creative, but also benefits your overall digital marketing and branding efforts.

Here are 5 video marketing projects that can be easily implemented by your company interns, so you can start making your brand stand out against the competition and raise engagement levels with your customers and followers.

1. Set up a Studio

Have one of your interns set up a “studio” space in your office and don’t move it! Whether you choose an unused room or just an empty corner, set up a camera, microphone, backdrop, and any other necessary props and plan to keep them there.

Even if you’re planning to shoot videos with your mobile device, you can use your studio space for optimal lighting and a clean backdrop.

One of the most time-consuming parts of creating a great video is preparing for it, so if you have a space already set for recording, you’ll be more likely to use it for future filming efforts.

2. Manage a Social Video Account

Take advantage of the fact your interns are probably well-versed with social networking and pick a video social network that they can run for you. Here are some of the most popular social video networks:

1. Instagram Video

2. Vine

3. Cinemagram

4. Viddy

Give your interns some ideas to start with, but also let their creativity run wild. With most of these social video platforms humor is king, and the more creative you can be with just 10 or 15 seconds of recording time, the more engagement you’ll see.

Have your interns record behind-the-scenes videos of what you’re working on, or your team just saying hello. Try creating stop-motion style videos or even quick product demos. Then have your interns cross-post the content to your other social media pages as well. (Tip: dogs in the office = endless cute and funny video content)

3. Repurpose Old Content

One of the easiest ways you can jump right into video is by having your interns gather high-performing content from your past blog posts, infographics, and slide presentations, and turn the text and graphics into animated videos. Not only will this save you time from needing to create fresh content entirely from scratch, but you can also attract more viewers back to your original content just by offering it in a fun video format.

Animated videos are the perfect medium for educating and informing an audience. They help your audience feel less anxious about learning something new, which is especially helpful when describing specific details or benefits of your company’s product or service.

Shameless plug: Have your interns try Wideo to repurpose your old content and turn it into short animations. No previous video production knowledge is needed, so they can get started right away.

Here’s a great example of how your interns can take a simple poll and transform it into a fun animation to post on social media.

4. Film a Series

Have your interns generate ideas and create a script for a short video series. This could be a series of interviews, product demos, or how-to’s, that can be shot back-to-back in one filming session, then shared on your company blog, website, or social media over a period of time.

Filming a video series all in one session saves you time from having to come up with fresh video content every week or month. Instead, you’ll have great video content lined up and ready-to-go. Announcing the next part in your video series is ‘coming soon’ can also be engaging for your audience or followers and give them something to look forward to.

Online retailer ReStockIt.com leveraged Instagram video to create a comedy series “Revenge of the Interns”, featuring their seven interns who are horribly (and jokingly) mistreated by their bosses.

5. Create a Video Editorial Calendar

Setting up an editorial calendar specifically for video content is a great tasks for your interns to take on. Being successful at video marketing does not take one simple step. You need a process and a plan in order to succeed. By organizing and planning times for your video content to be filmed, edited, scheduled, and released, you will be more likely to keep producing content consistently.

Brainstorm and define your video marketing goals, then have your interns set aside a few hours to create an editorial calendar for 5-10 videos you would like to film. Make sure the video content integrates with the rest of your marketing efforts (such as social media, blogging, email newsletters, etc). A video editorial calendar will help you stay on track with your goals and get used to a process that can be repeated.

Launching a video marketing campaign is not as time-consuming as most startups and small businesses think. And by letting your interns take the lead, you may be pleasantly surprised at the new ideas they come up with and just how engaged your audience will be with your new video content.