Reflecting on a Strange Year
So, there we have it, 2023 has drawn to a close in the production world!
Before we tuck into our mince pies and drink our bodyweight in Baileys, it’s important to look back at what has been a very challenging year in the creative industries and marketing in general for that matter. Following on from what were such fantastic years in 2021 and 2022, perhaps it should have been anticipated that there would be an inevitable dip at some point, but naturally as a business you’re always looking to build on previous successes.
In all transparency that’s been hard to do this year with some previous clients not being granted any marketing spend at all, whilst others are stripping projects right back and not utilising budgets that they would have in the past in order to keep cash aside for those tighter periods. Whilst it’s certainly not been a bad year at FOSTER Studios, the appetite from clients for larger scale projects has been few and far between, with the majority of our work being limited to social media content as opposed to brand films that may sit on a company website.
And that’s not to complain, social-first is the way to go for so many businesses! Unless there’s a really compelling story involved and sufficient budget, chances are a 3-5 minute film going into detail on your business won’t be essential. Whilst I’ll always advocate for businesses to have one core piece of video content explaining who they are and what they do, when money is tight connecting directly with your target market on social media can be a lot more fruitful.
In 2022 it felt like we were delivering a significantly large project every single month which was supplemented with an array of smaller scale projects, whereas this year it’s been very much the opposite, with most months being made up of a multitude of small to medium sized gigs with the occasional big project cropping up every 2-3 months at the most. And if that’s what our clients want and need at this time, then we’ll be on hand to deliver, whether it’s simply staff headshots or a short video for social media, I feel it’s important to be accessible to businesses and not turn down work for the sake of it being too small scale.
Despite most months being generally solid, albeit slightly underwhelming at times, April and October proved to be incredibly dreary spells with what felt like absolutely no work coming in. Why that was I couldn’t say, but it seems prolonged quiet spells scattered about the year have been something of a common occurrence in the creative professions. Dealing with those patches has been challenging mentally more than financially if anything. Don’t get me wrong, the money is essential, but as someone who personally loves my craft I found it very hard not being out on shoots regularly and even interacting with clients was something I missed a lot. This is where I want to thank everyone I’ve spoken to on LinkedIn this year who has openly shared their struggles and made me feel a lot more at ease with the situation knowing that this was a universal issue for most of us.
The last thing to mention that I really found to be a real problem this year was prospects enquiring, time being spent on calls, a quote being prepared and then… Radio silence. It happened right back in February for the first time and has occurred on what feels like a monthly basis ever since. From speaking to others in the industry this seems to be an issue for them too and it’s just infuriating beyond belief. Saying no to someone isn’t easy, but do the decent thing and simply say ‘thanks, but no thanks’, rather than leaving us in limbo, especially if you’ve enquired about a specific date.
But let’s end on a positive note - November and December have been fantastic! A recent flurry of projects all in quick succession have made this a very busy year end, which normally I’d be moaning about, but right now I couldn’t be more grateful to have work running all the way through to March next year!
So all in all, although it’s been rough at times, I’m hugely pleased to chalk off another year on the FOSTER Studios journey and can’t wait to get cranking the handle again in early 2024.
Wishing all of our clients, collaborators and friends of the industry a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!