5 Tips For Professional Corporate Video Production
Lights…camera…action! In today’s highly competitive business world, vying for your target audience’s attention among the endless sea of digital noiseVisual distortion or grain in a video image, generally caused by low light levels or a high ISO sett... is no easy feat. That’s why the quality of your corporate video production and a well-crafted strategy are imperative for driving impactful engagement and results.
Corporate videos effectively generate brand awareness, boost your company’s authenticity and trustworthiness, engage consumers on a more meaningful level, and provide internal training and communication. Did you know the average person watches about 16 hours of online video content each week? What’s more, 84% of consumers revealed that watching a brand’s videos convinced them to buy their products or services. Who can argue with stats like that?
While you don’t have to be on the same level as Martin Scorsese or Quentin Tarantino to create corporate videos, you need a strong understanding of how to effectively represent your brand and craft clear, compelling messaging to make an impact. Here are five corporate video production tips for creating engaging content to drive profitability, customer loyalty, and retention.
Define Your Objective
Not all corporate videos were created equal. Before you produce video content, it’s important to define the purpose of the video. In other words, what are you looking to accomplish? From fostering brand awareness to improving lead generation via promotional content, identifying your overarching goal will help dictate your strategy moving forward. All of your ideation, scripts, and content will stem from your main objective – including the type(s) of videos you’ll ultimately create.
Customer testimonials? Valuable for showcasing your products and fostering credibility. Employee testimonials? A powerful way to recruit new talent. Other effective avenues to explore include product overviews to help consumers make informed purchasing decisions, internal training videos, “How To” and explainer videos to demonstrate your expertise and deliver helpful insight, and even behind-the-scenes videos as a way to humanize your brand.
As you dive into the planning phase of your corporate video production, ensure you design every facet of the content to help you achieve your primary goal. For instance, let’s say your objective is to drive sales for a newly launched ice cream flavor (we have a sweet tooth, so samples are welcome). Your video should focusAdjusting the camera lens to make the subject clear and sharp in the image. solely on that one, arguably delicious, product. Avoid straying off topic – today’s consumer has an incredibly short attention span, so it’s crucial to keep your messaging clear and concise.
Identify Your Audience
To reach potential customers efficiently and effectively, you’ll want to conduct market research and create buyer personas for your company. Buyer personas are detailed representations of your ideal customers. What makes your customers tick? What problems are your customers trying to resolve? How can potential clients benefit from using your products or services?
By understanding your customer’s specific demographics, needs, concerns, and behaviors, you can better tailor your content and messaging to speak to your audience directly. Otherwise, you’re simply flying blind and targeting the entire universe (read: you’re wasting company dollars). Your buyer personas will help dictate which platforms will be the most effective for reaching potential customers – i.e., does your audience spend more time on Instagram or LinkedIn? Having this knowledge will optimize your corporate video production ROI, as you’ll be putting highly relevant content in front of the right people using the right platforms.
Leveraging buyer personas will help you attract more high-value leads, increase engagement, and drive more conversions. Targeting the right audience will also improve customer retention and increase word-of-mouth referrals over time.
Figure Out the Story You Want to Tell
The most successful companies are incorporating storytelling into their videos to connect with consumers on a more emotional level. Take Red Bull, for instance. They are selling their audience on a certain lifestyle to draw them in.
You should ask yourself: how are our products or services helping others? This will allow you to weave intent and purpose into your messaging and persuade viewers to take action. For example, if you’re a telecommunications company, you can craft a story around people and the power of connecting. Understand your brand’s “Why,” leverage emotion to engage your audience, and make sure your story has a clear beginning, middle, and end. Don’t allow unnecessary fluff to dilute your story or cause your audience to misinterpret your message.
Production Value Matters
Production value, which refers to the quality of the video, can directly affect the overall success of your content. A high production value will look more professional, optimizing costs and increasing impact. On the other hand, once our brains perceive the production value as low, the content loses its effectiveness. People see it as less trustworthy than high-quality videos, and oftentimes, your audience will move on instead of taking action.
To ensure you’re investing dollars wisely and garnering the results you anticipated, consider emphasizing production value. There are many ways to increase production value, such as steady camera recording, lighting, color correcting and grading, and post-production audio correction.
Location and Wardrobe Are Important
Piggybacking off the idea of optics, how your audience perceives your brand begins as soon as the video starts rolling. Once you appear on screen, it’s human nature for people to form an opinion about you instantly. The people on screen represent your brand – that means you can use their wardrobe and the surrounding environment to communicate a specific message to your audience. Always stay consistent in your wardrobe styling in different cuts to keep your branding cohesive.
In a similar vein, the location you chose should be aesthetically pleasing and serve the overall purpose of the video. For instance, if you’re shooting interviews, it’s imperative to use a space that has good acoustics. Similarly, avoid any background noise, like a passing police siren or construction work, as this will distract viewers from focusing on the actual message you’re communicating.
Elevate Your Brand With Corporate Video Production
From the lighting and sound to your messaging and visuals, the quality of your corporate video production can help your business scale or hinder its success. That’s why it’s crucial to look at your video strategy holistically and ensure you’re making decisions that’ll improve business performance. The above tips, along with finding the right company to help you produce your corporate videos, will help drive your business closer to achieving your goals.
Learn more about how video marketing strategies help build brand awareness.