A Guide to Successful Corporate Video Production
Communication has come a long way from cave paintings. Today, your organisation can undertake a corporate video production to tell your story in an engaging way. Whether it's a training video, a product launch or events reel, here's our guide to getting it right.
We, as humans, are storytelling animals.
From the moment we opened our mouths and began to speak – between 50,000 and two million years ago – we gathered in groups to entertain one another with wondrous tales of heroism, heartbreak, magic and mysticism that would be passed from mouth to ear through the generations.
That oral tradition of storytelling continues today. Instead of huddling around the newly discovered fire to hear stories, however, we watch them on our computers, tablets and mobile devices in the form of video content.
But the oral tradition is not exclusively associated with the fantastical. In the beginning, having only recently learned to walk on two legs, we also passed on practical messages such as where the best hunting grounds were, patterns in the weather, where there was danger, and where there was safety.
Today, brands like yours are also sharing practical tips and telling stories about themselves. They’re growing an audience, displaying their trustworthiness and enhancing their tone of voice by creating videos related to product demos, adverts, training and more.
A lot may have changed since we first began telling stories. What hasn’t changed is the importance of getting your core message across in an engaging way. To help you do so, we’ve compiled this guide to corporate video production, answering common queries such as ‘how long should your corporate video production be?’, ‘how to make corporate videos more interesting’, and plenty more besides.
Let’s begin with the basics.
What is corporate video production?
Corporate video production is the planning, shooting, editing and distribution of any piece of video content that relates to your business.
Internal corporate videos might include a training guide on correct manual handling processes, or a results report illustrating the year’s successes; whereas an external video might be a case study, or an advert to attract new customers.
Why is corporate video production important?
Corporate video production helps put a face to your brand name, and increases its reach far better than any other form of content. It can prove more memorable too!
Thanks to the popularity of platforms such as Youtube and TikTok, approximately 82% of internet traffic is dedicated to video content, a figure that is expected to continue growing in the future.
But more than just its popularity, video content allows you to present your product or service in a uniquely engaging manner. It boosts your SEO significantly, builds trust with your audience, and is approximately 1,200% more shareable than other forms of media.
And the benefits aren’t exclusive to external content. If you’re undertaking corporate video production with the goal of informing your audience, you should know that viewers absorb 95% of a message communicated with video, compared with just 10% when written as plain text.
What are some examples of a corporate video production?
To illustrate the benefits of a corporate video production, here are a couple of examples of when ‘lights, camera, action’ might prove to be an effective method of communication.
Scenario #1
Your company has undergone an extensive rebranding exercise. The last time one took place was during the 90s, when TikTok was an onomatopoeia reserved only for clocks! You know what you want your logo to look like, you’ve redrafted your company’s tone of voice, the colour schemes have been chosen, and your new website is ready to go.
A corporate video production can formally launch the rebrand, both in the eyes of your customers and your members of staff. It can be a great way of saying goodbye to the old ways and hello to the new, setting the tone through your choice of music, footage, and narrative style.
Scenario #2
Your training and development manager wants to create a library of training materials for employees, helping them to improve processes like manual handling, cybersecurity and customer service. It is true that a flyer filled with text can deliver the same message as a corporate video. But it’s also true that employees are far more likely to retain the information if it comes in video format.
Does the quality of corporate video production matter?
Yes.
If you’ve ever spotted a typo on a poster or a continuity error in a film, you know that quality – or a lack of it – has a significant impact on your perception of something.
Corporate video production is no different. After all, it’s the lens through which your brand is viewed. If your audience is confronted with shaky camera footage, dialogue that’s drowned out by loud music, and text that’s hard to read – or grammatically incorrect – these things can cheapen your brand.
The simplest way to ensure high production quality is by hiring professional videographers, who will be familiar with the many challenges that corporate video production can present. If you’re intent on keeping the production in-house, ask for second and third opinions to ensure the video footage is in-focus, the audio levels are balanced, and the text is as easy to read as the top line of an optician’s test chart.
How long should your corporate video be?
The duration of your corporate video will depend entirely on its format, purpose, and intended audience. The golden rule, however, is to keep it short and sweet.
Research suggests that engagement drops from 70% for a one-minute video to 50% for a five-minute video.
If you want to capture new business by engaging with an audience that hasn’t heard of your brand, a 10-second clip will pack more punch and prove far more successful than the full two-minute version. On the other hand, if you’re creating training videos, a longer duration can allow you to go into depth on a subject in a way that’s not usually required for promotional content.
How do you plan a corporate video production?
Just like a lucrative bank heist, a corporate video production requires planning. Unlike the blueprints of buildings necessary for a successful heist, the plans for your video should include a storyboard and a script.
These will help to keep all of the footage and dialogue pinned to the video’s core purpose and creative concept.
The script will eliminate any off-the-cuff comments that might not fit with the theme, while a storyboard will demonstrate to everyone involved how one scene will relate to another. By using a storyboard and a script, you’re not eliminating the spontaneous moments that make good videos great, but you are eliminating the need for reshoots, something that can be very costly.
How do you choose background music for your corporate video production?
The first step is to decide what role the music will play in your corporate video production. If the purpose of your content is to inform, choose music that subtly enhances the theme without distracting the viewer. A story-driven corporate video could benefit from music that acts as a shorthand for the emotions of its central character, whereas a big reveal video might warrant music that rises to a crescendo as the metaphorical curtain drops.
If you don’t have the budget to create a soundtrack or pay for royalties, you can source royalty-free music from a variety of places online, including the YouTube Audio Library, SoundCloud, and the Free Music Archive. Not all music on royalty-free sites is available under the same terms, so be sure to read the fine print. This is particularly true when it comes to Creative Commons licensing, which often requires some form of attribution.
If there’s one golden rule to take away, it’s this: music for your corporate video production should enhance your core message, not distract from it.
How to make corporate videos more interesting
You don’t need Hollywood-style explosions and Godzilla-sized monsters to make your corporate video production more interesting. Instead, animated elements can help to illustrate some of the video’s key points; and humour (be it self-deprecating or in the form of outtakes) will humanise your brand. Much like the music, gags and animations should enhance the central message of your video, not distract or detract from it.
How do you distribute a corporate video?
If Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros. and Lionsgate aren’t returning your calls, you should probably consider the more common – and successful – routes for corporate video distribution. Methods of doing so will likely fit into two categories: direct marketing and social media.
Direct marketing
Direct marketing targets an existing audience. That audience may have bought one of your products in the past, or agreed to marketing emails. You can reach out to this audience through a targeted email campaign, with your video and other supporting content attached.
Social media
Where direct marketing is concerned with conversions provided by your brand’s existing audience, the purpose of social media is to grow your content’s audience, and reach people who may not have heard of you before. If it’s successful, your video might cross networks by itself, and even go viral (we won’t date ourselves by referring to a meme here).
A well-planned, filmed and distributed corporate video production is unlikely to be passed from generation to generation like the stories of old, but it can grow your audience and achieve conversions.
For experienced advice and more tips on making your corporate video production a success, speak to us today.
Don’t let your message get lost in the noise.
