What Is Corporate Video Production?
For many years, video production was only associated with Hollywood and movie production, but nowadays videos aren’t reserved exclusively for show business. In fact, most companies now utilize a video marketing strategy in one form or another and the style of videos has changed greatly.
While some of the characteristics and techniques used in movie production have transferred over to corporate video production, the end goal tends to be very different. For example, while the intent of movie production is to distribute a commercial film, marketing video production is done to assist with a company’s overarching corporate advertising strategy, and the specifics of each strategy vary based on the company’s individual goals. Additionally, these videos come in many different shapes and sizes. Examples of videos you may see included in a corporate advertising strategy include:
- Live-streaming events
- Showcasing product videos on your web pages
- Sharing relatable or humorous videos on social media
- Airing commercials either on television or in online ad spaces.
When done well, utilizing any of these types of videos as a part of your video marketing strategy can increase brand awareness and visibility, build brand trust and reputation, and ultimately increase sales success.
Why Is Corporate Video Production Important for Businesses?
Ninety-one percent of businesses use video for marketing — and for good reason. The ROI on incorporating brand video content as a part of your corporate marketing strategy is unmatched. This is true for companies and organizations of all shapes and sizes, from large corporations to mom-and-pop shops to nonprofit organizations and everyone in between. Whether you’d rather share social media marketing videos, post explainer videos on your website, or live-stream events, there is a type of video content that will work for you regardless of your industry, company size, mission, or target audience.
Corporate video marketing can improve engagement and lead to higher conversions and sales by allowing customers to connect with your brand while educating them on your products/services. Customers are turning to video to learn about companies and products now more than ever. In fact, 96% of people have watched a video to learn about a product or service. This means that if you aren’t yet utilizing video as an instrumental element of your advertising strategy, you’re missing out on countless potential customers who may have overlooked your products or services in favor of a competitor who is taking advantage of video marketing.
If you’re looking for ways to either kickstart a video marketing strategy or improve upon the strategy you already have in place, keep reading to learn more about producing successful corporate videos.
What Are the Principles of Corporate Video Production?
Oftentimes, people get really excited about the idea of getting into marketing video production and want to jump right in instead of slowing down to ensure they have a thorough plan in place. It’s easy to fall into this trap, but by simply taking the time to plan out your entire production process, you’re setting yourself up for a successful final product. If you’re looking to improve the success of your corporate brand videos, follow these four stages of corporate video production to ensure your video marketing strategy is effectively helping you meet your business goals.
Stage 1: Pre-production
During the pre-production stage, you’ll be sitting down to determine a strategy and concept, and planning the best way to see that your vision comes to fruition. This may include business objectives you wish to achieve through this video, the style of video you’d like to produce, your target audience, and more. By establishing a plan prior to recording, you’ll have an objective to stick to, minimizing the risk of getting sidetracked throughout recording.
Stage 2: Production
Once you’ve established your plan, you can move into the production stage and begin filming/recording.
Stage 3: Post-production
After recording all your footage, you’ll need to edit it into a final product, as there will be more content than is necessary. As part of this process, you can expect to cut and reorder video footage, sync audio and video, clean up audio files, color correct videos, add titles and/or animations, and more.
Stage 4: Distribution
Once you’ve finished all your edits and gotten final approval, it’s time to get your video in front of your target audience. Whether you choose to post on social media, run the video as a paid ad, or upload the video to your website, you need to ensure you’re following best practices to succeed.
How to Improve Your Corporate Video Production
Video production takes a lot of time, so it can feel daunting — especially if you’re new to the art and aren’t confident that you’ll see the intended results of your efforts. While results can never be guaranteed, there are a few things you can do to maximize the likelihood that your videos succeed.
1. Spend Time Developing a Comprehensive Strategy
Your overall video marketing strategy should be taken into consideration when planning all elements of your marketing video production (pre-production, production, post-production, and distribution). As part of this strategy, you need to consider the style of video you wish to produce, where you’d like to share your video content, and what you’re hoping to achieve with your video marketing strategy.
Based on your overall strategy, your specific needs for each of these areas will be defined, allowing you to focus on the most important elements. For example, if you plan to produce videos that rely heavily on motion graphics, you’ll want to dedicate more of your time to post-production, while you may need to spend less time editing a more straightforward interview-style video.
Corporate video production can be incredibly successful if you stay focused on your goals. Establishing your overall strategy before starting production will help you map out all your video content and detail all the assets you’ll need to achieve your goals.
2. Keep Your Focus on the Human Element
When creating video content, particularly social media marketing videos, it’s essential that your video engages the viewer, rather than merely giving them a bunch of information without any human connection. Find ways to make your videos stand out by creating content that offers the viewer something in return for their time.
One way to do this is to view your videos as a method of storytelling. Humans are instinctively drawn into stories and respond to them viscerally, and social media has provided a platform where people, businesses, and organizations can all share their own personal stories. To make your videos stand out, share stories that are personable and creative. This means finding ways to make mundane things human by creating content that is either relatable or entertaining. By doing this, you can make your brand videos feel more human and give viewers more of an opportunity to feel connected with your content.
The more a viewer connects with a video, the more likely they are to share said video with their friends and family — expanding the reach your videos get.
3. Limit the Number of People Involved in Production
Have you heard the phrase “too many cooks in the kitchen”? Well, the same can be said in regards to video production. Oftentimes to keep the momentum of a project going, it’s necessary to limit the number of people involved in your corporate video production.
You need to run an efficient operation to stick to your content calendar and achieve your video content’s goal. To ensure this, recognize that you’ll never be able to make absolutely everyone happy. In fact, trying to do so and having too many people chiming in with their ideas, likes, and tastes can muddy your clear vision for your content. Rather than including everyone you can think of in this process, you should identify key players. Once you understand who the true decision-makers need to be so that you don’t get stuck waiting for approval, prioritize maintaining communications with those individuals.
4. Consider Adding Humor, but Don’t Overdo It
Humor can improve the reach of your videos the same way humanizing your videos does. Viewers are more likely to repost video content that has made them laugh, as they will want to share that experience with their friends and family. Not only will sharing content with humor make your brand feel more approachable and likable to viewers, it will also ensure your content is memorable. Creating memorable content will ultimately lead to them being more likely to pick your products or services over your competitors.
That said, including humor in your videos can be a fine line to walk. As you’re writing scripts and determining your vision during the pre-production stage, it’s critical to establish the type and level of humor that will be most appropriate for your brand and message. It’s important to make sure you aren’t crossing the line from funny into creating content that is “off-brand,” silly, or offensive. If you do cross any of those lines, you risk alienating your target audience rather than drawing them in. Take all of this into account while outlining your corporate video strategy and planning your corporate brand videos.
5. Beware the Dangers of DIY Corporate Video Production
Today, it’s easier than ever to produce video content with the equipment already available to you. However, while cell phone cameras and free editing software make it tempting to DIY, they are no substitute for professional video equipment. Using professional equipment can make a huge difference when it comes to creating a high-quality final product.
That said, equipment isn’t everything. It’s equally important to ensure the team of people involved in production are educated in video creation. Using the highest quality equipment available will only make a difference if you know how to use it. This is also true when it comes to the individuals supporting your video’s production. Ensure that any reviewers are educated on your brand standards, as well as video marketing best practices. Unskilled reviewers can green-light video that is actually poor quality, and potentially harmful to your brand.
Including high-quality video content in your corporate brand production can make a huge difference in your overall marketing strategy. If you don’t have the resources available in-house to ensure you’re creating the highest quality product possible, consider investing in professional video production.
Professional Video Production Can Make a Big Impact
Including video in your marketing strategy can make a huge difference in the way your brand is perceived and in the customer decision-making process. However, if your content is low quality, doesn’t align with your brand, or goes against your goals, it won’t be effective and may even have a negative impact on your brand identity and business. By prioritizing quality and consistency throughout each step of the production process, and ensuring you have a plan from concept all the way up to distribution, you’ll be setting yourself up for success.
If you’re interested in incorporating more video content into your marketing strategy, but want assistance from a professional team, consider reaching out to Charter & Co for support on every step along the way.
