Whether you handle the production of your video projects in house or hire a corporate video production company to do it for you, by sticking to these ten commandments of corporate video, you’ll be way ahead of the pack in knowing what you should be doing and realizing the highest ROI from your video production.
1. First things first, you need to start the planning, or pre-production portion of the video production process. This happens before you even get started pulling out all the camera equipment. We start this process with an outline of the video that you’d like to get produced; in the video world, we call this the script. It defines all the aspects of the video and defines what will happen and when, with all the elements of the video to be considered in the script. A good example of why we do this is that it’s just like erecting a building. Before you start and place the first brick, you need to first prepare the entire blueprint so that the project can be viewed on paper. Similar is the case with videos. Another important aspect of the planning process is to determine the video length. You should make a video that is no more than 3-8 minutes in length, with 30 to 90 seconds being ideal. Such length is usually enough for you to explain your product or service and the benefits to the viewer. Think of it just like a TV commercial; clear, concise, and highlights the most important parts.
2. You would probably agree that reaching your target audience is the entire reason why you would make a marketing video in the first place. That’s why it is so important to design the video while keeping the target audience in the forefront of your mind. It’s important to outline the needs and the priorities of the target audience in order to make an effective video. It’s suggested to highlight the important points, make note of the advantages and drawbacks and explain each of them accordingly, so that the end user stays informed.
3. As always you should also think about and plan the distribution strategy of your videos before you go out and produce them. Even though YouTube is a great place for your videos, with 72 hours of video being uploaded there every minute, it’s pretty easy for your video to get lost in all that content. In addition to uploading your videos on YouTube, some often overlooked places to upload your video is on your personal or business profile page on Facebook, on LinkedIn, and also on your Yelp business page. Another strategy is to write articles about your product/service/industry and incorporate your videos in them to use as a guest post for a blog within your industry or niche. By thinking outside the box your video will be accessible to more and more people and that in turn will increase your target audience by leaps and bounds. International reach is an added bonus, and you can make use of an off screen narrator to adapt to different cultures and languages to get your message through.
4. The next thing that comes to mind is that you should be studying the best TV commercials that sell products and services that bear resemblance to yours, and you should try to replicate the skills and the techniques used therein. This remains a classic time tested method, but you must make sure that you don’t copy them blatantly so as to infringe the copyrights. Another method that you can use in your corporate video production is to record testimonials given from some of your clients. The reason why this is so effective is because people will be more interested in other people’s experiences.
5. Another added bonus is if you have some attractive photos that can be used; include them in the video as well. You can use these images in the video in short sequences (usually only a few seconds) to emphasize the points you’re trying to make. You can also consult industrial organizations and the US government to provide you with some stunning images that draw a lot of attention. NASA has many images and videos that are not copy written and that can be used.
6. Close ups and medium shots are more attractive than wide-angle shots, so it’s recommended to use them instead. They are also much easier to light and shoot. As you can imagine, capturing a close up scene with one point of focus would take a lot less time getting set up than a large wide shot with a lot of things going on in the scene.
7. Just like scripts, videos also need professional touches of editing so that they can really jump out of the screen. With editing, if a shot is weak or lacking, just remove it. That’s what editing is all about. You filter out the bad and you refine the good, so as to bring about a video that’s good in every sense of the word.
8. One thing that is important to understand is that even though animations, VFX and other affiliated eye candy are fun to watch and make your video look beautiful, they contribute very little to the overall message of the video. Plus, you’d have to spend hours on end trying to craft all those effects and that may not be the most feasible option. So toss that option, especially if you happen to be on a budget. While graphics and animation are good, remember that storyline is what really makes a corporate video production.
9. The press should be the first to know about your video. So after the video has been made, just search for all the local journalists that you can find and send them a press release informing them about the release of your video, and make sure that you send them a copy of that video as well. Services such as PRWeb.com are pretty affordable to send out press releases, and there service hits many outlets, adding increased exposure to your video.
10. Last but not the least. Always remember to deliver on what you promised and never fall short of that. It is one of the fundamentals of running any business, and should also be something to commit too.
As long as you follow these 10 commandments of corporate video production, you should be well on your way to having an effective corporate video that will benefit your company for years to come. Please share about your experiences of making corporate videos in the comment box below; we’d love to hear about it!
Video Production Phoenix – Article by Joe Forte, co-owner and producer at D-Mak Productions, a Phoenix, AZ video production company. D-Mak Productions specializes in high quality professional corporate, live-event, training, web, fashion, music and tv commercials.
