A good corporate video presents your company convincingly and makes an impact on your customers. But how do you make such a corporate video? It starts with developing a strong story. These handy tips will ensure that you have a rock-solid message and make maximum impact.
As a Marbella-based video production company we are more than happy to share with you 12 insight tips to improve your corporate business videos in the future.
12 Expert tips for Successful corporate videos
1. Get inspired first
A lot has already been done, so there’s no need to reinvent the wheel. Use it to your advantage. Look at lots of examples and see what you like. Archive your favourites so you can use them as inspiration. Need inspiration now? Check out the examples in this blog.
2. See your company from the customer’s point of view
It might seem strange, but a corporate film isn’t really about your company. Ultimately, it’s about your customers. There is little point in just showing what you do. That does not affect your customers. They want to know: “What’s in it for me?” Therefore, think carefully about what your customers find important. What problems do they face and what solutions do you offer as a company? Translate your company’s strengths into concrete customer benefits. For example, your company has a large stock. Good, but what does the customer get out of it? Well, that you deliver quickly because of this! That is the customer benefit you need to communicate.
3. Use storytelling for more experience
The term ‘storytelling’ says it all: tell a story. With a good story you create perception and give meaning to the message. For the story of your company, go in search of your added value: what drives you, why does your company matter? Don’t fall into the trap of only telling what you do, but also why. You can see this for example in our sample company videos at the top of this article. For Nering Bogel – a company that makes wells and drains – the overarching added value is that they help prevent flooding. And AQUON – a water research institute for the water authorities – ensures safe water. To tell a good story, you need structure. Structure makes your message easier to follow and easier to remember. Use a clear head-to-tail structure for the corporate video.
4. Activate the viewer in the first 20 seconds
The headline – about the first 20 seconds of the corporate video – is crucial. That’s when customers decide whether they want to continue watching. So don’t start with a logo, no matter how logical it seems. By the time the logo is on screen, viewers are already bored. You have to activate customers in those first 20 seconds, otherwise most of them will click away again. At Playforward, we call this the 20-second rule. But how do you activate your customers? Make sure you outline a recognisable problem or situation that will make them feel addressed. That is reason enough to keep watching. Then present your company or product as the solution. In this way, you stimulate your clients and make your corporate film even more convincing. The examples in this blog show how this works. We first introduce the story with a curious introduction and then present the company. This is one of the elements of our script method for distinctive films. With this method, we gather the client’s input and translate it into a distinctive, creative script, which lays the foundation for a strong video.
5. Keep the message simple
A good story is always simple. The harder it is to understand, the faster we lose interest and the less convincing it is. So make sure your corporate video tells a simple story. A good approach is to bring things back to the core. What is the ‘buttom-line’ that matters most?
6. Make a short company film
Time is scarce, especially online. That’s why it is essential to have a short company film made. The longer it is, the harder it is to keep your attention until the end. A good length is 1 to 2 minutes. In order to get the message across in that time, it is essential that you make choices and dare to leave out details. Keep in mind that you don’t have to tell everything and that you should make customers curious for more.
7. Tell your story in an active form
The way you tell the story is at least as important as the story itself. Always tell in active form and avoid the leading form as much as possible. With activating texts your story is more powerful in short. For example: “This will benefit you greatly.” sounds stronger than “This can bring you a lot”. Also, always use colloquial language instead of the written language you use in brochures. Words like “however” or “after all” are really on the black list!
8. Dare to claim
You have to be convinced of yourself and dare to claim that you are the best at something. Don’t nuance, because that takes the power out of the message. This applies to the advantages of your company as well as to your choice of words. Avoid words like “often” or “usually”. Such words immediately bring to mind the phrase ‘but not always’ and therefore flatten your message.
9. Make sure you remain timeless
A good corporate video will be used for years. In this way, you can earn back the costs of a corporate video over several years. Therefore, make sure your message is timeless and avoid information that is time-barred, such as the 50th anniversary. This kind of information shortens the shelf life. Unnecessary, because it is easy to avoid. For example, use the text “Since 1950” when talking about the company’s period of existence.
10. Realise that the corporate video does not stand alone
A corporate video doesn’t stand alone; it’s part of your complete marketing. That’s why you have to make sure that it fits in well with your other communications, such as website and brochures. That way, it reinforces each other and you get consistent communication. This applies to both content and form.
11. Save the editing project of the corporate video
Your company never stands still. Make sure you save the raw footage and the editing project after delivery. If anything changes, for example the logo, it can easily be updated. Agree with the video marketing agency that the footage and editing will be kept for a number of years.
12. Make the company film easy to find
Oddly enough, we still often see that companies have not really thought about the publication. Company films therefore often remain somewhat hidden. What a shame! Work out a simple publication plan for the company film in advance. What should not be missing: a prominent place on the website, uploading on Youtube with a clever, attractive title and sharing via social media.
About Viceversa Media – video production company
Viceversa Media specialise in full service video production, and creation of multimedia content (corporate videos, promotional videos, hotel video, real estate videos, event videos and photography). Our team of video experts integrate creativity and technology to convey powerful stories and connect countries and people through a wide range of media platforms. We love travelling and have done projects in a wide variety of countries, we help businesses worldwide. See our portfolio.
