Corporate Video – Do’s and Don’ts 

Great marketing helps businesses find more impactful and efficient ways to grow “of course you know that.”

But did you know that video investments were the highest they’ve been in the past 6 years – with 92% of all marketers promoting and or using this as a core channel?

Because of this, and how barriers of entry are both low, and distribution is growing across almost all mediums, we felt that putting together a Do’s and Don’ts list would be helpful to our current and hopefully new customers this year. So without further ado, our top tips for this year are below for your reading pleasure.

1.  Do Set a Goal – Keep it Simple

“If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy, and inspires your hopes.” —Andrew Carnegie

Like any project worth doing, you need to start with a goal. What’s the job this video is meant to accomplish? Is it selling a product, a service, informing an audience of an upcoming launch? 

Here’s a quick SMART framework we generally use: 

• Specific – “We’re creating a video to increase awareness around our new fintech product.”
• Measurable – How will you measure success? Is this growing the email list, increasing traffic to a website, etc…?
• Achievable – Is this goal attainable? 
• Realistic – Is this goal realistic with the time, budget, and resources available?
• Timely – Ensure this goal has a time frame of reference – if growing traffic to a website – when should we start to see results. 

2. Do Plan Your Budget

A corporate video can take many forms depending on your goals. To reach them,  you’ll need a defined budget, human resources, and time. Previously we wrote a detailed post on how to build corporate video strategies & costs. This is a great place to start if needed. 

So why is defining your budget important? Because there’s a big difference between putting together a 6 sec Facebook ad and a 2-minute corporate narrative. Your budget has to line up with your project – which also gives your team + vendors guardrails on how to scope requirements to get to your ultimate goal. 

Here’s a great template from Studio Binder to get you started. 

3. Do Take Active Control

The best videos require a good mix of control and partnership to work – and the skills involved in a successful project will span mainly across project management, creative & finance. 

Finances –  understanding the budgets assigned to each functional area of the project will allow you to properly align expectations of work and outputs across all teams. 

Project management – coordinating with the producers & business counterparts to ensure the creative team gets what they need – on budget and on time.  

The creative team – whether internal or external – may be managing acting talent, locations, equipment, and zoning. Understanding how to manage your creative team will require you to understand their full scope of their work.  

While many of our shoots may appear seamless and flowing – it’s our work upfront in scoping and planning for variables that’s allowed us to navigate projects successfully when we come across challenges. 

The old saying “Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail” – is a real thing in video production. So our biggest recommendations are to:

1. Do build a scope of work for the project
2. Do build a budget to aligns with the overall project needs
3.  Do build a timeline for this work to follow
4. Do your homework – know who you need and how to succeed with the right folks, and put them in positions where they can succeed. 

To manage projects, we use Trello, and here’s a great tutorial on where to begin using this platform. 

4. Do Use the Soft-Sell

Building rapport, providing prescriptive information, and taking a consultative approach – this soft-sell approach can be persuasive and is a low-pressure way to promote a product vs. a hard sell indirectly asking the customer to purchase something. 

We’re creating a corporate video here, not an advertisement to buy a used car. 

Consumers are skeptical of media as it is and becoming increasingly more so. According to a recent survey – public favorability towards advertising was just 25% – so with this in mind, speaking to the benefits and solutions your product or service provides in a personal and  subtle approach will get you more juice for your squeeze. 

Overall, our recommendations on hitting the soft-sell would be as follows: 

• Do your research
• Be personable
• Focus on relationship building 
• Provide value without asking for the sale 
• Give prospects the space to decide

5. Don’t Forget a Strong Call to Action

Creating a video that’s meant to drive action is useless without a takeaway. To do this, you need a strong call to action.

What’s a call to action, you ask? It’s generally a link, message, or idea that you wish your viewers to carry out. Often, in product or marketing videos, this is an invitation to check out your business. 

Alternatively, a video that introduces your company should leave your viewers energized and curious about what you have to offer.

A call to action also helps to cap off your video. This reinforces your message and leaves no doubt in the minds of your viewers. A few broad concepts here would be as follows: 

• Use personal language (Would You Like to Know More?)

• Use Urgency (Defend Our Kids’ Potential)

• Use Motivation (Change The World Today)

Some of the best videos have upwards of 77% of their viewers watching the video from start to finish. 

Here’s our Top 5 CTA’s for Video to help spark your creative juices. 

6. Don’t Presume a Longer Video = Better

Here are some stats on marketing videos: 

• The majority of marketing videos are under 2 mins (73%) 
• Only 2% in the 10-20 min range. 
• 60% of a recent video survey stated videos that are too long would deter them from engaging.
• Facebook has stated that 47% of a video’s value comes in the first 3 seconds.

Considering how diverse distribution is now for video – understanding the medium and channel is the first and foremost consideration when building your video strategy. 

A good starting point of reference could be as follows: 

• • Organic Facebook videos = 3 min, Paid Facebook = 15 seconds
  • Instagram Videos = 1 min, Instagram Stories = 15 seconds (according to Hubspot – videos that average 26 seconds receive the most engagement)
  • Youtube = 6-8 min 
  • Twitter = 30 sec or under
• For everything else, Vidyard’s done a great job covering everything video length here. 

Make Your Corporate Video with Us

Your business is your lifeline, which is why it deserves the best. Contact us if you’re looking for help in crafting a story to move your audience forward.