Making an outstanding corporate video may not land you on any red carpets posing for pics in an Armani suit or Versace dress, but they can be super effective in greatly enhancing a marketing strategy. Consider this: a Twitter Tweet containing video is 6 times more likely to be shared than one containing an image (and ones containing an image are about 50% more likely to get shared than ones containing only copy). There’s a reason that in the past 3 years social posts including video have gone up an estimated 100% on YouTube, and 250% on Facebook. This probably doesn’t come as a surprise to anyone. Just think cat videos. One about wrapping up your cat for Christmas garnered over 100 million views and was shared more than a million times. Yes, video works, and it works great in the business world, as well.
At d2, the videos we create for clients have been highly successful at directing traffic to their website, generating leads, and boosting their brand. While we create outstanding videos for clients that come from a variety of industries—technology, utilities, ISPs, OEMs—they all incorporate the following key elements that help them get viewed, enjoyed and shared. And that shared part is a biggie.
Who are you targeting?
Create a persona for who you’d like to reach with your video. Start with creating a persona, otherwise you’ll likely miss your target. If you’re trying to reach engineers or solutions architects at technology firms, your message needs to be very different than one meant for C-levels at those same companies. Talk too much about finance, marketing or HR—at least in the first 10 seconds―and you’ll hold an engineer’s attention for about that long.
Beginning, middle and end
Pull any novel off the shelf or stream any movie on Netflix and you’ll find stories that have what you learned in your high school writing class—a beginning, a middle and an end. They’re 3-act plays, and corporate videos are no exception.
For example, if you want to produce a video about a particular case study, Act I should introduce the customer, what they do, and the issue(s) they were experiencing prior to using your great product or service. Act II is you’re your products or services were introduced to the customer. And, of course, the customer worked with your professionals, who are unlike any others in your industry. Act III is the resolution, how the Act I issue was fixed. In it, include what the customer is now enjoying as a result of utilizing your company, whether it’s money, time, soft costs, etc.
Great graphics
While it may sound a bit counterintuitive to include eye-catching, still graphics in a video, it’s very important because over 80% of videos are viewed with the sound muted. That may sound discouraging if you’re a copywriter and you’ve carefully crafted the video script, but don’t let it. That percentage relates to all videos, not corporate ones. If somebody is viewing a corporate video, they’re looking for information and, with it, need sound. But whether they’re muted or not, the need for having great graphics still stands.
Adhere to The Vision
It’s taught in the most basic of fiction writing classes that everything, meaning every single sentence, has to push the plot forward and support the storyline. If it doesn’t, it’s a waste of time for the reader and writer. The same is true when making a corporate video. Every second of it needs to support not just the storyline, but the company’s vision. A company’s vision needs to separate it from those of its competitors. Remember, the vision is where a company wants to go or what they want to be. The mission identifies where a company is at the moment.
Tell viewers what to do next
At the end of any corporate video, there needs to be a call to action. Ultimately, the goal is to sell more of your products or services, or further strengthen and grow your brand. If the video ends without a call to action, the viewer, if they’d like to contact a representative of your company or get more information, will have to figure out how to do it. You’re requiring them to do a Google search, followed by a click to your home page, followed by trying to find your phone number, followed by to whom you should speak. But don’t count on them getting that far. If they have to do a Google search to find you, there’s a good chance you’ve already lost them. The fish has jumped off the hook.
Don’t require them to do something that you should be doing for them. Make getting in contact with somebody within your organization as easy as possible. Include a link to your site, a case study, a brochure, something. At the very least, include a phone number. Just make sure you include a call to action.
Questions about how to make a great, impactful corporate video?
Talk to the highly experienced professionals at d2 Designs. d2 is the most innovative digital marketing agency in D/FW. We create, execute and manage multi-marketing solutions for customers with a focus on brand engagement that optimizes the digital experience through traditional media, video production, social media, lead gen and key analytics, and e-commerce and experiential events. Check us out at d2.designs, or email us at info@d2.design. And please follow us via social media for more great, informative digital marketing tips and suggestions.