Share
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.