Other than face to face conversations, we believe there is no more powerful or persuasive communication tool than a video for your business. Often, it’s better than a conversation or corporate presentation; you can be more engaging and more concise, without hesitating or stumbling. You can visualise what you’re saying to make it more memorable or emotive, and, through editing, you can stretch or compress time to show the most important parts of a process or interaction.
So if you’re thinking of creating a video or film for your organisation, there’s a few useful tips to keep in mind.
Here are our Top Ten Tips on what to look out for when producing video content, starting with the most important people…
1. Know your audience
Who are they? Are age and gender significant to what you want to say or how you say it? What are their expectations? Do you need to teach them something or give them a morale boost? Are you trying to influence their behaviour?
All of these things influence what you need to tell them and how you tell it.
2. How are they watching
Will your audience watch this at work or on their own time? Will they be on their personal computer or watching on a large screen at a conference? Will they be alone or in a group session with a facilitator? In fact, a lot of screen content is consumed on handheld devices. And time is precious; you may only have a couple of minutes, or even seconds, to make an impression.
But, once you have them hooked on your video, audiences will pay attention for as long as you keep them interested.
3. What do you want them to know, or feel, or do
Video is capable of provoking emotional responses. People relate best to people, and including teams from your business gives the company some personality. Fly-on-the-wall style documentaries don’t have to have the same production values as more polished edits, yet can give a sense of realism and excitement that captivates an audience. Yes, you can use video to demonstrate good or bad processes or technical data, but its real strength is in influencing attitudes and behaviours. There may be more efficient ways to convey detailed statistical information but there is no better way to change the way people feel or behave.
4. Tell your company’s stories
Stories are easy to remember. Data is not. Humans have told stories since they could talk.
Stories are remembered and shared. Stories explain strategies, illustrate actions, define behaviours, and predict futures. They bond us (or divide us) as humans.
Think about that next time you go to the pub.
5. Be brave
Remember, most people see more variety, wit and creativity in a single commercial break than they do in a career of work-based communications. Why would they be any less sophisticated when they spare a moment to watch your corporate video production?
You are competing for their attention, so be brave in how you tell your story (see 4, above) to make sure you get it and keep it.
6. Preparation
As any boy scout knows, you need to Be Prepared.
Whether you are animating or filming that means having a clear script in advance and agreeing on the desired end result before you start production.
The more time you spend getting this right, the more smoothly the rest of the process will go.
7. How much information does your video REALLY need to get across
Tempting as it may be, video isn’t the place to dump a shedload of information and expect your audience to remember it all. That information exists elsewhere, so use your video to motivate your audience to want to seek it out. Short videos perform much better than long-winded explanations of products. A 60 second teaser, pulled out of the content of a longer edit, will encourage viewers to seek more information. Tell them what’s in it for them? Remember Point 4.
8. Choose a style
Video or film can take many forms, each with their own idiosyncrasies, so there are some more decisions to make. Some things are unfilmable, so animation is a no-brainer.
But is it the most effective way to tell your company’s story?
Some things are best done with real people in real settings, so it has to be filmed. And video is excellent at creating and provoking emotional responses. Even a straightforward address to the camera, given directly to the audience, can have great power if delivered well. Or maybe you need a hybrid approach.
Remember Point 3. Talking head interviews and drone shots of company headquarters or magical vistas to evoke a sense of wonderment aren’t the magic bullet for engaging, effective films. There’s nothing new in that.
The more interesting ideas are the ones that get noticed.
9. But be practical
Filmed footage is best for creating realistic scenarios and prompting emotive responses, but if you’re filming at a workplace (for instance) there is inevitably an impact on your operations. We don’t just stroll in with a camera and start filming. We need lighting, space, and time to do different angles and retakes. It might take longer than you think.
Animation is the only way visualise the impossible – from 2D cartoons to photoreal CGI – whatever can be imagined can be realised with animation. But it also has a major disadvantage: nothing exists yet! Every character, prop, and environment (‘Assets’) must be created from scratch. It might take longer than you think.
10. Get help early
None of this is brain surgery, but it does take time, time you probably don’t have. Not only can we help you conceptualise and execute your company’s film, we will do the recces, write the scripts, the scheduling and avoid all the possible pitfalls, so that your video comes together smoothly, beautifully and effectively.
Don’t worry, that’s why we’re here!
Call us to discuss your next video, drone filming or animation.