Corporate Video: Only One Thing Matters…
By GAVIN BANKS
This year video will likely account for 79% of all internet traffic. It is no longer a luxury for businesses. It is now a necessity. So not utilising this medium you risk being left behind. But what makes a good video?
Jimm Fox of OMM covers this off brilliantly, so rather than reinvent the wheel, here is his article on the only thing that you need to focus on…
Corporate Video: Only One Thing Matters…
The purpose of a corporate video is to sell a product, service or an idea.
Anyone can create a video today just like anyone can write an ad or design a brochure. Knowing how to craft a video that communicates an important message that resonates with your target audience – that’s what’s valuable and that’s what businesses should be paying for. Are you getting full value for your investment in corporate video?
A bad video is more than just a waste of time and money, it can have a negative effect on your brand. If you didn’t take the time or spend the money to make a good video that contains a smart message then you’re really telling your audience that you and your product or service are just not that good.
A decent video will be ignored by most and quickly forgotten. It may not necessarily cause you harm but the time and money that went into creating the video will have been wasted.
Most businesses create average videos just like most business produce average products and services. The illusory superiority bias will have us believing that our corporate video is ‘pretty good’ just like we all deeply believe that we are smarter, better looking, and more generous than the average person.
Most corporate videos don’t stand out in any meaningful way. They are typically derivative and often sound and look like everything else out on the market. Average videos still get watched and some can even communicate important ideas but they are unlikely to move the dial to any significant degree.
Creating great looking videos is often the goal for video production companies. Why? Because ‘great looking’ is easier to identify than ‘results oriented’, and the truth is that many producers are more aesthetically inclined and are not necessarily business inclined. Some producers aspire to entertainment and do corporate work to pay the bills and many assume that a great looking video is an end, in and of itself. It isn’t. Sure, your video should look great – but looking great is usually not the purpose of your corporate video. Great looking video can certainly help sell a product or service but only if the format and message resonate with the audience. In image-heavy business sectors such as luxury goods or fashion, great looking videos are table stakes – that’s just where you start, not where you finish.
The goal for your video content should be to sell your client’s product, service or idea. The most effective videos are the ones that sell both ideas and products – like the ‘Will it Blend‘ series of videos or like the original “Dollar Shave Club‘ video. In both of these videos the execution of the video was top notch – they made you want to keep watching, but the real value was that they were actually selling the merits of the products they were promoting.
Depending where your customer is on the buying cycle the purpose of your video might just be awareness – which represents the purpose of 90% of television commercials: to sell an idea about your product (/service) so that the viewer connects on some emotional level with the commercial and forms an opinion about the brand because of the commercial. If the viewer doesn’t connect with the commercial or if the connection to the brand is tenuous then the ‘idea’ of that video is lost… and so is your investment.
While television commercials still command the largest budgets the vast majority of corporate videos today are delivered on the web – on the clients website or through a social media channel. The majority of these different types of business videos are targeted at customers further along the buying cycle who are either in search or decision making modes.
What about content marketing, how does that fit into the ‘selling first’ paradigm? Make no mistake, when you launch a content marketing initiative you are selling. You are selling the idea that your company is knowledgable about a specific topic and that you are willing and eager to share your knowledge and expertise. The better you are at selling that idea, the more value your brand has to customers and prospects.
So please, get creative, win awards, make beautiful and entertaining videos but don’t forget that if your video isn’t effectively selling a product service or an idea… you’re wasting your money.