Video has never been more important for businesses of every size, and across every industry. Video increase brand awareness and brand trust, it has the most consistent social media advertising results and helps website SEO and conversion. Although we are seeing growth in the number of videos posted online by companies (literally each and every day), a large proportion on them aren’t producing results. We sometimes meet new clients this way – they come to us when the videos they have invested time and money into have performed unremarkably, or worse, done damage and diluted their brand. So today, we wanted to highlight the top three mistakes we see in Corporate Videos that have failed to help you avoid these trap falls.
1. You Make a Video Just To Make A Video
You’ve heard all the buzz, you’ve seen the ROI figures, and you jump in and invest in video for your company. Unfortunately, without a specific need in mind, your video will likely go unnoticed. It’s important to begin the process of producing video by asking yourself “WHY?” What is it that you wish to communicate via a video? Is it brand awareness? Is it building trust with new clients? Is it to differentiate yourself from your competitors? With each of the goals there is a specific type of Corporate video that will best fit your needs. A company Culture video will communicate your company’s unique attributes, a testimonial video will help build trust. Perhaps your launching a new product or service and a video Education video will help to share the details and the benefits of it.
SOLUTION: Know your goal so you know your message!
2. Your Video Doesn’t Represent Your Brand
Everyone is featuring cats in their videos and getting millions of views, so you decide to create a video that features lots of cats. Unless you’re a business that is pet related, this approach is likely to fail. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution to corporate video. There’s no one way that a video should look, or a format it should follow. Be wary of companies that offer cheap prices and simply switch out your company’s logo with the last client’s. This type of mistake can do worse than simply be ignored, it could have a long-lasting detrimental effect. Your videos should be as unique as your brand is. They should match the style and color scheme of your business, as well as the tone. It’s also important to consider the ideal audience for your videos – what do your customers (and potential customers) respond to? Do they appreciate hard facts, delivered fast? Have they come to expect a quirky twist or a comedic edge? Branding is more than your company letterhead – it’s how the messages that your company sends look, sound, and most importantly FEEL.
SOLUTION: Consider what makes you company unique and who your audience is.
3. You Don’t Have a Clear Call To Action
You have decided upon a clear goal for your video (yay), you’ve taken into account your brand and your audience and found an original approach (double yay), and the resulting video is eye-catching and looks great (triple yay). So far so good, but the last mistake we’re listing here is often the most heart-breaking. After all that work, expense, and time, you get people to watch your creation, but you forget to instruct your audience in what to do next. If you don’t specify exactly what the next action is, then the result is usually no action at all. Perhaps you would like them to Follow you on a social media platform to stay up to date with news, or maybe you want your viewers to check out your website. You may be aiming for a direct conversion and need to get them to your online storefront immediately, or perhaps you’re looking for people to engage and directly message with you. Whatever the action is it’s imperative that you don’t forget to call it out, clearly and strongly (and usually multiple times!).
SOLUTION: Decide specifically what you want the people who watch your video to do.
We hope this article has helped you make some smarter decisions that will lead to a successful and useful video for your company. If you want the reassurance of doing it right the first time, then contact us using the form below, or give us a call or send us an email (info@frontrunnerfilmsllc.com) – we would love to help you create video content that performs. At Front Runner Films it’s what we love to do.
