How to Make a Business Video

Here we take a look at the things you should consider before making a business video for promotional purposes. But first, why should you even be thinking about making a business video?

The Impact of Business Video

Over 1 billion videos are watched every day on YouTube alone, and that number is rising exponentially.

Ninety percent of business buyers say that video helps them make purchasing decisions (Social Media Today).

Marketeers like video because it can deliver a potentially huge Return on Investment (RoI) across a wide and ever-growing range of platforms and channels.

But if you’ve not created or commissioned promotional video previously – or have not been happier with earlier results – you may be wondering about how to get a really strong video to showcase your services or products.

Taking Advantage of Video

Given that 9 out of 10 purchasers are influenced by video, how could you leverage video so that buyers buy from you?

But first a word of warning – be careful! Video isn’t a silver bullet a cure-all. Video can be good; it can be bad; and sometimes very, very ugly.

How to Make Business Video – The Six Key Considerations

Everywhere you look people are falling over themselves to make video for you. But can these people be trusted … can they be trusted to understand what makes your business special in the eyes of potential buyers and communicate that uniqueness to viewers? This is an important consideration because video can be extremely expensive.

Here are the six most important considerations before you start on your video:

1. Headless Chicken

Don’t just start building your video and running around a bit like a headless chicken – it’s tempting to dive in, but you’ll end of wasting time and the result will be a video that you aren’t 100% happy with.

2. End Goal

Be clear on your end-goal. What are you aiming to achieve with this video? For instance, is your video intended as a “moving catalogue” to showcase your product range? Or, say, a previous case study to impress others in the same sector? Having a clear end goal will determine your best messages (“story”) and help clarify who you want to be watch your video (your target audience).

3. Audience

Who’s going to watch it? Only once we have carefully identified your target viewing audience can we arrive at a sense of how to effectively communicate with your viewers and what should be communicated (your optimal messages / story). We’ll work with you to segment your audience so that we can establish how best to use video to communicate with your audience to maximise the chance of meeting your pre-determined end-goal.

4. Story

What exactly are we trying to persuade our target audience to do as a result of their watching the video? Are we looking to highlight a USP (Unique Selling Point) to convince them to make a purchasing decision, or something much more subtle? There’s no point in investing in a video if nobody is going to act on it. What actions must you witness from your viewers? (Visit your website, send you an email, pick up the phone, think well of your brand … each of these might be a legitimate audience action). Clarity of intended action is essential.

5. Style

What visual style might be the most impactful in achieving your specified end goal? For example, do you want to have people being interviewed on camera (“real people”?) Or would a more abstract – even cartoon-like style – best hold viewer attention? When communicating highly complex or technical concepts how can you best simplify those ideas visually, so they are understandable. Pick the best style to communicate your message in the most rewarding way, for you and your audiences. Styles include talking directly to camera, online, educational, advanced graphics or a blended combination of these.

6. Your Budget

Video can be eye-wateringly expensive! But set out to “do it on the cheap” and your brand risks getting tarnished. So set your budget according to the potential Return on Investment and enter into a fixed priced agreement with your supplier partner. If your opportunity is to land a £3.5 million deal you will plan to spend more on your video than an opportunity that could bring in no more that £10,000.

If you adhere to these six pointers the element of risk and fortune are eliminated from the equation and your new video becomes a solid business investment.

Watch this video to explore these six points in detail: