The Ultimate Guide to Making Your Corporate Video Stand Out

Studes show that approximately 82 percent of internet traffic is generated by videos. While most of these are user-generated videos posted on YouTube, many of them are created by companies trying to tell their story—either in a long-format video or a set of shorter videos.

Corporate videos have evolved. What used to be tacky animation or just an on-screen spokesperson frames riddled with paragraph after paragraph of text, technology has driven the cost of producing a corporate video way down. It doesn’t take hundreds of thousands of dollars to produce a professional and informative video.
Whether your company is more seasoned or you’ve just started a small business, corporate videos can help you tell your brand’s story in a compelling way.
Again, with today’s video technology, corporate videos are more affordable than ever. Of course, it takes a talented videographer, director and editor to give it the artistic touch it needs, but here are a few things to keep in mind when you start the process of producing your next video for your company.

Start with a Big Idea

Great videos start with a central idea. Brainstorm with your team or a professional writer who can take your brand strategy and marketing goals and create an idea for a video that’s interesting. Without a Big Idea, your video can be vanilla or, worse, a hodgepodge of nonsensical gags that makes your company look silly.

Tell a tale

Everyone likes a story and your company has one to tell. Don’t fall into the trap of just doing a video where an employee acts like a voice-over talent and reads a history of the company. Use story-telling techniques to add both interest and grab the viewer’s attention as well as keep them hooked. If you’ve never done a video before, use the classic 7 Point Short Story Structure: 1. A Character

2. Is in a situation
3. With a problem
4. They try to solve the Problem
5. But fail, making it worse
6. They make a final attempt which may succeed or fail
7. The consequence is not as expected. *

SOURCE: Novel-software.com
You don’t have to use the entire structure, but this gives you a starting point for telling your company’s story.

Focus on the tone of the video

Corporate videos that feature tons of information riddled with technical jargon are—to put it nicely—boring. Studies that show that using elements of suspense and humor  can improve the viewer’s engagement with the video. This will also make them more likely to remember your brand.

Hire Professionals

You know you want a “cool” or “funny” video, but you don’t know where to start. Start with a professional writer who can take an outline of the things you want to communicate along with the tone and write a script that accomplishes these objectives. A professional writer can finess your language and make it easy on the ears while making sure the facts are being communicated.
In additional, working with a professional videographer who can frame the shots properly to give it a dramatic look will upgrade your project. A professional editor who can put all of the shots together and add music can help the video “move along” smoothly.
If your show requires a voice over, hire an actor. Most people don’t know how to deliver a voice performance that can grab and hold an audience’s attention. But, if your video requires actors, you can either hire actors to deliver the lines or, in some cases, employees can sometimes pull off surprising performances. Just hire a good director who can direct them properly.
And, finally, a great sound designer can make sure the video is pleasing on the ears so that voices aren’t blending in with music or the music sets a mood but doesn’t bury the voices.

Improve the visuals

Corporate videos can sometimes get monotonous. If you need to explain some technical information, motion graphics can add an aesthetic element to break up the show visually. Studies show that audiences respond positively to aesthetic displays and you can use this to your advantage in your corporate videos.
One way you can make your show more interesting is to combine live action on location shots with actors edited with motion graphics sequences. These changes in style break up the visual pace and make the viewer pay attention.

Work on the sound

Video is both visual and audio, so sound is one of the most important elements that’s often overlooked. We said before, make sure you hire a professional sound engineer to clean up your audio tracks of pauses, people making noises in their dialog as well as adding music. The right music tracks can help the viewer transition between moods whether it’s sad, funny or suspenseful. Plus, sound effects add depth making the audio work harder to communicate what’s going on the scene.
Professional audio complements the narration, content, and the visuals of the video and  improves the overall final cut of the show.

If you’re looking to tell your company’s story through video get in touch with one of the leading digital marketing firm Houston, TX. We can help you brainstorm your ideas, flesh out the good ones, write your scripts and produce your video.
OAK Interactive is a full-service advertising firm in Houston that specializes in providing compelling branding and creative marketing services to help businesses grow. We also specialize in TV, video, radio and audio production services. Get in touch with them today!