Intrigued about the whole video thing as a strategic marketing tool?
It’s true, video content is king right now… Corporate videos are popping up right and left from all kinds of businesses. The use of video for high-impact, intelligent marketing is on the rise — and for good reason. This format is a fully customizable, direct communication format that gives you a lot of bang for your buck. If you want to investigate the corporate video game to help grow your business, here’s a comprehensive primer to get you started.
What is a Corporate Video?
Simply put, a corporate video is a professionally produced video created for a business, product or service in order to engage customers and grow the business. Small businesses and Fortune 500 companies alike have seen huge success in using videos with many different styles and approaches across every platform. Though not all corporate video formats are applicable to all businesses, any type of operation can benefit greatly from investing in video production.
Why are Corporate Videos Needed?
High quality video is a hot ticket in today’s digital age — a direct medium that combines visuals, storytelling and sound to inspire your audience and motivate them to act. Big or small, veteran or startup, adding video to your arsenal can be a bold move toward success. Here’s why:
Video is versatile. Whether you want content for commercials, websites, Facebook ads, trade shows, ad buys or Amazon pages, you can say anything you want, ANYWHERE you want.
Video gives you a voice. Need to explain a complex product, introduce your brand, get audiences excited about new technology, or even teach people how to use a product properly? No sweat. Your video message is fully customizable. Use scripted scenes to evoke emotion or humor, or get straight to the point by speaking directly to your target customers.
Great videos enhance brand image and boost engagement. Add a video to to your website, social media or e-commerce platforms and watch them perform better. Use it to keep website visitors lingering longer, bring attention to trade show booths or make your client’s social media look like a superstar.
Building a Corporate Video Budget
There are many contributing factors in determining the budget of a video, so it is crucial that you build the budget with great attention to detail. One of the major contributors to a corporate video production’s budget is going to be the concept. The concept will create the list of requirements, but how those various items are sourced can also change the budget. Here are a few of the aspects to consider in a video budget, with some tips for cost-saving.
How many actors are needed?
With each actor, there will be added costs for the time spent casting them, their payment and buyouts, releases, hair and make-up, wardrobe and craft services (they have to eat!).
A good way to save money here is to limit the amount of actors in the concept or to source employees or friends and family to play the various nonspeaking roles.
All speaking/acting roles should be played by a professional actor.
How many locations are needed?
Many national TV spots have multiple exciting locations in them, but each one comes with extra costs, including rental, permits and travel. It is usually very challenging to film multiple locations in a single day due to lengthy setup time and scheduling conflicts.
A good way to save money here is to look for no-cost locations. Corporate videos can be filmed in a functioning office location or even one of the employee’s homes.
You can also fake a single location to look like different locations with decorations or props.
What props are needed?
Often corporate videos will require the purchase of props — things that need to interact with the product, actors, etc. Sometimes props are used just to decorate the scene and make it seem more realistic.
A good way to save money here is to use items already in possession. For instance, if the actor needs to use a cell phone in a shot, they can use their own. Many things will likely need to be purchased, though, so look out for props that can be returned after the shoot!
What wardrobe is needed?
Depending on the concept of the corporate video, various wardrobe or costumes will need to be purchased or rented.
To save money, the actor can provide his or her own wardrobe options, but again, seeking out shops that allow for returns is a great cost-saving trick.
How many shooting days are needed?
To keep the budget as low as possible, corporate videos are often filmed in a single day, but depending on schedule or concept, this isn’t always possible.
If there are multiple executives that need to be interviewed and they are in different locations or have different schedules, multiple-day shoots may be unavoidable and require a substantial budget boost.
Should advanced or complex shots/scenes be added?
This is similar to the amount of shooting days. If the corporate video shoot is very complex or if the scenes take a long time to set up and shoot, the production may require multiple days of shooting.
Should visual effects / graphics be added?
The more visual effects and graphics that are required for the corporate video, the more expensive it will be.
How many videos should be made?
When creating corporate videos, it is common to work in multiple edits for various video deliveries. If more deliverables are added, the budget will need to be increased.
Final Thoughts
In the end, creating a corporate video can be a very involved, time-consuming and sometimes expensive process. But if you have the right production team and a clear goal, it can do wonders for your business or company. Feel free to comment or ask questions, as we are always looking to share our knowledge on the video world.
This post is an excerpt of the “2018 Guide to Corporate Videos” which originally appeared on the Sparkhouse Blog