Want to Make A Great Brand Video? Here’s How.

We know what you’re thinking. “Hey! I am a small business. I can’tafford to get a video done.” At TalenAlexander, we understand being on a tight budget. But we know the market out there, the competition, and that’s why we also know your business needs a, brand video.

A brand video is,

Short, visual content created by a company for its own promotion.

The popularity of visual materials among audiences has been widely adopted by brands spanning generations.

Why?

Visual content can provide your audience a better understanding of how your products work and/or your company’s operations– transparency is key in the Information Age.

A great brand video has the capacity to connect with consumers near and far, young and old. Without a solid brand video, you are missing the opportunity to tap into a digitally literate and active consumer base.

In coming to the realization you need to produce a brand video, one of the most important decisions is in regards to the style of your content.

If you are unsure of where to start, here’s a look at a few types of brand videos.

Explainer

The simplest way to tell people about your product or service is to spell it out for them, like a tutorial.

An Explainer is the best way to communicate your primary function as a business and the value you provide your target audience– It is highly effective in presenting your unique selling proposition.

On a small budget, this is one of the best ways to showcase a product/service in all its glory.

Interview

NBC’s The Office

Interviews are a great alternative to explainers, in the case of a small budget.

An interview is one of the best ways to provide transparency— include different speakers like industry experts, customer testimonials, introduce your colleagues and team, all of which showcase your brand.

By showing your face and revealing your personality, you become a step closer to connecting with your audience as a person.

Animation

Animation creates unique branding opportunities like the introduction of a company mascot with whom people can connect.

Animation has the capability to explain complex concepts that your audience may otherwise have difficulty visualizing.

However, these videos don’t come cheap. While their almost inherent ability to go viral is difficult to ignore, it may come with a hefty price tag, and for good reason.

Ride Along

A “Ride Along” is a video inviting your audience to explore the culture of your day-to-day operations.

Brands who have built a mystique around themselves for their lack of transparency are facing major competitions to those who become family friends.

Ride along videos allow you to capture the spirit of your company culture— open candor, daily nuances, management style, but most importantly, people.

It breaks away from professional stereotype and humanizes your business.

Event Recap

Event Recaps are considered more trustworthy by audiences, as they provide an eyewitness account– video.

Providing your audience the opportunity to form opinions and base judgments about your company video of video coverage goes a long way with consumers.

Business video content is thriving more than ever– The average internet user spends 88% more time on a website with a video than without.

Now that you’ve got an idea of a few types of brand videos here are,

10 Tips to Make a Video that has ‘Viral’ Written All Over It.

Plan the plan

You should spend a considerable amount of time in the ‘pre-production’ phase.

This is when you sort out details like shooting location, equipment logistics, script revisions, etc. A proper strategy ensures you have a guideline on hand for the video production phase.

*Should you scout great locations, perform necessary script revisions, plan detailed shoot schedules, etc. you will encounter problems. Planning down to the minutiae can help eliminate a large number of on-set hiccups, but the key is to remain flexible in your expectations.

Create using Innovation

Creating great brand videos is an art. Marketers should learn to explore their creativity through personal development ultimately mixing knowledge, research, and design to create quality video content.

*Creativity never goes out of style!

Respect Your Audience

Know who you are catering to and how to connect with them.

It is essential to create videos that align with your core values, but with messages that communicate in the same manner as your audience– it should be organic and not forced, so if your message doesn’t flow like toothpaste being squeezed from a tube, head back to the drawing board.

You want to trigger an emotional response from your audience, and at TalenAlexander, research is key in discerning our clientele– we analyze and monitor our target audience helping us craft better promotional campaigns.

Time Conscious

Bed, Bath & Beyond

Long winded videos are seeing a decrease in viewership, as the average attention span of a human is less than that of a goldfish— slow and steady has been the rise of the gif. popularity (and loop videos like those featured on the mobile app, Vine).

Remember in the Cut the length of your brand video when possible– 59% of viewers watch a video to completion if it is less than 1 minute.

Understanding how short video content resonates with your audience will give you the keys creating a highly effective marketing campaign.

Make it Fun for Everyone

Entertainment value draws people towards not just videos, but great content alone.

Interesting content and a healthy dose of entertainment is sure to capture the viewer’s attention.

I mean, who likes to watch boring videos when there’s great content at your fingertips? We don’t!

Get to the Point

People want to know what your video is about right away. Once you grab their attention, you can spend the remaining time explaining your idea and sharing information.

Include a Call-to-Action

Don’t waste an opportunity to connect with your audience. Include call to action even if it is as simple as an invitation to visit your website for more information.

The More, the Merrier

While the most obvious choice to post your brand videos would appear to be YouTube, don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

There are several other video hosting sites like Vimeo, Vine, Facebook, and Google+, all of which you can you can publish on for free.

*Vimeo offers paid service packages for business accounts with optimized features for B2B content.

Make it Shareable

Jonah Berger, author of Contagious: Why Things Catch On, found that the most highly shareable content evoked strong emotions in the viewer. If the content strikes an emotional chord with the audience then it becomes shareable.

*The more the content is shared, the more the brand visibility increases.

I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand. – Confucius

There is no question that a brand video is one of the best mediums for content marketers and companies requiring marketing collateral. If your video content you create supports your larger marketing goals then it acts like a gift that keeps giving back.

At TalenAlexander, we are here to help you with all of your marketing needs, whether it’s through consultation, observation, or inspiration.