You’ve decided you’re ready to jump on the video marketing train and try your hand at producing corporate videos. Great choice! Video marketing is currently one of the strongest ways to engage with your target audience. So where do you start?
While video marketing is a bit of a buzzword right now, not all videos are created equal. It is a great strategy, but there are steps you’ll want to take to ensure you create a killer corporate video that beats your competition. Included in those steps is the need to develop a solid concept before getting started on any of the production.
Without a solid concept, it’s easy for your message to become murky and unclear which is the last thing you want to happen in your video. Thankfully, with the right strategy, it’s easy to develop a strong concept right from the get-go.
Here are 7 things to keep in mind when creating the concept for a top-notch corporate video:
1. Identify the purpose of the video
You’ll want to start by identifying the purpose of the video. This way you can ensure you write the best script, take the right shots, and incorporate the best tactics during production and distribution without wasting any valuable time or money.
To identify the purpose of your video, ask yourself some questions like:
- Am I trying to evoke a sense of urgency? If yes, your strategy could be to use language that implies a time limit, encouraging viewers to “Act Fast!”
- Am I hoping to tug at the heartstrings? If yes, your strategy could include capturing dynamic visuals that evoke this type of emotion.
- Do I want to get viewers excited about a product? If yes, your strategy may involve using visuals showing others using and being excited about the product you’re selling.
Once you identify your purpose, you’ll have a clear path to identifying your target audience.
2. Target the target audience
Identifying your target audience and planning a video marketing strategy around the likes and interests of that particular group is vital in producing a successful corporate video.
For example, while a video highlighting what’s #trending on social media would capture a millennial audience, it probably wouldn’t get the attention of too many baby boomers. On the other hand, incorporating some classic rock ’n roll tunes to a video may make millennials cringe, but baby boomers will instantly identify with the familiarity of your content.
So, it’s important to know who your audience is and the best way to speak to them, capture their attention, and get them to act. When your target audience is identified, it’s time to choose the key messages they’ll relate to the most.
3. Hone the key messages of the video
A video without a clear message is hard to follow and can end up confusing your viewers more than inspiring them to act. If your video includes unanswered questions, confusing storylines, or too many action items, your viewers may easily become distracted. Instead of paying attention to what you’re sharing, they’ll go off on a bunny trail, trying to come up with their own answers or conclusions to the missing pieces in your messages.
If you incorporate too many messages, you risk sending your viewers into “information overload,” which can cause them to disengage completely.
Therefore, it’s beneficial to choose one or two key messages you want the viewer to get and hone them throughout the video.
4. Channel the right emotions
Most people are led by their emotions, which is why evoking the right emotion in a video marketing campaign is so important. Can you honestly say the ASPCA commercials don’t tug at your heartstrings at least a little bit? Even if you aren’t the biggest dog fan, you can’t deny that seeing all those puppy eyes accompanied by the sad music in the background doesn’t have you thinking about calling the number on the screen to make one of those sweet pups your own.
While not all corporate videos need to be so intense in their presentation, choosing the type of emotion you want to evoke in your viewer and identifying how to accurately portray those emotions through the script, music, and video content will aid your video in accomplishing its marketing goals.
5. Choose the length of the video
Even with all the above, before heading into video production mode, you’ll want to have a general idea of the length of your video, which will depend on your sharing platform. If you hope to share the video on multiple platforms, you may need to edit multiple versions that work well for specific audience and platform specifications.
According to a video marketing study by HubSpot, these are the best lengths for videos on various social sharing platforms:
- Instagram: 30 seconds
- Twitter: 45 seconds
- Facebook: 1 minute
- YouTube: 2 minutes
As you can see, the suggested length for corporate videos varies depending on the platform you’re using to promote the video. Knowing your target audience, and where they spend the majority of their time while online, will help you decide the platforms you should use, which will inform the ideal length of your video.
6. Conceptualize the story
Once you’ve identified your video’s purpose, key messages, target audience, desired emotions, and video format, it’s time to start conceptualizing your story. Think of this as a general outline with any imagery and messaging you’ll include throughout the video.
A concept is different then a full script—most of the time.
When you’re writing out your concept, think about how you would pitch the video to your superior. Then, think of anything that needs to happen in order to produce the video. That information would be important to include. Once you have a clear story to tell your viewers and a direct path to take them down, it’s almost time to start video production.
7. Choose a strong call-to-action
You captured your target audience, engaged them with a clear message, and evoked their emotions… now what? Now it’s time to decide what you want the viewer to do with all the information you gave them.
Ending your video with a strong call-to-action will improve the success of your video marketing campaign. Maybe you want the viewers to “Purchase Now,” “Learn More,” or “Sign Up Today”. Whatever the case, you’ll want to ensure your call-to-action is clear, concise, and communicates the exact action the viewer should take beginning at the conceptualization stage. And then—if all goes as planned—they’ll take it.
Are you ready to make your video marketing dream a reality? By following these steps to conceptualizing an awesome corporate video you’ll be well on your way to producing high-quality videos to enhance your video marketing strategy.
If you’re looking for a video marketing partner, we are here for you. Our skilled video producers are ready to help you capture the attention of your audience through video. Get in touch today and find out how we can help you start planning your next corporate video now.
