by Victor Blasco
Company stories – or company culture videos – are a great tool to showcase your brand's philosophy and identity to customers and prospects. The power of storytelling allows your viewers to see the human element behind the products they love and is considered to be one of the best ways a growing business can instill trust and build loyalty from an audience. Because of this, seasoned video production companies always include them in their marketing strategies.
For a culture video to be effective, you need to clarify, plan and consider different areas. Here are some things to consider before producing your next culture video.
If you are in the process of building your corporate culture, there are a few questions you need to ask yourself first:
How does that relate to your corporate culture video? Well, these elements provide valuable clues. By clarifying your values, vision, and mission from the start, you can help shape the story you cover in your video.
Before you begin developing your piece, get your creative team together and discuss why your brand started in the first place. How do your products or services help people fix a problem? What does your company stand for? This exercise should be very helpful in establishing a solid starting point.
Now that you have defined your primary core values, you need to narrow them down to just one or two. As you can imagine, you can't include them all in your company history – this would get messy and likely confusing.
To do this, it is important to understand your audience and evaluate the types of topics that resonate with them. As I said earlier, company stories are designed to build consumer confidence and increase brand awareness. You can do this by addressing the emotions and shared experiences of your target audience.
For example, let's assume that the core values of your company are innovation, transparency, diversity and sustainability. When you start producing your play – and your script in particular – think about the values your audience can relate to most, and then build your story from them.
Questions to consider: What drives customers? What do they stand for? What values do you share with my brand? Asking these questions can really help you narrow down your list.
Here is an example of an explanatory video that clearly defines the core values of a company:
By Victor Blasco Company stories – or company culture videos – are a great tool for presenting your brand's philosophy and identity to customers and prospects. Through the power of storytelling, they allow your audience to see the human element behind the products they love and are considered one of the best ways to
Once you have your values defined, the next logical step is to focus on shaping your ideas and writing your script.
One of the best things about video content is that you can be as creative as you want – there aren't any strict rules. This is especially true for corporate culture videos as each brand is unique and has their own way of saying or doing. Still, there are some useful tips you can follow to create an effective script.
Don't try to write the "perfect" script at first. Focus on finding a story that your viewers can use to feel something instead. Think about a specific problem that your target audience may be dealing with and the emotions that problem can trigger in them.
When you find this out, create a narrative that brings people closer to your company. Include the core values you have chosen and express what you stand for. Then try to visualize how you can present it in a meaningful and memorable way.
On the technical side, given the short attention span of the online audience, keeping your piece short is of the utmost importance. For most videos, the ideal length is between 60 and 120 seconds. However, this may vary depending on the message you want to deliver and the platform on which you are sharing it.
We recommend that you be as simple and clear as possible. Use every word and every second!
By Victor Blasco Company stories – or company culture videos – are a great tool for presenting your brand's philosophy and identity to customers and prospects. Through the power of storytelling, they allow your audience to see the human element behind the products they love and are considered one of the best ways to
Before you start recording your video, there are a few preproduction steps to consider. We've already talked about two main topics: define your audience and the main message or script of your video.
Let's briefly outline other key items that you need to work on:
Work on the visualization. Once you have the script, you need to plan your visual approach. This includes everything related to the appearance of your video – from the props and camera angles to the colors, lighting, and graphic design. With that all set down, write all of your ideas down on a storyboard and record them.
Get real people, not actors. We love animation and explanatory videos, but the truth is that even if you use animated graphics and inserts, most of your corporate culture videos will likely be live action. That means you need real people! For example, it could be employees explaining what it means to work for your company or customers explaining why they chose your brand.
To ensure that your videos are authentic (and feel authentic), we recommend that you do not hire any actors. Viewers want to see people they can identify with. So keep it simple and understandable.
Find your location. This will depend on the specifics and budget of your project. Essentially, find a place to record your video that makes sense for your story. Most of the time, your office will work fine.
Draw up a production plan. This document should contain all important information about your video production, e. B. Location, scene recording, equipment, required personnel, etc. You can use it to manage the time expectations, the people involved, the workflow, etc.
Other items from AllBusiness.com:
Remember on production day:
Check the sound quality. It is very important that you find a way to film without background noise, echo or reverberation, especially if your video contains a lot of interviews. Nobody enjoys poor sound quality!
Check the lighting. For the same reason, poor lighting is another important no-no. Make sure it gets to the point so your viewers can see people's faces and emotions. If not, your audience won't engage easily.
Create a friendly environment for your interviews. There is a good chance that your "actors" will feel camera shy at first. Try to create a relaxed environment. The audience can tell whether an answer is sincere or not. Break the ice and make your respondents feel comfortable. This way, your bottom line will be more natural and straightforward.
No video production is perfect straight out of the oven. There will be bugs that you need to fix. But no fear! This is where post production comes in and does its magic.
processing. To do this, you need to clean up and crop your footage to make your final product look shiny. If you or someone on your team is not an editorial professional, this should be done by professionals.
Music and sound effects. There is also an audio editor in the editing room that can add music and sound effects to your piece. Music is especially important because it sets the mood and can help you improve your message. We recommend that you take some time and choose pieces of music that perfectly match your video.
Listen to the background music and sounds in this video and how they enhance the message of the video:
By Victor Blasco Company stories – or company culture videos – are a great tool for presenting your brand's philosophy and identity to customers and prospects. Through the power of storytelling, they allow your audience to see the human element behind the products they love and are considered one of the best ways to
After you've polished your piece, it's time to develop your marketing strategy. You need to put it in front of interested eyeballs, which depends on the demographics, interests, and consumption habits of your audience. However, you should consider the following options:
Facebook and Instagram ads. These are two of the most popular social media platforms today: Facebook has over 2.7 billion active users and Instagram has 1 billion. They also have great targeting options so you can get the most out of your video by showing it to the right people.
Email Marketing. Email marketing remains one of the most powerful communication channels on the market. It keeps subscribers up to date, can be automated, and is easy to track. Additionally, when you combine it with video content, you can build deeper connections and drive long-term customer loyalty, especially through new leads.
website. Curious people will look at your brand on your website. This is why posting your corporate culture video can be a great addition. However, you need to choose the correct section carefully. For example, the About page is a great place because it is where visitors usually learn more about your business.
Dissolve sells stock footage and to convey their brand story and values they used exactly that – their product! All paired with a sarcastic and quite funny script. Well done!
By Victor Blasco Company stories – or company culture videos – are a great tool for presenting your brand's philosophy and identity to customers and prospects. Through the power of storytelling, they allow your audience to see the human element behind the products they love and are considered one of the best ways to
Basecamp is an online platform for project management and team communication, but this video has nothing to do with it. It shows different employees trying two brands of coffee – one really good and expensive and one not. Why? Because it's fun and everyone loves coffee!
By Victor Blasco Company stories – or company culture videos – are a great tool for presenting your brand's philosophy and identity to customers and prospects. Through the power of storytelling, they allow your audience to see the human element behind the products they love and are considered one of the best ways to
BambooHR's culture is about balancing hard work and healthy leisure. This corporate culture video shows many team members doing all the things they love most. . . Outside of work. It's great news with a very cool finish!
By Victor Blasco Company stories – or company culture videos – are a great tool for presenting your brand's philosophy and identity to customers and prospects. Through the power of storytelling, they allow your audience to see the human element behind the products they love and are considered one of the best ways to
How do people see your brand? Are you cool and nervous? Are you approachable and friendly? Or exactly the opposite?
Corporate culture is important because it helps you shape your audience's perception. And this is something very valuable to small businesses trying to thrive.
That's why these videos are so powerful – with storytelling they make your brand relatable and human. It shows viewers that there are people behind your company. All you have to do is remember that the more honest you are about your values and personality, the easier it is for them to trust you.
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Contribution by: Victor Blasco
Victor Blasco is an audiovisual designer, video marketer, and founder / CEO of the explanatory video company Yum Yum Videos. In addition to running the business, he's a lifelong student of Chinese philosophy and a passionate geek of anything science fiction related.
Company: Yum Yum Videos
Website: www.yumyumvideos.com
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