9 Tips For An Engaging Corporate Video
Your corporate video needs to communicate a message, build trust in you or your business, and create a solid, engaging connection with your audience. A professional-quality video is one of the most valuable tools available to move your marketing and communications forward.
Here's 9 key areas you need to consider:
Audience
Are you aiming at potential clients, investors, employees or agencies? Each audience can be very different. Ask yourself what do they want to know instead of what do you want to tell them.
Corporate Video Messaging
What message will resonate with your audience most? Financials or markets? Growth or Unique Selling Points? Trying to cram everything you do into 1 video isn't likely to catch your audience's interest so choose carefully.
Engaging Scripts and Actors
A script sets the tone. Not just of what you hear but also what you see on screen. Make sure every word has a reason to be there. Take out complexity and duplication and make every word count.
Storyboard and Locations
Start big! big ideas and big ambitions. How best can you visualise your message, make it with the budget you've got and get from one scene to the next? And then send out your location scouts, get permissions and insurance and schedule as many shots in the same location as possible.
Engaging Branding
Your corporate brand extends into everything you do so consider where it fits in here. Just an intro and outro or do you need to see subtle hints throughout? Is it the colour of a building or what someone is wearing?
Filming
Create detailed call sheets, make sure everyone understands what they're doing, have backups, be prepared to think on your feet and always expect scenes to take longer than you think. Setup can be your biggest thief of time so whatever you think you need, triple it. And don't try to do too much in one day.
Sound
The soundtrack is the heartbeat of your video and often the first element that needs to be locked in for editors to work from. Do you need sound effects? If you need a voiceover, what accent do you need?
Editing and Effects
A day's filming might take a week to edit. If you're using green screen or image replacement even longer. But post-edit effects can enable you to replace stadium crowds, insert 3D objects and recolour items to fit your video.
Engaging calls to action
Don't forget to tell people what you want them to do next. Phone, email, contact their reseller, whatever it is don't leave a brother hangin.
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How Long Should Your Social Media Video Be?
The Definitive Answer: A blog about how to best post videos to reach the largest audience.
As you might expect, video is the most engaging media to post on social media. But how long should your social media video be? Quick answer: there's no definitive answer. But there are some tips you can follow to get the best chance of engagement.
Audience and message balance is king.
You can find blogs on video length everywhere and they are useful but... They will tell you attention spans are short and anything over 2 minutes is uneconomic. What they don't take into account is context. For example, people quite happily sit in a cinema for 3 hours if the film is good enough. So consider what your audience on each platform will be expecting.
But how long should your social media video be?
TikTok allows up to 3 minutes, Twitter 2 minutes 20 seconds and Instagram 60 seconds - they are fun-packed bursts of content. You'll need a simple message, easily understood and quick to convey.
Facebook allows up to 240 minutes but still, people are expecting fast, disposable information, updates about their friends and videos about cats. Attention spans aren't really very long and selling at people during their own personal time isn't likely to get a positive reaction. So treat it as a B2C platform, make your message light and interesting but don't go into massive detail.
As LinkedIn is a B2B platform your audience is far more receptive to business messages, more detail, serious topics and you get up to 10 minutes for your video. They'll also invest more attention if you pique their interest. Here you can share explainer videos, product launches, business values etc. with a caveat... give your audience enough that they want to know more but don't give them so much that they have no reason to contact you.
So, start with your message and audience. Getting that right will determine your platforms and maybe point you towards having multiple versions of your message.
Double-check your message rings true throughout the video and don't forget a call to action. like this one:
To discuss your video requirements call us on: 01604 621600 or email: studio@ar-media.co.uk
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Supporting the biggest product launch in IFS' history
The Brief
IFS develop and deliver enterprise software for customers around the world who manufacture and distribute goods, build and maintain assets, and manage service-focused operations. As recognised leaders in their industry, IFS have consistently grown their turnover and customer base, even during the 2020 pandemic and resulting lockdowns. As video production partners for over 8 years, AR Media were asked to assist in delivering the company’s single biggest product launch in their history, the launch of IFS Cloud and the global brand refresh.
The challenge
As a global software provider, IFS traditionally hold conferences every 18 months in locations across the globe. These events include keynote presentations, motivational speakers, breakout sessions and a large-scale trade show spread over 3 days.
With the world in lockdown, the challenge became how to bring the wealth of information, updates, entertainment and the most important product launch in IFS’s history to their clients through a virtual platform.
The product launch
The AR team collaborated with event organiser Jodi Egan, Senior Manager of Global Events to ensure we understand the 120+ videos and animations required from the many stakeholders and presenters.
With a production schedule in place, AR Media then orchestrated the planning, project managing, filming, editing and covid precautions of these videos both with our own team in the UK and with crews in Australia, Sweden, Sri Lanka and the United States.
“...your dedication, professionalism and willingness to put in some seriously long hours made it happen and we’re really grateful. No task (or change, re-edit or re-re-edit) is too much for you and it’s that amazing attitude that enabled us to deliver an event that we’re really proud of with and that’s shown in the very positive feedback from our customers and senior management team”. Jodi Egan, Senior Manager Global Events
The outcomes of these projects included real-time software demos, drone footage, outside broadcasts and green screen keynote presentations. At the same time, we also produced videos for behind-the-scenes of the IFS rebrand story and the new brand video for their Moment of Service message.
This is the first project I’ve worked with you on and it’s been an absolute pleasure working with such a professional team, thank you for your patience, and for delivering excellent results – the platform with all the content looked amazing!! Laraine Taylor, Global Events Operations Manager
The product launch results
2021 was a big step into the unknown for IFS. To put an event online that would meet their customers' expectations and attract new prospects was a big ask, but meet and exceed it they did.
Thousands of people attended the live event, learning of IFS’s future roadmap, new innovations and technologies.
Thousands more watched the live stream keynote session on LinkedIn
And tens of thousands watched the breakout sessions post-event and the videos AR Media created are still in use with the sales and marketing teams on a daily basis.
“It was great seeing your hard work up in lights, and I know a lot has gone into the storyboarding, sourcing, filming, editing (and all the re-edit asks 😊). The hours, nights and weekends you put in don’t get lost on us. We’re grateful, so thank you”. Oliver Pilgerstorfer, Chief Marketing Officer
Are you planning a conference that requires video?
5 key ingredients of great case study videos
Case study videos
Case Study Videos (or testimonials if you prefer) are a key marketing tool for nurturing prospects along the buyer journey. You probably already have some or know you need them, but do you know the key factors in making a compelling one?
Asking a client to go on record and promote your products or services is a big ask. They are putting their own personal reputation on the line for you, taking time out of their schedule, and putting themselves in an environment they may not be very comfortable with.
Which means there’s a lot to be said for making your client feel comfortable throughout the whole process. Let them know what to expect, invest your time as well as theirs and check they are a happy customer before the process starts.
If you can tick those boxes you’re off to a good start and here’s 5 things you can do to make working with a video agency the easiest an
d most productive it can be:
Timing
Give your clients time to get to know your product and give meaningful opinions. Asking to interview them immediately after they’ve bought your product or service doesn’t give them a chance to use it, let alone state any figures about how much betteryou’ve made things for them. It’s far better to capture someone talking genuinely about their experience, sometimes even talking about the things that weren’t quite right. After all, it’s not how you make the sale that makes your reputation it’s how you respond when things aren’t quite right.
Onboarding
A call between you, your client and your video agency will prove invaluable when it comes to the shoot itself. You’ll all get acquainted with each other and more importantly set the tone for the interview. You can give your client a heads up on the questions you might ask, describe the day and advise them of any special requirements.
Does their site require protective clothing such as hardhats and steel toed boots or passport to enter secure areas?
Are there specific times the camera team need to be in and out of an area to get the shot you want?
Can your clients avoid close striped clothing to avoid moire on screen.
Same question, different answer
Stats about ROI and percentages of improvement are the golden ticket for a case study. But they are elusive, clients often feel uncomfortable quoting a figure or just don’t know. Don’t push them too hard, move on to another subject and come back to it in another way later. For instance; if you ask someone to state a percentage of time they’ve saved on a specific task with your services they might struggle to give you an answer. If you come back later asking how much of a typical day they spent doing that task before and after using your product you may well get a different response, which can be converted into the percentage you wanted to quote in the first place.
Be prepared
It’s just as important for the people behind the camera to have some understanding of the industry, the client, the product or service and any special information before hand. The interviewer needs to understand the questions they are asking and crucially the answers they are being given. Another reason to have that pre shoot conference call.
Have a process for the interview. Ensure you ask the basic stuff like name and job title, what they get involved with in their business. Why they like working there etc. Then ask them about what the company does, who are their major customers and what significant jobs have they done. Ask about their typical day, this is all about getting them comfortable behind the camera with questions they know the answers to. Then you can move on to the specific questions of why they were looking
And let them talk, once they are comfortable people often tell you a lot more and unexpected anecdotes often tell the best stories.
Let there be B-roll.
For the finished edit you’ll want something slick and professional that captures interest and crucially keeps it going to the end (usually about one and a half to two minutes). Having a single shot of a person talking for that length of time expects a lot from the viewer so it's best to have two cameras shots running simultaneously.
But it's also vital your camera crew has time to capture what’s known as B-roll. Shots of the environment, production lines, people using your products etc. This visual information keeps attention and also gives information to the viewer at the same time they are hearing the case study.
So, now you know. Keep these 5 hints on how to get great interviews in mind when working with a video agency and good luck.
Do you want to up your game with case study videos?
Download our case study checklist below or contact us to talk about your requirements:
studio@ar-media.co.uk or 01604 621600
Want to get in touch?
127 videos, 3 days, 20 cameras = IFS World Conference
127 videos, 3 days, 20 cameras = 1 happy client
The job:
In October 2019 AR Media was commissioned as video partner at the IFS World Conference in Boston, USA. A 3-day event bringing over 2,000 clients, partners, celebrities, and employees together to talk big business. We were both excited and privileged to be involved.
The client:
IFS are a global business software provider that enable manufacturers and service providers to optimise their business costs, processes, and offerings through intelligent information. The team at AR Media had worked with IFS for over 5 years and in 2019 we became a trusted partner in video production capitalising on our experience of their industry, their product and the events they organise.
But this time was a little different. This time our client wanted over 100 breakout sessions captured and edited. A daunting task.
Preparing for the world conference:
AR Media flew out a team of 8 comprising: camera operators, editors, and project managers, plus cameras, lights, and lenses. At the venue, we set-up basecamp with 4 edit suites and hired an additional 13 cameras and operators to cover all breakout sessions. With everything in place our teams split into 2; a mobile team ready to work with our client to record interviews, events and capture the conference atmosphere. The 2nd team focused entirely on capturing, backing up, and editing the breakouts after every session.
The IFS World Conference
As the event went live we were there to capture people arriving, visiting trade stands, attending keynote speeches, and networking.
We were setup in each room working with the on-site AV engineers to capture audio direct from the desk, and liaising with the AV team running the main stage to capture the Keynote presentations. Presenters included Tony Hawk, Tia-Claire Toomey, and Lewis Pugh.
Our mobile team were on call day and night, working closely with the IFS Marketing team to capture interviews on the fly, delegate reactions and soundbites about why they’d come and what they’d got from attending. Appreciation night had them working into the night capturing the atmosphere, networking, events, and live acts including Lewis Capaldi.
The breakout team were in action throughout the event, managing camera operators, filming every breakout session, juggling up to 13 simultaneous sessions and began editing on-site to deliver professional video of the presenters cut with the slides they presented.
In summary
Attendees are C-suite professionals from market leading manufacturers. They invest a lot of time and money coming to this event so it has to provide real, tangible value. IFS achieve this by providing a 3 day event packed with networking opportunities, world class keynote speakers, and access to IFS experts who can show them how to get the most out of their software.
AR Media’s remit is to provide a reminder of what attendees experienced, events from other parts of the conference they may have missed, and to give prospective clients an idea of why they should attend in the future. Or in simple terms; 127 videos, 3 days, 20 cameras and 1 happy client.
See the closing video at: https://vimeo.com/371641862
Are you planning a conference that requires video?
Download our event video checklist below or contact us to talk about your requirements:
studio@ar-media.co.uk or 01604 621600