Probably the main reason that Corporate Video enhances your business is that your target audience simply loves video.
You are a consumer yourself, so think about the last time that you clicked on a play button to receive your information effortlessly.
People absorb information in various formats but with an ever-increasing amount of information to contend with on a daily basis most find that to sit back and watch a few minutes of quality video far more productive and enjoyable than reading massive blocks of text.
This is the reason that video is the fastest growing marketing tool in history! The statistics speak volumes when it comes to understanding exactly the impact of video marketing in 2022.
Can you believe that YouTube didn’t exist 15 years ago?
The story of YouTube’s stellar rise from inception in February 2005 to the initial sale for $3.5million in November 2005 is nothing short of astonishing. By July 2006 YouTube was achieving 100million views a day. People and consumers love videos.
Also read: 10 Content Marketing Predictions for 2022
Video dramatically increases trust
Trust is an essential ingredient to do business with you. Oberlo tells us that with the increasing demand for video content, it’s no surprise that such a large percentage of marketing professionals claim to use video as a marketing tool.
The single factor which will cause a consumer to do business with you is trust. The main roadblock to a consumer doing business with you is a lack of trust. Apart from actually sitting “B2B” or “Belly to Belly” with every potential client, video is the only way to take yourself into the home or office of your prospect. It is clear that the video presents people and products in ways that text and photos simply can’t.
Provided that you choose great quality video production, the video will break down obstacles for your potential clients. They will feel they know you, like you and trust you or your product.
Our Corporate Hopping Mad video clients love it when they eventually meet with clients and they say: “wow, I feel we’ve known each other for ages!” Their clients have already “met” you via your videos and they have engaged your services based on the sense of trust created by your Corporate Videos.
People buy with emotion and video invokes emotion
The same may be said of photos, but the big advantage of video is that it seamlessly presents a sequence of photos to a viewer. The standard rate of images in the video is 24per seconds. So each second is like looking at one photo. This is why the impact of 1 to 2 minutes of video is just so great! U.S Marketing Researcher Dr James McQuivey said it best: 1 Minute of the video is worth 1.8million words.
Visitors to websites with video stay
Visitors stay on average for 6 minutes as opposed to just 1 minute for those without video. Crazy Egg elaborates on this by saying that according to The Aberdeen Group, businesses that utilize visual engagement tactics see an 83% increase in annual revenue compared to their competitors. Websites that relied on visual engagement in addition to copy saw their conversion rates more than double.
This statistic doesn’t mean that you need to produce videos that are 6 minutes in length! Indeed the best online videos are short, sharp and succinctly scripted and run for just 1 to 2 minutes in total. What this statistic tells us is that once a visitor views a video on your website they stay longer. They have become engaged in a more meaningful way than text could ever achieve. They stay, they research and they are more likely to immediately buy your product or service. If they are not ready to become a buyer, you are guaranteed they will be more likely to remember your company than if they hadn’t watched a video and this will increase their likelihood of becoming a future customer.
The video brings a viewer closer
Video not only bring a viewer closer to doing business with you but also brings more traffic to you.
Fish where the fish are! Or in other words, attract customers to your website by being prominently placed where the fish are looking. The two main search engines that the fish use are Google and YouTube. Both are video focused! Google weights video in at 50x the importance of text-only and this means that your message is 50 x more likely to pop up on page 1 results on Google and therefore bring in more viewers/prospects.
You can see that we have started our own YouTube Channel here.
In summary, Corporate Video will deliver more traffic to your website. Professional Corporate Video will also engage your visitors and create more buyers out of those visitors.
The keyword here is “Professional” and so it should be noted now that not all videos will engage your customers. In fact, some videos will turn them away for good!
Have you ever turned a video off?
It’s time to examine the ingredients for a great online video.
Let’s assume that you are a business owner or sales marketer of service or brand. And let’s assume you want Corporate Video that converts lead to sales.
How to create a Corporate Video that converts leads to Sales.
Professionally Produced or Home Made?
Do you remember when people used to invite friends around to watch a slide show of their holiday or have your parents ever told you about their experiences with this? The amateur slideshow night! This was about the meanest thing that people habitually forced their friends to endure.
Well, the thing is…producing your own “Corporate Video” is akin to locking your friends up to watch your holiday slides. It’s awful and it ruins relationships!
Your business reputation is on the line here. Most professional companies have invested carefully in their brand, their website and their Corporate marketing message. And then a guy from HR offers to “Point and Shoot” the Company video on the new Camcorder he just bought Duty-Free in Hong Kong.
Have you seen these videos? They are usually unscripted, they’ve got a grey or greeny miasma tone. The sound is atrocious and they are full of “umms” and “ahhs” because no one knows how to edit them.
These videos are often 10 minutes long even though the only people who will ever endure for this long are the guy in the video and the guy who turns the camera on (and maybe but not always their Mum’s)!
The only difference between this and the friends’ slide show night is that the viewer can turn these videos off! And they do.
YouTube has a great little function under Analytics called Audience Retention, which shows you exactly at what point in a video that viewers turn off. With these amateur productions, it’s usually before the 10-second mark.
Professional Corporate Video requires more skill than point and shoot!
The key ingredients to Professional high conversion video production are:
#1: Pre- Production
No actor or director would ever turn up for shooting a movie without preparation. This phase of professional video production is known as pre-production.
Pre-production consists of scoping to determine the precise purpose and target audience for a video. This is then followed by scripting and or storyboarding. Amateurs so often proclaim: “I don’t need a script, I’ll just wing it”
Winging it nearly always amounts to a finished product that no one but your nearest and dearest will watch.
At HoppingMad we ensure that we scope the purpose of your Corporate Video and we offer professional scripting services so that you will never have to “wing-it”.
The great news is that thorough pre-production results in better quality video. The video that your clients want to watch and video that converts your viewers to customers
#2: Professional Camera
Just because the sales guy in Hong Kong told you that the camcorder shoots in HD (high definition), does this mean that it is a Professional Camera? Your camcorder doesn’t care about mood or the character of the subject in the frame, so it can only ever hope to deliver less than average results. If you want your videos to look like they have been professionally filmed, some of the things you will want in a camera are settings that will help you take control of the environment you are shooting in. Even professional cameras have the Auto mode function, but this will definitely not work in all settings and environments. If a camera setting is on automatic, it will arrange all 4 components (exposure, shutter speed & depth of field and ISO) to the best of its ability, but this may mean that the end result may be too grainy (ie the ISO is too high); the film looks jumpy (shutter speed is too high); there is no depth of field or too much in focus, or it is over or underexposed in certain areas eg. a person in the video is too dark because the camera is balancing for the amount of light coming in a window or door. Understanding how to expose the amount of light in a room; how much depth of field you want in focus; the number of frames per second to shoot at and the ability to saturate colours are all important features a professional camera will allow you to manipulate. A professional camera will also allow you to use different lenses and filters to create more interesting film techniques. At HoppingMad we work with the highly acclaimed Canon 5D Marks II & III Cameras. These phenomenal cameras have been
used to film major movies such as Black Swan.
#3: Professional Camera Operator – cinematic techniques
At Hopping Mad Designs we use professional Camera Operators who do your brand justice.
Understanding how a professional camera works allows for more cinematic techniques. A professional cinematographer will understand all the different elements and techniques in creating an interesting video. These can include techniques such as bridging shots, rack focus, different camera angles, eye-line matching, fade-in, fade-out and Mise-en-scene to name just a few.
Let’s look at the “rack focus” technique. Rack focus is the technique of changing the focus of the lens when filming. For example, when you may be focused on an image in the foreground and the background is blurred, then slowly blur the foreground and focus on the background. It is usually a very subtle technique that gently draws your attention to another person or area of a video that you didn’t know you were being directed to. An interesting video sequence is cut together from shots recorded from various camera angles using a variety of lens sizes. Looking for a variety of camera angles before you start shooting will ensure you can capture what may be an ordinary scene and make it much more interesting.
Understanding how different shutter speeds affect the film quality of a video is a very important part of creating a quality video. Have you noticed that you feel uneasy when watching re-enactments from shows like Australia’s Most Wanted? It’s not just what is happening in the scene that will make you feel uneasy, it is the fact that it is likely to have been filmed using a higher frame rate per second than is pleasant to the eye.
We make understand what frame rate you should be filming at and don’t simply set the camera to automatic, because the last thing you want to do is have people watching your video feel like they are watching a horror movie!
#4: Professional Lighting
Professional lighting is the next important aspect of filming that affects the overall look and feel of a video. If you have noticed the proliferation of amateur videos that pop up every second on YouTube, you will have noticed that many of these are filmed in a dark messy room, either on a camcorder, iPhone or webcam. You will also remember that you probably didn’t give the video much more than 10 seconds to grab your attention.
Setting up lighting for an interview will usually require a 3 point technique: Key Light, Fill Light and Backlighting. The Key Light is the main light on a subject. It is usually placed at a 45-degree angle to the camera. The Fill Light is usually from the side of the subject which will soften shadows and illuminate areas that are not covered by the key light. Backlighting is the main source of light that is behind the subject, which is silhouetting it and is directed toward (but not at) the camera.
This 3 point lighting technique will create mood and interest on the subject’s face, without creating shadows that make the person look tired. If you are thinking of getting testimonial videos to promote your business make sure you capture their enthusiasm forever. The last thing you want is a person raving about you and people not wanting to be engaged by it.
#5: Professional Sound Equipment
Every iPhone, camcorder and professional camera have internal sound recording capabilities, but are these good enough for recording your message? Have you noticed the “tinny” sound that you hear on amateur videos? This is usually because the camera that was used to record the video also recorded the sound using an internal microphone.
Most of the videos that are created for you and your business will be crucially dependant on the quality of the sound that is captured at the time of recording. Whether it is the vital dialogue, key selling point, memorable quote or even just the atmosphere of the occasion, the sound will play an essential part.
The correct microphone is an essential component of shooting a high-quality video. To get a great result for your video you need to plan for your sound carefully before you leave for your location.
If shooting outdoors, the sound may be affected by how windy it is on the day. Microphones will have to have what is referred to as a “dead cat”. A dead cat is a grey fluffy cover for your microphone that reduces wind noise.
Whilst much can be done in post-production to fix up sound recording, at HoppingMad we ensure that you start with a good quality microphone.
#6: Professional Camera Mounting Equipment
A high-quality camera support system can make a positive impact on your videography. Each camera angle should be determined by what works best for the framing of the shot in different scenes. You can manipulate a scene or image by using different heights and angles to create interest. A good quality tripod will have an indicator bubble to show you if the tripod is level.
Other camera mounting equipment also includes a Dolly which is a set of wheels and a platform upon which the camera can be mounted to give it mobility. A dolly shot is a shot that is taken from a moving dolly. A more affordable option however is a Glider which can be mounted on your tripod. Your camera is then mounted to the glider and moved along so that it looks like the camera is moving, without the shakey imagery you would get if you simply walked with the camera in your hand. You can take footage at different levels and angles to create interesting footage that can then be edited in post-production.
#7: Professional Editing
Professional editing ensures that there are continuity and a logical coherence between shots. Editing requires trimming, splicing, cutting and arranging clips across the timeline as well as colour manipulation, titling, visual effects and mixing audio in conjunction with the image. In brief, beautiful editing requires skill and years of training and practice.
The foundation for a good video is that all pieces of the puzzle fit together: pre-production preparation including scripting and storyboarding, using a professional camera and equipment including sound and lighting, and cinematic techniques that create interesting shots that can then be edited to form an interesting video that people want to watch.
If doing it yourself sounds too complicated and you don’t want to tarnish your brand with an inferior video that people simply turn off after 10 seconds, then make sure you give us a call and we can discuss how this can be achieved for you. While it may all sound very complicated for an amateur, at HoppingMad we can make your professional video production seamless!