Corporate film production mistakes you can avoid
Here’re 7 simple tips to avoid some all too common mistakes when embarking on your brand’s corporate film production.
1: Not considering audience
This is one that should run right through any corporate film production, from concept to completion. Keeping your audience in mind from day one—like you would with any collateral—will have big benefits. It’s as simple as using the right language, answering the right questions, and thinking about what imagery will engage them effectively.
2: Not producing a script
What ever type of corporate film production you are creating a working script is vital. Even is the dialogue within your film is purely interview derived a script (of desired responses is still useful).
The script doesn’t have to be set in stone but it will provide useful signposts during the production of your corporate film and ensure you film all the elements that you require (your script can even be thought of a list of reminders to what content you require when filming to complete your film).
A working script will also save you lots of time when editing by helping structure the video and identify how items will segue.
3: Covering too many topics
A ton of jargon and endless statements about “why your company is special” can be a little overwhelming. The solution is dead simple: to think of your corporate film production as a storytelling process. Give it a beginning, middle, and end and use each segment wisely. Distill your film’s content down to the key ingredients so that you leave the viewer with a clear and concise message.
4: Making it too long
Have you ever glanced at the progress bar and bailed at the sight of how long’s left? Me too. Only include points that can be clearly communicated in a short time period. What’s more, keep an eye on the runtime of soundbites while you edit. Consider if the true value of what’s said warrants the time.
5: Forgetting to show
Interviews are great, but continuous shots of talking can be a bore. So remember to overlay “cutaway” shots of your product or service in action. Make the shots relevant to the interviews and lay them over the speech for a truly interesting video.
6: Skimping on production quality
A rushed corporate film production can mean one thing. A poor video. You wouldn’t upload copy before it’s proofed, or use photos that are blurred, so treat video in the same way. Taking time to find good lighting for interviews and getting the sound quality up to scratch are good places to start.
7: Not including a CTA
CTAs or “calls to action” are the backbone of digital marketing. To the viewer, they form the instruction to “do” something, like getting in touch with you for a quote. Not including them within your video is a huge mistake.
They can be either spoken, or as animated text. or for maximum benefit they can be hyperlinked (which can be achieved with YouTube Annotations). This means that as the film closes viewers can click on an on-screen CTA such as “click here for more information” which can take them directly to the relevant page on your website. This is really useful when using your video on social media as it’s the most effective way of driving customers directly to your door.
So that’s it really. Yes there are loads more pitfalls that should be avoided but these are the most common errors we see in most video marketing we encounter.
Avoiding the mistakes many corporate video producers make is a definite way to make your company stand out.
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