A brand video is one of the most powerful marketing tools you can have.
It should combine the best elements of story telling and execution to create a video that is so compelling your customers feel that they know, like and trust you without ever having met you.
It is second best only to a face to face pitch.
But not every brand video is well executed. A strong story will not stand up alone without great visual elements. Beautiful imagery can be wasted with a poor narration. And without nuanced post-production, the final product will feel a bit blah.
You need a video partner who you confidently rely on to make it the best it can be.
So before you tell your brand story, here’s what to consider.
What is a brand video?
Also called a profile video, an about us video or a your story video it’s a high quality, evergreen piece of video content around the 1 to 2 minute mark that tells the story behind your brand.
A ballpark figure to make a brand video starts around $3,500, but we recommend investing as much as you can afford on a quality production. Footage can be repurposed long after the initial shoot.
Your video team should spend time researching your business, getting to know your people and stakeholders, returning to film on multiple occasion if nceessary.
With any luck a brand video will sit on your web page for several years, so will be worth the outlay.
To spark your imagination, there are many brand videos examples in our portfolio.
What should your video do?
Whether you have a pre-existing relationship with a production company or are asking an unknown to pitch for work, you should spend time creating a video strategy to help inform other videos that can be repurposed and created from this brand video.
Whatever your business outcome, make sure you clearly identify it and know the audience you want to reach.
This information as well as other salient elements of your production should be provided to the production company to enable them to quote for the work.
What should your video say?
Behind every brand is a story, a personality, a mission, people and a team.
The job of a good production company is to draw out the story and personality out from the team behind a product or service and infuse it into the brand video. If it includes testimonials to authentically capture customers feedback. To showcase your products, premises and people.
Before a production company scripts your video, consider everything that matters to you about your customers and your business (in that order!)
For your messaging think about why a customer buys from you, not what you do. You might produce good quality widgets, sourced in Australia and sell them for the best price, but will these claims persuade potential buyers to really connect with you? Do you have an interesting founders story, a life-changing idea or event that prompted you to start your business and what is it about your business that. makes you unique.?
Identify one or more emotional hooks that drive customers to really bond with you.
Does your service make them feel safe? How do you help less advantaged communities? Is there an interesting founders story? Is this a family business? Do you have an innovative or unique concept? Are you proudly Australian? What are you doing differently to your competitors? Do you have a cause that drives every business decision you make?
Who will tell your story?
A brand video is likely to include an interview with your founder / manager. The answers gathered through an interview with him or her will act as the narration with the subject appearing briefly in vision at the start. This narration becomes the voice over for the video.
You may also wish to consider using key staff to take part. Why they love working for you, how proud they are of what you do, why you are such a special employer all contribute to making your business more relatable and authentic.
Look to your client base. Is there a customer who’s a genuinely loyal fan or your business; whose business or life you have transformed through your product or service? Use them within your brand story to reach out to potential customers and show how transformative a relationship with you can be.
Alternatively you may wish to commission a script, that will be read by a third party, eg professional voice over artist.
What visuals will help?
As well as interviews or narration, a good brand story is further enhanced with high quality visuals.
Whilst vision of your business premises or production line may seem best, but think outside the box and try identify a location or activity that best depicts what your business does.
Maybe your founder has a particular passion or hobby? Maybe your product is being used in an innovative environment? Is there somewhere inspiring that relates to your brand?
Consider too if there are opportunities to involve other people in your brand video shoot. Is family key to your business? Or can you show case your products being used?
Will your story benefit by using drone or underwater footage? Aerial footage has a wow factor and can be achieved relatively affordably by a professional drone operator with legal and safety expertise.
What should it look like?
Arguably the true “crafting” of your video starts once the camera is put down and post-production begins.
Good post-production will deliver a video that seamlessly integrates all elements – video, voice, graphics and audio – to best tell your story. Seamless editing between shots, pace and rhythm of the story, music and sound effects, even graphical elements can both enhance or detract from your story, so it is key to get it right.
Know any elements you wish to use – your font, brand guidelines and music selections before this process begins to make the post production as efficient as possible.