We’re all in the trust business. Every. Single. One. Of. Us.

But this is especially true when it comes to law firms and their attorneys. Which is why they need a law firm video strategy.

Law firms face unique challenges in marketing: conveying expertise and trustworthiness while making complex legal concepts accessible. This is where strategic video content can make a significant impact.

Starting with a Law Firm Video Strategy

When kicking off a video project, it’s crucial to ask the right questions. As a matter of fact, these are the five questions everyone should ask before they begin any video project.

Who’s your audience?

Easily, the most important question. Understanding your audience is critical. What do they care about? What challenges do they face? Tailoring your message to their specific needs and interests will make your video more engaging and impactful.

What’s the goal of your video?

It’s kind of crazy, but you’d be surprised how many communications pros don’t ask this question. You need to define what you want your video to achieve.

Are you looking to educate, inspire, or perhaps drive a specific action? Having a clear goal will shape your content strategy.

To go along with it, you should also figure out how you’re going to measure success. Will it be through engagement metrics, conversion rates, or other data? Setting these parameters upfront will help you evaluate the success of your project and inform future video projects.

Where will you show the video?

Next up, have an idea of what channels you plan to use (website, social media, live event, etc.). There are all sorts of options, which is why you need to think about it. In many cases, it might be multiple channels and that’s fine.

Determining the channel(s) will help you on how long the video should be.

Think push versus pull.

Social media video, you’re pushing it on people, so it should be short (1:00 or less). However, if it’s for your website, now it’s a pull situation. People have come to you, so the video can be longer (4-minutes or less).

What’s your story?

Video isn’t about facts and figures. Video is about emotion.

We’re not trying to appeal to the viewer’s brain. We’re targeting their heart, and the shortcut to the human heart is storytelling.

Use video to tell stories about your firm’s specialties, success stories, the clients you’ve helped, and the values you stand for. These stories can demystify legal jargon and showcase your firm’s human side, making legal services more relatable.

How will you promote the video?

Finally, you need to have a plan for promotion from the very start. This goes beyond knowing your channels. Put together a real plan for how you’re going to get this video out into the world.

It’s not good enough to post it on social once. Make your video(s) a regular part of your content calendar.

Don’t just put a video on the website. Think strategically about what pages will benefit most from having the video on them.

You can’t just expect people to find your videos. You have to know where your audience is and deliver the videos to them.

 

Production Quality Matters

Chances are you have worked hard to cultivate a stellar reputation for the firm.

Well, guess what?

The quality of your video reflects on your firm.

While there are certain video projects you can do in-house (short form videos for the top of your marketing funnel), the evergreen videos you put on your website or send directly to potential clients should probably be done by video pros.

I know, I’m a video producer.

But hear me out. High production values show professionalism and attention to detail, qualities clients look for in their legal representation.

While cost is a consideration, the investment in professional video production pays dividends in establishing your firm’s credibility.

Trust me, you can find quality video production that won’t bust your budget.

Legal and Ethical Considerations

Navigating the legalities of video content is very important. Ensure all videos adhere to client confidentiality agreements and include any necessary disclaimers. Ethical considerations should guide every piece of content you produce, maintaining the integrity of your firm.

Make sure you deal with video pros who get this and have experience producing videos for law firms.

Exploring Types of Videos for Law Firms

So… what types of video should you produce? You’re really only limited by your own imagination here.

Having said that, the following are some you should consider:

• About Us Videos: Who you are, what you do, and why you do it. Introduce the our firm, your team, and what sets you apart.
• Attorney Profiles: We hire people we feel like we know and trust. That’s why attorney profiles are so important. It’s a big step forward in earning the trust of a potential client.
• Client Testimonial Videos: Real stories from those you’ve helped can significantly bolster your credibility.
• Educational and FAQ Videos: Make legal concepts digestible for your audience, establishing your team as approachable experts. Start by asking the attorneys… what are the question clients always want to know? Produce videos that answer those questions.
• Case Study Videos: Highlight your firm’s approach and successes in a detailed manner, respecting confidentiality.
• Thought Leadership Videos: Position your lawyers as authoritative voices on pertinent legal issues and trends.

• Behind-the-Scenes Videos: Show the human element behind your success, showcasing the dedication and care your team puts into every case. These are especially good for the bottom of your marketing funnel or the end of your flywheel. BTS videos are great to share with the clients you already serve, making them feel like they’re a part of your firm.

• Event Recap Videos: Share the highlights and key takeaways from legal seminars and charity functions your firm participates in.
• Legal Process Explainers: Clarify the steps in common legal proceedings, helping demystify the legal system for your clients.
• Recruitment Videos: I don’t have to tell you how competitive the job market is right now. Attract the best candidates by showcasing your firm’s culture and the opportunities you offer.

Having a law firm video strategy is a great way to connect with your audience, showcase your expertise, and humanize your brand. By following this strategic approach, your firm can not only stand out in a crowded market but also forge stronger connections with current and prospective clients, setting the stage for lasting success.

Every click counts and every impression matters, investing in a thoughtful video strategy is not just wise… it’s essential.

– Tony Gnau

Back when the pandemic lockdown happened and we went from five customer projects in the hopper to zero overnight, I remember thinking… I have always wanted to write a book.

What can I say? I’m a half-full kind of guy.

Thankfully, our customers started coming back about a month later, and I walked away with book… on my laptop… unpublished.

That’s the way it stayed for two years while I navigated the publishing world, but good news, it’s finally here.

If you’re a fan of our content, you’re likely a communications pro. You work in PR, marketing, or internal communications.

This is a corporate videos book for you.

It’s a blueprint for producing better corporate videos. And here’s the best news, it’s all stuff you as a professional communicator can do.

I encourage you to check out the book webpage to learn more, but I also wanted to give you a little preview. You won’t find this anywhere else.

It’s the book’s introduction.

I hope you enjoy it. I hope you buy the book. I hope it helps you do your job even better than you already do.

Thank you for being a part of the T60 community!

– Tony Gnau

Lights, Camera, Impact:

Storytelling, Branding, and Production Tips for Engaging Corporate Videos

Introduction

TV News is so Glamorous

It was the winter of 2002 at about 5:00 a.m. I was a local television news reporter in Cincinnati, and I was stuck outside, standing in 5℉ weather, waiting to go on live TV. I was called

in early because the temperature was plummeting, and my news director decided we needed team coverage to let people know it was cold outside.

I was not happy.

Neither were the other three reporters who had likewise been called in early to do the same thing. Each of us was tasked with delivering the message that it was cold, that everyone should reconsider heading outside, and that local leaders and health officials

recommended staying home today.

Call me Captain Obvious.

As I stood there losing feeling in my hands and feet, it hit me. I looked at my videographer, who was standing behind the camera, and said, “Mike, if I’m here doing this a year from now, just slap me as hard as you can.”

I had been reporting local news for nearly 10 years, and I just wasn’t into it anymore. My first job in the industry had been as a news and sports reporter in Kearney, Nebraska. That was followed by a similar job in Davenport, Iowa, and next up was Cincinnati, Ohio, where I was a full-time features reporter. But on that day in 2002, freezing my butt off, I knew I was done with TV news.

I was no longer reporting feature stories, which is what I love. People stories. Stories about businesses producing amazing products. Organizations doing inspirational things to make our world a better place. Stories about the people who make this country

great.

Unfortunately, changes in news management at my station brought with them news directors who didn’t value feature stories. They weren’t interested in news that makes people smile or

feel good. They were all about breaking news, and less concerned about telling a good story than getting the story first. It just wasn’t for me.

The big question was, how could I take my passion for stories and get paid for it outside the world of TV news?

The Ah-ha Moment

Days later I was sifting through some file tapes in the newsroom, and I came across a bunch of corporate videos. When you’re a reporter doing a story at a business, its public relations

people will frequently send you the company’s corporate video. This was the collection I had accumulated after visiting companies where I happened to be reporting a story.

It hit me: Someone was getting paid to produce these tapes. (Ugh, I continue to date myself. Video tapes?) Scratch that—someone got paid to produce these terrible stories about these businesses.

They all went something like this:

This is Company X. I’m a professional-sounding Voice over artist who will tell you all about the business. Here’s a list of facts and figures. Now some video of workers who have been staged to do something. Now something about the company’s history, then more facts and figures. Finally, a scripted message from our CEO that was clearly written for them by someone else.

I had always marveled at how bad these were. Did they really think I would use something from these for my story? Forget it!

But now, I saw an opportunity. If whoever had made these was getting paid for it, I’d bet someone who’s really good at storytelling could make a decent living doing this.

At this point in time, the internet was just getting its legs under it. The vast majority of us were still using dial-up modems at home, but it didn’t take a genius to see that speeds would get faster and faster, and that businesses would start using more and more online videos to promote their companies and brands.

So, while I was mulling over a reporting job in a different market, I decided to break away and start my own video production company.

How hard could it be? Said the guy with no business education or experience.

How I Can Help with Amazing Corporate Videos

Years later I’m still here producing videos. I’m the founder and chief storytelling officer at T60 Productions. We’re a small, successful video production company. We got our start in Chicago, are now based in Milwaukee, and have customers from coast to coast. Our projects have sent us to England, Canada, and Hawaii—twice. Someone had to do it.

In the process of transitioning to corporate video, I traded winning TV news Emmy Awards for corporate video Telly Awards. 

We’ve produced some awesome stories. I’ve stood on the tarmac at O’Hare shooting video for United Airlines as a plane pulled into the gate. I’ve perched my camera on lava to create a series of educational videos about the endangered Hawaiian monk seal. I got to hang with NBA All-Star Dwyane Wade while producing a video for his youth basketball camp. 

And the best part? I didn’t have to stand out in the cold for any of those stories.

I have learned that every company has a story, and I love helping tell it. With this book, I’m here to help you find your stories and tell them in a compelling way. Whether you’re a marketing professional at a small start-up, a solopreneur getting their business off the ground, or a member of the internal communications team at a Fortune 500 company, this book will be your road map for how to produce compelling, effective videos for your company or organization.

We’ll go over where to look for your stories and how to recognize them when they reveal themselves.

We’ll talk about how to create videos on your own and how to involve a pro to make them even better. We’ll cover using video for internal communications and where to work them into your sales and marketing funnel. Finally, we’ll go over an often overlooked and critical aspect of corporate video production—getting people to watch!

Video is one of the most important communications tools businesses and organizations have at their disposal. Audiences are savvy. They know when they’re being sold to and will click away in a heartbeat. You need to get this right, so let’s do this thing. You’re now on

your way to producing better corporate videos.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE BOOK… AND BUY IT!

If you work in corporate recruiting, I don’t have to tell you how competitive it is to hire good people. It’s insane! Getting the right people on the bus is as tough as it’s ever been, which is why it’s so important to create high quality recruiting videos.

They have become one of the most valuable tools in your recruiting toolbox. In this post, I’m going to break down some reasons why you should be producing them, as well as a case study from one of our customers who put together a terrific recruiting video plan.

Why Recruiting Videos Are Important

It used to be that having a recruiting video was a luxury. Big companies might produce them, but they didn’t seem necessary for medium and small organizations.

Well, those days are over. I don’t care wether you’re a Fortune 500 company or a traditional small business, recruiting videos are now a staple for recruiters.

They’re important for the same reason an About Us video is important to the marketing department. For many prospective employees, recruiting videos will be their first chance to see and hear from people what the company is all about.

A nicely designed recruiting webpage is nice, but having videos to offer takes things to a whole new level. Compelling copy at an online recruiting platform is great, but a video showing prospects what it’s like working at the business is event better. A social media post or ad can be helpful, but one with video will likely get you more clicks.

Check out these stats via Stories Inc.

• Video posts on LinkedIn are shared 20 times more than other formats
• Job postings with video icons are viewed 12% more than postings without video
• Job ads with embedded video get 800% more engagement
• Job postings with video have a 34% greater application rate than those without

Video catches people’s attention, and if they likely what they see, encourages them to take action and apply.

In many ways, recruiting videos are your first step in creating a good first impression about your company.

Creating a Recruiting Video Plan

Okay, now that you’re onboard, it’s time to make a plan.

Yes, you need a plan. It’s not good enough to simply produce a video and wipe your hands of the project once it’s done.

Nope.

You are putting all sorts of time and effort into creating these videos. Video production cost is also a factor. You need to do this right.

I want you to approach this the way your marketing folks should be approaching their marketing videos. Let me take you through some steps.

Audience: the first thing you need to do is identify your audience. This might be obvious (job candidates), but the better you can fine tune this, the more effective your videos will be. For example, one video might be a broad audience, anyone applying to your company. Another might focus on specific job types.

Channels: next, you want to determine where you’re going to show the videos. Your website? Naturally, but where else do you want to use them. This could impact the number one question I always get… how long should my video be? It’s all about push and pulls. If the primary use for the recruiting videos is social media, you want to keep them short (1-minute or less) because it’s a push situation. The social media audience didn’t ask for your video, you’re pushing it on them. On the other hand, if they came to your website or found you on a job recruiting platform, they have come looking for information about you, so it’s a pull situation. This means you can give them more (1-3 minutes).

Goal/Measurement: finally, you want to set a goal for the videos and figure out how you’re going to measure whether or not they’re successful.

This is sooooo important. It’s going to help you with a couple of things for the future. It will show you what types of videos are most effective, and provide you with hard data for getting a budget for more videos.

Maybe you have an ad and want more people clicking on it. Maybe you have a page at a recruiting platform and need to get more people to fill out your application. Regardless, once you have your video(s) in place, make a note when they went live so you can go back later to track performance. Then, pick a time period prior to the video and compare it to a time with the video.

Did you get more clicks? Are more people filling out the application? You now have hard data!

Types of Videos

Okay, now that we’ve defined our audience and figured out where we’re going to post our videos, we should probably decide what types of video we need to produce. The great thing here is that you’re only limited by your own imagination. I’ll give you a list of popular types of recruiting videos, but this is just a jumping off place.

• About Us: your marketing department may have already produced this one showing who you are as a company, what you do, and why you do it.
• Company Culture: similar to the About Us video, but focused more on what it’s like to work at the company.
• Employee Features: I’m not going to lie, these are my favorite. Produce videos featuring individual employees, and I’m not talking about the C-suite. You’ll be surprised by the stories you’ll find. My all-time favorite employee story was part of a series on the corporate values at Catholic Health Initiatives. The video on compassion focused on someone who holds a position you’d never think to feature. That’s my tease to watch it! 😉 Luckily for you, it’s included here. ➡️
• Company Initiatives: show people different things you’re doing inside the company to make it a great place to work.
• Product/Service Videos: again, you may be able to look to marketing for these videos, but you can use them to give prospects a better idea about what your company sells.

Want to do something more creative? Go for it. As long as you think your audience will connect with it, and it will serve your goals, then produce away!

Rise Interactive Recruiting Videos Case Study

One of our customers have done an awesome job creating a whole series of marketing videos, and they’re a great case study on how to do it.

Rise Interactive is a digital marketing agency that focuses on using data to help drive business growth. Their business is growing and they are consistently recruiting new Risers, so they wanted to create a bunch of videos to serve various needs and audiences.

Again, I can’t stress enough how important it is to define your audience. In the case of Rise, they focused on three audiences.

• General applicants, anyone applying to the company.
• Early career applicants, people just getting their careers started.
• Established career applicants, people who have been in the workforce for a while but are looking for better career advancement.

Once they defined their audience, Rise leaders did something I love. To help them decide on what videos they would produce for these audiences, they gave them names.

Company Vision: the video Rise produced for their general audience was all about the company’s vision for where they started, where they are, and where they’re heading. It features the CEO as well as various leaders talking about how they see the company.

Now is the Time: this video was focused on early career applicants. It features a few Risers who are just getting their careers started and why they chose Rise.

Come Grow with Us: this video was directed at people who are already established in their career, but are looking for career advancement. It’s similar in look and feel to “Now is the Time,” only instead of new Risers, we hear from Risers who have worked at the company a while and have advanced up the ladder.

Day in the Life: finally, Rise produced a pair of videos featuring different employees. One is a newer front line employee and the other is someone in a leadership role. Again, you see how they’re focused on the audiences they defined?! These videos give the audiences a feel for what a typical day on the job is like for each of those roles.

Rise is using the videos on a few different platforms.

• Company website (Careers page and About Us page)
• LinkedIn
• Recruiting platforms

And these are self-professed data geeks, so you know they’re tracking the numbers. Hopefully, I’ll update these post in the future with some of their numbers.

Don’t Forget This Last Step

Now, following all of these suggestions is great, but don’t leave out a crucial last step. You need to promote your videos.

This isn’t something that should be done willy-nilly. This is an important part of the plan. You can produce the best recruiting video in the world, but if nobody watches it… what’s the point?

So be intentional about creating a promotion plan. Where are you going to show it? Is it something that lives on a page, or does it need to be continually posted?

• social media
• company newsletter / e-mail campaign
• company website
• blog
• recruiting channels

Do you have plans to show it in other places? Great! Write them all down. Create a plan for how and when you’re going to get your video(s) to the world.

Wrap

There’s just no way around it. Recruiting videos are no longer luxury, they’re now a best practice. If you want to recruit the most talented applicants you can find, you should have some videos in your tool belt.

Producing quality recruiting videos will set you up for recruiting success.

When you absolutely need to get an important message to a community… email isn’t your only route. As a matter of fact, you should be using multiple methods.

But I mean, hey, you’re a communicator… you know that already!

Okay, here’s something a lot of communicators miss.

Again… if you ABSOLUTELY need to get an important message to a community, you better be using more than the written word.

You should be using video as well.

Now, I specifically wrote, “as well.”

I’m not suggesting you don’t write something and that video should replace the written word.

What I’m getting at is you have an audience that will prefer to read, and one that will prefer to watch.

And the one that rather watch is probably bigger than you think.

Case Study: Alverno College

Alverno College is a private women’s college located in Milwaukee.

Like many businesses and organizations, school leaders were challenged with getting critical information out to two distinct communities about all the changes taking place due to COVID-19.

Alverno needed to make sure its faculty, staff, and students were all up-to-date on everything taking place to combat the virus and keep everyone safe.

Think about that for a second from a communicator’s perspective.

That’s two distinct audiences.

• Faculty and staff: so… college employees, an internal audience
• Students: aka paying customers, an external audience

Those groups are pretty different from one another, especially from an age perspective.

While written emails and social posts were certainly part of the mix, their leadership knew they needed to use something else as well to ensure as many people as possible would get the message.

Enter internal and external communications videos

Having produced several videos in the past, the communication staff knew many in their two communities might not read an email, but they would watch a video.

So producing videos during the pandemic became an important part of keeping people informed and reassured that school officials were working hard to protect everyone.

They also recognized while a pandemic might be going on, the job of marketing the college to new students needed to continue.

Current students got the same updates the faculty and staff were receiving, but prospective students also began receiving special communications with a revised marketing message that took COVID-19 into account.

And you guessed it… it included a newly produced recruiting video.

Give me the stats

I know, all of this is pretty self-serving, I am a video producer after all.

But as my friend Andy Crestodina says, “Don’t bring an opinion to a data fight.”

In this case, there is a TON of data supporting how important video is to your communication strategy.

When it comes to delivering an important message, you want to remove as many barriers as possible, and video is a great way to breakdown walls of text many people won’t read.

We all send email.

We all use social.

But if you want the most amount of people possible to get your message, video helps.

A lot.

According to Campaign Monitor, video can increase email open rates by 19% and click rates by 65%.

And social media…

• Tweets with video: 10x more engagement than those without
• LinkedIn posts with video: 20x more likely to shared than any other type of post
• Instagram videos: generates more engagement than any other content type

The bottom line is video catches people’s attention.

They click, they watch.

So write and share your message, just make sure to include a video as well.

I don’t have the budget for video

You might be thinking… AWESOME IDEA!… but how am I going to pay for it?

True… a good, professionally produced video will cost you something. You should definitely do a cost-benefit analysis.

How important is getting your message across versus how much money do you have in your budget?

Our most popular blog post happens to be How-to Figure Out Video Production Cost, so if you need some help in that department we have you covered.

We also created a video to go along with it.

We walk the walk.

The DIY Video Option

Beyond that… I’m going to make a radical suggestion.

Well, radical because again, I’m video producer.

You could DIY your video.

See… I’m not totally self-serving. The truth is I believe DIY video has a place.

As a matter of fact, I’ve been know to help people improve the quality of their DIY videos because I want to make sure they’re putting their best foot forward.

I do have some criteria for producing any kid of internal and external communications corporate videos, so let’s take a look at those first.

• No budget: if you truly don’t have any budget at all. I mean, you don’t allocate any money for marketing or internal comms… no budget… if that’s the case, you can DIY your video.
• Kitschy company: if you have a company culture that is kind kitschy, and your employees and customers know this about you, I actually encourage you to DIY your videos.
• Short social media videos: if your message is simply something short you’re going to post on Instagram or maybe do a Facebook Live, you don’t need a professional video.

If you don’t fall into one of these categories, hire a pro to produce your video.

Why? It’s simple.

You probably work really hard to ensure you’re a trusted company/organization. You want customers and employees to look at you and have confidence in what you have to offer.

Well, there are few things that can crush your reputation and credibility like a bad video.

All of a sudden you go from respected to being laughed at.

Don’t let this happen to you.

A video professional is going to produce a video faster and better than anything you can DIY in-house.

If this is a serious message you want to get out, make sure the quality of your video matches the importance of your content.

Wrapping up

We all have important messages we need to deliver.

No doubt, video adds some work… and expense.

However, if that message is mission critical, then you better consider producing a video to go along with your text.

–Tony Gnau

There are many types of videos companies and organizations can produce, but there are some that stand above the crowd.

I like to think of them as the core videos:

• About Us
• Service and Product Videos
• Testimonials

The About Us video is the one video I think every company needs.

Testimonials might be the most influential.

But if you’re looking for cold hard data to back-up your desire to produce videos, it’s hard to beat service and product videos.

Hubspot research tells us:

• 72% of people would rather watch video to learn about a product or service
• 81% of people have been convinced to buy a product or service by watching a brand’s video

Holy cow! 

Look at those stats again.

If you have any questions as to why you should produce service and product videos, that data provides your answer.

Case Study: Quad

One of our customers is a leader in marketing, and they’re a perfect example of doing these videos the right way.

Quad (formerly Quad/Graphics), offers all sorts of marketing services, and when its leaders decided to promote one of their lesser known services they used video to do it.

This is a great strategy.

Video is a terrific way to shine a light on products and services that might need a little extra love.

Quad is one of the nation’s largest printers. When people think of Quad, they typically imagine huge printing jobs.

And while the company can certainly handle those projects, it also excels at short run jobs… which is what we featured in the video.

Quad leaders did something else that was smart.

They identified something that customers are always impressed by when it comes to their short run projects, and then emphasized it in the video.

In this case, it was highlighting their team and the wealth of experience they bring to every job.

When you produce a service or product video, it’s easy to get bogged down in the details.

Don’t let that happen.

Figure out what’s important and/or impressive to your customers, and focus on that in the video.

Where to start with service & product videos?

This is one of those situations where you shouldn’t out-think yourself.

A product video might just be as simple as a 15-seconds demonstrating how something works. 

It could be a 15-minute mini-documentary on the evolution of your service.

Either way, determine what’s going to help your audience and produce it for them.

And that’s the key.

You need to produce a video that will help your audience.

I’m a fan of storytelling. I’m always going to default to telling a good story when it comes to producing videos.

I’ve mentioned it before, and I’ll mention it again… video isn’t about facts and figures. Video is about emotion, and the shortcut to the human heart is storytelling.

However, if you sell widgets to a group of technical people who are all about how something works as opposed to why it works… this is where I grant you some leniency.

There are all sorts of ways to tell stories surrounding products and services, but there are times when I have to set my ego aside and say that’s not what the audience needs.

If you know your viewers want the cold hard facts on how your product or service works, this is the video where you give it to them.

I still think data is better on your website than in your video, but one of the things that’s awesome about video is being able to literally show people how something works.

If this is all your audience needs, go for it.

Hello? We sell a TON of products.

Now, some of you might be thinking, great, but we offer thousands of products. We’re not going to produce a video on each and every product.

Fine. 

Maybe it’s not a video on every product. 

Maybe you produce a video on every product line? 

Maybe it’s a video on every product category?

The idea is to make it manageable. Not only for you, but for your audience.

Think strategically about how your customers educate themselves about your offerings and give them videos to help that process.

This goes for service-based companies as well.

If you offer three distinct services, produce a video on each.

You might offer a bunch of services. Break them down into a few core segments and produce videos about those segments.

You really need to put yourself in your customer’s shoes. The better you understand what they’re looking for from you, the easier it will be to produce video to help them along their purchasing journey.

I just lost the internal communications people.

 

Wrapping up

I know what I’m offering here on producing product/service videos is kind of vague, but without knowing exactly what you sell it’s hard to give you a precise “how-to” when it comes to creating these videos.

My best advice… always be asking, what does our audience want? 

What is going to help them?

–Tony Gnau

Alright, let’s be upfront from the start. As a production company owner, I love the idea of video production retainers, but you might be surprised by the reason.

Sure, they provide a steady and predictable cash flow for my business, but the reason I really love them is because retainers are mutually beneficial for our customers.

However… if you’re considering a retainer with a video company, you do need to be careful. Not all retainers are created equal.

Buyer Beware

Okay, let’s get this out of the way before I give you all the positive reasons to sign-up. 

Retainers are not for everyone.

Consider these things before you commit:

• Be real clear on what you’re getting for your money.

Some video companies can be kind of vague about what you’re retainer actually gets you. I don’t think it’s done with malicious intent, they just haven’t done the best job explaining what’s involved.

So… make sure you know what you’re getting.

• Don’t sign-up unless you’re really going to use the retainer.

This sounds simple enough, but we’ve all been there. We’ve signed-up for a monthly service or membership we know is good for us, only we don’t end-up using it (hello, gym membership).

Don’t let that happen here.

This is exactly why we treat our video production retainer a little differently. We don’t even call it a retainer. It’s our VIP Video Club.

The biggest difference? We build-in actual human interaction.

That includes a quarterly video chat or phone call to help you plan what types of videos you can produce over the next few months, and a monthly reminder email to get them scheduled.

In short, we don’t want you paying for a service you’re not using, so we do our best to make sure that doesn’t happen.

• What happens if you slip one month and don’t produce a video?

It’s bound to happen. Even if you’re extra careful, even if you set-up reminders, you might miss a month.

Now what?

Make sure the company you choose offers some sort of rollover. 

You probably won’t find a production house that allows you to rollover every missed video. From the video company’s perspective, that could cause a huge production back-up with all of their other customers.

However, they should be willing to offer you some sort of a limited rollover.

If they don’t, find someone else.

Time for the Benefits

Okay… now that we got that stuff out of the way, let’s get to the good news. 

Video retainers provide a ton of benefits. They include:

• Cost savings
• Better quality videos
• Better service

But that’s not all. Let’s get into the many benefits and how they play out.

Time Saver

If you’re hiring an independent video producer or production company to create your videos, there’s an upfront time cost because you have to vet potential candidates.

Even if you work with someone regularly, you still have to spend time having them submit a proposal to get a price for the project, and then get a contract signed.

Having a video company on retainer means no more time spent researching video companies. Now you have one ready to go when needed.

Access

Even if you work with a production house regularly, it doesn’t mean they’re have time for you when you need them

Video production can be a lengthy process. Stack one customer on top of another and video producers’ calendars can fill-up fast.

Do you think retainer customers take priority? You bet they do.

Video production retainer customers get dibs on all sorts of things.

We usually require a signed contract and deposit to secure shoot dates. Our retainer customers can reserve potential shoots instantly and make changes when needed.

When it comes time to schedule script creation or video editing, they’re first in. That goes for making revisions when the video is done as well.

Trust

We’ve received a lot of business over the years from customers who were unhappy with their previous production company… A LOT!

Reasons include…

• the company being hard to work with
• not being flexible on creative vision
• unexpected charges on their final invoice

Finding a production company you like and locking them in with a retainer takes away stress.

You know the video you’ll be getting is top-notch and the people behind it are easy to work with.

There also shouldn’t be any surprises when it comes to cost since you’re paying a monthly price.

Integration

When you put a production company on retainer, they become an extension of your own team.

This improves the quality of your videos and saves you valuable time because the production crew shares your vision and goals for your communications strategy. 

Knowing these things allows them to make production decisions behind the scenes without having to bother you with every little detail.

You’ll also be able to establish a consistent branding within your videos. Each video can have a similar look and feel.

We have customers who actually share their style guide with us… that’s a HUGE help. In some cases, we even developed our own style guide for certain customers.

It saves a lot of back and forth.

Demand

Many people don’t consider this one, but it’s incredibly powerful. Your videos’ effectiveness increases with the more videos you produce and share. 

Think about it. The more you watch a TV show or someone’s videos on YouTube, the more you listen to a radio show or podcast, the more you feel like you know those people.

Businesses can benefit from their videos in the same way. Producing quality content on a regular basis allows viewers to get to know the company and the people who work there.

This is so powerful because we’re more likely to buy from people we know and trust.

Having a production company on retainer will encourage you to keep at it, producing videos on a regular basis that will help you build that trust.

Savings

You didn’t think we’d forget about this, did you?! Savings can vary from company to company, not to mention how they handle video production retainers.

Some production houses will offer retainers on billable hours, others do it by a set number of videos.

Our average video costs $5500. The bigger the package you buy, the less you pay per video.

So our retainer customers who purchase one video a month pay $5000. Two videos a month, they pay $9000… and so on. 

Those savings add up fast.

Think of it this way, in the case of our most basic package, our retainer customers save $6000 per year compared to paying per project.

Agency Bonus

A special benefit for communications agencies is that they don’t have to pay for the retainer themselves.

Say what!?

Yah, you read that right. They don’t have to pay for it. They can spread the cost across all of their clients.

I can’t tell you how many times agencies have contacted us to get a video quote only to have the client turn it down because the video costs too much. 

They get so frustrated!

On the other hand, an agency that has a video retainer doesn’t have to worry about this. They can build the cost of the retainer into their own pricing, having each of their clients pay a little bit of the retainer.

When one of them needs a video, price is a non-factor. The video has already been paid for… by the entire stable of all their clients.

Now you don’t have to ask the client for a video budget because it’s already built-in.

Corporate Bonus

Agencies aren’t the only ones who get a savings bonus. I’m going to show you how to differ the retainer cost if you work in-house at a company/organization.

Let’s say you work in the marketing department, but you don’t have the budget to pay for the retainer every month. 

Good news… you’re not the only department that needs video!

Marketing needs video… but so does PR, HR, internal communications, et cetera. 

Make friends with people in the other departments and talk about sharing the retainer. If everyone kicks in a little from their budget, all of a sudden it’s not too hard to pay for.

Then, divide-up how you can share the retainer. One month HR gets to produce a video, next month it’s marketing, then PR, and so on.

Your bosses are going to be so impressed. Not only is the company getting great video content, they have team members who figured out how to get it done by working between silos.

Additional Savings

Since every production company is a little different, they might offer additional savings as well.

In our case, we offer our retainer customers a special discount on travel.

We’re based out of Chicago and Milwaukee, but we have customers all over the country and travel regularly for video shoots.

Normally, we charge for the time it takes us to get there and back ($800 per leg of the trip); however, our retainer customers only pay the travel expenses. That’s $1600 savings right off the top of every project involving travel.

Other video companies might offer other retainer incentives for their customers.

Video Retainers Are Good for Both Sides

No doubt about it… retainers are an incredible source of income for videos companies. The consistent cash flow takes a lot of pressure off the constant task of finding new business.

On the flip side though, it’s also a huge benefit to their customers. Providing trusted work at a lower price.

Both sides win.

–Tony Gnau

Honored, humbled, grateful… once again we have been selected as Telly Award winners. This year we won another pair of trophies for our work. T60 has now won 17 Telly Awards since 2007.

We want to say congratulations and thank you to our customers who are always an important part of the production process. We really appreciate their contributions in making these great videos.

One of the things I love about this year’s winners is how they demonstrate our storytelling versatility. The first story is driven totally through a single interview. The second one features multiple interviews and blends a scripted message with an unscripted story.

Ironically, we used the same royalty-free music for each video. Guess that track is a winner!😆

Both videos are Silver Award Winners. The first won in the category for Non-Broadcast-employee communications and the other was for Non-Broadcast-educational institution.

We hope both videos provide you with some inspiration for your own video projects.

The Story Behind Johnnie

Oh, Johnnie… if only we ran into more people like you, both from a video production standpoint and a human one.

We were shooting video for Catholic Health Initiatives at one of its hospitals. Johnnie was one of about eight people we were interviewing for a single video about spirituality in the workplace.

However, while we interviewed Johnnie, we realized we had struck gold. She was just amazing, so we kept asking questions and it turned into a separate video from the one we were their to produce.

CHI is big on its corporate values: reverence, integrity, compassion, and excellence. We put together the Johnnie video for them as a surprise, and then pitched the idea of an internal communications series on employees who embody the core values.

Needless to say, they loved the idea and we went on to produce the series.

Scripted or Unscripted?

Alverno College has long played a video for incoming freshmen at orientation. Last year, school leaders decided it was time for something fresh.

They did present us with a challenge. They had a scripted message they felt was important to get across, but they also wanted something authentic that would appeal to the students.

Hmmm… scripted but authentic. That was a tough one!

Thankfully, they trusted we would figure out a way to get it done, and we did. The results put smiles on our faces every time we watch it.

–Tony Gnau

 

From tellyawards.com

The Telly Awards is the premier award honoring the finest film and video productions, groundbreaking web commercials, videos and films, and outstanding local, regional, and cable TV commercials and programs. Our mission has been to strengthen the visual arts community by inspiring, promoting, and supporting creativity. The Telly Awards receives over 12,000 entries from all 50 states and 5 continents.

Let’s start by being honest with ourselves. There are countless examples of terrible corporate videos. Irrelevant About Us videos, boring product videos, uninteresting testimonials… but the crown jewel of them all are HR videos.

Whether it’s the company culture video or a department training video, there might not be a better way to put people to sleep.

Another moment of honesty? In many cases, it’s nobody’s fault. Well, it might be legal’s fault. I’m fine with blaming them.

But in all seriousness, there are contributing factors that lead to boring HR videos that are beyond your control. Maybe the biggest factor is asking highly trained human resources professionals to do something they don’t have any background in… producing a video.

We can change that. I’m going to help you make better HR videos.

A little bit of knowledge goes a long way!

You’re not in human resources anymore

Let’s start with something that could be cringeworthy for some of you, but once you accept it will make the process much easier.

When you accept the responsibility of helping produce an HR video, you are no longer in HR. You’re now in marketing.

Your job is to deliver information about HR issues, but if you want to deliver it well… in a way that people will pay attention to and dare I say enjoy… you have to take off you HR hat and put on your marketing hat.

I know, it’s not what many of you want to hear, but thinking like a marketer in this case is going to help you make a better video.

Again, your job isn’t just about delivering the information. You want to deliver a message that’s going to be received, understood, but more importantly… you want buy-in.

In short, you need to market your ideas and policies to team members.

Need some help getting into this mindset? Go make friends with the people in your marketing department! Doing so can benefit you beyond making better videos.

One of our customers is Prophet, a global growth agency, and they have written about why a teaming of HR and marketing makes sense.

“Career change” will benefit your HR Videos

Marketers (at least the good ones!) understand that video isn’t about facts and figures. It’s not about information. Video is about emotion. It’s a medium that allows you to tap people’s emotions.

Now, you might be thinking… I don’t need to connect with my audience on an emotional level, I just need to communicate what our policies and programs are.

You’re right. That is what you need to do.

However, if you want people to take notice of those policies and programs and remember them, then you do need to connect with people emotionally.

As humans, we are widely guided by our emotions. They influence what we buy, and in this case they impact what we buy into.

Is it starting to make sense?

I laughed, I cried, it was better than Cats!

Keep in mind, you don’t need to tap big emotions. It’s great if you can create videos that make people laugh or cry… yes, as a video producer I work in one of the rare fields where we relish making people cry! But you don’t need to do that to make an emotional connection.

Your goal should simply be leaving people with a specific feeling.

In the vast majority of corporate videos we produce, we just want the audience to feel good about the company. We want them to feel confident in the company.

You can achieve both of those emotions with your HR videos.

Another good one for HR might be understanding. You want people to understand why the company has a certain policy. You want people to “get it.”

What’s awesome is once you produce a quality video, all that information you’re trying to get to people will sink-in and they’ll retain it. And the more quality videos you produce, the more people will attach those emotions to your information. It snowballs from video to video.

OK, let’s produce an HR video

Now that you’re an honorary member of the marketing department, let’s talk about the videos themselves.

We’ll cover a few types of typical HR videos, but really you can apply the lessons learned later to just about any type of video.

About Us Video

The About Us video is the one video I say every business/organization needs. It’s the video that tells people who you are, what you do, and why you do it.

And good news… you might not even need to produce it! Marketing might have done it for you because it’s a terrific marketing asset.

If they haven’t, start talking with them about producing one.

Look at you working between silos!

Regardless of whether you or marketing produces it, this video has multiple uses for HR. Need a recruiting video? Check! Need an introduction video for new hires? Check!

Company Culture Video

The company culture video is sort of the cousin to the About Us video. It’ll probably have a similar look and feel, but might be a bit more focused on the who you are as opposed to the what you do.

Recruiting? New hires? Again, these audiences are ideal for this type of video.

It provides you with an opportunity to show people what makes your organization special. Whether it’s a certain leadership style or company perks, you can use video to highlight aspects of the business that make it unique.

This is a great opportunity to take people behind of the scenes of what it’s really like to work there.

Company Program Videos

Whether you’re launching a new company program, or highlighting existing ones, you can use video to spread the word.

It goes from being an easily missed (or ignored) email, to something that will grab people’s attention.

Training or instructional videos

Ugg… the dreaded training video. We’ve all seen how awful they can be, but even a training video can draw people in.

I’ll admit, you’ll really have to stretch your creating thinking here. It can be done though.

My favorite examples come from the airlines. They have gotten increasingly creative in the videos they show passengers to teach them in-flight safety procedures.

In many cases, they use big budget productions to facilitate their creativity, but you can be creative on a modest budget as well.

Highlight team members

I LOVE THESE VIDEOS! Do you have an employee of the month, quarter, or year? Don’t just highlight them in the company newsletter, produce a video about them.

But don’t stop there… I highly recommend finding ways to produce stories about your team members on a regular basis. One of our customers features employees who demonstrate the company’s core values.

And while you can certainly do it to highlight professional achievements, don’t shy away from producing stories about who they are away from work.

The more your employees learn about one another on a human level, the better they will function as a team.

By the way… this can be another joint effort between marketing and HR. Employee profiles are useful for both departments.

Before you begin

Now, as you start your video project, let’s really start thinking like marketers.

We’ll start with some pre-production questions.

• What are you trying to communicate? Simple.
• How are you going to communicate it? Video… see this is easy!
• Where are you going to post the videos? Intranet, email, digital newsletter, social media?
• What’s your goal and how are you going to measure it? You can certainly count the number of views and time spent viewing the video, but be more tactical about it. Try to attach an action to having watched the video. For example, tracking many people signed-up to take part in a new program after having watched the video.

I haven’t scared you off, right? These are simple but important questions to ask before you start producing any video project.

The most important question

There is one thing I didn’t list there and it’s because it requires extra attention. Dare I say it’s the most important question to ask.

Who is your audience?

It seems obvious, especially from an HR perspective, but you’d be surprised how many people glance past the answer to the question or over-simplify it.

When it comes to HR, the answer is usually employees, or team members, or whatever way you like to refer to the people who work at the company/organization.

And in some cases that’s good enough because the video is meant for everyone at the organization. However, depending on the size of your company, you might have specific videos for people with specific roles, or maybe it’s intended for managers only.

It’s very important to get as specific as you can about your target viewers, and I’ll explain why.

It’s not about you

At the end of the day, you need to realize the video you’re producing isn’t for you. It’s not for managers. It’s not for the company, per se.

The video is for your audience. Every decision you make regarding the video, from the content to the look and feel, needs to take into account your audience.

Ask yourself…

• What to do they really need/want to know?
• How would they like to receive the information?
• Are they loose? Buttoned-up?

And brace yourself, the answers to some of those questions might not align with your wants and desires. You might have to set your ego aside… or worse… have to tell someone higher up they need to set their ego aside.

When in doubt, do this

Being a temporary marketer is starting to get a bit more daunting. I get it.

Well… when answering those questions gets difficult, here’s a universal guidepost to follow.

Be authentic.

I don’t care whether it’s an outward facing marketing video or an internal company video… my advice is the same… be authentic… be genuine.

If you’re excited about something, be excited, and don’t be shy about spreading that enthusiasm.

On the flip side, if you’re trying to communicate something you know isn’t going to be popular, don’t be a phony.

Don’t try to sugarcoat it and fool people. Treat your audience with respect and treat them like adults.

The more you do that, the more respect your videos (and policies) will receive. When your audience knows you respect them, they’ll continue to watch video after video.

It all sounds great, but…

I hope all of this sounds good to you. I hope you’re thinking to yourself, yeah, I want all of those videos for our department! And I want them all to be authentic and respectful!

But you might also be thinking… how are we going to pay for it? Or… there’s no way we have a budget for any of it, so how can we DIY it?

Let’s make a deal

Let’s start with the best case scenario and go from there. If you have a budget for video, use it. Hire a professional to produce them for you. Let them guide you through the creative process.

Need help with that? Check out our Milwaukee Video Production Buyers Guide. It has great tips that apply to any city you live in.

Stick with me

I’ll give you one quick suggestion from the guide. Share you budget with the production company.

I know, everybody wants the best deal possible. It seems counter-intuitive to share your budget.

The problem with video production is you’re not dealing with an apples to apples comparison when shopping for a video company. They’ll each provide you with a video at the end, but you’re not buying a widget. It’s more like buying a piece of art.

Each video company has a different style, different capabilities, different thoughts on video production cost.

So instead of looking for a deal, look for value.

Contact a few companies that interest you, share your budget with each of them, and see what they can do for you at that budget.

DIY HR Videos

Now, the other less desirable option. You can DIY these videos.

It’s not the best option because you’re an HR professional, not a video production expert.

So… the first thing you need to do is manage expectations and cut yourself some slack. Nobody should expect your video to be perfect. Heck, your organization should simply be happy you’re making the effort.

The next thing you need are some basic DIY skills. Again, we can help with that. We like helping. Check out our DIY video guide.

That’s a wrap

I hope this helped you on your journey to better HR videos. You can do it! Internal company videos don’t have to be lame. They don’t have to be boring.

If you think like a marketer and treat your audience with respect, you’re well on your way.

—Tony Gnau

We have been pretty fortunate to produce videos for some amazing brands. We have shot on the tarmac at O’Hare International Airport while a United Airlines jet pulled in. We have done work inside Walgreens’ test store. The folks at Goose Island Beer Company trusted us with their recipe book when we produced their videos.

But hands down, the brand we get the most questions about isn’t a brand… it’s a man.

And now… a Hall of Famer.

Let me tell how Dwyane Wade became a T60 customer.

I knew someone who worked for his agent back in 2007, so when the subject of shooting video at his annual basketball camp came up… my friend threw T60 into the conversation.

We got the job in large part because he wasn’t the first NBA All-Star we worked for. We had already produced a couple of videos for Chris Bosh (another class-act), but this shoot was a little different.

Over the course of my life, I have met and been around some gigantic sports legends. Muhammad Ali once turned to me during a photo shoot and jokingly sparred with me.

Yeah… you don’t get any bigger than that.

So… I’m not easily star-struck by athletes, and that was true when it came to D-Wade as well. However, I was pretty psyched about producing the video, and I walked away in awe of how he handled himself. He made me a fan for life.

I had been to many athletic camps like his over the years and here’s what typically happens. Tons of kids attend, the star athlete shows-up toward the end, gives a little speech and hits the road. Maybe he or she takes a few photos with the kids.

That’s it.

Which is why you can imagine my surprise when I arrived before the event began, and Dwyane was already there. We chatted off-camera for a bit, and I put a wireless microphone on him. I told him, don’t worry about me, just do what you would normally do at the camp.

Remember, I was just expecting a little speech at the end.

I started shooting video of the kids going through drills… shooting, defense, you name it. All of a sudden, I hear Dwyane through my headphones because he had on the wireless mic, and it sounded like he was talking to some kids.

I start looking around the gym, and not only was he chatting with the kids… he was doing drills with them! He was shooting, guarding them, hanging out with them, talking with them… he just looked like he was part of the group.

The best part? It wasn’t an act for the camera. He was just having fun.

During a break, I told him he surprised me by jumping in with the kids. He kind of shrugged and said, “Just doing what I do, like you said.”

Awesome.

The rest of the day was more of the same. The kids LOVED him, and it was easy to see why. He was totally genuine and it showed.

I walked away from the shoot a huge fan.

After having seen the video we produced for him, I’ve had more than one person ask, “Is he really that good of a guy?”

Yes, he is.

Dwyane Wade is special beyond the basketball court, and I can’t wait to see what he does next.

–Tony Gnau

One of the great things about producing corporate video these days is you don’t need a pro to do it. Wait… did I really just write that? I am a video producer after all. Maybe I should re-think this.

No… it’s true. You do not need a video pro to produce your videos. In most cases, you should want a pro, but you technically do not need one.

If you’re interested in finding out when it’s okay to produce DIY corporate videos and when it’s not, your should check out our guide: How-to Produce Better DIY Videos

Now, should you choose to shoot your own videos, here are some tips for producing more professional-looking DIY corporate videos.

A side note, I first started outlining these thoughts for one of the PR industry’s best blogs, Spin Sucks.

Tip: camera position

When setting up to shoot an interview or yourself for a talk-to-camera video, make sure your camera lens isn’t too low. Many people who shoot video of themselves flip open their laptop, adjust the tilt to frame themselves, and then hit record.

The #1 thing you can do to improve the way you look in your videos is to stop doing this!

Shooting from a low angle tends to be very unflattering unless it’s a highly stylized perspective.

You want the camera lens to be even with your eyes or slightly higher. Think about how you take a selfie! Prop-up the laptop or camera on some books. Lower your chair a bit. You will look so much better.

Still not sure if you have the right angle? If you can see the crease where the wall meets the ceiling in your shot, your camera is too low!

Tip: lights, camera, action

Make sure you have good lighting. Most people just use the existing light in the room. They don’t think of the source location of the light in respect to their camera.

Position your light source to be right behind the camera lens and slightly above it. Think about all of those mobile news cameras you see on TV. Their lights are right on top of the camera pointing down at the people they’re recording.

If you can’t manage that, put the light just to the left or right of the camera… the closer to the lens the better.

Also, if your camera situation is mobile, set it up in front of a window. Natural light is AWESOME to light people on-camera.

A side note on lighting… maybe the worst scenario is when the room is fairly dark and the light from a computer screen is illuminating the person in front of the web camera. It will make you look… creepy. Avoid that at all costs.

Tip: perfect posture

Pick the right chair for interviews or talk-to-camera videos. Comfortable, fluffy chairs are no good. Chairs with high backs that can be seen in the shot are no good.

I tend to look for the most uncomfortable chair in the room (a metal folding chair is great!) and use that.

Why? It forces you to sit with good posture. Sit-up, smile, and be the star that you are!

Tip: don’t ignore audio

There are several ways to spot an amateur video, but for us pros… the easiest way to tell is by listening to it.

Amateurs get so wrapped-up in making sure their video looks good, they neglect audio and it’s a big mistake. Bad audio can take a perfectly good video and spoil the whole thing.

So… first thing is to pick a quiet room. You don’t want a place with lots of background noise.

Also, do you hear an echo in the room when you speak? If so, so will your audience.

Next, if you can, buy a microphone. You don’t have to invest a ton of money here, but every dollar you spend on audio is an investment in your finished video seeming more professional.

I love clip-on lavalier microphones for interviews and someone talking to the camera, but even getting a mini shotgun mic to attach to your camera will go a long way to improving your audio.

No microphone?

Shooting in a quiet space is even more critical. Pick a quiet room and position yourself as close to the camera as your shot will allow.

Tip: how-to frame your shots

Framing every shot the same way is another rookie mistake.

Videography is an art form. It takes a keen eye and lots of practice to master it. However, there are certain things you can do as an amateur to shoot better video.

The easiest one is to simply think about how you’re framing your shots. If they’re all a medium shot with your subject in the middle of the frame… you’re doing it wrong.

Think wide, medium, tight.

Let’s say you’re shooting video of someone working on a computer. First, shoot a wide shot of them where you see them with the whole room around them.

Next, get a shot of them that only shows them and the desk.

Finally, get a couple of tight shots… like their hands typing on the keyboard and their face as they look at the monitor.

Getting this series of shots will help BIG TIME when you go to edit.

Also, don’t be afraid to arrange the subject on different sides of the screen.

Think of your viewfinder in terms of thirds… left, middle, right. Shooting your subject on either side, as opposed to the center, often creates more appealing shots.

This is an especially good tip for framing interviews, whether the subject is talking directly to the camera, or off-camera in more of an interview style.

Make sure they’re not right in the middle of the frame. Slightly off-set them from the center.

And one last thing… especially when it comes to interviews… are you leaving too much headroom?

Many amateurs leave way too much space between the top of the frame and the top of a person’s head. You want a little space there, but just a little.

Tip: keep your camera steady

I’ll put it this way… your tripod is your friend.

Pros who shoot a lot of handheld video (myself included), do so with purpose. It’s a stylized look that is the result of years of practice. It’s a far cry from the amateur who is trying to hold the camera steady and failing.

Don’t have a tripod? Get one. Same rule as buying the microphone I mentioned above. It doesn’t have to be expensive, just something that will keep your camera steady.

Master shooting off a tripod first, then you can learn to shoot handheld video.

BONUS TIP!

If you are shooting video using your mobile phone, turn the phone on its side so your aspect ratio is horizontal, not vertical. Do not contribute to vertical video syndrome!

2019 research shows using vertical video might be better for social media videos, but I would only do this if the video is solely intended for social. If you’re producing a video you would like to use on multiple platforms… on your website, social, email, at events, in a sales presentation… I would stick with horizontal video.

While vertical video looks fine to someone watching on a phone, on every other platform it looks totally out of place.

–Tony Gnau