Marketing videos are so popular these days, but many tend to forget a traditional video that benefits from a modern storytelling touch. HR videos, when done right, are a great way to engage your team and pump them up.

Your human resources team can use a recruiting to get prospects excited about working for your company, an orientation video to acclimate them to your culture, and a training video to make sure they know the way you do things. You can do it all using good storytelling techniques to keep people interested.

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Recruiting videos

You might think that during times of high unemployment you don’t need a recruiting video.  Here’s an important thing to keep in mind:  Do you want candidates who are inspired by your company and its mission, or those who are simply desperate for a job?

A rhetorical question? Yes, but many business leaders really don’t put extra effort in promoting their company to potential team members. They might write a great job description and post it on some employment boards, but that isn’t exactly awe-inspiring.

A recruiting video on the other hand… that’s something that can really set a business apart. Take candidates behind the scenes of your company. Let them hear from team members. Have the CEO talk to them. This is an opportunity to encourage the best job seekers to apply to your company.

Orientation videos

Okay, maybe you’ve already nabbed the top candidates you were looking for and they’re in the fold. Now you just need to assimilate them into your company culture. Instead of having them read about it or letting it trickle down from other team members, an orientation video can set them out on the right foot.

This is your opportunity to let new employees know what you expect of them, and frankly, what they can expect from you. This is an opportunity for your human resources team to shine. Make sure new team members are clear on the dress code, where they can eat lunch, and how they finish their work day.

However, don’t be satisfied with that. Go beyond the day-to-day things they’ll need to know. Tell your new team members about the company’s charity efforts. Highlight team members and their efforts improve the company’s culture. This is your chance to make sure people know their new workplace is awesome, and inspire them to contribute to that awesomeness.

An orientation video like this can bring your company handbook to life.

Training videos

They’ve been hired, they’re squared-away on the company’s culture, now you just need to get them working, or to improve employee processes that are already in place.  A training video can demonstrate how the job is done and answer the most frequently asked questions.

New team members are sure to get all sorts of on-the-job training, but you never know who the source of that training will be.  Video assures consistency as you share important processes with team members.  

Use a team member in your training video who does  things “right.” The majority of people are visual learners, so it’s a great idea to show them examples of your top people and how they do their jobs.

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HR videos don’t need to be boring

I know, some of you rolled your eyes at the notion of HR videos. The thing is, these videos don’t have to put people to sleep. You just need to apply the same mindset to these videos as you do your external marketing videos.

In a way, all of the HR videos I described are marketing videos. The difference is that you’re marketing to your team members rather than potential clients.

Think about it. How many times have you heard business leaders talking about getting their team to “buy-in” to the corporate mission or culture? That’s why the same storytelling strategy we use to sell customers needs to be used in these HR videos.

Telling stories is the key to it all.  When you have a ton of information you’re trying to give someone, they’re more likely to pay attention and remember when you tell them a good story.

What’s your story?

Get your best storytellers in on the effort. If your marketing team rocks, encourage them to work with your people in HR. The two united teams can look inward to help you sell your policies and processes to the rest of the team.

If neither or those teams have the time, you can always turn to outside pros to help with this sort of thing. Professional video storytellers can help you tell your stories.

HR videos that use storytelling to motivate can be a great way to inspire your team.

–Tony Gnau

 

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Whether it’s a small business owner or a big business executive working in the C-suite, there are many corporate leaders who need a crash course in modern communications. Thankfully, there’s a new guide to get them up to speed, Spin Sucks.

The first thing that came to mind after reading it is… this is the manual. The manual for business leaders trying to market their companies in our digital world. It’s bound to scare the crap out of them and excite them all at once.

Full disclosure

First thing’s first… you need to know that the book’s author, Gini Dietrich, is a T60 client and she has definitely become a friend over the last few years. T60 has produced videos for her communications company, Arment Dietrich, on several occasions and she and her team have referred their clients to us as well.

Having said that… the book is awesome. Take it with a grain of salt if you like, but I wouldn’t be putting that in writing if I didn’t believe it.

As a matter of fact, I plan on recommending the book to current and future clients to read. One of the things we frequently tell clients is that producing a video isn’t good enough. It’s one tactic in what should be a greater digital communications strategy. This book can be the first step in building that foundation.

Spin Sucks… the blog and the book

If you’re new to Spin Sucks or Gini, here’s a brief background. Spin Sucks is actually a blog… a pretty important blog. It’s without question one of the most-read and well-respected blogs covering marketing, public relations, and communications. It’s consistently ranked as one of the best in the industry, and it receives an average of 43,000 readers a month.

What? You’re interested in the title? What’s the deal with that? Well, I’ll let Gini tell you herself. Just watch the video.

The majority of people who read the blog and participate with comments work in and around that field. The book, on the other hand, is intended more for corporate executives. Decision makers at companies and organizations who need an education on how the world of PR and marketing are changing.

PR and marketing folks will also enjoy it, but it will likely be familiar territory. If anything, the book might give them good ammunition to better explain to their bosses or clients what it is they do.

Wrapping-up

Like I mentioned, I plan on recommending the book to our clients. It truly is a manual for digital communications and a guide to building an effective PR and marketing strategy. It’s a quick read and well worth it.

Spin may suck, but the Spin Sucks book is helpful guide in today’s digital world.

–Tony Gnau

 

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Another year, another fantastic BrandSmart event. T60 is a ChicagoAMA sponsor and with good reason. It’s a marketing organization that puts on awesome conferences like this one, so we’re happy to be a part of it.

This is the second BrandSmart conference we’ve attended. I took some good notes this year and thought I’d share some of the things that caught my attention…

Out create, don’t out spend. —Jeff Charney, CMO, Progressive

Disruption is alive and well. –Jeff Charney ** ^{watch our vlog for more thoughts on this topic}

Relevance or Bravery? Both. You can’t be one without the other. –Jeff Charney

They were watching the videos from beginning to end and engaging with us. —Victoria Morrissey, Brand & Ad Strategy, Grainger

Improve your conversion funnel, go big with the type of content… audio, video, other visuals. —Andy Crestodina, Co-Founder & Strategic Dir., Orbit Media Studios

Any company is going to benefit from video testimonials. –Andy Crestodina

It’s emotionally unsatisfying not to get a story from someone. –Andy Crestodina

Authenticity is the key to brand storytelling. They story has to be based on a truth. —Cathy Fracque, Managing Dir. B2B, Ogilvy Chicago

When you have no money, all you have are the people in your company and the people who buy from you [tell their stories]. —Roberta MacDonald, Sr. V.P. of Marketing, Cabot Creamery

Whatever is real has longevity. –Roberta MacDonald

Everyone in the organization has a story but doesn’t know it. —Steven Handmaker, CMO, Assurance

Video will rule the day here [in content marketing]. –Steven Handmaker

The pace of change will never be slower than it is today. —Julie Fleischer, Dir. of Media & Consumer Engagement, Kraft

It’s hard to get people’s attention, much less tell a story. –Julie Fleischer

We weren’t connecting to the hearts of people anymore, and that’s what we need to get back to. –Julie Fleischer

We show videos at events like this because they get you going. –Julie Fleischer

Find the “why” for each social media channel you’re using. —Joe Pulizzi, Founder, Content Marketing Institute

Create a content strategy mission statement. —Joe Pulizzi

Social Sharing Ratio | Influencer Content : Content Marketing : Sales (4: 1 : 1) —Joe Pulizzi

 

Great stuff! So much of it tied into what video does best… telling stories and tapping emotion. I tweeted during the after-party…

That about sums it up. I couldn’t have been happier to hear speaker after speaker talk about the value video brings to content marketing. Clearly… we’re big believers in the power of video as well.

There are many types of marketing videos organizations can use to promote themselves. They’re a great way to get attention and influence feelings.

Video is definitely a smart thing for brands to produce.

–Tony Gnau

 

I know the old adage is, “I rather be lucky than good,” but I don’t buy that for a second. I just rather be good. Which is why I like to study and highlight people and organizations who do things well. Just recently, I saw an EntreLeadership video that’s one of the best event videos I’ve seen… from the video itself to the clear strategy that brought it to my attention.

Why your event needs video

Event videos are something I’m pretty passionate about. If you’re hosting or participating in a major event, meeting, or conference, there’s just no denying what a powerful role video can play.

Video is awesome for events on several levels, and there are different types of videos you can produce.

• you can put something together prior to the event to help promote it and encourage attendance.
• there’s also the option to produce something that runs during the event itself. Video is a great way to get people’s attention and reengage an audience.
• video is also something you can produce while the event is taking place with the intent of sharing it once the event has ended. In this case, letting the event live on.

The key to all of them is similar to most marketing videos… tap some sort of emotion in the audience. In the case of an event video, you’re likely trying to inspire some enthusiasm for the event. Whether it’s to get people to attend, making them feel happy that they’re there or committed to your cause or mission, or feel empowered having attended.

Those are the basics. If you’d like to learn more about each type of event video, I recommend reading our post, Corporate Event Video Ideas Everyone Can Do. I go into a lot more detail there.

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EntreLeadership Event Video Lesson

If you’re a regular reader here you know I’m a big fan of Dave Ramsey. Dave is a financial expert, best-selling author, and talk radio host who’s all about getting out of debt. He has also built a company from a card table in his garage into one of the best brands in personal finance.

One of the many services his company offers is business leadership coaching… something he calls EntreLeadership. His team hosts a series of EntreLeadership events, but the big one is the Master Series. It’s usually hosted at a nice resort somewhere or at Dave’s corporate headquarters in suburban Nashville.

The latest Masters Series event just wrapped-up. I know because as a newsletter subscriber I received a special edition telling me about it. It contained a video, links to his radio show broadcast from the last day of the event, as well as information about the next Master Series event taking place in November.

Awesome. It’s just awesome. They did everything well. Let me break it down a few ways.

First, the video is terrific. It captures the spirit of the event and gives the audience of sense of what it must have been like to attend it.

I’ll guarantee you that virtually all the 150 participants share that video with friends, family, and work colleagues. Who knows how many of those people will go on to share it… exposing EntreLeadership to all sorts of people who may not have even heard of it.

Next, there’s a clear strategy at play here. I received the email at 4:30 p.m. on the day the event ended. So… the event ends… and almost instantaneously the email is sent.

The timing was clearly thought out. Everyone who attended is still feeling the high from the event and likely to share it with people immediately. Not to mention people who listened to the radio show that day and got the email (cough, cough… me). They’ll also be feeling the EntreLeadership mojo and wanting to share.

Finally, all of this leads to a subtle promotion. Just a single paragraph at the end of the newsletter reminding people about the next event.

That’s how you do it

I shouldn’t expect anything less than that sort of thing from Dave and his team. My wife, daughter, and I were at his headquarters last November to scream on his radio show, “We’re debt-free!” I was fortunate to meet members of his video team and they’re total pros. Couple that with his marketing staff and what I got today was a lesson in how-to promote an event series.

And now you have too.

–Tony Gnau

Okay… you get it.

You’re a believer in the power of video.

You’ve produced your About Us video (the video every company should have), and now you’re ready to do more.

The good news is you have a wide variety of marketing videos available to you.

Usually what we recommend to customers is to first tackle what we believe are the core videos:

• About Us video
• Product/Service videos
• Testimonial videos

However… there are no rules here. There are TONS of different types of videos you can produce.

You’re only limited by your own imagination… and probably your budget. ;-)

Below are descriptions of different types of videos you might want to consider, as well as some video examples.

Product and/or services videos

This is a no-brainer when it comes to producing your next marketing video.

Chances are you sell something, right? Whether you have a physical product or you provide a service, focus a video or a series of videos on all of the things you offer clients.

Research has proven that the majority of people who watch product videos feel more confident about purchases. It only makes sense to show and tell people about what you offer.

One tip though… make sure to think about these videos from your audience/customer’s perspective.

Make sure the videos focus on how your product/service can help them as opposed to simply patting yourself on the back.

Testimonial Videos

These might take a little more work on your part, but boy… are they worth it!

Testimonial videos might be one of the most effective videos you can produce.

Marketing experts will tell you, if you can get a testimonial quote or story from an existing customer, it’s a great way to prove to prospects what you can do for them.

Now… put it into video form and you’re taking it to a whole other level.

Let your prospects literally see and hear from an actual customer about how you helped them. It’s not just words on a page. It’s a real human being telling them how awesome you are.

Great stuff!

Testimonials take a little more time because you need to track down clients willing to go on-camera, but the payoff in the form of an excellent marketing tool is worth the effort.

Like the About Us video, a testimonial can be used anywhere in your sales/marketing funnel, but the best fit might be the closing stage.

It’s confirmation for your customer that they’re making the right choice in hiring you or buying your product.

Just make sure you use our best practices on how-to to better testimonial videos by focusing the storytelling on the person giving the testimonial.

Charity work

If your business is taking part in any charity efforts, make sure to document them with a video.

It’s especially important if you have employees getting out into the community doing some sort of work.

Send a video producer with them.

Shoot video of them doing the work, interview people with the charity as well as the employees. It’ll turn into a marketing video that doesn’t feel like one.

Here’s another thought… do you simply donate money to a local cause?

Go feature that organization and let the their people tell your audience how your funds are helping their cause.

Use the same storytelling techniques as when you produce a typical testimonial video.

There’s plenty of love to go around.

Event videos

We’ve written extensively about why it’s important to produce event videos.

Looking for the Cliff Notes?

Event videos are something you can create before the event to boost attendance.

Video is also something you can use during the event. It’s an attention grabber to re-engage the audience.

Finally, they can also be produced during the event itself, allowing you to share the experience afterwards with attendees and people who couldn’t make it.

It’s a great way for the event to make an impact even after it’s over.

Vlogs

Blogs are great, but vlogs help you kick it up a notch.

If you’re into content marketing and writing a blog on a consistent basis, producing a vlog is the next logical step.

Have the CEO answer questions, talk about industry trends… you name it.

The CEO doesn’t have time? Get other employees in front of the camera.

We’re no stranger this this ourselves.

Usually what we do is write blog posts, then create vlogs to work along side them and even promote the blog post.

For example our most popular blog post is How-to Figure Out Video Production Cost. It gets thousands of views every month.

So… we created a vlog which highlights some of what we talk about in the post.

You can do this too!

Highlight employees

Having employees take part in vlog posts isn’t the only way to get them involved in your communications efforts.

They are a seemingly endless supply of marketing content.

Believe it or not, some of your best sales people might not be working in the sales department. They might be working the assembly line, managing the shipping department, or answering the company’s phones.

Produce features about who they are and what they do.

Remember… we don’t buy from companies. We buy from people.

By putting faces to your company… by highlighting the people who work there… you are allowing your customers to get to know them.

That builds trust!

How valuable is earning your customers’ trust?

Corporate culture

Culture is a big deal these days. If you’re doing anything special in this area, it’s something that will catch people’s attention.

Do you order pizza for lunch once a month? That’s a video.

Are you the type of place that has a ping-pong table in the office? Organize a tournament. That’s a video.

Take a look at how people are decorating their desks… that’s a video.

And while all of those are some fun ideas, you can always focus on more traditional stuff as well.

Think about what your company does well from a culture standpoint and feature it.

Not sure what that is… start asking employees why they like working at the company.

They might start talking about the business being good at…

• life-work balance
• benefits
• autonomy vs. micromanaging
• a caring atmosphere

No matter their answer… that’s a video!

BONUS IDEA: companies with multiple brands

If your company produces and markets a specific brand or brands, tell each brand’s story.

Educate people about any products under the brand’s name.

Tell them about different things the brand sponsors.

This is an opportunity to let people know about all the endeavors under your corporate umbrella.

The interesting thing with brand videos is you can really apply all types of marketing videos to the brand itself.

Create a brand About Us video, product/service videos, testimonials, et cetera.

Treat the brand the same way you would treat a company when it comes to marketing videos.

Just the beginning for marketing videos

I’m really just scratching the surface here. What you really need to do is look at your business through video producer goggles.

Just about anything can be turned into a marketing video opportunity.

The best part… the more quality videos you produce, the more people will look forward to seeing them. The more excited they are about watching the videos, the better they’ll feel about your company.

Sounds like you’re building some loyal customers, right?

–Tony Gnau

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Bonus blog post today thanks to a video Twitter response. It’s super cool.

The backstory… yesterday… PR-marketing-communications guru Gini Dietrich retweeted our last blog post. We mentioned how there’s no need to agonize over generating content marketing ideas. Simply create videos that feature your employees. They’re a seemingly endless source of content.

So… Sarah Robinson saw Gini’s retweet… then retweeted it herself mentioning Nextiva (business cloud communications) as a company that does a great job with this tactic. 

The video twitter response

Okay… now you’re up to speed. What happened next is the awesome part.

Nextiva not only tweeted back to Sarah saying,”thanks,” they posted a video thanking her.

AWESOME, right?

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It’s not an uncommon thing for them either. They have an entire YouTube channel devoted to “Thank You” messages called, NextivaCares.

Pretty amazing… nicely done Nextiva.

–Tony Gnau

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Businesses all over are desperate for content ideas. They rack their brains trying to find compelling content to share via their various media outlets. Well, there happens to be a treasure trove of content ideas right under their noses. What they need to produce are employee videos.

Featuring the company’s workers is one of the easiest and best ways to generate content for an organization. Show employees doing their jobs. Interview them and help them tell their stories. Allow their passion to shine through.

Easier said than done, right?

It’s easier than you might think. How do you get started? Just take a look around your place of business…

• who’s the person who makes everyone laugh?
• who’s the person everyone loves? The person who’s always smiling.
• look at your product/service chain, pick-out a person to represent each phase and feature them… receptionist, customer service rep, plant manager, production line worker, quality control, shipping.
• does anyone at the company have an interesting hobby?
• does anyone have a crazy collection of some sort? Bonus points if they keep some of it at the workplace.
• has anyone overcome a personal struggle?

These are just a few ideas, but honestly… in the hands of a professional storyteller… you could literally feature every employee because everyone has a story.

Everyone has a story

It’s true. My TV news mentor, CBS feature reporter Steve Hartman, used to do a segment called, Everyone Has A Story. He would throw a dart at the map, go there, and pick someone at random out of the phone book to feature. The stories he found were AWESOME! His current segment, On The Road, is fun to watch as well.

My point is it can be done. If you wanted to, you could feature every employee. They might not think they have a story to share, but start digging and you’ll be surprised with what you find. There are even ways to get camera shy people into the spirit.

Their stories might relate directly to their job, or they might not have anything to do with the company. It doesn’t matter. The idea behind the videos doesn’t have to be to pat the company on the back. It’s to allow your audience to get to know everyone at the company.

They’re good on two fronts

One of the great things about employee videos is that they serve a dual content purpose. You can certainly use them for marketing purposes, but they’re also great internally.

Let’s start with marketing. I’m not sure why many business leaders don’t recognize this, but some of their best sales people don’t work in sales. They work on the assembly line. They answer phones. They manage the art department. People who are passionate about their jobs are interesting.

Viewers who are passionate about their jobs connect with them. Viewers who hate their jobs are envious of them. The common denominator is that everyone like to watch these passionate people at work.

The net result is an audience that’s learning more and more about the people who work at the company. They get to know them. They learn to like them. Considering we buy from people we like, you begin to understand how powerful these videos can be.

That’s not all though. You might be producing these videos to introduce outsiders to your team, but think about how awesome it’s going to make the team itself feel.

Employee videos are a great morale booster. Sure, the person featured gets a boost. You’re giving them a very public pat-on-the-back. The great thing is their co-workers will love the videos too.

They tend to learn things about the people working next to them that they might not have known otherwise. The more they learn about one another, the closer they become. The closer they become, the more cohesive a unit the company gets. It all leads to great productivity.

Bottom line for producing employee videos

Why produce these videos? Simple. The more we know about people at the company, the more we trust them. The more we trust them, the more likely we’ll be to buy from them.

There’s a reason video is perfect for this type of content. Video isn’t about facts and figures… it’s about emotion. It’s about capturing emotion in the employees and tapping emotion in the audience.

Human stories are all about emotion. They can make you laugh or cry. They can make you feel good. They can inspire confidence. They can influence whether or not you like someone.

Are you starting to understand how powerful these employee videos can be for an organization?

Use these videos to help your audience connect with your company.

–Tony Gnau

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I recently got to interview Joe Pulizzi… founder of the Content Marketing Institute. We’re producing an event video for the Chicago chapter of the American Marketing Association, and he’ll be one of two keynote speakers at this year’s BrandSmart conference.

Joe talks about video content marketing

Anyway, he was nice enough to answer a few video-related questions for our purposes here at the T60 Blog. It went so well I plan to turn the interview into a series of videos, but this will be the first.

As a guy who lives and breathes all things content marketing, I was excited to hear what he had to say about video’s role.

So… enjoy… and we’ll post more video from Joe in the coming weeks.

–Tony Gnau

Throwing a successful corporate event is tough job. Event planners do everything they can to make sure everything runs smoothly from booking the venue to hiring the right caterer to sending out the invitations.

Many business leaders will also request a photographer, but they fail to budget for the one thing that will draw more people to the event and engage them after it’s over… the corporate event video.

I really should make that plural… videos… because you have a few options when it comes to events and video production.

One type of video will help increase your attendance, another will capture attendees’ attention while they’re there, and the last will allow your event to live on even after it’s over.

There’s even a way to produce them without having to spend a dime.

Pre-Event

If you’re trying to generate interest in your event and drive ticket sales, this video is a must. By producing a video in advance of your event, you can use it as a promotional tool.

This is your teaser video. Demonstrate to people the value they’ll receive for showing up.

Going to have a keynote speaker? Do an interview with him or her ahead of time. Have the speaker talk about some of the topics he or she will be touching on at the event. No speaker? Get some video of the event organizer talking about what will be happening.

Either way, the point is to give people a reason to attend the event. Using video to show and tell them what makes your event great is a terrific way to grab their attention and motivate them to show up.

During the event

Did someone say something about grabbing attention? Video can be a great way to draw people into an event space like a trade show display. It’s even better at re-engaging a captive audience once you have them there.

You’ve seen it happen just like I have. It never ceases to amaze me. You’re attending an event. Things hit a lull. Then someone fires up a video and all of a sudden people perk up. Attendees who were once slouching in their seats are now sitting up.

That’s what a video during your event can do.

Double the points if the video takes advantage of what video does best… tap emotion. Make the audience laugh, make them cry, make them think a little… you’ve just re-energized the whole event.

I can’t tell you what type of video to do here. It’s obviously dependent on what your event is all about. We’ve done a bunch of videos for Alverno College. They host several events every year and use videos to feature their amazing students and generous donors.

Another one of our customers, Catholic Health Initiatives (now CommonSpirit Health), uses case study videos at internal events and meeting to promote the innovative ways its markets are building healthier communities.

There are a TON of possibilities here!

The piece of advice I will give you is the timing of when to play the video. Show it when you’re trying to reengage the audience. If there’s a point in the program when you want them to pay special attention, that’s the time to show your video.

One last thought, if it’s an event that runs more than one day, you can produce videos each day of the event promoting things that are taking place.

This is especially effective for businesses taking part in trade shows. Highlight things that happened that day, then promote what’s taking place the next day. Use it as a tool to get people to your trade show space.

Post-Event

We finish our corporate event video trifecta with the one everyone should be doing.

Attendance might not be a problem for you, so the pre-event video might not be necessary. Maybe your event doesn’t involve a large group of people gathering for one specific function, so a video during the event might not be needed.

The post-event video; however, is something every event can benefit from.

The reason this video is so important is because it does something amazing. It allows your event to live on long after it has concluded.

Think about it. You spend an incredible amount of time, effort, and money on a one-time event. It goes great, but when it’s over… it’s over.

That’s not the case if you shoot raw video and interviews during the event and then produce a post-event video. It’s the best way to wrap-up because you can highlight all the great things that happened, and remind people of the key takeaways.

It’s a way to leave people on a high note.

You can share the video through an email campaign. Pump it out via social media. Allow everyone who attended to share it with their friends and colleagues. Your event now lives on.

The post-event video also provides some added bonuses. Remember all of those people you invited who couldn’t make it? Send the video to them as well to show them what they missed.

Finally, if the event is an annual thing, your post-event video can also be used as promotional content for next year’s event.

Wow… we you just got two uses out of one video!

Sponsors and Vendors at Meetings, Conferences, or Conventions

You don’t have to be the ones throwing the event to produce a video. If you’re going to be a part of an important meeting, conference, or convention… you should consider producing a video as well.

Whether you’re an event sponsor or a vendor, this is an opportunity for you to share your message.

You’re collecting business cards and/or email address from attendees, right? Now you’ll have something awesome to send them! It’s not simply a follow-up email… it’s “Check out our video!”

You can also share the video with your existing customers and prospects to show them how you participated in a major industry event.

As a sponsor or vendor, you’re paying big bucks to be a part of these events. Adding the cost of a video is pretty small in comparison to the overall cost of being a part of the event.

And just like event organizers, you’re spending all this money to be a part of the event, having a post-event video allows that event to live on after it’s over.

How-to pay for your corporate event video

I know what many of you are thinking. You agree with me 100%, but who has the budget for an event video?

First thing you need to do is get in the right mindset. Stop thinking of the video(s) as an additional expense. It isn’t. It’s a necessity.

Once you make-up your mind to do it, video simply becomes one of the line items you need to buy with your existing budget.

Easier said than done, right? Quality video costs like $10,000. Wrong. You can get an awesome video for half that.

Still too much? Why should you pay for it at all? What if you could produce something for free?

Did that grab your attention?

Start approaching other businesses to sponsor your video(s). That’s right… create sponsored content.

Companies already sponsoring your events are always looking for opportunities to get in front of your attendees. Video is one way to reach a large number of them.

Figure out which videos you want to produce, then go looking for sponsor dollars to pay for them.

Video is an event necessity

I’m not kidding. Video should be looked at as an event necessity. Video can draw people to your event, keep them interested in the event, and give it a longer shelf life.

That’s the power of a corporate event video.

–Tony Gnau

Video has come a long way as a marketing tool. Gone are the days when it was a luxury. Now… it’s a must use. You’ve likely seen the data regarding the number of people who are watching online video, so it’s no wonder companies are choosing to use the medium to promote their brands. There are several types of videos businesses can produce to get started, but one stands above them all as the video every company should create.

The About Us Video

Imagine you have a specific need for a product or service. You sit down at your computer to research companies. You Google… surfing from web site to web site. You’re greeted by images and lots of text, and it all starts to look and feel the same.

That is until you come to Company X. It has the familiar images and text, but there’s also a video. You click and you watch. If it’s a well-produced video that tells a nice story, you’ve just found a company that has set itself apart from the rest. That’s the power of video.

Whether your business is B2C or B2B, a solid About Us video can help your company stand out. It can set your company apart from the competition. While most companies require prospects to read and imagine what it’s like doing business with that company, others show them through video.

Create a Great First Impression

For many people, your About Us video is going to be the first time they’ve seen and heard from you. That’s why I like to refer to it as your first impression video, and why it’s crucial to have a good one.

It doesn’t have to be anything complicated. It doesn’t have to list off every product. It doesn’t have to detail every service. Video isn’t about facts and figures. It’s about emotion. We want to use the About Us video to tap emotion, and start earning people’s trust.

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

When people put together “video” and “emotion” in their minds, many instantly think it means their video needs to either make people laugh or cry. They’re wrong.

Those are great emotions to tap, and if you can pull it off… great… but they’re not the only emotions you can target.

Think about it this way. How do you want your audience to feel about your company? That’s the type of emotion we’re going after with the About Us video.

How about confidence? Do you want people to feel a sense of confidence about your business?

Want them to feel good about you? Want to make your prospects smile?

Maybe you want them to feel impressed by your company’s size and stature, or maybe feeling excited about the prospects of a small business on the rise?

There are all sorts of feelings available to you. The key is to pick one important to your business and make sure your video reflects it.

Tricks of the Trade

How? The music you choose will go a long way to setting the mood. If you’re using sound bites, picking the right ones will help as well. These are the types of things a professional video producer (aka storyteller) can help with. Talk with them ahead of time. Let them know about the feeling you’re trying to elicit from the audience and they’ll craft a story to achieve that goal.

Don’t Make This Mistake

Of course, while you’re creating that feeling for viewers you’re also passing along some basic information. “Basic” is the key word here. What’s your company all about? What sets you apart from your competition? How do you help solve your customers’ problems?

It’s kind of crazy, but one of the biggest mistakes business leaders make when they produce any video is that they create something for themselves instead of their audience. The video is packed with all sorts of things they think are awesome about their company, but hold little interest for viewers.

When you look at a script or a first-cut of a video, you should always do your best to put yourself in the audience’s shoes. What’s important to them? If there’s something in the video that doesn’t speak to them, eliminate it.

Remember, your About Us video might be about your business, but it isn’t for your business. Every decision you make about the content and tone of the video should be focused on your viewers. This video is for them.

DIY vs. Pro

We can handle this… we’ll just shoot it on our smart phones!

Are you sure about that? Just because we all carry HD video cameras in our pockets and purses these days doesn’t mean everyone is capable of producing a marketing video.

Having said that, there are circumstances where I endorse people producing DIY marketing videos:

• the company is a startup and/or has no marketing budget. That’s ZERO dollars for marketing.
• it’s a kitschy company culture, and customers like that about the business.
• the marketing videos are things like Facebook Live, short Instagram videos, slideshows with text and music

Everyone else… please, hire a pro to produce your About Us video. If you have a decent budget, great. If not, don’t worry… there are ways to produce low cost videos. Yes, hiring a professional is going to cost you something, but it could cost you more than dollars if you do it yourself.

How’s that? Your reputation is on the line. Amateur videos make your company look like an amateur. This is not the first impression you want to create.

Wrapping Up

An About Us video is a great place for any business to get started with marketing videos.

It’s a way to make your company standout from the crowd, and start earning the trust of your customers.

Don’t just tell people about your company, show them.

– Tony Gnau