Don’t Add Too Much To Your Video Content

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There’s an old journalism joke… don’t let the facts get in the way  of a good story. Well… that goes for video content as well.

Of course, that old joke is supposed to allude to being dishonest in  some way to further the story. In the case of video content, it simply  means sometimes you need to hold back some of the truth so that it  doesn’t get in the way of the story.  Something that could have  happened in one of our latest videos.

Video content case study

I love sharing client success stories. I feel like they’re good case  studies that everyone can learn from, and the story of Chicago Design  and Construction (CD+C) is no different.

CD+C is a one-stop-shop for anyone who needs a commercial or  residential building. It’s run by a team of architects who design the  building, then oversee its construction from the ground up. The  company’s partners are stepping-up their marketing efforts, so they  wanted a video as a part of their greater strategy.

No surprise, they wanted to highlight a bunch of projects they’ve  completed. Houses, condo buildings, businesses… you name it, they  have examples to show. They actually fell into the same category as a  lot of business leaders producing their first marketing video. They  wanted a short video, but they also wanted to show-off what they can do.

It can get tricky. Cram all of that material into your short video and  it becomes too much for viewers to focus on. Expand the length of the  video to comfortably add all the material and you risk your audience  losing interest.

In the end, we had the same discussion with them that we frequently  have here. I explained that video isn’t about the information or the  materials (the facts), it’s about emotion. Video is about getting the  audience to feel good about them… the partners. In the end, what  they say and how they say it is more important than showing dozens of  construction examples, especially when those examples can also be  found in other places at their new website (coming soon).

How to juggle all the materials

We have to let the story dictate how many completed projects we  feature in the video. A story that’s going to connect with people, and  one told in a way that’s going to inspire confidence in the men behind  the company.

To their credit… they got it. They cut down a list of completed  projects to a handful for us to shoot. We also shot video of them  doing the work they love. Most importantly, we heard from them in  interviews about their passion… design and construction.

They didn’t let the facts get in the way of their story.

 –Tony Gnau

Tony Gnau is a three-time Emmy-winning journalist. He is also the founder and chief storytelling officer at T60 Productions. T60 has won 12 Telly Awards for its work over the last eight years.