You’d be hard pressed to find a professional video producer, like myself, who will advocate for businesses to create their own video content, but I do and for good reason.

Well, I guess I ought to qualify that. I do advocate for businesses to create their own videos, but only in certain circumstances.

Established companies need a video budget

If you work for an established company or brand, suck it up and hire a pro to produce your video content. An established business should have some sort of marketing budget to work with every year. Make sure video production is part of that budget. Here are a few good reasons you should:

• paying a pro to do it leaves you free to work on work that is specific to your business, it saves you time and allows you to be more productive.
• A pro will do it better than you. Professional video producers have experience you can’t match. They tell stories everyday and at a higher level than you are likely to achieve.
• you work at a respected company or brand, and you don’t want to tarnish it. Chances are your amateur videos are going look… well… like an amateur put them together. Is that really the impression you want to give viewers… that you’re amateurs?

Small business video content tips

Okay, having said all of that… if you work at a small business or a business that’s just getting started, I’m totally fine with you producing your own videos. Chances are you don’t have a marketing budget, so hiring a professional producer for thousands of dollars isn’t really an option. With that in mind, here are a few suggestions…

• keep it simple. I know, you saw a cool video on the web and you want to produce something like it. Chances are your effort will fall short. Have someone give a tour of your facility… do some short interviews with employees… maybe get a few short customer testimonials. Try things like that don’t require as much editing.
• make sure to let people know you produced these videos. In your email campaign, social media or on your website, simply say something like, “Check out these videos we produced for you!” The reason you’re doing this is to temper expectations. Telling viewers you produced the videos means they won’t expect something professional.
• learn some basic editing skills. I don’t care whether it’s iMovie on your Mac, or even YouTube’s editing system. Having the ability to edit will at least allow you to cut the beginning and end off what you shot. This simple edit gives a clean-looking start and finish.

Once you’ve done that…

So… I mentioned there’s a good reason I support your amateur production effort, here’s why. People will watch your videos. They’ll start to trust and buy from your business. Your company will profit, grow and become a respected brand. 

When the day comes that your amateur videos are no longer good enough, I hope you’ll take my advice again and hire a pro.

–Tony Gnau

 

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