Business Marketing Videos
Marie-Claire Ross discusses the importance of business
marketing videos and why most just don't work as intended.
Learn what can be done to improve your business videos so
that you achieve the desired effects.
Why Most Marketing Videos Don't Work
Every now and then I will meet someone who has commissioned a
marketing video that did not work for their company. It is a sad
state of affairs and it is avoidable.
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Over the years, I have been given many
failed corporate communications videos to watch and have
found that they all suffer from one or more of the following
problems.
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1. A poorly written script
This would have to be one of the most common problems.
The script provides the backbone to any video project and
it must be perfect. It needs to be to the point, clear and
interesting.
Often scripts get written in-house resulting in wordy and
highly detailed pieces of prose that do not translate well
onto the screen. Quite frankly, they are boring. Unfortunately,
pretty shots and expert editing cannot hide a tedious narrative.
Worse still, is when the script goes back and forth and
the content is played out in an illogical sequence. This
results in no viewer being able to quickly understand your
core marketing messages, if they can understand it at all.
Ideally, a script conveys the most important pieces of
information that your target market wants to know and is
written with an objective in mind.
2. The video is too long
In this day and age of high speed broadband and other time-saving
devices, very few of us have attention spans that can handle
information for more than a few minutes.
Any video over 10 minutes is destined to lose viewers after
the first few minutes.
Yet, surprisingly there are many marketing videos today
that are well over 12 minutes in length.
The best marketing videos are short and succinct. Yet,
it is far easier to cram everything into a video than to
make a short and concise one. In the words of Blaise Pascal,
"The present letter is a very long one, simply because
I had no leisure to make it shorter".
3. "The "look mum I'm on TV" scenario
While some of us may cringe at the thought of a camera
placed in front of us, there are many people who relish
the opportunity to show their face on television.
This can result in corporate heads droning on incessantly
about how wonderful their company is (and what a great job
they are doing). Sadly, this does nothing else but soothe
corporate egos and turn viewers away.
Few people realise that talking to a camera in an appealingly
manner is a skill in itself. Having a CEO spieling boring
corporate fluff while looking dumbstruck and awkward in
front of the camera does not a good video make.
However, a charismatic business leader who uses short,
punchy (and rehearsed) sentences can add tremendous impact
and clout to a marketing video.
4. Poor production values
While watching your corporate video, your customers will
be left with an impression of what type of business you
are and what to expect when doing business with you.
A fast way to subconsciously get across the wrong image
to your viewer is to have grainy pictures, poorly framed
shots and sloppy editing.
A well thought out and professionally created television
program will create a positive impression in the minds of
your prospects. After all, we all watch television and we
are used to broadcast quality productions, not wobbly and
unfocused shots that scream 'amateurish'.
To produce a good quality television program, it must be
made using an experienced A-grade cameraman, a broadcast
quality camera and a fully trained editor
5. Target audience is too diverse
Many marketing videos often try to get as many messages
out to a diverse audience.
It is very difficult to produce a video that is 'all things
to all people'. After all, communicating to primary school
students, overseas buyers and consumers all in the one video
is an extremely difficult feat to pull.
Research has found that advertising that targets a number
of market segments results in higher profits than advertising
that sells to a mass market.
Likewise, marketing videos that target a small audience
are more successful than those aimed at a large audience.
It is often wise to produce several television programs
for different audiences, rather than cram all of your messages
into one confusing video.
6. Let's do a video, just because we can!
It might seem far-fetched but there are companies that
embark on commissioning a marketing video without really
assessing if they need one.
This can be due to a number of reasons such as using up
available budgets, satisfying corporate egos and employees
creating work for themselves.
You are probably wondering why a video communication producer
would even complain about this situation. The answer is
simple.
A marketing video is an effective tool to increase sales
in a company. It is actually painful and embarrassing to
watch a video that is a shameless waste of company money.
Poorly produced videos might line the pockets of some video
producers, but they do little to convince future clients
that they are worthwhile.
If you are in the market for a marketing video, make sure
you follow these simple guidelines to ensure your project
is a success, rather than destined for the rubbish bin.
About the Author
Marie-Claire Ross is one of the partners of Digicast. Digicast
works with organisations who are not satisfied that their
marketing and training materials are helping their business
grow. She can be contacted on 0500 800 234 (Australia wide)
or at mc@digicast.com.au. The website is at www.digicast.com.au.
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