How to Create a Corporate Video

Contents

I. How to create a corporate video: the basics
   1. Understanding corporate video types
   2. Why creating a corporate video is important
   3. Wondering how to make a good corporate video? Avoid doing this
II. How to create a corporate video that attracts customersв
   1. Corporate video ideas for your inspiration
   2. How to create a compelling script for a corporate video
   3. How can you make the best corporate video?
III. Summing it up

Companies must promote themselves online because making significant profits in other ways is now nearly impossible. As the saying goes, if your company is not online, nobody will know it exists. It is no surprise that so many businesses are turning to corporate video production companies to boost their online presence. But what is a corporate video? What types of corporate videos are there? And how to create a corporate video that will not only increase your brand awareness but also bring loyal customers? This article from YOPRST answers these and many other questions!

How to create a corporate video: the basics

While businesses are increasingly investing in digital marketing, many, particularly in the B2B segment, are skeptical of video marketing and know little about it. So, let us start by answering an important question: What is a corporate video? A corporate video, also known as a corporate film, is a type of video content in which you tell viewers about your company while emphasizing the benefits that a client can gain from working with you. You should demonstrate how your company can solve the client’s problems more quickly and cost-effectively than competitors.

If you are wondering how to create a corporate video that achieves its primary goal, consider the video’s length as a starting point. How long should a corporate video be? Anywhere between one and two minutes. Longer videos serve a variety of purposes, including introducing the company to an already “warm” client. A corporate film, on the other hand, functions similarly to a business card: it piques potential customers’ interest and encourages them to learn more about your company. That is why it is critical to work with a video production company to help you create a compelling script.

Understanding corporate video types

Clients who approach YOPRST to create a corporate video often confuse this format with business or branding videos. Although these types of video content are closely related, telling the story of your brand and highlighting its value proposition, they serve different purposes. The primary distinctions between a corporate video, a business video, and a branding video are their objectives, target audiences, and content. Below you will find a brief explanation of each of these corporate video types, as well as a summary of their strengths and limitations:

• Corporate videos outline the company’s operations, accomplishments, mission, vision, values, and structure. Such videos are aimed at company employees, business partners, potential investors, and the media. As a result, corporate videos typically have a more formal tone and focus on the company as a whole. They may include statements from management, presentations of internal processes, successes, or social initiatives. Examples of corporate videos include videos presenting the company’s history, annual reports, or summaries of important events.
• Business videos promote specific services, products, or company initiatives, often with the goal of increasing sales or strengthening customer relationships. As a result, such videos mostly target the company’s customers, contractors, and investors. Business videos, unlike other corporate video types, have a more promotional nature, highlighting the offer and benefits the company can provide. They often use storytelling or present case studies. An example of a business video might be a product presentation or promotional materials for investors.
• Branding videos help create a positive image of a company, engage viewers emotionally, and establish desired associations with the brand. When defining a branding video, it is important to first identify its target audience – i.e., clients, potential employees, and the local community. Branding videos are usually more emotional and creative than corporate or business videos. Their main goal is to strengthen brand recognition and build trust in it. As a result, a branding video might promote the brand as modern and responsible or present its organizational culture.

Let’s recap. A classic corporate video answers the question, “Who are we as a company?” and is rather formal. A business video allows your company to give a comprehensive answer to the question, “What do we offer our clients?” by highlighting products or services. Meanwhile, the goal of a branding video is to answer the question, “How do we want to be perceived?” That is why branding videos are more emotional and creative. Each of these types of corporate videos fulfills different communication needs for a company, and the choice of the right format depends on your strategic goals.

Why creating a corporate video is important

Before we explain how to create a corporate video that will bolster your business strategy, it’s worth discussing why a corporate video is important. A corporate film often works like an advertisement. That’s why the production of commercials and corporate videos shares a lot of similarities. The viewer becomes immersed in the director’s story and engages with the narrative, assuming the script is good. If your video highlights something important to the client or solves one of their problems, they will contact you immediately or remember your company and do so later.

In today’s world, with its plethora of platforms for communication and content consumption, businesses must surpass expectations to capture clients’ attention. Breaking through the excess of informational noise is a challenging task. Imagine a person with a phone or a computer – what might they be watching? They could be using work tools like Word or browsing Instagram, Facebook, or Telegram. Your customer is constantly consuming information from multiple sources. That is why your corporate video should be more focused on the client’s needs than on your company.

Coca-Cola’s Share a Coke campaign is an example of a well-known corporate, or rather, branding video that brought the company massive success. The video, which featured Coca-Cola bottles with personalized names instead of the company’s logo, resonated with viewers and resulted in a significant increase in sales. By leveraging the right messaging, visuals, and music, Coca-Cola created a truly memorable experience. When considering how to create a corporate video, this campaign emphasizes the importance of tailoring the content to connect emotionally with the audience. Coca-Cola’s strategy helped them solidify their position as a soft drink industry leader.

Wondering how to make a good corporate video? Avoid doing this

How to create a corporate video that replicates and even surpasses Coca-Cola’s success? Never extend the video’s length to fit more information about your company than it is needed. Unless the video’s concept is intentionally meant to be longer. For example, such a technique can be used to demonstrate the length of a process without your service versus with your service – work for the client will be completed much faster. This approach is called counterpoint, where two opposing ideas are juxtaposed. Similarly, companies with a rich history may also opt for a longer video timeline.

We also do not recommend using the same techniques repeatedly in succession. For example, squeezing too many employee interviews into your video will definitely kill the vibe. Today, it’s very easy to find a corporate video where interviews with managers are followed by interviews with employees, then cleaning staff, and so on. You might be surprised to learn that old Apple corporate videos committed this sin so frequently that countless parodies emerged online, depicting a manager sitting on a high chair, framed in three-quarters, speaking seriously about something completely irrelevant.

This “traditional” technique can be used, but with caution. Humor, satire, and sarcasm in videos can be effective in certain business sectors, such as IT products and services or consulting. In another section of our “How to Create a Corporate Video” guide, we will briefly present an example of the optimal level of sarcasm in a video from Google. Crossing this line is acceptable only for professionals who fully understand the consequences of their actions. Besides the points mentioned earlier, there are a few additional elements that should not be included in a corporate video. These include:

• Unnecessary shots added solely to lengthen the video
• Repetitive interviews shown consecutively
• Inappropriate humor, satire, or sarcasm if you don’t know how to use them
• Mentions of competitors in any context – we never talk about competitors in our videos
• Anything that looks cheap, unnatural, or may create distrust (poor graphics, bad acting, unnatural employee smiles, etc.)

How to create a corporate video that attracts customers

Everyone wishes for a universal solution to all problems or a magical combination of actions that lead to success. Unfortunately, no such thing exists. Successful business strategies and marketing campaigns are the result of a series of smaller successes and big failures. If you’re wondering how to make a corporate video that will inevitably attract more customers and multiply your revenue, we’re about to disappoint you: this is just wishful thinking. Different corporate video types serve different purposes, and it takes more than a quality video to achieve your objectives.

We hope that our article, “How to Create a Corporate Video,” hasn’t yet crushed your hope of acquiring new customers through video marketing. A corporate film can work if it’s properly prepared and supported by an appropriate promotional budget and tactics. Approach the task creatively and consider where your video could be best displayed to maximize your returns. If you’re a cybersecurity company, for instance, there’s little sense in showing your video ad on YouTube before entertainment content. Similarly, TikTok and Instagram might not be the right places to advertise your services.

However, your video will enjoy better response on LinkedIn, especially if you set up a campaign targeting C-level executives at companies dealing with large volumes of sensitive data, such as healthcare and educational institutions. Think first and foremost about your target audience and the offline and online channels they use. If your potential clients frequent a café near their office, and that place has monitors, it might be worth displaying your video there during lunch hours. In the next part of our article, we’ll discuss a few ideas for corporate videos that could elevate your business to a new level.

Corporate video ideas for your inspiration

If you’re looking for corporate video ideas and haven’t settled on one, it likely means you don’t know your customers well enough. If you did, you’d already have hundreds of different concepts, and one of them might even win the title of the best corporate video of the year. Perhaps – but it’s not guaranteed. Naturally, you’ll be somewhat limited by the genre, but with a creative team, you can achieve impressive results under any circumstances. As we mentioned earlier, you should focus on your customers, their problems, and how your company can address them.

To provide more practical tips on how to create a corporate video, we’ll give you an example. Suppose your company manufactures safes and top-quality fireproof cabinets. Your potential customers could include banks, currency exchange offices, gun stores, and anyone needing a secure storage solution to protect against unauthorized access. For your business, it would be worth highlighting themes of security and reliability in your video, portraying them literally or with elements of sarcasm and satire. Use these tools with the utmost caution, as this genre is fairly conservative.

Entrepreneurs and their employees may not view you as a comedian, particularly if your jokes fall short of their expectations. In general, conducting thorough customer research before beginning corporate video production is essential. Once you succeed in doing this, you’ll be able to create a video that garners millions of views on YouTube. Ideas for corporate videos that you can use are closer than you think. You might even consider using a drone – but first, check out our article on the costs of drone videos. Finally, we’ll present an example of a successful viral corporate video.

How to create a compelling script for a corporate video

Let’s point out that the corporate video from Bolt, which you’ve seen above, closely resembles an advertisement. This raises questions about how to write a script for a corporate video and where the difference between a corporate video and a commercial lies. If your team includes creative storytellers, they’re the ones responsible for crafting engaging narratives that clearly resonate with the client. If you know what Bolt is, you’ll likely remember this video and conclude that it doesn’t reflect the problem or its solution from the client’s perspective. In our opinion, that’s exactly the case.

So why does this video work, and why have we included it in our “How to Create a Corporate Video” guide? Because it was shot effectively and expensively, with high energy, excellent studio lighting, and editing driven by motion and form. The director’s planned camera movements and in-frame editing ensure a smooth transition between scenes. Such a corporate video script undoubtedly deserves high praise, as does the video itself. But what’s missing? One could say it lacks a structure for solving the client’s problems. The video focuses solely on the company itself.

Let’s tackle the topic from a different perspective. At the beginning of this article, we mentioned how important it is to define your target audience. We also discussed that the video should be aimed specifically at that audience. Now let’s consider: who is this corporate video from Bolt targeting? A few options come to mind: investors who are ready to put their money into the company, as well as employees. This implies that potential clients will see the company’s rapid growth and dynamic career opportunities. As a result, Bolt’s video is an excellent example of a branding video.

This video completely meets the company’s marketing department’s objectives, despite the fact that it does not fit into the traditional corporate video types. Even if it is displayed to people looking to order a taxi, they are unlikely to think of Uber or another ride-hailing app. Most likely, they will first look for a car using the Bolt application. Meanwhile, investors and employees are already rushing to invest or apply for jobs at this Estonian company, which started as a small startup. Based on this video, let’s outline what is needed to make a corporate video script effective. Here are our tips:

• The script should have a clear narrative structure
• The story should feature characters that the client can relate to
• The characters’ development should be evident – the more significant the transformation during the video, the better
• The dynamics or flow of the plot should align with the industry, although in some cases, it might intentionally contrast with it
• Finally, it is a good idea to leave a cliffhanger to keep the viewer interested

For comparison, here’s another corporate video example from Google that defies the conventions of the genre. It employs a three-act structure despite its short duration. The first part introduces the topic, the second presents the problem, and the climax resolves the client’s issue while highlighting the product’s main advantage. Watch it yourself and see how perfectly it’s executed. Perhaps you’ll decide to adopt this approach for your project. To achieve similar results, your creative team should include a screenwriter and/or director who ensures a dramatic and engaging plot.

How can you make the best corporate video?

What makes the best corporate video? If anything, it’s creativity. Thanks, Captain Obvious! Having said that, your video may not be 100% original – even the most experienced directors draw inspiration from their peers’ work and borrow certain elements. They then create their own stories, relying on their imagination and memory, piecing together references they’ve seen before. This is how almost every Tarantino masterpiece was born, and creating a corporate video this way is even easier. That’s the main takeaway from our article, “How to Create a Corporate Video.”

The key is that this approach truly works. Put yourself in your client’s shoes, imagine a video that would intrigue you, and make it. This way, you can create the best corporate, business, or branding video to drive relevant traffic to your business. One question remains: how do you gather statistics on the effectiveness of completed videos that haven’t been published on YouTube, for instance? On this platform, at the very least, you can see the number of views and roughly estimate the proportion of new clients who came for the service. What about other digital platforms?

And who can guarantee that the number of views correlates with the number of new clients? Perhaps the video is simply well-produced and is being watched purely for its artistic qualities, not by potential customers. That’s possible. This is why reliable data is essential – data that’s hard to obtain outside of a media agency or production company. Modestly, we’d like to remind you that we’re also a production company and have access to such data from Google Analytics and other platforms. Our marketing specialists can help you gather relevant insights and fine-tune your message.

Summing it up

A successful corporate video combines elements of two genres: it should formally present the company “from the inside” while conveying to the client that their problem will be solved faster, cheaper, and better than by the competition. Formality, an official tone, and a focus on the company are characteristic of the entire corporate segment, whereas solving customer problems is often showcased in the advertising segment. The proportions of these two elements typically depend on the industry. For example, check out our video for the Belyaevs & Partners law firm.

If you lack experience working with this genre and want to use your marketing budget effectively, entrust your project to YOPRST. We’ll start by analyzing your target audience. With this audience in mind, we will create an engaging corporate video script, plot, and character-driven stories. The finished material will help you attract the right clients to your business more quickly and at a lower cost, while our team adds another successful project to its portfolio. Contact us to discuss your project and learn how to create a corporate video where your company will shine!