The Biggest Secret to Creating Corporate Videos That Resonate

When you combine moving pictures, strong characters, and a powerful narrative, you can take people somewhere and make them feel something – more effectively and efficiently than any other storytelling style. Without those elements in place, even the most seasoned storyteller will struggle. That’s why the secret to corporate video production is knowing how to identify your best company stories.

Here’s the thing about video. It’s familiar. We can all tell when we’re watching a good one and when we’re watching (or clicking away from) a clunker. We'll watch a video with terrible audio or visual quality if the story is compelling.

The same idea holds true for your company videos. Unless you identify a story worth telling, not a list of successes or values or a boring statement from your CEO, your viewers will not stay engaged.

You need a strong story about who you are, or what you do, that will make them care. And you need to think like a network television executive to find it.

What is a corporate video?

Corporate video is simply any video project produced by a business or organization for internal or external use that aligns with the corporate and branding standards of the company. These videos can be used for internal messages, training, marketing, or promotions.

In order to create compelling company stories, it's important to understand all of the elements that go into making a successful corporate video. We've compiled a list of things that you should consider when you are looking to create a video that not only resonates with your prospects but drives results for your business.

1. What Are Your Captivating Stories?

Put yourself in your viewers' shoes and think about what they'll find interesting. They may like to know about your stats, execs, or sales figures, but only if they're really interesting. More likely, they will be interested in stories about how people are using your product or how your employees bring passion to their jobs.

This is so much more than your 30-second elevator pitch. No matter what the length of your video is, you have the opportunity to bring your company's most captivating stories to life with characters, visuals, timing, music, and storytelling.

If you have high-tech facilities or a great looking office, show it. If you have fun-loving employees or a passionate workforce dedicated to turning out flawless products, introduce us to them. Your company videos can be the face of your company, so remember to show those faces – or whatever else makes you special.

Don't forget to brainstorm creative ideas to visually represent your company videos. Do you work in a cool warehouse space or is your office in a bustling part of town with lots of interesting things nearby? Do your employees hang out together in the office? Are your products displayed in other amazing spaces? 

Don't assume that because you have a "boring" business that there aren't interesting visuals that can support your story!

2. How to Identify Your Best Business Stories

It's important that you don't just settle for the first idea that comes to mind. Gather some creative minds, get the help of a production company, or reach out to your existing customers and brainstorm some ideas for videos that will be compelling, visually interesting, and stories worth telling.

It's easy to miss your best stories, so make sure that you are spending time asking the right people that have a direct line to your customers, often they will be the ones with great stories from customers.

Conclusion

There are many factors that go into a successful video production. You'll eventually need to worry about style, length, pace, location, lighting, and sound, but the story is central to an interesting video. Until you identify your interesting stories, don't spend any more time worrying about the other specifics!

Editors Note: This blog was originally published on September 15, 2015 and was updated on December 12, 2015.