It’s not necessary for brands to spend thousands of dollars building and stocking an in-house production studio with high end (ahem, extremely expensive) equipment.
Video production experience certainly pays off in the corporate world. The barriers to entry are so minimal that it’s possible for anyone to create a video concept. Pick up a camera, and start creating high-performing content.
These days — especially with the video quality of modern smartphones — many of the logistical concerns brands had in the past aren’t a hindrance anymore.
Does your team have a tight budget and limited production experience? That’s perfectly fine — you can still make corporate videos.
The only difference between your team and a fully fledged creative team with tons of industry experience is that your video production will just take place on a smaller scale. And that’s nothing to be discouraged about.
Especially when it comes to producing social media videos, a small scale production setup is really all you need anyway.
If you’re part of a company that fits into that category, you only have one question to think about: Which steps should we take in order to produce corporate videos?
If you’re interested in the answer, keep reading.
It’s No Secret That Video Marketing Works
Most brands like yours — we’re talking 93% — have reported that video marketing on social media has led to an increase in new customer acquisition. So it makes sense that this same percentage of brands consider video to be an essential part of their marketing efforts.
A key reason why this type of visual marketing is effective is because it breaks up the monotony of text-only content. Simply put, target audiences respond well to content they find engaging visually and topically.
With the right strategy and protocol in place, marketers can use video as a tool for increasing engagement, brand awareness, lead generation, and conversions.
But the question remains: What is the right protocol?
Let’s break down each step you should take at every stage of the production process.
How to Make a Corporate Video Production
In the corporate world, some of the most common types of videos are explainer videos (73%), social media videos (67%), and video ads (41%). And while these different types of videos may call for different formats and durations, the steps that you take from pre-production to post-production remain the same.
The Stages of Corporate Video Production
When it comes to video production, there are three main stages that every team will go through: pre-production, production, and post-production.
Pre-Production for Brand Videos
Unless you’ve been through the video production process before, it’s easy to assume that the most intensive and important stage of the process is production (i.e., when the actual filming takes place).
In all actuality, pre-production is where teams will do the bulk of the work.
And that’s because pre-production is the stage that requires the most planning, scheduling, and coordinating from your team. If pre-production goes poorly, it’s likely that production and post-production will too.
Your first steps during this stage will be to develop the video concept and work out the production logistics.
Develop the video concept.
The video concept is ground zero for every team. This is where you decide what the video will be about. If you need to hire actors or more crew members, what type of gear you need, etc.
This early stage is where your team gets creative and prepares a script and shot list that will be used during production. Once the concept is set, it’s time to make sure that all of the production logistics are sorted.
Work out the production logistics.
If you’re filming a short social media video, you might plan to film the video at your office with a smartphone and good lighting. And in this case, there are very few production hoops to jump through.
If you’re filming something like a TV commercial, however, pre-production gets increasingly more complex. There are more factors to consider:
- Do you need to book a filming location(s) for this video?
- How many actors should you hire, and when do you have to finalize the talent selection?
- Do you have enough crew members to carry out production?
- Are there any major pieces of equipment that you need to rent? (i.e., a dolly track, a three-point lighting setup, audio gear, etc.)
Also, if you know you’ll need to license royalty free background music or something more specific like royalty free country music, you’ll want to start thinking about that now, not later.
It’s important to sort out all of the production details now, so you aren’t scrambling to find solutions later.
Production for Brand Videos
Once you put the pieces of pre-production together, you’re fully prepared to enter into the next stage: production.
Whether you’re filming a series of 15-second social media videos or a two-minute video ad, production is a very time-sensitive process. You might only have only a few hours to set up all of the production gear and capture all of the footage you need.
Capture the footage you need (re-takes aren’t always an option)
The script and shot list that your team creates in pre-production serves as the guide for production. The script is what gives your hired talent direction, and the shot list is what gives your filming crew direction.
By having a set plan, you can avoid wasting time getting footage that you probably don’t need.
Post-Production for Brand Videos
The final stage of corporate video production is post-production, which is where some video editing expertise comes into play.
Work toward a final edit.
When you transition into post-production, your focus is on reviewing the footage, editing it down, and cleaning it up so that the image quality is spot-on from start to finish.
Whether you’re working with a team or need to keep a client involved in the process, a platform like Frame.io is a great resource for collaborating with others as you work toward the final edit.
This is the time when you get creative feedback from your team, and the video finally comes together.
Share Your Brand Videos With Your Target Audience
To produce high-quality corporate videos, brands don’t need to create their own version of a Hollywood production set. With the budget and resources available, you have what it takes to create high-performing, great-quality brand videos.
After going through these pre-production, production, and post-production steps, the final test of your video’s effectiveness is distribution. To reach the most qualified target audience, you’ll want to use localization and personalization when sharing your brand’s content.
This gives you the best chance of reaching the people who will find your videos interesting and relevant. Which makes them more apt to convert, as a result. And since that’s the goal of any corporate video, it means the results will always be worth the effort you put into it.
