If you’re determined to use video to publicise your business, new service or system, here’s some advice before you go any further!
Face for radio?
Think carefully before you put yourself in front of the camera. The business maybe yours but could someone else shine more on camera? A friend, a colleague, an acting student?
Keep It Simple!
You don’t need to blow up the Death Star to market your business visually. Don’t worry about special effects. No phones need to be blown up in the making of your new call service video.
(Eddie Izzard drops the f-bomb quite a bit in the Death Star link, you’ve been warned)
Choons
Just about all popular music is copyrighted so don’t use it for commercial purposes unless you’ve bought a license for its use. There’s a ton of library music out there that doesn’t cost much to use and won’t land you in the courts. It’s not all cheesy elevator music either. Paying for a two minute piece of library music could save you a fortune if <insert appropriate pop singer’s name here> finds out you used their track, without permission, for your new service. Know any budding musicians? Get them to create a simple track that fits your video – unique and hopefully good exposure for them.
What not to wear
Determined that you’re the perfect person to be on camera? Think about wardrobe – if you’re going for a suit, make sure it’s clean, pressed and has no stripes. Loud colours are out, but so are gloomy greys – think simple but stylish.
- Bit too crumpled for a corporate video?
TV tip – if you’re sitting down on camera, wearing a suit, pull the back of your suit jacket under your butt as you sit down – this will keep you from looking rumpled on screen.
Take the load off your shoulders
Let someone else make the video for you. Some corporate video companies are great at what they do and will cover all the aspects with you, from scripts to picking the right spokesperson to helping you with social media distribution. Ask your local Chamber of Commerce for recommendations or use your Google force for good, not evil.
Seek advice!
Even if you don’t use a video company, try and meet with a reputable one – you can get some invaluable advice.
People are lame
Do you need people at all? Think about animation or simple visuals. Epic have got some great videos on their website, all using pictures, a black background and a voiceover – simple but very effective.
Webinars are the future?
Consider a webinar instead. You can present your new service with Powerpoint images and a voiceover, no stripey jackets needed.
It may be a joke but there really are videos like this
Finally, don’t take my word for it that there are some truly awful corporate videos out there – Twitter has the final say.
Image by Ninahale under Creative Commons.
Death Star video by Thorn2200 with Eddie Izzard providing the hilarity.
