A good brand video leaves a positive and memorable impression with your viewers. It presents your company in the best possible light and provides important, interesting and helpful information. The best brand videos go one step further and encourage your audience to get in touch and work with you.
To produce a brand video that does all that, you need a certain balance of production magic and efficiency. It really doesn’t matter how big or small your business is, the ingredients are the same: a clear message, compelling content, technical proficiency and a clever distribution strategy.
The TopLine team has brand video production encoded in their DNA. We know how to make videos that hit all the right notes – but not without a few hiccups along the way. Our stripes have definitely been earned and we’d like to share some of what we’ve learnt. Here are our dos and don’ts for producing the best brand videos – with some fun examples thrown in.
DO
Know your message
Brand videos, when done well, are brilliant marketing tools: they can help generate leads, create brand awareness and push your brand to stand out from the crowd. But all of that is only possible with a coherent brand message that is well-articulated and gets to the point quickly. Nothing disengages a viewer faster than a video with mixed messages that jump from metaphor to metaphor. Watch this video: Chairs Are Like Facebook and you’ll see what we mean – there’s just way too much going on!
Be careful of length
The modern video-viewer is not known for their lengthy attention span. You might think that a ten-minute video is exactly what you need to get your brand message out there but no, it really isn’t. People need to be hooked in the first 20 seconds or they’ll literally switch off. Check out this one minute beautifully orchestrated video by Six Cent Press about…button making. I guarantee you’ll watch it all the way to the end.
Think outside the box
The best brand videos are authentic, entertaining, compelling – and do something a little different or unexpected. Perhaps a voice-over, adding some animation or making it a music driven piece can enhance the story-telling? With a good production team on side, don’t be afraid to think innovatively or push the boundaries. For starters, think beyond the stock standard ‘talking heads’ set-up, it’s seriously overdone and very dull.
DON’T
Skimp on resources
We know video production is an expensive process. Budget constraints and compromises are an inevitable part of the journey – but you can’t let them impact your video’s quality. Poor sound, strange colours and pixelated visuals are tell-tale signs of cheap production. You won’t get the viewers you won’t unless your brand video looks professional – so hire professionals.
Ignore the audio
Sound quality is very often overlooked. In fact, many people think that a sound engineer is a nice to have on set, and not an essential. Remember there’s no such thing as ‘fix it in post’.
Trust us, poor audio will make your viewer switch off in no time!
The same goes for voice over, it can really make or break your video. This video by Dissolve shows how captivating and entertaining a great voice over can be.
Forget the distribution plan
Consider where, when and how your video will be used – before you start production. Producing a brand video is an exciting process but people tend to get all caught up in the action and don’t give enough thought to where the video will be placed. While YouTube and Facebook are great channels there is more to a distribution strategy! Videos are a huge growth area for brands – they provide identity, increase brand awareness and can be an effective sales tool, so show them off!
If you’d like to produce your best brand video ever, then give our head of video, Jamie, a shout.