Video has proven to be an extremely powerful medium to express an idea, or in this case to showcase an aspect of a business or organisation. A well-made video has the power to raise awareness and directly reach an audience like no other medium.
When it comes to making a video that showcases your business in the best way, there are a few fundamental principles that can dramatically improve the result.
1. High Production Value
This one seems simple. But if you don't go to the trouble to hire a professional, with proper sound quality and lighting, the lack of production quality can reflect poorly on your business.
It doesn't take much gear to create a professional video these days, but it's worth hiring an expert who knows how to produce a professional-looking video.
2. Candid or scripted?
If a business owner or employee isn't used to being in front of a camera (which most aren't) it can make for an awkward video. This is why hiring a professional to produce your video is a good idea. It is their job to make you look good.
The style that tends to connect the best with an audience is one where the interview is almost like a conversation. It feels natural and relaxed. This can be achieved by having someone sit just to the side of the camera who asks the questions. The eyeline of the subject will then be just off-camera, avoiding them looking down the lens, which can come across as confronting.
3. Relevant and cinematic overlay footage
Capturing relevant overlay or 'Broll' footage can make all the difference in producing a high-quality business introduction or testimonial video. Just using stock footage off the internet won't cut it.
A rough guideline for creating a 1-2min testimonial video is to set up 3 scenarios, where overlay footage can be captured. This could be simple as the talent working on a laptop, or interacting with fellow employees, or whatever is relevant for the video.
This footage can then be edited over the interview to make the video more engaging and pleasing to the eye.
Summary
It's worth going to the effort to pay a professional to create your business introduction or testimonial video. There are many different styles and strategies that you can focus on, depending on your business needs.
Having one video that captures a key-value proposition or idea succinctly can pay huge dividends in return, by being about to host the video indefinitely on a webpage, or share it on social media with the world. See an example below of a testimonial video that I created. Note the points above that I included in this video to create a natural feeling to it.
See my full portfolio for more testimonial videos and business introduction videos. Sam Irwin is a freelance videographer and photographer based in Perth, Western Australia.