Although we do more video content for our clients than just branding videos, these branding videos are many times where we start with our new video partners. When we walk into a meeting (or call or video chat because its 2021) to discuss a branding video or business film that gets down to the essence of a company, we like to say what we do isn’t that hard. And that’s the truth. We have a fairly specific process on how we approach a branding video that also helps us on how we approach other types of video content like commercials, sales videos, product videos, and more.
Your goals for an interview type branding video should revolve around connecting with your potential customers or employees on an authentic level. We do branding videos with professional voiceover or just with graphics, but the reason we do some with interviews is due to the fact that people enjoy doing business with people they like. Imagine when you’re at a business event or on-site at a client’s location and someone asks why you do what you do. Do you light up and start talking about your passion for what you do? Do you have a greater purpose behind what you do? Maybe it’s to bring a great product or service to your local community. Maybe it’s because you really love when you’re able to solve a customer’s problem. We all have these little “why’s” behind what we do. An interview-based branding video will allow you get these “why’s” communicated to customers or potential employees when you’re not able to get in front of them sooner.
Our secrets to a successful interview branding video includes getting why you do what you do across to your prospective audience in an emotional and inspiring manner. We do this by following our branding video outline, keeping interviews conversational and editing the videos in a specific way.
Our branding video outline is one that we try to follow as closely as possible when we first launch a new project. It’s broken down into 5 Steps.
Collaboration
Filming
Editing and Post-Production
Review
Marketing
The collaboration step is where we schedule a 1-2 hour long meeting in person or on a call to finalize details about the upcoming shoot. We discuss how many interviews, who will be interviewed, locations we will film at, dates, and a more precise feel for the video. The second step is filming which is exactly what it sounds like. This is when film interviews and additional video to help tell your company’s story. The third step is editing and post-production. In this step, we will compile the footage we captured into a compelling story for your organization. The fourth step is review. During the review step, we send you a near-completion video where you can review and request any reasonable changes to the video. The final step is marketing. During this step, we will help your team put together a plan for maximizing the reach and power of your newly created video.
Once we have everything planned out and are ready to start filming, we include time for interviews (typically before we film any additional footage or b-roll). The interviews are what drive an interview branding video. For interviews, we typically see figureheads and people out in the community such as presidents/owners, sales managers, and decision makers. But we also like to encourage businesses to use frontline workers and leaders in shops, customer service, etc. to show that your people are who make your company unique. While interviewing, we keep things conversational. We ask questions that motivate those representing your company to get excited and passionate about their answers. We also try to keep interviews between 15 minutes and 20 minutes because we have learned that those being interviewed tend to get a little anxious the longer the interview is. Overall, we try to make sure whoever we are interviewing is comfortable and having fun.
Editing and Post-Production is part of our branding outline, but we also believe this step is one of our secrets to a successful interview-based branding video. Remember when we said that our process isn’t hard? Part of the editing step is difficult, but we have found a few ways to streamline this process. The first area we typically start with is going through all the interviews, writing down our favorite soundbites, and labeling sections of interviews for different sections of the video. We try to find the two best soundbites from the interviews. We then use the best soundbite to open the video with our most interesting video footage over the top. We then use the second-best soundbite that has a strong ending and meets the video’s ultimate call-to-action and goals at the end of the video. We then work on connecting the dots between the two soundbites to help tell your organizations story. We have also learned some important things over the years including how important music is to your branding video, how important spacing between certain soundbites is, and how important your call-to-action and closing graphic is to your branding video.
Although we have a process for our interview-based branding videos, each video is unique in it’s own way because each business we work with is unique. Your people, your culture, your products, and your services are all what make your company the company it is today. The “why’s” behind what you do are specific to your business. These videos work because your authenticity comes through and potential customers and employees that align with what you are all about will gravitate towards your business.
Interested in creating a branding video or any other type of video marketing asset for your Evansville, Posey County, or surrounding area business? Contact us today to schedule a free video marketing discovery meeting.
We’re always open to chat about anything marketing, video production, or digital strategy! We’d love to talk!
