Okay. These days, even your cell phone shoots better video than the average digital camera from a decade ago. But somehow, businesses still manage to fill their YouTube channel with unwatchable bad online corporate video after bad online corporate video. Here are six of the worst offenders and what we can learn from them to make our online corporate video content a little bit better.
Remember, customers are watching your online corporate videos on uber-quality, high-def retina display screens. If your corporate video has crap lighting, crap sound and crap focus, don’t you think folks are maybe going to notice?
1: If you are uncomfortable on camera, the whole world will know it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=16&v=HiR3tySdWWY
Watch how these on-camera presenters avoid looking into the camera. Remember: if the on-camera talent looks nervous and uncomfortable, the viewer will feel equally awkward watching your online corporate video. Unless you are up to the challenge, hire an actor.
2: “Be yourself” is great advice if you’re Brad Pitt.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=12&v=0zlEFTgk1tg
If your on-camera spokesperson mumbles or speaks in a monotone, please have them be anybody but themselves! In addition, videos should feel natural and not staged. If it feels fake when you’re acting, filming, or producing it, you can bet that your audience will feel that as well. This video totally illustrates the point. I dare you to watch it to the end.
3: Quality counts. Bad quality counts against.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iP_r9rUbgM
Remember, customers are watching your online videos on uber-quality, high-def retina display screens. If your online corporate video has crap lighting, crap sound and crap focus, don’t you think folks are maybe going to notice? If in doubt, hire a pro.
4: Music doesn’t always make a corporate video better.
Music is often used in an online video to mask sound problems, add energy, set the tone, etc. But music can be more trouble than it’s worth. Legally, you’ll need to license any music you use for commercial use. You can’t just use the latest Taylor Swift song off of iTunes. There’s affordable stock music, but much of it sounds cheesy. Then there is the challenge of appealing to different age groups, genders and cultures. Remember, somebody thought the above corporate video was good music––and maybe somewhere it is.
5: Sex doesn’t always sell.
This video is a reminder that having young, nubile women in swimwear doesn’t always make a video more watchable. Nope, it sure doesn’t.
6: Get to the point.
This online video takes one minute and 20 seconds to first mention the subject of the video. That’s the point in a video when you should be wrapping up the message. Remember, aim for a 30-second to two-minute maximum length.
So, what does good corporate video look like? Other than the obvious answer of ‘exactly the opposite of all of these’, it has to have a few key qualities and ultimately be relevant to your audience. If it’s not relatable, informative, and entertaining, then you can pretty much bet on your users not really, well…using it. Let’s take a look at this video from HubSpot as an example:
HubSpot was succinct with their message, the people featured on camera were relatable and acted natural, and their lighting, use of background music, and over production quality was tastefully done throughout.
In addition to creating great video, as a business you should also be concerned with learning from that video any way that you can. At Agency Creative, we use a platform called Wistia, that allows us to see in-depth analytics on our videos, including overall engagement and when users are dropping off. Using a platform like this allows us to monitor our videos and see if there are sections that cause users to stop watching, highlighting the need to rethink that portion of video.
If you need a creative resource to help you script and film your next online corporate video, we would love to help out. Give us a holler at 972.488.1660.
We are a Dallas advertising agency with extensive expertise in online video production.
