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How To Use Video in Marketing and Increase Sales Results

Videos have taken the marketing world by storm over the past few years, and it’s not hard to see why—they’re a highly versatile form of content. Consumers enjoy watching videos because they’re more engaging than written content, and marketers enjoy creating videos because they have the potential for a significant return on investment.

If you haven’t embraced the trend of video marketing yet, it’s time to start. Research suggests that videos will account for 80% of all internet traffic by 2022, compared to 67% in 2016. It’s clear that videos are only becoming more popular, and incorporating them into your sales strategy can help you stay ahead of the curve.

Are you unsure where to start when it comes to video marketing? Keep reading to learn how you can use videos to increase your sales outcomes.

The Benefits of Using Video in Sales

If you’re used to using written content for your sales strategy, you might be wondering why videos are a worthwhile addition. After all, it takes more time and money to produce a product explainer video than it does to write a blog about your product. However, it’s easy to justify the extra investment when you consider the benefits of using video in sales.

Here are a few reasons why videos are such a powerful sales tool:

  • Videos keep users engaged: No matter how clever and readable your written content is, you can’t guarantee that your potential customers will read it. Reading long paragraphs of text requires work. Video content, on the other hand, requires minimal effort from the viewer, and it appeals to different types of learners.
  • Videos give credibility to your claims: You can tell potential customers that your product is easy to use, but they have no way of knowing if your claim is valid. However, with video, you can demonstrate your product and showcase why it’s so much better than the other products on the market.
  • Videos make complex topics understandable: Some concepts translate well to writing, but others don’t. Because videos add visual context to written descriptions, they can effectively teach viewers about even the most complicated topics.
  • Videos help establish trust: If you want to develop a relationship with customers from a distance, videos are one of the best ways to do so. You can add a face to your content and humanize your brand, which helps you build trust with viewers.

Video is the perfect bridge between in-person and digital communication. It takes the informative nature of written content and adds a visual element that makes viewers feel more connected with your brand.

How To Generate More Sales Using Different Types of Video Content Marketing

There are countless videos you can use to grow your business, and they each have a different place in the sales cycle. Here’s how you can generate more sales using the most popular video types.

Product Sales Video

Whether they’re individual consumers or businesses, most buyers won’t blindly purchase products without seeing what they look like or understanding how they work. They want to ensure that the product will fit their needs and do everything you claim it does. However, it’s not always feasible to try out products in person, especially when most of the sales cycle takes place digitally. Product sales or explainer videos are the next best alternative when you can’t bring your product to prospective customers.

Product sales videos aren’t just a great way to move existing leads through the sales cycle—they can also help you attract new leads altogether. You can post product videos on your social media profiles, video-sharing platforms, and web pages and use them to generate organic leads. For example, a random social media user could spot your product video on their feed, press play, and decide that they’re interested.

If you want your product video to increase sales, you need to produce high-quality content. Your video shouldn’t just showcase your product and its features; it should address common issues your buyers might have and demonstrate how your product can solve them.

Additionally, you should share your video across multiple platforms to ensure it reaches as many potential customers as possible. You can include product videos in email marketing campaigns, instruct your sales team to include them in personalized emails to leads, and embed them on your company website.

TV Commercial

Marketers have been using TV commercials to sell their products and services for decades. Even though streaming services have changed the way we consume media, commercials haven’t become obsolete, and there’s a reason—they work. Commercials are an excellent way to increase brand awareness in your area and reach a huge number of potential buyers.

That being said, not every TV commercial works. It’s unlikely that a forgettable, low-quality TV commercial will make an impact on sales, and it could even hurt your company’s reputation. For your TV commercial to be effective, you need to catch viewers’ attention and leave a lasting impression. These best practices can help you create a TV commercial that generates sales:

  • Be brief: Most ad slots are only 15 to 30 seconds long, so you don’t have much time to get your message across. Don’t try to stuff too much information into a short commercial.
  • Share critical information first: You only have a few seconds to capture someone’s attention. If you want viewers to keep watching, you should share the most important and impactful information immediately.
  • Focus on storytelling: When viewers can connect with a story, they are more likely to stay engaged and remember your message.
  • Stick to your message: You should have a goal for your commercial, and your message should fit that goal. Viewers won’t remember your message if you bombard them with information, so keep things simple.
  • Stay on brand: Branding is a key component of TV commercials. Your tone, content, and images should fit your brand image and stay consistent across different videos.

Once you create your TV commercial, you can broadcast it in your area and post it on digital platforms to get the most visibility.

Case Study or Testimonial Video

Case studies and testimonial videos may not be the first things that come to mind when you’re brainstorming how to increase sales, but they can have a surprising impact on your marketing strategy. Potential customers want to partner with brands they trust, and testimonials demonstrate that you’re a trustworthy business with a stellar track record. Buyers trust other buyers more than they trust the companies they purchase from, and testimonials let your satisfied customers do the talking.

Case studies and testimonial videos are most effective when they come across as authentic. If it looks like your past customer read off of a script listing generic positive phrases about your business, viewers won’t trust what they are saying. Additionally, effective testimonials should include a narrative element explaining how your products or services solved a common pain point for your customer. Viewers with the same issue will be able to see that your business delivered a solution to a similar customer.

Once you have a completed case study or testimonial video, you can incorporate it into your sales process. When interested leads ask if you have ever dealt with their problem before, your sales team can send over a testimonial from a similar customer. Additionally, you can include testimonials in sales emails, social media posts, and your website’s testimonial page. A good testimonial can shorten your sales cycle and increase your chances of making a sale, so don’t be shy about posting it on various channels.

Company Profile or Culture Video

Testimonials aren’t the only video type that helps build trust with buyers. Company profile and culture videos also give your potential customers the chance to connect with your brand. By sharing an overview of your company history, differentiating factors, main offerings, and values, you can demonstrate why leads should purchase from you and not your competitors.

Like testimonials, company profile videos should be authentic, personal, and informative. You should show leads why you’re a trustworthy brand and highlight the factors that make your company unique. Be concise and emphasize the points that would appeal most to your target audience.

A professional company profile video is helpful throughout the sales process. You can incorporate it into your website’s “About Us” page to give potential customers an impactful first impression of your brand. You might also link your video in your social media profiles so new visitors can quickly learn about your brand. Additionally, you can send your company profile to new leads in your pipeline to show them why they should move forward.

Though your company profile might not immediately lead to a purchase, it can help keep leads interested in your brand and increase your probability of making a sale down the line.

Partner With a Sales Video Expert and Watch Your Revenue Grow

Creating a corporate video isn’t easy. Creating a good corporate video that has a noticeable impact on your sales is even more challenging. You need the best equipment available and an experienced team to make sales videos that are worth the investment. If you need outside help producing impactful videos and incorporating them into your sales strategy, Abstrakt Studios can help.

Whether you need a corporate video, a TV commercial, a sales collateral video, or a completely custom creation for your business, our video production experts can create a finished product that will fit seamlessly into your sales process. We use a proven process and world-class equipment to create award-winning videos for companies across the St. Louis region.

Get in touch with our team today to learn how our video production studio can help you reach your sales goals by incorporating one-of-a-kind video content into your process.

What Is a Sizzle Reel?

You have a company profile video, a few testimonials, and an explainer video highlighting your best-selling product. You use these videos to educate viewers and share essential details that might inform their sales decision. But do you have any videos that are both educational and exciting?

If your current long-form videos aren’t generating the buzz you’re looking for, it may be time to invest in a sizzle reel. These short, fast-paced videos can elevate your product marketing strategy and add an element of excitement to your standard company profile.

Not sure if a sizzle reel is the right choice for your business? Keep reading to learn how you can use sizzle reels and discover how they can add a much-needed boost to your sales strategy.

Sizzle Reel Video Basics

Sizzle reels, otherwise known as highlight reels, promo videos, teasers, and demo reels, are promotional videos that succinctly showcase your product, service, or company as a whole. Unlike long product demos or in-depth company profiles, sizzle reels focus more on intriguing viewers than offering educational content. As a result, these short videos are an excellent way to reel in potential customers and get them interested in what you offer.

In the past, sizzle reels were most popular in the show business setting. When producers pitched an idea for a new TV show or movie, they included a sizzle reel to explain the plot, characters, and general concept. In an otherwise dry, logistics-oriented pitch meeting, sizzle reels showed executives why they should be excited about the project itself and not just its profit potential.

Now, sizzle reels have expanded beyond Hollywood and made their way into the B2B sales process. Their purpose is the same—they add interest to the buying process, which is typically transactional. Companies can use sizzle reels throughout the sales cycle to pitch their credibility, experience, and products in a compelling way.

Benefits of Sizzle Reel Videos for Businesses

If you already have a few corporate videos in your arsenal, you might be wondering if you also need a sizzle reel. The answer depends on your business, but sizzle reels are generally a worthwhile investment if you sell products or services to other companies and you want to boost your sales. Additionally, if your products are complicated or difficult to describe, sizzle reels can demonstrate how they work in a simple, effective way.

Sizzle reels also add a personal touch to your brand and leave a lasting impression on viewers. Your leads may not remember every detail about a long product demo video, but there’s a good chance they will remember your sizzle reel. Sizzle reels don’t overwhelm viewers with technical descriptions and forgettable visuals; they use eye-catching clips and minimal yet clever phrases that stick with the viewer.

The sales process can feel very detached and impersonal. You tell potential buyers why they should buy your product or services over email or phone call, and they move through most of the sales cycle without ever meeting your employees. Sizzle reels humanize your brand by showing potential customers that you’re passionate about your products and company. Plus, buyers only have to take a short amount of time out of their day—often less than a minute—to learn more about your business. The time commitment is minimal, but the impact is significant.

Best Practices When Creating a Sizzle Reel

Sizzle reels can be easy to produce and create because they often splice together existing footage and pair it with voiceovers and music. However, simply pairing clips with audio isn’t enough to make an effective sizzle reel. Here are a few best practices to keep in mind during the production process:

  • Focus on quality: Sizzle reels may move through footage quickly, but that doesn’t mean viewers won’t notice blurry camera work or muffled audio. Every element of your sizzle reel, including video clips, photos, voiceover audio, and background music, should be high quality. Additionally, you should choose each aspect carefully. Make sure your images and audio work together cohesively and set the same tone.
  • Know your audience: Different audiences have different preferences and expectations. For example, an average consumer may react well to humor and trendy music, whereas a corporate executive may prefer a toned-down sizzle reel. Keep your target audience in mind when putting together your video.
  • Take the “less is more” approach: Sizzle reels shouldn’t be dense or content-heavy. If you decide to use on-screen text or voiceover audio, you should keep them to a minimum. A few bold statistics or punchy phrases will resonate with viewers more than a long, generic paragraph about your business.
  • Include a call to action (CTA): If the primary purpose of your sizzle reel is to generate interest in a product, you should include details about the purchasing process at the end of the video. You can also incorporate CTAs in your social media posts, landing pages, or product pages that showcase your sizzle reel.

Even though companies can create their own sizzle reels, many choose to enlist the help of a video production studio. Experienced video producers know how to capture video content and shape it into a narrative that captivates viewers. Plus, editors use their expertise in post-production to ensure the audio, visuals, and text complement each other well in your sizzle reel.

How To Use Different Types of Sizzle Reel Videos

To get the most out of your sizzle reel, you need to use it strategically. A well-made reel only becomes powerful after it reaches the right audience. Here’s how you can use the most popular sizzle reel types to attract potential customers and grow your business.

Service Explainer Video or Product Sales Video

Sizzle reels do a great job generating interest in products of all types. A sizzle reel is a great way to pique potential customers’ interest, whether you sell products or services directly to consumers or corporate customers. Unlike lengthy explainer videos, which go into detail about your product or service, sizzle reels give viewers a small glimpse into what you offer and leave them wanting more.

Sizzle reels work particularly well in industries where showing is better than telling. For example, it’s difficult for commercial flooring businesses, construction companies, and painters to translate their services into words. It’s far more effective to show images or videos of the finished product and let the work speak for itself. Sizzle reels can move through clips of different projects and quickly demonstrate why your services are worth the money.

Your sizzle reel should only include the most impressive features and statistics related to your product or service. You don’t have time to give a complete overview, so your message needs to be pointed and purposeful. Think of your sizzle reel as a brief introduction—it should hit important points while leaving the less interesting details for later.

Once you produce your product or service sizzle reel, you can use it in a variety of ways, including:

  • Adding it to your website: If your website has product and service pages, you can elevate your written content by including your sizzle reel on its corresponding page. Users will stay on your site longer while they watch your video, and it might prompt them to share their information sooner than they otherwise would have.
  • Posting it on social media: Your sizzle reel can act as a short commercial on your social media profiles. Viewers will get an exciting introduction to your products and services and you’ll gain brand awareness across platforms.
  • Sending it to leads: Your B2B buyers may take a few weeks or months to commit to a sale. During that time, you should keep them engaged by sending them content. Your sizzle reel is the perfect content to send when a lead asks for more information about a specific offering.
  • During a sales pitch: Leads may need one final push before they decide to purchase your product or sign a service contract. Including your sizzle reel at the beginning of your sales presentation could get you the enthusiastic reaction you’re looking for.

Are you looking to add a little excitement to your video marketing strategy? Partner with Abstrakt Studios for a sizzle reel that shines.

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Company Video

The sales process revolves around trust. Customers need to trust your brand, products, claims, and quality before agreeing to make a big purchase. It can be challenging to build a trusting relationship over the phone or email, but videos can help put a face behind your brand.

Unlike traditional company videos, which often showcase interviews with key personnel and an in-depth look into your company history, a company sizzle reel pairs minimal (if any) voiceover audio with short bursts of footage. You might choose to include footage of your employees in their day-to-day roles, company outings, charity events, or any other occasion that represents your business and its mission. Sizzle reels are not meant to act as a visual company brochure; instead, they should help viewers forge an emotional connection with your brand.

Like a product or service sizzle reel, company reels can play a role during different stages of the sales cycle. You can use your sizzle reel as a first introduction to your company by attaching it to email blasts or social media posts. Additionally, company sizzle reels can serve as a supporting element on your website’s “About Us” page. No matter how you choose to use your company sizzle reel, it can help you gain brand recognition and generate more potential customers for your company.

Need an Exciting Corporate Video for Your Business?

Sizzle reels, when executed well, can have a significant impact on your marketing strategy as a whole. They add intrigue and excitement to a process that’s often dry and help viewers connect with your company. Additionally, because sizzle reels are short and minimal, they often require less time and effort to produce than other corporate videos.

Do you need a video production partner in St. Louis to help you plan and produce your next sizzle reel? Look no further than Abstrakt Studios. We have extensive experience creating sizzle reels for our partners and even our own company, and we use a proven process that yields the best results.

Get in touch today to learn more about our video production process or schedule a discovery meeting with our team.

How To Enhance the B2B Buyer’s Journey With Video

In the marketing world lately, we’ve heard plenty of talk about how the B2B buyer’s journey is evolving. As people learn to better navigate digital spaces and the line between B2C and B2B buyer preferences rapidly grows thinner, yesterday’s strategies are no longer enough to meet today’s sales goals.

But what does that mean for video? How can you use video to not only give prospects what they’re looking for, but also improve the customer experience and captivate your customers when it matters most?

What Is the B2B Buyer’s Journey?

When we talk about the B2B buyer’s journey, we’re describing the process a person (or a team of people) follows to discover, assess, and ultimately purchase a product or service on behalf of a business. If you sell a product or service to businesses, your customers are already following a buyer’s journey, whether you’ve defined it or not.

If you’ve already outlined the optimal buyer’s journey for prospective customers, you’re a step ahead. You may have even gone so far as to leverage marketing tactics to improve that journey. If you haven’t yet defined the buyer’s journey for your product or service, there’s never been a better time than today.

Why? It’s estimated that 67% of the buyer’s journey now happens digitally, and at the current trajectory, that number is poised to rise going into 2022 and beyond. If less than half of your current marketing strategies are happening online, your buyer’s journey is underserving prospective customers and you’re probably losing some of them along the way. Fortunately, video provides one of the most accessible entry points into digitizing the sales experience while keeping customers coming back for more.

The 5 Stages of the B2B Buyer’s Journey

The B2B buying process is relatively straightforward and can be broken down into five fundamental stages that may overlap at times. The good news is that strategic video content can keep buyers moving down the pipeline at each stage.

1. Recognizing a Problem or Need

The B2B buyer’s journey starts when someone recognizes their business is encountering a problem or has an unfulfilled need. Often, that problem or need may exist for an extended period of time before someone realizes it’s worth doing something about it. Even then, the people who initially recognize the problem or need may have to help others understand the scope or importance of the issue before they can do anything about it.

It’s also worth noting that the recognition stage of the buyer’s journey isn’t always internally driven. A business may realize that one of their competitors or another company is doing something differently and recognize that they need to follow suit if they aim to stay competitive.

How Video Can Help

Case study videos can kickstart the buyer’s journey by helping businesses quickly recognize an unfulfilled need or common problem that your business commonly solves. These videos can also help prospective customers sway others on their team by giving them insight into the root problems at hand. They open people’s eyes to the possibility of a better way and show what other businesses are doing about common problems. Case study videos are also easily shareable and provide an ideal format for highlighting common problems or needs early on in the buyer’s journey.

2. Evaluating Potential Solutions

After recognizing a problem or need, B2B buyers need to determine what they can do about it. At this stage, buyers know what they’re trying to solve, but they still may need to convince other stakeholders why it’s worth solving. Next, they have to figure out what the options are for solving it.

The evaluation stage is often a crossroads for businesses. After identifying the problem or need, potential buyers test the waters to get an idea of how easily they can solve it. If the options are cost prohibitive or not worth the time, they may choose to do nothing about it, maintain the status quo, or deal with it later.

Ideally, businesses evaluate potential solutions and discover options that introduce the possibility of a return on investment or improved efficiency. When that happens, they move into the next phase of the buyer’s journey. When it doesn’t, you lose a potential customer.

How Video Can Help

At this stage, the most critical things on a buyer’s mind are options and cost. Buyers first want to know what avenues are worth exploring, and they want to know how much it’s going to cost. Buyers just want to know if the initiative is worth pursuing any further, and you can tailor video messaging to those priorities for buyers at this stage.

If you want to target customers at the evaluation stage, your video can provide a quick overview of the available options on the market and how your product or service stacks up to alternatives. In this way, you’re helping prospective buyers research while simultaneously showing them how your approach compares to other options.

3. Defining the Ideal Solution

Once buyers have gathered enough information to decide that a solution is worth pursuing, they also have the insight to start developing a vision for what they believe that solution should look like. Informed by research, they can begin developing a roadmap or checklist of what they require to effectively solve the problem or address a need.

Some key considerations include:

  • Cost and budget
  • Product/service requirements
  • Unique company needs

How Video Can Help

During this stage, buyers are beginning to envision what the next steps will look like. Animated video provides a compelling way to step into the shoes of the buyer by sharing a hypothetical perspective of what to expect next if they partner with your business. A visionary video detailing next steps doesn’t just help prospective buyers clarify their own expectations—it also helps them understand if your approach aligns with what they’re looking for.

4. Vetting Prospective Partners

Depending on the scope of the investment and the company’s administrative processes, the vetting process looks different for just about every purchase. For long-term business partnerships, companies may spend months to a year or more talking with potential partners. For inexpensive office supplies, the vetting process may be conducted in less than an hour. That’s why it’s critical to define the average vetting period for your customer base. The longer the vetting process, the more information and content you need to provide customers to move them forward while keeping your brand top of mind.

How Video Can Help

During the vetting process, buyers ultimately compare how your business stands up to the competition and alternative options. That’s why one of the best video strategies at this stage is creating a differentiator video that clarifies what sets you apart from your competitors. This information helps buyers understand why they would choose you over other partners on their list.

5. Making a Buying Decision

During the vetting process, buyers ultimately compare how your business stands up to the competition and alternative options. That’s why one of the best video strategies at this stage is creating a differentiator video that clarifies what sets you apart from your competitors. This information helps buyers understand why they would choose you over other partners on their list.

How Video Can Help

The first 30 days of any business partnership are arguably the most important. Onboarding videos can help you get the most out of those 30 days while making it easy to set the foundation for the rest of the business relationship or product lifecycle. The onboarding process goes noticeably smoother when partners know what to expect, when to expect it, and how the broader process works. Videos provide an easily digestible way to convey this information. At the same time, onboarding videos help streamline the process because partners can work through the videos at their own pace.

Need some help integrating video into your marketing strategies? Abstrakt Studios has the expertise of a dedicated video team paired with the capabilities of the nation’s fastest-growing marketing company.

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Understanding B2B Research Preferences

It’s important to remember that for B2B buyer’s the buying journey is never as defined or clean cut as the steps outlined above. Buyers rarely think of themselves as going from one step to the next. Instead, the buying process is better understood as an organic series of tasks buyers follow to solve business problems and inefficiencies.

It’s helpful to not think of the journey exclusively as a process but as all the tasks a prospect needs to do in order to become a customer. Those tasks are going to look different for every customer, but when you create content—especially video content—that provides the information buyers are looking for when they need it, you make it easier for them to complete those tasks. When you make customers’ lives a little easier before they’re even customers, they’ll naturally want to partner with your business when they’re ready to make a buying decision.

Video provides a quick, accessible format to guide customers at every step of the buyer’s journey and even has the potential to make the process more enjoyable. After all, 69% of people would rather watch videos than read text when learning about a new product or service. If you aren’t using video to showcase your product or service, you’re doing your business a disservice.

Let’s Create Your Next Business Video!

We hope this post gives you a better understanding of where your customers are coming from and how you can integrate video strategies into your broader marketing toolbox to bring in more business. It may have even inspired your next brilliant video idea. When you’re ready to get that next video started, reach out to the team at Abstrakt Studios with your goals, and we’ll help you get your project underway!

The Difference Between B2B and B2C Marketing Strategies for Videos

If you’re trying to find ways to ramp up your marketing strategy, you’ve probably already considered video marketing. After all, over the past few years, many major publications have proclaimed that videos are the future of content marketing.

Videos are an effective and engaging way to share information about your business, regardless of your buyer. However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t keep your audience in mind when embarking on a video marketing journey. Buyers in the business world have different expectations than your average consumer and vice versa. Choosing the wrong marketing strategy could alienate your ideal clients and do more harm than good.

Do you want to create the best marketing video possible for your target audience? Learn the difference between B2B and B2C video strategies and discover how a good video production studio can help you send the right message.

What Are Marketing Videos?

Any video that a business uses to promote its products, services, or brand is a marketing video. You can use marketing videos in various ways, including TV commercials, online ads, social media posts, website content, and more. Similar to written content, videos can be informational or promotional, and you can repurpose them across channels.

There are two categories of marketing videos for businesses: B2B and B2C. While companies use both to boost sales and spread brand awareness, these videos target different audiences.

B2B Marketing Videos

Companies that sell their products or services to other businesses engage in B2B or business-to-business marketing. Instead of targeting individual consumers, these companies target key decision-makers at other organizations. B2B sales are typically more involved than business-to-consumer (B2C) sales because multiple people participate in the decision-making process.

B2B businesses often use marketing videos during the sales cycle to share information about their products and services, highlight their differentiators, and explain their company mission. Marketers can share B2B videos directly with prospective customers or post them on company websites, social media platforms, and video-sharing sites.

B2C Marketing Videos

Whereas B2B companies sell to other businesses, B2C companies sell their products or services to consumers. The B2C sales cycle tends to be much shorter than B2B, so B2C marketers have less time to make an impression on consumers. As a result, they focus on creating brand recognition and appealing to consumers’ emotions.

Because time is limited during the B2C sales cycle, B2C marketing videos are usually sales-driven. When targeting consumers, marketers often appeal to a wide audience using broad messaging. Additionally, they share videos on wide-reaching platforms, such as social media, streaming platforms, and TV channels.

Key Differences Between B2B and B2C Marketing Videos

Now that you know how marketers use B2C and B2B marketing videos to attract different buyers, it’s time to dive into the major differences between the two. In addition to their audience, B2B and B2C videos also differ in tone, length, intent, and sharing platform.

Tone

When you’re chatting with your coworkers or manager at the office, do you use the same language you use with friends and family outside of work? Probably not—most of us draw a clear boundary between our corporate and personal life. Marketers use the same approach; they tend to use a more professional tone when targeting corporate audiences and a more personal tone toward the average consumer.

B2C marketers need to catch consumers’ attention quickly, and they often do so by sharing light-hearted, entertaining content. B2B marketers, on the other hand, may have a few weeks or months to attract a buyer. During this time, their goal is to build trust with the future customer, position their business as an industry leader, and convey the value a partnership would bring. Therefore, B2B video content is usually more authoritative and distanced than B2C content.

Business purchases are transactional. Executives weigh the pros and cons of their purchase before moving forward. Very few business owners will make a hasty decision when buying 50 new laptops for their employees, a $30,000 solar panel system, or a new roof for their 5,000-square-foot warehouse. Therefore, you’re unlikely to secure a quick sale by appealing to B2B buyers with witty or pushy content.

Personal purchases can be transactional, but they’re often emotional as well. If your product can solve an annoying problem consumers face, they might choose to go out and purchase it after viewing one promotional video. Additionally, consumers often choose to buy products from brands that have similar values to theirs, such as sustainability or philanthropy. By positioning your company as like-minded and friendly, you can appeal to consumers’ emotions and convince them to choose your products over a competitor’s.

Length

If you’re a B2C business, your videos can easily get lost in the sea of other advertisements and social media posts that your target customers see every day. If you want viewers to watch your entire video and stay engaged the whole time, your content needs to be concise and engaging. Depending on your message and the platform you’re sharing your B2C video on, you should try to keep your content between 15 seconds and two minutes long.

B2B businesses have more leeway with their content length. Corporate buyers tend to be extra thorough when making expensive purchases, and they want to make sure they’re choosing the right company for the job. As a result, they’re more likely to watch long, detailed product or service explainer videos. However, just because B2B customers are willing to spend extra time on your videos, it doesn’t mean you should make your videos excessively long. You can get a lot of information across in a few minutes, and you have a better chance of keeping your potential buyer engaged.

Intent

Most B2C videos have the same intention—to promote a product or service. Occasionally, businesses will release B2C videos that highlight their company values or demonstrate how to use a product, but the end goal of most videos is to increase the likelihood of a sale.

You can also use B2B videos to get closer to a sale, but not every B2B video is promotional. During the early stages of the buying journey, your potential customers want to learn more about your business before considering a sale. Instead of sending them a promotional video, you can send them a company video highlighting your staff, core offerings, and company values. Additionally, you might send a case study video highlighting a past success story. Neither of these videos intends to elicit a sale; instead, both help you build trust.

Sharing Platform

Consumers and B2B buyers use different platforms to search for products and services. Corporate buyers tend to use professional platforms like LinkedIn, whereas individuals frequent platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook. As a result, B2C and B2B companies often post their videos on different platforms to attract their ideal audiences.

Marketers also share B2C and B2B videos in different ways. B2B companies often know their potential buyers, which allows them to send personalized messages and tailored video content. You may only have a dozen leads in the buying funnel at any given time as a B2B company. This allows you to focus your efforts on sending each one different video content that fits their needs. Consumer-facing companies typically can’t personalize their approach for specific individuals, so they use large video-sharing platforms to attract a large audience.

Why Is It Important To Consider the Similarities and Differences Between B2B and B2C Videos?

If you’re considering adding video marketing to your sales strategy, you might be wondering: Does my strategy really matter? After all, B2B and B2C buyers are the same people, just in different settings. Can a few changes to your video production strategy make a significant impact on your video’s success? The answer is yes.

The differences between B2B and B2C videos may not seem substantial, but they can completely change how your message resonates with your target audience. A long video with a professional tone may fall completely flat with consumers, but it could help you close your next major deal with a B2B buyer. Similarly, sending a B2B buyer a funny promotional video early in the sales cycle could ruin your chances of a future sale. Your strategy matters, and a good video production studio can help you execute the perfect video.

Choose the Best Video Production Studio for Your Marketing Video

When choosing a video production studio for your marketing video, it’s crucial to choose a partner with experience in your space. If your video production partner specializes in B2B videos, but you need a B2C video, you might not get the results you’re hoping for. It takes an experienced, professional studio to create effective marketing videos for your buyers, whether they’re individuals or entire businesses.

At Abstrakt Studios, we don’t limit ourselves based on video type. Though we love to cut our teeth designing and producing B2B videos, we also have the team and tools to make award-winning B2C video content. Whether you need a corporate video for your B2B audience, a TV commercial for B2C buyers, or a custom video for either group, Abstrakt Studios can help. We have clients in various industries within the B2C and B2B markets, and they can attest that our video production services are unmatched.

If you’re looking for a video production company in St. Louis that can handle any marketing video, look no further than Abstrakt Studios. Schedule a discovery meeting today and take the first step in bringing your video idea to life.

What To Look for in a Video Production House in St. Louis

While you can record decent audio and video on an iPhone in your office or basement, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you should. Maximizing your marketing investments and bringing your visions to life through video requires state-of-the-art technology, experienced production specialists, and creative storytelling.

There are several video production houses in St. Louis to choose from, ranging from independent basement production areas to large-scale studios. Regardless of the size and capabilities of the production company, one thing should set the videos that deliver your message apart from the generic, boring, and cookie-cutter—collaboration.

Finding a studio team that can deliver on all of your technical and visual requirements shouldn’t be tricky. The ideal video partner takes the time to learn your corporate culture, your goals, and your messaging and encapsulates them into compelling visual messaging.

Continue reading to learn more about the elements that help set apart a great video production house that enables you to stand out in a crowded industry from the ones that are happy to charge you to get lost somewhere in the middle.

They’ve Developed a Proven, Reliable Process

No matter where you are in the creative journey, from brainstorming to fully scripted, you want to find a partner that develops an easy-to-follow process that helps flesh out all of your ideas and make them a reality.

A studio with a reliable, repeatable process also allows you to join them during any part of your video undertaking. Whether you’re coming to them with just a kernel of an idea or a detailed outline, they should be able to join your team seamlessly and offer their expertise to refine and enhance your videos.

Creative Discovery

While you can’t harness the creative process, you can trace steps that have proven fruitful in the past. During the creative discovery phase, the ideal partner should ensure that you are both working toward the same goal and that your ideas are realistic for your budget and timeline and effective toward reaching your goals.

  • Collaboration helps define vital elements of your project, such as:
    What is the goal of your project, and how do you plan to use your video?
    Are you trying to build awareness of your brand? Are you looking to sell the culture of your organization to potential clients or employees? Do you believe in the creed “There’s no such thing as bad publicity” and want to get people talking? This is vital information to gather as early as possible.
  • Who is your target audience, and what tone are you looking to set?
    Purple space dinosaurs shooting fireballs might not be the most effective visuals for a funeral home but might click with other demographics. Successful videos not only reach your targets but also speak to them on a personal level. Work with a production studio that helps you set a tone that connects you to your audience.
  • How are you planning to use the video?
    TV commercials and collateral videos often take drastically different approaches and have varying lengths. The right production staff ensures your video fits your needs and time requirements.

Preproduction and Planning

Once you’ve settled on the creative direction of your video production, you need to plan how you’ll execute your ideas. Preproduction and planning go far beyond the video itself. High-quality production houses in St. Louis can guide you through several tasks, including:

  • Budgeting
  • Scheduling
  • Casting
  • Prop, equipment, and wardrobe procurement
  • Location scouting
  • Scripting and storyboarding
  • Video design and development

Production

After completing the prep work and cameras are ready to roll, your production studio staff should take care of your video production. Whether it’s voiceover work, lighting, capturing audio or video, direction, or animation, all you should have to do is enjoy the process.

Post-Production

If production is unwrapping and opening your favorite new toy on your birthday, post-production is the “some assembly required” phase your parents went through for you. Once production is complete, the studio team takes all the footage and audio and crafts your custom video. A studio that sets itself apart from the competition allows you to collaborate and take a hands-on approach during this step if you want to. If you prefer to take a back seat, the studio should also accommodate that.

Watch and Share

After all the collaboration, hard work, and editing is done, all that’s left to do is enjoy your video and present it to the world. A comprehensive studio has the capabilities to encode your video for various media forms, deliver your video in a variety of formats, and publish it on YouTube and other social media outlets.

Offer a Variety of Video Production Services and Capabilities

When you’re searching for a video production house in St. Louis, consider the type of services and videos they offer. Even if your plan is for a one-off video, a successful production experience may inspire you to create more. Working with a partner that provides a wide range of video styles keeps your options open and helps you avoid going through the searching process again.

With more and more B2B lead generation and sales efforts moving online, you want to have flexibility in your video services to reach as many potential customers as possible. Partnering with an accomplished video studio that offers various customizable video services allows you to take marketing campaigns from the internet to television or any other platform you choose.

Corporate Videos

You want the values and culture of your business to shine through in a corporate video, no matter what purpose it’s meant to serve. Whether you’re trying to draw the interest of potential employees or feature an essential service or product, the video needs to showcase your company. Look for a studio that offers a range of corporate video options, such as:

  • Company or employee profiles
  • Product and service features
  • “Why us?” videos
  • Case studies
  • Client testimonials

TV Commercials

TV commercials require more than stimulating visuals and engaging copy. Working with a studio that has the knowledge to perform market and competitive analysis to create a unique selling proposition for your spot is invaluable.

When a studio team combines creativity, research, and strategy into their process, you end up with a commercial that conveys your message clearly and effectively. Engaging commercials reach your targets and present new business opportunities for your sales team to convert into closed deals.

Collateral

Video marketing requires two specific elements: creativity and strategy. No matter how great the products or services you’re highlighting are, a poorly executed B2B sales video won’t inspire sales. Combining the right strategy and tone with a creative presentation helps ensure you reach the right audience and encourage them to move along in the sales cycle.

Specialized Services in and out of the Studio

Regardless of how small or grand your video idea is initially, the creative process can lead you anywhere. Just like you want to run with a great idea wherever it takes you, you need a studio that can follow you on the journey.

On-Location Shooting

Look for a video production house that is willing to meet your needs anywhere, any time. If you know in your heart an on-location spot is perfect for your video, don’t let a team’s inability to meet you there keep you from seeing your idea through.

Drone Footage

Want to highlight your company’s new facilities? Maybe you’re looking to show off a construction project your firm recently completed? Whatever the reason you wish to use awe-inspiring aerial footage may be, look for a production team with the capabilities and experience to successfully deliver overhead shots for your video.

Animation

One of the things people love about animated videos is their ability to bring to life things that humans simply can’t do in the real world. They create a fun, lighthearted environment that can help make complex processes and highly detailed content more digestible for viewers.

A production house with in-house animators provides significant time and money savings compared to bringing in a third-party source. If you want to showcase the ideal customer journey or put an in-house process in the spotlight, 2D and 3D animation videos are the perfect solutions to inform and engage viewers without the risk of losing their attention.

Equipment

State-of-the-art technology helps create state-of-the-art videos. Studios that use industry-leading video tools ultimately deliver a superior look and production value. When you’re looking for the optimal studio experience in St. Louis, look for a team that uses top-of-the-line:

  • Audio equipment
  • Cameras
  • Gimbals
  • Pro Tools
  • Instruments and musicians for original scores and music

Ready To Bring Your Visions to Video With a State-of-the-Art Studio in St. Louis? Welcome to Abstrakt Studios

For unmatched service levels, production, creativity, and strategy for marketing videos, Abstrakt Studios is your one-stop production house. We’ve helped our valued clients grow their business and achieve greater reach following our proven process to deliver the highest-quality marketing videos available.

Whether you’re looking for a partner that delivers award-winning TV commercials or custom recruitment videos, we take the time to learn your goals to produce videos that inspire employees, clients, and potential clientele. Schedule a discovery meeting today.

The Value of Video Marketing – Important Statistics for 2021

Video combines two things that catch people’s attention: sound and movement. Here is why that works, how it’s effective, and how Abstrakt Studios can seamlessly integrate it into your marketing strategy.

Video Marketing Is a Great Tool To Promote Your Business

Video has become the chosen medium for communication in today’s modern world. Look anywhere and you’ll see video dominating the culture—nowhere is this more evident than online. Video is engaging, it fills the senses, it tugs at the heartstrings, it can be hilariously funny, and it can be packaged into an easily consumable and shareable two minutes or less.

Videos are organic and refined and when well-planned and professionally produced, can be anything to any business. It is this ability to be customized that makes it such a versatile marketing tool. When a company needs to demonstrate products, showcase corporate culture, or honor a key employee as they retire, video is an obvious and cost-effective choice.

Why is it so effective? This blog will explore the science and statistics behind video marketing, how it’s used effectively, and our process for developing impactful video marketing assets.

Video Marketing – The Psychology

The human brain is wired to respond to visuals differently than text—it’s easier for people to understand and process visual language. With it being 2021, most adults have grown up with TV and movies, meaning information travels easier when it’s communicated through a video.

People process images and visuals 60,000 times faster than text, and this is why many people can describe nuanced details in movies and TV shows but struggle to recall information they read online or from a book. From a marketing perspective, a captivating, impactful, concise video is the perfect medium to convey information and make it stick.

Video Marketing – The Statistics

Video is a popular tool among video marketers. The below research is based on 2020 numbers, so they may be a bit skewed by the effects of the pandemic, but the overwhelming message in the numbers shows that professional business marketing videos are a prevalent tool for today’s marketers.

Science

  • The average viewer remembers 95% of a message when it’s presented in video form as opposed to only 10% of content that’s read as text on a page.
  • People are twice as likely to share video content with their friends than any other type of content.
  • 84% of viewers say their buying decision for a product or service was influenced by branded videos.
  • 66% of audiences say they would prefer a short video to explain a complex subject or provide a product demonstration over text or infographics.

The ROI of Video Marketing

  • 95% of marketers say video marketing has improved understanding of their products and services.
  • 80% of marketers say that professional videos have directly increased sales.
  • 87% of video marketers say video has increased traffic on their website.

The Value of Video Marketing

  • 85% of businesses used some form of video as a marketing tool in 2020.
  • 92% of marketers say that video is the centerpiece of their marketing strategy.
  • 99% of companies that use video marketing say they will continue to use video in 2021.

Video Is a Great Addition to Any Marketing Strategy

The statistics and science show that video works—the next step is to decide how you are going to use it within your greater marketing strategy. Businesses use video for their YouTube channel as the centerpiece of landing pages, email marketing, and much more. What starts with exposure leads to increased sales and more conversions. Here are some more ways that video marketing is useful and some tips for increasing its effectiveness.

Video Keeps Users on Web Pages
It’s easy to scan a webpage that is filled with nothing but text, white space, and pictures, but when you include a video as another element, browsers who have even a slight interest will watch it to get an idea of what the page is about.

A well-crafted video will inspire the reader to stay longer on the page and learn more about the product or service. Video is more entertaining than reading text, and they are more apt to retain information from the video.

Video Boosts SEO
Search engine optimization (SEO) is improving the combination of text, pictures, and video on a webpage that influences search results and ranks your webpage against other pages that have similar content. Google generally favors web pages that provide the most benefit to someone entering a search.

Web pages that feature video elements heavily influence these search results, and Google can even catalog relevant keywords in a video. This is important because web traffic and click-through rates are also major Google ranking factors, and the more time someone spends on your site and heads to different pages, the more relevant Google considers your page to be.

Video Directs People to Your Site
Most modern businesses that have mature marketing strategies all have channels on YouTube and Vimeo. When they use these platforms to store and showcase their high-quality video content, viewers are influenced to see more and even visit the company’s website.

Video Is Easily Shareable
Some of the best business videos are ones that contain tips, tricks, and hacks, and this is the kind of content that gets shared most often on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

This kind of exposure is priceless, and even if the video only mentions your products or services, viewers will remember what they saw, and in their mind, your brand will always be congruent with cleverness.

Ready To Start? A Professional Video Partner Is Your First Step

Stanley Kubrick once said, “If it can be written or thought, it can be filmed.” The truth is, it’s pretty easy to take your ideas and your vision and transform them into impactful business videos—as long as you have the right video production partner.

At Abstrakt Studios, our goal is to exceed our clients’ expectations. We create professional video content that grows your brand and business through:

We make the video process simple. After years of trial and error, our process breathes life into your vision and delivers the professionally produced video marketing you expect.

Step 1: Creative Discovery
Behind every marketing video, there is a problem to solve or a message to convey. We start by setting clear, measurable goals, establishing the target audience, and defining how the finished video will be used.

This is where we familiarize ourselves with your company and your culture. In order to represent your company the way you want it portrayed, we delve deeper into your vision for the video, so your goals are closely tied to a finished product that meets the needs of your audience.

Step 2: Preproduction
Nothing is more effective than an original, relatable story, and our preproduction and planning process is where we start to build that narrative. Depending on the project, preproduction usually includes:

  • Budgeting
  • Scheduling
  • Storyboarding
  • Scripting
  • Location scouting
  • Competitive video analysis
  • Equipment and prop rentals
  • Casting
  • Q&A writing
  • Motion design direction
  • White space video development

Preproduction is where we take your vision and apply our expertise, so we meet and exceed your expectations.

Step 3: Production
Once everything is in place and the video has been planned from beginning to end, it’s time to execute. Our full-service production team takes care of every aspect, including:

  • Location shooting
  • Direction
  • Lighting
  • Audio capture
  • Video capture
  • Animation
  • Voiceover recording

We incorporate our clients as much as possible during production. Not only do they provide immediate feedback, but they also get a chance to participate and be represented in the final product.

Step 4: Post-Production
Once the parts of the video are produced, the next step is to build your video together and refine it. This process usually includes:

  • Editing
  • Grading
  • Music
  • Sound effects
  • Color correction
  • Rough/final cuts

Post-production is another important step that incorporates supervised client review sessions allowing clients to be as hands-on (or hands-off) as they want to be. Client review is another way Abstrakt Studios accomplishes its mission to top client expectations.

Step 5: Sit Back and Watch

At the end of this process, you’re left with a professionally produced, expertly crafted video masterpiece that tells a compelling story and conveys your unique message. From our experience, rarely does it end here. Once our clients have seen their video, they are often inspired to start discussing their next video. Depending on the content, finished videos have a long shelf life. This means they can be used for various purposes for years before they need to be updated and reshot.

So, are you ready to start your video? Abstrakt Studios is a professional partner that will take your exact vision and turn it into a video that can be the centerpiece of your marketing strategy.

Reach out to us today to start a conversation about how our art translates to your business success.

How Video Captures Your Company Culture

Great company culture videos truly speak from the heart. They take your people, your milestones, and your successes and package them into bite-size helpings that embody who you are, what you do, where your passion comes from, and why.

Effective Video Is a Showcase for Your Company

Video is on the rise. Consumers are watching videos online like never before, and businesses of all sizes are unlocking the marketing power of video.

One not-so-secret secret about these business videos is that they are the perfect way to present your company to others by describing your products and services and giving people a glimpse of the company you have built. Company culture is difficult to describe through basic text. You can say you are an awesome company all you want, but nothing has an impact like a perfectly crafted video.

This blog will take a look at what a company culture video is, how they can be used, and why partnering with a professional video studio is a cost-effective way to create a video asset that will serve your company for a very long time.

What Company Culture Videos Seek To Accomplish

While it’s simple to explain what you do or make, it’s not as simple to describe who you are. A well-crafted video can distill an emotion or a thought into a two-minute experience that leaves the viewer with the notion that your company is one they would be proud to work for or with. Here is who a company culture video can speak to:

Tomorrow’s Leaders

When every hire is important, you want to make sure your company culture meshes with an applicant’s personality and style. In the past, the only way to know this for sure was after they were hired. Through video, you can easily show them what working for you is like and your biggest accomplishments.

If they are smart and proactive, potential employees will research your company, and perhaps the most important part of that research is seeing how your company is depicted through culture videos. Once employees are hired, customized onboarding videos can show and tell them everything they need to know about their new career.

Everyone Else

Video can speak volumes about who your company is. “Who” is correct in this instance because any group of people brought together through a common goal develops a culture and a group personality all its own.

Viewers are able to see current employees working in their environments and how the company appreciates and respects their customers. These videos also confirm the notion that your company is invested in customers’ success. Culture videos are instrumental to current and potential customers when they are looking to start or continue a relationship with your company.

How To Present Your Company Culture Through Video

Businesses aren’t static—they move and think, and they problem-solve. They celebrate successes and honor their employees, and all of this can be captured and conveyed through video. A company culture video is more than a simple snapshot. While the content may speak about one or two topics and last no more than two or three minutes, the video immerses the viewer in your culture and leaves them with a clear picture of your values and goals.

Record Special Events

Culture videos document what your company does when it isn’t doing what it normally does. This means company picnics, softball games, paintball fights, trivia nights, karaoke, ax throwing, sports events, bowling parties, and happy hours. It also means charitable contributions, volunteer work, and pro-bono activities like visiting schools or entertaining tours through your facilities.

What your company does outside of the office says a lot about how it approaches business relationships and how it treats its employees. This can often define why a customer would choose your company over another.

Peek Behind the Curtain

Company culture videos don’t always need a bigger purpose. Something as external as the St. Louis Blues winning the Stanley Cup Final and every employee wearing their finest Blues gear is a great show of unity for a common cause. It is also an opportunity to be a little silly and present your company not as a stuffy collection of hallways but as a living, breathing entity … that loves hockey.

This may seem like a small moment, but it’s times like these that give potential customers and employees a powerful glimpse of the togetherness and unity within your organization.

Career Spotlights

Employees are passionate about their jobs. That is why one of the best ice-breaker topics is “What do you do for a living?” Ask an employee to explain what they do, and you will most likely get a 30-minute explanation of every nuance and detail. Ask them why they are proud to work where they do, and the response they give will most likely be heartfelt and emotional.

Your employees have a deep connection between their jobs and their role within the company, and when they are proud of what they do and who they do it for, it provides a great opportunity to capture that and showcase it.

Employee Spotlights

Building on the pride employees have for their jobs, when someone has a major achievement, like winning a major industry award, passing a career milestone, or retiring after many years with the company, it’s always a great idea to commemorate these achievements with an interview video. Employee spotlights are great ways to recognize these key individuals.

Highlight Social Responsibility

Modern workplaces are changing, which means company cultures must also change to embrace new ways of thinking and different lifestyles. Culture videos help set the tone and define how your company approaches these social issues, something that is incredibly important in today’s society.

Celebrate Client Successes

There are fewer things more powerful than seeing the physical results of hard work. This pride in accomplishment is positive motivation not only for the employees who work with a certain client, but also the client themselves. Business relationships are built on trust and shared outcomes, and culture videos are an important tool that helps align client expectations with your abilities.

Remember that client successes go both ways. Happy clients who believe in your company, share your vision, and feel as if you work miracles are typically happy to lend their voice and image to a success story video. They would want the same from their customers.

Memorialize Important Milestones

All businesses have goals. They may be metric-based goals such as customers served, financial goals such as higher profit margin, or even territorial goals like complete market domination of Southern Minnesota. Goals are meant to be achieved, and when they are, a great way to memorialize them is with a video.

Internally, it recognizes the hard work that everyone did to get there. Externally, it’s evidence that your company is one that works hard to achieve success. Depending on the goal, these videos also serve as explainer videos that describe a process or illustrate the development of a new product.

Make a Statement

Most companies have a mission statement or a code of ethics. Lots of thought goes into these values, and employee and executive compensation may be based on how well the employee adheres to them.

While these values are usually found on the website, a more impactful way to present them is through a custom culture video. Video allows you to set the tone and cadence precisely so your mission statement and code of ethics are crystal clear to viewers.

Explain the Future

As businesses grow, they change. New employees, new goals, and new challenges come with growth. While the brain trust of the company steers everyone through smooth and rough waters, culture videos are important tools to provide transparency to internal and external stakeholders during these times.

The Elements of a Great Company Culture Video

What makes a great video? For your video marketing to have the impact you want, it needs to fulfill certain criteria. Here are some proven elements of effective company culture videos:

  • Showcase real people doing real things.
  • Let the viewer visit your buildings.
  • Show processes from beginning to end.
  • Explain why you are unique.
  • Tell a story.
  • Include input from your employees.
  • Show enthusiasm.
  • Describe your advantages.
  • Have fun.
  • Don’t oversell.
  • Be genuine.

Remember that this video, and all others like it, acts as a resume for your company. With this mindset, it’s simple to produce content that is simple, fun, and informative.

Abstrakt Studios Delivers Customized Company Culture Video Content

Whether your company is buttoned-down, traditional, quirky, or just plain wild, company culture videos are a smart way to let your distinct flag fly. Through the power and customizability of video, Abstrakt Studios knows exactly how to showcase your people, your mission, your processes, your products, and your culture. With a series of cohesive, fun, informative business videos, applicants will know more about your company, employees will feel pride about their accomplishments, and customers will understand what makes your company tick.

For more information about Abstrakt Studios and what we can do, from corporate video toTV commercials, reach out to us today!

5 Effective B2B Video Strategies To Help You Get Started

Great company culture videos truly speak from the heart. They take your people, your milestones, and your successes and package them into bite-size helpings that embody who you are, what you do, where your passion comes from, and why.

What Company Culture Videos Seek to Accomplish

While it is simple to explain what you do or make, it is not as simple to describe who you are. A well-crafted video can distill an emotion or a thought into a two-minute experience that leaves the viewer with the notion that your company is one they would be proud to work for or with. Here is who a company culture video can speak to:

Represent Your Company to Tomorrow’s Leaders

When every hire is important, you want to make sure your company culture meshes with an applicant’s personality and style. In the past, the only way to know this for sure was after they were hired. Through video, you can easily show them what working for you is like and your biggest accomplishments. If they are smart and proactive, potential employees will research your company, and perhaps the most important part of that research is how your company is depicted through culture videos. Once employees are hired, customized onboarding videos can show and tell them everything they need to know about their new career.

Represent Your Culture To Everyone Else

Video can speak volumes about who your company is. “Who” is correct in this instance because any group of people who are brought together through a common goal develop a culture and a group personality all their own. They see current employees working in their environments, they see how a company appreciates and respects their customers, and it confirms the notion that your company is invested in their success. Culture videos are instrumental to current and potential customers when they are looking to start or continue a relationship with your company.

How to Present Your Company Culture Through Video

Businesses aren’t static, they move and think, and they problem-solve. They celebrate successes, they honor their employees, and all of this can be captured and conveyed through video. A company culture video is more than a simple snapshot. While the content may speak about one or two topics and last no more than two or three minutes, the video immerses the viewer in your culture and leaves them with a clear picture of your values and your goals.

Record Special Events

Culture videos document what your company does when it isn’t doing what it normally does. This means company picnics, softball games, paintball wars, trivia nights, karaoke, ax throwing, sports games, bowling parties, and happy hours. It also means charitable contributions, volunteer work, and pro-bono activities like visiting schools or entertaining tours through your facilities. What your company does outside of the office says a lot about how they approach business relationships and how they treat their employees. This can often define why a customer would choose your company over another.

Career Spotlights

Employees are passionate about their jobs. That is why one of the best ice-breaker topics is “What do you do for a living?” Ask an employee to explain what they do, and you will most likely get a 30-minute explanation of every nuance and detail. Ask them why they are proud to work where they do, and the response they give will most likely be heartfelt and emotional. Your employees have a deep connection between their jobs and their role within the company, and when they are proud of what they do and who they do it for, it provides a great opportunity to capture that and showcase it.

Highlight Social Responsibility

Modern workplaces are changing, which means company cultures must also change to embrace new ways of thinking and different lifestyles. Culture videos help set the tone and define how your company approaches these social issues, something that is incredibly important in today’s society.

Memorialize Important Milestones

All businesses have goals. They may be metric-based goals such as customers served, financial goals such as higher profit margin, or even territorial goals like complete market domination of Southern Minnesota. Goals are meant to be achieved, and when they are, a great way to memorialize them is with a video. Internally it recognizes the hard work that everyone did to get there, and externally it is evidence that your company is one that works hard to achieve success. Depending on the goal, these videos also serve as explainer videos that describe a process or illustrate the development of a new product.

Peek Behind the Curtain

Company culture videos don’t always need a bigger purpose. Something as external as the St. Louis Blues winning the Stanley Cup Final and every employee wearing their finest Blues jersey is a great show of unity for a common cause. It is also an opportunity to be a little silly and present your company not as a stuffy collection of hallways but as a living, breathing entity … that loves hockey. This seems like a small moment, but it is moments like these that give potential customers and employees a powerful glimpse of the togetherness and unity within your organization.

Employee Spotlights

Building on the pride employees have for their jobs, when someone has a major achievement, like winning a major industry award, passing a career milestone, or are retiring after many years with the company, it’s always a great idea to commemorate these achievements with an interview video. Employee spotlights are great ways to recognize these key individuals.

Celebrate Client Successes

There are fewer things more powerful than seeing the physical result of hard work. This pride in accomplishment is positive motivation not only for the employees that work with a certain client but also the client themselves. Business relationships are built on trust and shared outcomes, and culture videos are an important tool that helps align client expectations with your abilities. Remember that client successes go both ways. Happy clients that believe in your company share your vision and feel as if you work miracles are typically happy to lend their voice and image to a success video. They would want the same from their customers.

Make a Statement

Most companies have a mission statement or a code of ethics. Lots of thought goes into these values, and employee and executive compensation may be based on how well the employee adheres to them. While these values are usually found on the website, a more impactful way to present them is through a custom culture video. Video allows you to set the tone and cadence exactly how you want it, so the mission statement and code of ethics are crystal clear to viewers.

Explain the Future

As businesses grow, they change. New employees, new goals, and new challenges come with growth. While the brain trust of the company steers everyone through smooth and rough waters, culture videos are important tools to provide transparency to internal and external stakeholders during these times.

The Elements of a Great Company Culture Video

What makes a great video? For your video marketing to have the impact you want, it needs to fulfill certain criteria. Here are some proven elements of effective company culture videos.

  • Showcase real people doing real things.
  • Let the viewer visit your buildings.
  • Show processes from beginning to end.
  • Explain why you are unique.
  • Tell a story.
  • Include input from your employees.
  • Show enthusiasm.
  • Describe your advantages.
  • Have fun.
  • Don’t oversell.
  • Be genuine.

Remember that this video, and all others like it, act as a resume for your company. With this mindset, it is simple to produce content that is simple, fun, and informative.

Abstrakt Studios Delivers Customized Company Culture Video Content

Whether your company is buttoned-down, traditional, quirky, or just plain crazy, company culture videos are a smart way to let your flag fly. Through the power and customizability of video, Abstrakt Studios knows exactly how to showcase your people, your mission, your processes, your products, and your culture. With a series of cohesive, fun, informative business videos, applicants will know more about your company, employees will feel pride about their accomplishments, and customers will understand what makes your company tick.

For more information about Abstrakt Studios and what we can do, from corporate video to TV commercials, reach out to us today!