When you think about the top types of corporate video that businesses invest in, advertising is probably the first thought that pops into your head. However, while video is a huge part of any business’s marketing, it actually has at least ten times as many uses internally.

Here’s a great breakdown, by category, of just a few ways video can help out around the office.

Marketing

Website Background Videos

3D Product Animation Videos

Annual Recap Videos

Company History Documentaries

Homepage Company Videos

Brand Videos

Content Marketing Videos

Testimonial Videos

Product Explainer Videos

Event Videos

Vlog / Webinar Videos

360 Videos

Social Media Videos

Trade Show Videos

Advertising

TV Commercials

Facebook Video Ads

Display Network Ads

YouTube Pre-Roll Ads

Instagram Video Ads

Twitter Video

Human Resources

Recruiting Videos

Orientation Videos

HR Training Videos

External Culture Videos

Internal Culture Videos

Event Recaps

Finance

Investor Relations

VC Fundraising Videos

Kickstarter Videos

Financial Results Announcements

Operations

Training Videos

Safety Videos

FAQ Videos

Administrative

Internal Company Announcements

Office Lobby Loop

How To Tell If Corporate Video Is Right For You

Convinced yet? Even if you don’t have a need for all of the corporate video suggestions on this list, I guarantee there are at least a handful that would be worth the investment no matter what your business’ size – but especially if you’re growing.

I recommend reading through these five hints from the business video platform Panopto to see if your organization fits the bill.

You’re growing and need to onboard quickly. A video-based welcome and onboarding series helps new employees learn your culture while freeing your HR and training teams to tackle other challenges.

You’ve got a ton of experienced people and want to capture that institutional knowledge. Don’t let your strategic advantage hand in its two-week notice. Record your subject matter experts demonstrating how products, systems, and processes work, and make it available for anyone in your organization to search and view on-demand.

You’re investing in events – that your people can’t always attend. Whether they’re training activities, executive presentations, thought leadership discussions, or anything else, if your event is valuable enough for your people to attend, it is valuable enough for you to record and make available on-demand for everyone.

Your people keep asking for more executive communication. A common request at most organizations is transparency. Your people want to know what’s going on. And while regular emails, blog posts, and other activities help, there’s nothing more powerful (or easier to create!) than a 5-minute video of your CEO detailing next year’s plans.

Your teams don’t seem to know each other’s best practices. Especially for larger organizations set up in small stand-alone (ok, siloed) teams, it can be hard to know what other teams already know. Video makes “social learning” easy by making it simple both to record a best practice demonstration and to view it.

How To Pick The Corporate Video You Actually Need

Now that you’re on board with video, how do you know which of the corporate video types listed above are (or not – there are plenty more) what you’re looking for? Let’s start by answering these three questions.

What goal are you trying to accomplish?

Ask yourself: What goal or outcome am I trying to accomplish with the video? What results am I really looking to achieve? Am I attempting to attract more clients? Am I trying to reinforce my brand’s image? Am I looking for a way to make sure all new employees receive the same quality of training?

These questions are at the core of determining the right type of video for the message you want to convey. Whether it be a client testimonial, corporate business review, event recap, or policy explainer, all these types of corporate videos have different goals, objectives, and results.

Who is your target?

Who is your message directed at? To maximize the effectiveness of your videos, you have to have a clear vision of who they are intended for. Internal videos used for onboarding, training, and announcements are going to be vastly different from customer-facing videos used for marketing or informing.

What message are you trying to convey?

Once you have your goal and your target established, determine the message you want to convey to them. You don’t need a final script, but you should know the information you want to get across and how you want it to be received. Are you trying to drive home the importance of keeping internal data private, or are you trying to promote the top-of-the-line safety features of your newest product? Both are important, but the delivery that works for one may not work for the other.

What’s The Best Format For Your Corporate Video?

Now that you’ve identified your need, goals, and target audience, there’s only one more decision before the production process can begin: format. I recommend one of these five video formats as a leaping-off point. They all have their own pros and cons that should be considered when deciding which one will work best with your overall vision.

Docu-Style

This style of filming uses title screens to visually narrate the documentary. This is perfect for business to business since it allows interviews to be pieced together. Most videos in this style are between one and five minutes and often result in extra film that can be saved and used in future productions.

Docu-style is also great for product recognition and has a natural, authentic, and honest feeling, especially if your interview subject has a striking personality. However, it is also a very traditional style that can be hard to put a unique spin on. And if your subject is uncomfortable in front of the camera, it may take longer to put together a satisfactory final product.

This video uses a voiceover track to talk about the features of the Mamapod carrier.

Voiceover

This style of corporate video uses a narrator who is never seen on screen, often a professional who is working with a script. This audio track is matched with a video layover.

Voiceover videos are engaging and relevant and make it easy to invoke an emotional response from your audience. However, finding voice talent can be a timely and expensive process and difficult to do yourself without proper equipment.

Typography

This corporate video relies on written words on the screen to communicate a message. It relies on the skill of the designer and is more than just making the words legible.

Typography is a good choice if your audience is just watching and not listening. You may have seen these videos on Facebook or on a noisy convention floor. Unfortunately, these videos can be disengaging, coming off as dry, or not fully able to communicate your message.

Demo Reel

This video features short clips pieced together with music to create an overarching theme or message. There are no words, which makes it straightforward and easy to communicate emotion, but it also poses a risk of not clearly conveying your message or leaving too much room for interpretation.

Narrative

A corporate narrative video is easily the most dynamic of all these types. Think of it as an opportunity to put together a short film or play, telling a pre-determined story with the use of characters.

This format is the most flexible and has the most room for creativity, but that also means more room for something to go wrong and miss your mark. If the audience doesn’t understand your message, they may disconnect and – even worse – forget it altogether.

Consider Hiring A Production Company For Your Corporate Video

While creating your own corporate video is certainly doable if you have room in the budget, then hiring a production company is the way to go. Here’s a quick summary of why from my blog:

Experience

With experience comes knowledge that you cannot learn through reading articles alone. Professional videographers have the ability to read a situation and tell you if an idea will work; they can also make necessary adjustments to fit your needs. From lighting conditions and sound quality to the editing process, pros know how to combine key elements and avoid any possible mistakes to achieve the best video possible for your business.

Equipment

Sure, you can shoot a decent video with the latest iPhone, but it will never compare to the quality that comes with professional cameras, lighting, sound, and editing equipment. A video producer works with this equipment every day and intimately understands how each piece works, separately and together, to form the final product.

Time

Someone who is not as familiar with the equipment and software necessary to produce a top-quality video can use a large chunk of time learning, time that can be used more effectively elsewhere in your organization. Hiring a video production company frees you from the time required, from start to finish, to put a video together. Pros can give your project the time and attention it deserves.

Cost

The time, equipment, and training to create your own company video can be expensive! However, a video production company already has the experience and equipment needed, so they can work efficiently. So, while it will still require you to invest monetarily in the project, the costs of hiring a professional will be lower in the long run.

Tabrizi Specializes In Corporate Video

Tabrizi Productions is a boutique video production company with a mission to make video accessible for all. We offer authentic, affordable video storytelling for companies large and small.

Tabrizi Productions has worked with some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley and the surrounding South Bay Area.

We serve Oakland, Palo Alto, Santa Clara, San Francisco, San Jose, San Mateo, and the surroundings of the Silicon Valley area. Sound like a fit

Contact us today for a free consultation to find out what we can do for you!