Jun 042010
Using video is the second-best way (the first is In Person, of course) to tell people the story of your business. Certainly, your marketing communications rely on printed words and pictures in brochures, print ads, etc. but none of these can compare to the power of video.
Video can touch people.
Or, your company’s video can be just another completely boring, corporate “presentation” that fails to engage the viewer. Kind of like yesterday’s 2:00 p.m. Powerpoint presentation on, uh, um, oh what was that presentation about anyway. Ugh…
You’ve seen these videos before, where everything is perfect, not a hair, box or chair out of place. Every word is scripted and rehearsed. More often than not a professional announcer or spokesmodel is used to read the script. If they let “real” people actually appear in the video, they often are obviously reading from a Teleprompter. There’s nothing wrong with this type of video, but the company is leaving so much off the table. They’ve played it safe, made it easy on themselves and as a result have missed an absolutely golden opportunity to really connect with their audience.
Most likely they haven’t given their Future Client a compelling reason to do business with them. They haven’t touched them in any meaninful way.
Business or Art?
This type of video isn’t necessarily “artsy” or unusual on its face, but it does allow the viewer to see the way your company really operates. An interesting and engaging video gets people to respond. Your company’s video isn’t likely to get approval because you think it would be really cool to have a video about your business, instead it’s much more likely that you want to drive some specific businsess result with your video. And if this is your company’s first attempt at video it’s extremely likely that this video will be made in order to increase sales of your products and services. So it’s not “art” it’s business.
But it’s business with passion. Business with a purpose. Business with a pulse.
Pull back the curtains a bit.
Challenge yourself a little to say more to your Clients. You’ll find that once you open your mind to it, this process of figuring out how you want to make the connection with your Clients becomes a truly fun and rewarding adventure. Let your Clients see what fires you and your co-workers up.
But, but, but…
But I’m not an Actor, you say. How can I go on camera and show people that I care? What if I mess up my lines? Your Clients don’t want to see Actors. They don’t want you to have “lines.” They want to see real people, in your real company, that do real things. Real things that can solve their problem. Your viewers know that you’re not an Actor and don’t want you to Act. They want you to be yourself and to let your thoughts bubble up from within. They want to know that you care about solving their problem and how (and why) you can do that.
Your Clients and Customers want to see you and your business in the most real and authentic light possible. They want to see who you are and what you stand for.