This article will break down video in business today and discuss the different types of videos, the different styles of video in business, some important things to consider when creating your own videos and clearly define what separates a good video from a bad video.

Why is Video so Popular Today?

• Video content is easy to consume
• Video a more relaxing way to learn info rather than reading or writing
• Video occupies more of our senses than other forms of media; we are watching, listening and sometimes reading so we become completely absorbed
• Studies have shown when trying to recall something ten days later people who watched a video can recall ninety per cent of the information compared to recalling written content where participants were only able to recall 10 per cent of the information
• Video helps people who have never met a business owner to connect with them and build a sense of rapport
• Video allows businesses to convey a sense of who they are before they even meet potential customers / clients.
• By having a simple video that neatly telegraphs your product or service any visitor to your website can get an accurate gauge on the product and seller without reading any articles

Different Categories of Video

• ICasual videos which are the sort of disposable, everyday type content, Facebook Live videos (which aren’t expected to be wholly produced which is usually on a phone) you shoot it, you wing it and its seen. It may be saved or viewed again but typically its meant to be there for that day essentially, all the videos shot from a phone are what would be defined as casual.
• Then there is Community video. These are the videos you would make to speak to a community you are already part of. This might be existing clients, staff or suppliers. In this kind of video there’s a bit of flexibility in terms of quality because they may already have a relationship with you.
• The third category is the commercial content. There’s a category for your sales content be it television commercials or corporate videos or something else. This is the sort of video you’d want professional help with. One way to do this efficiently is to have a strategy and a plan on where you will use the content you shoot on one day. Shoot 12 videos in a day or a half day and then you can roll out professional videos throughout the year.

Styles of Video

There’s probably about 30 or 40 different types of videos or more. Some of these are;

• Talking Heads (someone talking directly to the camera) which can be as simple as somebody presenting the camera, you could also enhance this by showing relevant visuals or graphics to support whatever you are talking about
• Scripted production (a narrated video where you’ve scripted out scenes that need to be shot) There’s a voice-over giving commentary on the scene and explaining something in detail
• Animated explanation video (which are very useful where you might have a complex process or concept you want to explain to someone)
• Highlights or vision of a conference (which could just be music and vision cut together) showcasing responses and size of the audience that can be used immediately afterwards to promote the event and for future use if you are looking for further sponsorship
• Product demonstration (somebody talking about a product showing the benefits and features of it so that people can clearly see if the product is for them)
• Rapport building videos (a video of the leader of the company discussing their service or product that allows the viewer to get a sense of the people behind the product before they purchase)

Important things to Note when creating Video Content

• One of the biggest things to note when creating video is to not make something to complex
• For example, say you are making an explainer video rather than verbally discussing what your product does you could put an illustration or graphic on the screen showing your product so visitors get a simple visual representation.
• Another thing to consider is if you have multiple messages think about having small separate videos for each message so visitors can consume the bite sized chunk content at their own leisure.
• If you plan on posting your videos to YouTube or Vimeo you must have your own branded channel. It’s free, takes only minutes to set up and you can have multiple channels under your one account
• Knowing your audience is quintessential to creating video content as without knowing your audience you will not be able to tailor your content towards them
• If you are considering using Facebook to distribute your video content you must use captions in the videos so people don’t necessarily have to click on the video to get all the information
• Vimeo has both a premium paid version for accounts and a free version;
  • If you are just starting out creating video content the free version is a great jumping off point
  • If you feel as though you want to take advantage of the pro features then upgrade to that
• If you don’t want suggested videos to appear on YouTube, de-select the “show suggested videos when the video finishes” box under the show more tab of the embed video section
• The best thing for people without any video content is probably to go onto YouTube and create a new account or if you are unsure of how to go about it google “how to create a YouTube account” and you will see hundreds of videos and articles to help you out
• When you upload a video to YouTube one thing you need to decide whether you want to make the video public, private or unlisted;
  • Public is self-explanatory and are the videos that can be viewed by anyone
  • Unlisted means only people who have the link to the video can see it
  • Unlisted videos are also great for training or staff videos that you want to distribute within the company
  • Private is where you need to provide an email address for people and you can send the video directly to the approved contacts
• Some questions you should consider when creating video content
  • Who is going to be watching this video?
  • What do you want them to take away from the video?
  • What is the key message?
  • What is the purpose of the video?

What makes a Good Video and what makes a Bad Video

• In a lot of experiences filming people, some need to acknowledge that their best work is not presenting to a camera. Getting someone else to do a video or do a style of video more suited to you.
• It’s about being clear on your message. Its practicing in-front of the camera out loud, its practice a preparation mostly 
• I think including graphics to reinforce your message helps a lot. You can do this in several ways;
  • It could be as simple as creating some PowerPoint slides, saving them as jpegs and serving them at the top of the video. This is probably one of the simplest ways to add some information
  • I even use Keynotes sometimes which has some very nice looking graphics (for those who aren’t Mac familiar Keynotes is the Mac equivalent of PowerPoint)
  • You could put photos over the top of the talking head or movement into the video
    
• A great example of simple video is one Geoff did recently for a bloke who builds patios, Geoff formulated some rapport building videos with the bloke talking to the camera with a teleprompter so that he has his scripted message, ready to go and we added some images of newly completed patios over the top and the feedback was great; people felt like they could trust this guy, and they got a sense of who he was from the video.
• So it’s the best of both worlds in the sense that your showing the product looks in the real world and the people who created the product.

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