Despite websites packed with images and text pages, video content represents over 95% of viewed material on the internet. It’s a powerful medium for businesses of all sizes; without it, you are potentially hindering your business’ marketing efforts whether you use it for commercials, marketing or campaign promotions. Yet this desire for more engagement through video has tempted many businesses to bypass professional video production and go at it alone. DIY videos are fraught with many problems, and here’s why.
Art Over Science
When producing any business video, it’s easy to get carried away with such elements as design, effects and visuals. While these things are important, far too often we see that amateur video producers ignore the “science” of video making. Elements such as storyboarding, structure, creating a coherent message and even thinking about how to approach the campaign are often ignored. You’re not aiming to win an Oscar, but to deliver a coherent message to potential customers in compelling way to draw them to your product or service.
Story Structure
Every piece of business material needs a story structure – that is probably truer of video than any other type of medium. You need an introduction to grab the attention and a second act to explain what you are all about. Finally, you need a great sign off with a call to action to direct the customer to engage – either by signing up, buying something or directing to your website for more information. If you get any element wrong here, all the effort will have been for nothing; viewers will not even finish watching your video.
Production Value
This is the biggest hindrance to DIY videos. Issues that lead to poor production values include bad lighting, lack of audio quality, poor camera work and visuals. Even the selection of on-camera talent can have a significant and negative impact on your video. All of these things point to amateur production; this means a perception of you or your organization being amateurs – or worse – unprofessional. Customers will judge a book (your product or your business) by its cover (its outward presentation). High-quality production value communicates professionalism and confidence.
Style Continuity
Most DIY videos lack a coherent plan either in terms of the structure, the strategy or a theme. The video’s style and approach can change during a video and certainly between videos. Businesses who produce DIY videos simply do not pay attention to the style and tone of their campaign, but viewers notice. Viewers expect a certain level of engagement – they expect a certain style. When it changes during the course of a video, it indicates a poor strategy and a lack of planning.
Editing Problems
The process is not over when filming finishes. The common mistake of the DIY video creator is to think that editing is simply the veneer. Editing is hard work. Editing binds together all of the elements of your video into a coherent campaign for your business, product or service. It is essential that you get this right, including the effects and graphics, re-recording weak areas, improving lighting and streamlining the entire process into the most effective for you.
At Top Pup Media, we’re here to help you create professional, high-quality productions that not only reach your audience, but captures their attention and drives them to action. Contact us for more information on how we can help you create a professional video for your business.
