For small businesses with a million things on their to-do list, understanding the countless nuances of video marketing can be a monumental task. That’s why we’re opening our Video Marketing Laboratory, a place where we share our unique formulas for cooking up every kind of video you can imagine.
Today’s formula comes straight from the heralded book of Video Marketing 101: the brand video. Brand videos come in all shapes and sizes, and have been referred to differently on different parts of the internet, sometimes called explainer videos or lifestyle videos in certain circles.
No matter what you call them, though, a brand video has several distinct characteristics. So what makes a brand video a brand video? And how do you create your own?
Roll up your sleeves, get your notepads out, and let’s get to formulating!
Start with your brand mission…
Or, as Simon Sinek puts it, start with your why. Before you begin planning your video around what you do, think about why you do what you do.
People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it. And what you do simply proves what you believe.
-Simon Sinek
Why did you or your company’s founders start this particular company? Why did you want to get into this business? Why is it important to you?
This core “why” needs to be central to your brand video’s entire concept. Before you even start brainstorming or writing the script, you should be thinking of what type of messaging or video will best exemplify this core mission to your audience.
Don’t forget to keep it short. Your brand mission should be succinct and to the point. If it’s not, it needs some deeper development. Put on the bunsen burners and distill your “why” to its simplest possible form. From there, add your personal spin to it.
Add your brand’s core product offering…
Also referred to as your company’s unique value proposition, these are the key features and elements of your company or product that make it unique from your competition. Once you have your core mission’s messaging in place, you need to make sure your brand video’s central concept and script effectively communicate your core product offering.
Add humor (if you’re funny*)…
One thing that separates a good brand video from a bad one is how well it communicates your core product offering. If you think of the most popular brand videos that’ve gone viral, like the Dollar Shave Club or Squatty Potty videos, they’re funny, but they aren’t just funny. They use humor to help effectively communicate why you should consider their product, and do it in a simple way.
By punching up your core product offering with humor, you can underline your key product features and unique value proposition so your viewers don’t forget them.
*Don’t feel pressure to be funny if you aren’t. There’s plenty of other ways to stand out in a crowd. Focus on communicating your product’s core values as simply as possible while still being creative. Don’t fake anything – be genuine!
Add five passionate team members to share their stories…
There’s no better way to effectively communicate your brand’s core mission than using your internal team to share their own passions. Whether writing a script or interviewing subjects for more of a docu-style video, starting with your own team members’ “why” is a genuine and effective way to share your company’s passion with your potential clients.
These team members could be the people your clients will interact with on a daily basis, but even if they’re not, it helps to just have brand faces. And if you’re just writing a script, it’s good to interview your team anyway to get a sense of why they like working for your company. You might even learn new things about how your own brand comes across that you didn’t know!
Subtract the corporate speak and insider jargon…
We get it – you know your industry. But you don’t need to use every SEO buzzword in the dictionary to prove it. Instead, when writing your brand video script, focus on making your company’s core product offering as simple to understand as possible in as few words as possible. Keep it succinct and we guarantee it’ll be more memorable.
Calculate your script by the number of seconds it takes to read…
While your script might not be too long, it’s likely longer than you think. Try timing yourself when you read your script aloud to see how long it takes to talk through. If your brand video relies heavily on voice-over, then you’ll want to make sure that you clock in under a minute and a half to two minutes max.
If your script is running longer than that, you probably aren’t communicating your brand mission or core value propositions simply enough, so try to get the script even more succinct!
Pro Tip: A good rule of thumb is to write two words for every second’s worth of your video. For instance, a minute-long video that clocks in at 60 seconds would be about 120 words.
Add a qualified production team to bring your vision to life…
Once your script is done, you’ll want a video team who knows what they’re doing to help bring it to life. You might have an in-house team that handles production, which is awesome! However, building one can be prohibitively expensive when just starting out, which is where you’ll want to turn to a great external resource for support.
Add one great agency…
Great agencies like us are happy to help you accomplish your video marketing goals! While not every agency offers the same services, there are plenty that can help you craft your vision and draft your script. You don’t have to go it alone if you don’t have the resources, and you don’t have to break the bank, either.
Subtract the cost of doing it in-house…
…and you have an affordable, high-quality brand video!
That’s all it takes! The formula is pretty straightforward. Whether you’re creating a long piece of content to use for years to come, or a simpler brand video for a specific campaign, this formula is sure to lead you through all the pivotal steps of the process – and ensure you’re having fun while you do it!