Lights, camera, partner: Find your video storytelling team

In one single minute, over 500 hours of video production is poured into YouTube alone. 

The scale is staggering, and if  you’re not already, it’s time to be part of this video action.

It’s no longer an ‘extra’ part of brand strategy. 

You’ll be left behind without a corporate video to share your brand story.

In this blog, we dive into the essentials of picking the right video production partner.

How to review their past work, verify client references, and understand pricing inclusions to get max return on your investment.

Press play for the benefits of corporate video production

Every business has a story – of its vision, its values, its journey.

More than ever before, corporates are keen to share these narratives within videos.

The mere act of telling a story humanises your corporate brand and fast tracks connection and trust.

A good story well-told in a video makes you more relatable to customers, employees, and stakeholders.

Distinguishing your brand from its competitors.

No other brand has your stories. And they’re waiting to be shared.

Your video will:

• Amplify brand exposure
• Enhance customer interaction
• Influence SEO rankings

Boost brand awareness with your corporate video

Your corporate video is your multimedia business card. 

Like a pebble tossed into a pond creating ripples, your video reaches a wider audience, expanding your brand’s visibility and market presence. 

Easily shareable across every platform, this is how you multiply your brand touchpoints. 

With each view and share, your brand gains an additional chance at visibility. 

Prospects who might never have found you can stumble upon your video and tap into what you offer.

Thank your corporate video for the extra customer engagement

Beyond spreading awareness, corporate videos can – and should – deepen viewer engagement. 

It can take viewers on a behind-the-scenes tour of your business operations, introduce them to your team, or demonstrate how your products work in real-life situations.

Think about it.

We naturally flock to content that entertains, educates, or evokes emotions. 

Your corporate video offers more than information; it offers an experience. 

 And a deeper connection between your brand and audience.

Improve SEO rankings with your corporate videos

Less apparent, but equally potent, is the impact of corporate videos on search engine optimisation (SEO). 

With online video consumption continuing to rise, search engines are tuning in. 

We know video is proven to keep website visitors on your site longer, and this can be measured in engagement metrics, like time on site and bounce rate.

These metrics play vital roles in determining search rankings. 

By adding a corporate video to your website, you’re not only enhancing the user experience, you’re also signalling to search engines that your site is worth exploring.

Which is why search engines show their love for websites with videos.

As your engagement metrics improve, so does your SEO ranking.

Behind the scenes of the video production process

Whether you’re creating a corporate video for a product launch, a marketing campaign, or an internal presentation, understanding the production process helps you turn your prospects into customers.

Each video production company will have their own production processes, and here’s ours.

But as a brief overview, your video production is divided into 3 main stages:

Pre-production is planning for success 

To create a video that truly boosts your brand, we start with a solid plan.

This begins with answering our burning questions.

From this brief we’ll suggest concepts and write your script, aligned with your brand voice and vision.

The next pre-production step is locking in one or more filming dates and prepping for filming.

This prep might include anything or everything from organising filming locations and interviewees, to choosing a presenter and actors, or organising travel.

Production is the lights, camera and action bit

This stage includes elements like ultra high definition filming, lighting, audio recording and directing. 

Following our agreed script, we film each scene and any interview chats to create the elements that will go into the edit suite.

For most video productions, we’ll only need two or three crew members – they’ll be busy maximising every possible scene to give you a library of video footage you can repurpose in different ways.

As an example, if we’re creating your corporate brand story, the footage we film could also be used for a recruitment video further down the track. [We’ve had many clients repurpose their footage this way.]

Post-production is like a jigsaw puzzle

When the camera stops rolling, we begin putting all the puzzle pieces together.

This is the final step,  where raw footage, narration, music, graphics and effects are woven together following the script guideline.

Tweaking, including colour grading, breathes magical life into your edit.

Taking your video from functional to fantastic. 

Tips for choosing a corporate video production company

If you don’t have a referral, you’ll probably do a Google search – so you won’t know a lot about the production companies you click into.

Where do you start?

 Evaluate the video portfolio – what to look for

Committing to a video production company is a big decision, as their work will carry your brand’s message. 

Their portfolio is the tangible proof of their style, skills, creativity, and technical expertise.

There are three distinguishing factors at play here:

• Quality of work – you’ll notice this first. Stunning visuals, compelling narratives, and professional post-production enhancements speak volumes about a company’s capability.
• Variety of creative styles – beyond the veneer of high-quality, lies the question of versatility. Opt for a company that demonstrates diversity, with different styles for unique brand identities. 
• Their client types – do they work with clients in similar or related industries to yours? 

This portfolio inspection shows whether they can deliver to your expectations.

Check references to get the real story

You have a shortlist of production companies – now it’s time to check reviews and any feedback you can find from their clients.

• Start with independent Google reviews.
• Read any client testimonials on their website.
• You could also directly contact any of the client companies in their video portfolio and ask them about their experience. This is the most effective way to understand how your prospective production company looks after their clients.
• How much of their work is with repeat clients? Multiple projects with the same clients suggest trust in the company’s abilities.

Testimonials, reviews and references are the ‘word-on-the-street’ about each company, offering an authentic glimpse into their reliability and professionalism.

Understand video pricing and get more bang for your buck

Budget constraints are a reality. 

So it will help to understand what should be in the list of inclusions for your video production quote.

What does a video production quote include?

As an example, our Sound Images quotes cover everything from script to screen.

• Script writing
• Pre-production
• Filming
• Editing
• Unlimited fine-tuning
• Cut-down versions for all your social media platforms
• Ongoing storage of your masters and unedited footage – so you can repurpose this footage for future projects
• For many of our clients, we also include stills pulled from the video footage

Whether you’re sharing your budget within your brief – or asking for a quote based on your brief – make sure the budget delivers everything you need.

What do you need? What should you expect?

• At a minimum, you should allow for your main longer form video, plus shorter cut down versions you can use on each of your social platforms.
• Would you like to re-purpose the footage to create a second video? Perhaps a recruitment video? Worth thinking about at the planning stage.
• What else could you do with your footage? Would you like still images pulled from the footage – colour graded so they look amazing?
• What about GIFS created from the footage to create brief eye-catching looping videos?

Ensure maximum return on investment

• Is their pricing transparent? Look for companies that provide a fully detailed quote. This eliminates any surprises down the line.
• Do they custom quote your video? A company that provides prices based on your brief, rather than a set package price suggests a more flexible, customer-focused approach. 
• Compare apples with apples. Look deeply into what’s included so you don’t get caught with ‘extras.’ As an example, our Sound Images process always includes unlimited fine-tuning rounds. This allows all your decision makers to review, suggest fine-tuning and approve. Most production companies only allow for 2 or 3 rounds of changes. 
• If you can, catch up face to face with your potential production company. There’s no better way to know if you ‘click.’ Or not.

Your brand deserves the best fit, so choose wisely. Compare prices across the board, but remember, quality should not be compromised for the sake of saving a few bucks.

Factors influencing the cost of corporate video production

Corporate video production isn’t a singular expense; rather, it involves a multitude of factors contributing to the final cost. 

• The first part is the production scale. Will there be one filming location – or multiple locations? How many days of filming will we need?
• Post-production also plays a role in the overall cost. Is the video music only with titles, or are we using a voiceover?
• Is it a fast paced edit with 20 scenes needed for each minute – or a slower production style with only 10 scenes in that minute?
• Do we need to create animations or graphics? These technical aspects may hold a significant part of your investment.
• How many versions are needed?
• Will there be travelling costs to consider?
• Are actors or a Presenter needed?

Key takeaways

With corporate video production, you bring your brand to life, shaping your story in an engaging, compelling, and ultimately, profitable way.

But first, you need to choose the right video production company to create a captivating video you’re proud to share.

Here are the key takeaways:

Step into the spotlight, it’s your brand’s time to shine.

And connect with the hearts, minds – and sometimes pockets – of your audience.