Video production has become a key element of effective digital communication. Whether you want to increase your website traffic, grow a social audience, or promote a product, producing videos can help you get there.
But how do you get started with creating professional videos? And how can you scale your video production, considering the excessive budgets and timelines?
In this post, we’ll cover all the basics of corporate video production, as well as some alternatives for getting more of your stories told through video.
You can expect to learn:
- What video production is
- Common types of videos businesses produce and tips for creating them
- The video production process
- The equipment you’ll need to produce professional videos
- The typical price range and turnaround times for producing high quality clips
- Tips for getting started
What is video production?
Video production is the process of creating video content. It typically consists of writing, shooting, and editing video footage. Digital video production involves the use of computers to edit, combine and publish videos.
Corporate video production is a great way to capture your audience’s attention and show off the organization. Producing videos can be beneficial for:
- Drawing attention to a product or service
- Building a brand
- Generating awareness of a cause
- Engaging people on social media
- Distributing and promoting other content pieces, such as news stories, written marketing content, etc.
Different types of business videos
The possibilities are endless when it comes to producing your own business videos. Choosing a video type depends on your goals and the message you’re trying to convey. With so many different types of content out there these days, you’ll need to determine how you want your organization’s videos to stand out and what types of messages work best.
Common formats include:
- Brand videos
- Product videos
- Social media videos
- News videos
- Event videos
- Testimonial videos
- Explainer videos
- Training videos
Let’s cover a few of them in more depth.
Product video production
Product videos are a great way to showcase your product or service. Just like testimonial videos, product videos can be used on landing pages, social media sites, blogs, etc., but they’re particularly useful on eCommerce sites and product pages.
To create effective product videos, you need high quality imagery and/or video footage of the product. If you’re selling a high ticket item, you’ll want to invest in some professional footage — you probably wouldn’t film your Lamborghini promo with your iPhone, for example. But once you have this footage, you can slice and dice it into a variety of product videos (such as that Lambo on the raceway, the top five interior features, etc.).
If you have a lot of products, you’ll want to serialize your product video production. Put a structure and template in place that makes it easy to run through a large product list with uniformity in presentation.
Social media videos
Social media videos are typically short form video clips that can be shared on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to help boost brand awareness or engage with the audience. These are typically less than 60 seconds long with text overlay included to describe what’s happening in the scene.
Social media videos should be concise with a strong call to action at the end. It’s important to keep social videos engaging and relevant for your audience. Don’t forget to format these videos correctly for each platform, choosing the best size and orientation for each channel.
Because social platforms require a lot of video, it’s important to create a repeatable, scalable process for your social media video production. The best approach is to use a platform that allows non-video experts to easily craft their own videos within your branded templates.
Take a look at how Vanity Fair Italia scaled their social media video production to earn 3x more Instagram views per video.
> Video from Vanity Fair Italia
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News video production
News video production has become a necessity to news organizations. It’s no longer enough to have written news stories on the web or in print. Publishers need video content to build audiences and generate page views.
News videos can be produced by anyone with a digital camera or syndicated news footage and editing software, and enterprise video creation platforms have made the process even easier. Working from branded templates, any journalist can quickly create videos to accompany other news content.
Many of the biggest media organizations — like Gannett and USA TODAY — now produce news video from their written stories. There are two primary formats that are quick and easy and work well for publishers:
- Create a teaser video that entices someone to read the full article, view the advertising on page, etc.
- Create an article summary that highlights the key points, such as The Top 5 Things to Know About the Infrastructure Bill.
All it takes to produce these news videos is some b-roll and text overlay.
Check out how Voici, a leading print and digital publishing company in France, created videos for every news article published — and increased revenue by 60%.
> Video from Voici
Event video production
Another type of business video that has become popular is live event coverage. Recording event footage allows people who can’t be there to experience what it’s like, even if they’re miles away.
Event video production often includes capturing different angles and shots throughout the day with professional equipment to create a polished final product for viewers at home. But events also offer a great opportunity to use footage from attendees — on its own or mixed with professional footage. This user-generated video content adds a more authentic element to the piece and gets rid of that clinical feel of highly polished videos.
You can even incorporate tweets and Instagram posts that people are sharing about the event. Whenever there are a lot of people at an event, there’s lots of public content you can work into your event videos.
You can also produce event videos from educational sessions. This is the perfect opportunity for summary or top takeaway videos, and with the right tools, it’s easy to create and publish them in close to real-time.
The Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) offers a great example of using video to promote their flagship event, World Cancer Day. For example:
Testimonial video production
Testimonial videos are a great way to build trust with customers by having your most satisfied customers share their experiences. These types of videos can be used on landing pages, social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, websites and blogs, etc.
To produce a testimonial video, you’ll need to find someone who is willing to take the time and share their thoughts on your product or service. You may want to provide them with a script to follow if they’re not too comfortable in front of the camera. You may also want to take photos or b-roll footage of the person using your product or service.
> Video from Wochit simulated brand
Producing explainer videos
An explainer video explains a concept, issue, product, or service. They are often accompanied by text and music to make them more interesting for the viewer. These videos are usually fairly short, which makes it easy for people to digest quickly. They can include anything from animation, graphics, text overlay, b-roll, voice-over, and more.
> Video from Wochit simulated brand
The video production workflow
The video production workflow typically consists of three different stages, including pre-production, production, and post-production.
Pre-production
In the pre-production stage, you map out a plan with your team that aligns with the goals for your video. This helps to make sure everyone knows their roles and responsibilities as well as what needs to be done at each step.
The pre-production stage is also when you create a video script, as well as storyboard sketches that show what shots need to be taken from which angles.
Production
Production is where the magic happens. If you’re shooting your own video footage, you need cameras, lights, microphones, and other equipment on location so you can capture all of the footage that will be included in the final product. Make sure everyone knows what their roles are during this stage, as well.
Post-production
The last step is post-production. Post-production includes editing the video, as well as adding graphics or special effects and/or music before publishing to your website, YouTube channel, or social media sites. This can take anywhere from a few hours to several weeks, depending on how much work needs to be done in post-production.
Platforms streamline the video production process
The complex, lengthy, and expensive video production process has often been a barrier to organizations’ adoption of video as a communication channel — so enterprise video platforms (EVPs) have been created to fill the gap.
An enterprise video platform is a tool designed to manage and enable video experiences throughout an organization. These video platforms often provide:
- Video capture (like face-on-camera and screen capture)
- Video publishing and distribution
- Asset management
- Pre-licensed stock footage/imagery/music libraries
- Third-party social media content
- Brand customizations and templates
- Simplified user experience
- Permissions management
- Video strategy expertise
Using an enterprise video platform cuts out — or significantly reduces — the pre-production and production stages of the production process. Organizations can make use of extensive stock libraries to tell their stories without shooting their own video footage. Just search through the gallery to get started. Find footage and imagery on everything from breaking news just off the wire to celebrities to seasonal activities to abstract concepts.
The post-production stage is also easier with an EVP, thanks to the ability to pre-load brand elements and pre-build on-brand templates. And with a simplified user experience, even non-creative employees can easily get involved with video production, reducing the burden on the marketing and communications teams.
Learn more about Wochit’s enterprise video platform.
Video production equipment
The equipment you’ll need to create your videos will depend on what you’re trying to capture and how professional you’d like it to look. But chances are, you don’t need the likes of a CNN studio in your office.
With the availability of EVPs, their video capture functionality, and their stock libraries, you don’t often need professional quality cameras and giant light kits anymore. That said, if you plan on capturing a lot of your own high-quality videos, you may want to invest in some appropriate video production equipment.
Best camera for video production
The camera in your pocket (yes, that iPhone or Android) will suffice for capturing most of the video clips you need. As long as your smartphone has a high-quality camera built-in, all you need is good sound and lighting. In fact, smartphones are perfect for capturing face-on-camera video (where you record yourself speaking on screen).
High-end digital SLR (single lens reflex) cameras are popular choices among videographers because they capture crisp footage which is easy to edit — but most organizations won’t need them.
If you’d like to peruse some DSLR offerings, here are some recommendations:
Just don’t rely on the camera built into your laptop. Chances are the video quality isn’t that great.
Best lights for video production
Lights are an essential part of professional video production because they help capture clear, attractive footage. There’s no real way to cheat on capturing good light. But there are so many choices when it comes to video production lighting — there’s no one perfect light for every situation.
If you’re going to be recording a lot of face-on-camera videos or single-person interviews, a ring light that sits on your desk or a tripod will be sufficient. If you’re looking for the next step up, consider two 45-degree angle lights. These can also be placed on a desktop.
If you find yourself producing more extensive videos with multiple people and scenes, you may end up needing a light kit. They’re easy to set up, powerful enough to light large areas, and have the versatility you need whether it’s day or night — but they are bulky.
Best mics for video production
Whether you’re creating your own documentary or recording a podcast interview, microphones are another important video production essential. Your mic needs to pick up sounds clearly, whether it’s voices or instruments playing.
Lavalier microphones are a popular choice because they clip onto your talent’s shirt and can be hidden under their clothing so it looks like the person is just wearing regular clothes. They’re also easy to use and very affordable.
Get some more advice on choosing a mic for your video production from David Pond, Manager of News Production at LinkedIn News:
Video editing software/programs
There are many options when it comes to choosing a program or app to edit your videos on after they’re filmed. A few options include:
- Adobe Premiere Pro
- Apple’s Final Cut Pro
- iMovie
- Windows Movie Maker
- Microsoft Video Editor
The problem with most of these video editing programs is that they can be difficult and time-consuming to use. Relying on them often limits video production to the marketing department or a video production company, which can result in bottlenecks and missed opportunities.
Enterprise video creation platforms make it easier for people to create videos without any special video editing skills. No help from marketing or IT needed.
How much does it cost to produce a video?
Video production costs vary depending on the length of your video, whether you’re hiring professionals to produce it for you, or if you are doing it yourself.
To professionally produce a corporate video typically costs between $2,000 to $7,000. Most production companies agree that the average cost of video production is usually around $1,000 to $5,000 per finished minute (yikes!).
It’s less expensive to produce and scale video operations when you rely on an enterprise video creation platform because you don’t have to rely on professional videographers, editors, or video production companies.
These kinds of video platforms are designed to enable all employees — creative and non-creative alike — to create, share and distribute videos using pre-licensed footage and pre-branded templates.
How long does it take to produce a video?
It can take anywhere from several weeks or even several months to make a business video — depending on how many adjustments need to be made, the length of the video, and who you are hiring. If you’re doing it yourself with software like iMovie, expect a couple of hours per minute for editing time alone.
Just like cost, turnaround time can often be a barrier to scaling video production.
Enterprise video creation platforms can make the video production process significantly less time-consuming. Instead of weeks with a corporate video production company, storytellers across the organization can create videos in as little as 20 to 30 minutes.
Tip for getting started with video production
- Experiment with different content and formats. You may be surprised by what’s easier to produce or what resonates with your audience better, so start by trying multiple short form formats and publish the videos to see how they’re received.
- Create a repeatable process. Once you’ve struck gold through your experimentation, set your structure and repeat. The trick to ramping up your video production is building a scalable process that doesn’t break the bank. Create a few customizable templates upfront, then choose new content to populate them on a regular schedule.
- Get yourself (and your colleagues) on camera. People like human connections, and your video is more likely to resonate with your audience if they can see you via face on camera. If you’re not comfortable being center stage, creating your own voice-over is a good alternative.
Ready to start producing videos for your organization?
Yes, video production can be daunting. But the right tools and partners make it easy, and the payoff is almost always worth it.
If you’re thinking about creating videos for your organization, check out six key considerations for choosing an enterprise-grade video creation partner.
