How to Produce Professional Videos to Showcase Your Brand
Videos play an increasingly important role in selling a brand’s identity. Read on to discover how to create the best professional video content to get noticed.
The significance of professional brand videos
In today’s hectic online environment, professional brand videos play a pivotal role in almost every brand’s marketing strategy. They not only help to communicate a brand’s identity, values, and products but also offer a compelling visual narrative that is designed to resonate with audiences, fostering emotional connection and brand loyalty.
In a digital age dominated by short attention spans, brand videos also provide a concise and engaging means to convey complex messages, streamlining communication. But with so much content now being produced, the usefulness of professional brand videos lies in both their ability to set apart and showcase a brand's personality against their competitors as well as the likelihood that they will be seen by their intended audience.
Here we’ll outline some of the best strategies as to how to make the best content for your brand as well as ways that you can increase the chances of it succeeding online.
How to produce and optimize professional brand videos
One of the biggest and most successful worldwide video campaigns in recent years has been Apple's "Shot on iPhone" series. The premise is frustratingly simple: Apple selects well-produced user-generated content that is entirely produced using an iPhone. By encouraging users to share their content, Apple has created a community-driven campaign that showcases its products' capabilities and fosters user engagement. The campaign has contributed to the perception of iPhones as powerful tools for creativity. Throw in additional celebrity features, and you have a potent mix of brand endorsement and shareability.
Of course, not every brand can be as lucky as to have video equipment built into their product. However, the Shot on iPhone campaign demonstrates how selecting just one key, easily discernable feature of your brand or product can help lay the foundation for an entire video marketing strategy.
It also highlights how the best brand videos create an immersive experience that captivates viewers and positions the brand in a memorable way. While it can help, your videos don’t necessarily have to be the absolute best in terms of quality, just so long as they’re attention-grabbing.
1. Software
Brands leverage various software tools to create compelling video content, addressing different stages of the production process. Traditional video editing software, such as Adobe Premiere Pro or Final Cut Pro, remains instrumental in refining and assembling raw footage. These tools offer advanced editing capabilities, enhancing visuals, incorporating effects, and synchronizing audio.
For animation and motion graphics, software like Adobe After Effects or Blender enables the creation of dynamic and visually engaging elements. In addition, user-friendly platforms like Canva or Animoto can be great for quick video production via pre-designed templates. Meanwhile, graphic design software such as Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator aids in creating visually appealing assets like logos and overlays.
But video editing software is also evolving, and there are new contenders on the scene when it comes to making engaging short videos fast. A major up-and-comer is CapCut Online. Specifically designed for making videos for social media platforms, this web-based platform features a user-friendly interface and a myriad of features, including support for various video formats, enabling users to import clips, images, and music seamlessly. In addition, its intuitive timeline editor allows for precise clip arrangement, trimming, pacing, and transitions, as well as the inclusion of music, filters, effects, and text overlays, all crucial elements for crafting attention-grabbing content.
2. Endorsements
A brand can strategically employ celebrity endorsements in brand videos to enhance credibility, increase reach, and foster positive associations. By aligning with a well-known personality, brands tap into the celebrity's established fan base, leveraging their influence and trust to amplify the brand's message. Celebrities bring their unique persona, charisma, and relatability to the videos, creating an emotional connection with audiences.
In brand videos, a celebrity endorsement can elevate the storytelling aspect, adding authenticity and star power. Whether through product testimonials, integrated narratives, or spokesperson roles, the celebrity's presence helps capture attention and reinforces key brand messages. Their association can also enhance the perceived value and desirability of the product or service.
To maximize the impact of celebrity endorsements in brand videos, it's essential to carefully select a personality whose image aligns with the brand's values and target audience. Collaborations should feel genuine, and the celebrity's involvement should extend beyond mere endorsement to active engagement with the brand narrative. By effectively integrating celebrity endorsements into brand videos, companies can boost visibility, create lasting impressions, and build a positive brand image in the minds of consumers.
3. Social media
This leads us to our next point: social media plays a huge part in whether a brand’s video will be noticed or lost among the millions of other pieces of content. Great brand videos are highly shareable on social media, leading viewers to share them with their friends and online community on their own accord and exponentially increasing a brand's reach. Organic sharing is particularly important because, past making great content, there is very little that a brand can do to achieve virality – a lot of the time, it happens by chance.
And while going viral is not an exact science, there are some ways that you can help increase the likelihood of content being shared:
- Know your audience: Understand your target audience's preferences, interests, and online behavior. Tailor your content to resonate with them.
- Create shareable content: Craft content that people would want to share with their friends and followers. This often includes humor, emotional appeal, or valuable information.
- Keep it short and attention-grabbing: Capture attention quickly by starting with an engaging hook. Shorter videos tend to perform better on platforms with limited attention spans.
- Tell a compelling story: Develop a narrative that captivates viewers. Storytelling creates a connection and encourages viewers to watch until the end.
- Quality matters: Invest in good video and audio quality. Clear visuals and sound contribute to a more professional and enjoyable viewing experience.
- Embrace trends: Stay current with trends and challenges on social media. Participate in or create content that aligns with popular trends while maintaining relevance to your brand.
- Invoke emotion: Content that elicits emotions, whether laughter, joy, surprise, or empathy, tends to be more shareable. Connect with your audience on a personal level.
- Optimize for mobile: Design videos with mobile users in mind. Most social media consumption happens on mobile devices, so ensure your content is easily viewable on smaller screens.
- Create a strong thumbnail: Thumbnails are the first impression viewers have of your video. Make them visually appealing and representative of the content.
- Encourage engagement: Ask questions, prompt viewers to share their thoughts, or create interactive elements within your video to boost engagement
- Optimize titles and descriptions: Craft compelling titles and descriptions that spark curiosity and encourage clicks. Use relevant keywords for searchability.
- Cross-promote: Share your video across multiple platforms and leverage your existing audience to kickstart its reach. Encourage viewers to share.
Finally, scheduling tools like Hootsuite or Buffer are specifically designed to assist you in planning and publishing video content strategically across various platforms. The careful timing and release of content can do wonders in building a groundswell of interest in a product. For example, you’ll want to post your videos at times when your target audience is most active, requiring analysis of traffic data to determine peak engagement periods.
Choosing the right platforms to showcase your brand videos
The landscape of viral content is ever-changing, and what works for one video may not work for another. Stay adaptable, experiment, and learn from your audience's responses to refine your approach over time.
Nevertheless, YouTube remains a video promotion powerhouse, offering a vast user base, discoverability through search, and a space for long-form content. Instagram, with its visually-centric format, is ideal for engaging, short-form videos. Meanwhile, Facebook's expansive user network and native video features facilitate easy sharing and engagement.
LinkedIn is pivotal for professional and B2B content, offering a more business-oriented audience. TikTok, a key platform for its viral potential, caters to younger demographics with short, creative videos. Finally, X (formerly known as Twitter) is preferable for its real-time updates and concise video content.
Utilizing a mix of platforms will help you align with diverse audience preferences and behaviors, enhancing visibility, engagement, and brand resonance across the digital landscape.
Conclusion
As a recap, let's look at some of the key elements of a successful video marketing strategy:
- First and foremost, strive to create memorable, shareable, and authentic professional videos that resonate with your target audience, driving brand awareness and engagement.
- Aim for authenticity, aligning the content with your brand identity.
- Make content that evokes emotions, tells a compelling story, and highlights your product or brand's unique value proposition.
- Optimize videos for various platforms, ensuring mobile compatibility and incorporating call-to-action elements.
- Create consistent messaging across all marketing channels to reinforce your brand's image.
By harnessing these tips, you can increase the chances that the right audience discovers your content, hopefully translating to sales in the long term.
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