There’s no doubt that the demand for commercial digital content has rocketed over the last decade. Fuelled by the need for a polished social media presence and increasingly sophisticated business marketing, slick and eye-catching videos are a surefire way to attract and hold attention and put your message right in front of the people you want to engage.
If you’re considering including a video in your marketing content, but maybe haven’t had much experience in this arena, you may find it a bit bewildering to start with. That’s why the team at Flagship Films is aiming to demystify the process and introduce you, via the monthly blogs on our website, to the exciting and compelling world of video production!
We thought we’d start by investigating the different types of video you can commission. There are a raft of possibilities and a lot of crossover between them, but they can be roughly divided into four categories – informational, educational, promotional and entertainment. Read on . . .
Informational
An informational video is one which is intended to educate or instruct your viewers. You could be demonstrating the benefits of a particular product or service, or perhaps your company is launching a new initiative or publicising a forthcoming event. Maybe you want an internal tutorial to explain to your employees how to navigate your new sales software or understand a different direction for your brand. A video is more personal than an email and more effective than a meeting – people can watch it over and over again at their leisure. Informational content should be simple to grasp, purely factual and easy to share.
Educational
The main objective of an educational video is to improve viewers’ knowledge, skills and understanding. After they’ve seen it, viewers should feel they’ve gained a genuine insight into the topic – one reason they’re so popular with learning institutions. Surveys have shown that educational videos enable learners to grasp and absorb material more effectively than traditional teaching methods. Educational videos can be tailored precisely to the demographics and abilities of the viewer, explaining how to use the content covered to its best advantage. A documentary, which is a video based on real events, people or experiences, can be educational, but it can also come under the informational heading . . . well, we did say it was complicated!
Entertainment
This is probably the category which most people know and understand best – it’s anything which provides fun and laughter and interest in people’s leisure time. Who hasn’t found themselves drawn into a rabbit hole of YouTube or TikTok videos about cute cats or people falling off things . . . Baby Shark anyone? You may laugh, but in 2021 it became the first YouTube video to surpass 10 billion views. Now that’s a reach most business owners would die for. Sharks aside, an expertly-shot entertainment video is a masterly publicity tool.
Promotional
A promotional video is a universal form of marketing but in a crowded arena it takes a lot of skill to make your brand stand out from the rest. Its intention is to push a specific marketing initiative, product or event, so you want to grab your viewer’s attention, draw them in and keep them there. These videos can have some crossover with the informational and educational categories, such as a training video, a product launch or a corporate video, but there’s no doubt that they’re the best way to convince people they can’t possibly manage without your product or service in their lives. Statistics prove that visually engaging promotional videos on social media produce a significant ROI and can dramatically increase conversion rates.
So what are you waiting for?
Whichever type of video you need, it has to be professional or you could end up having the opposite effect to the one you intended. It’s got to be the right length for the media you’ll be releasing it on, it has to have polished and arresting visuals, commanding storytelling and expert editing, and above all it has to explode with creativity. In today’s world, attention spans are short and time is at a premium. You need a video production company which will deliver optimum impact. Why not contact us?