Video is a powerful medium. It transcends the written word in a lot of ways and can be used not just to entertain but to help companies communicate their brand message. You might think that only large organisations with big budgets can make brand videos that are truly engaging. Not so, according to video review platform start-up Wipster. In fact, smaller businesses can make videos that can bolster their brands — without breaking the bank — if they follow some simple rules.
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Wipster is a start-up based in Wellington, New Zealand, that specialises in a B2B cloud service that lets people collaborate on video production projects in real-time. Kristen Lunman, COO of Wipster, describes the service as “the Google Docs for videos” and it has been used by big name companies like Red Bull, Xero and Shopify, often to create videos to promote their brands.
Working in the corporate video production space, Lunman knows a lot about what elements contribute to a successful brand video that resonates with potential customers.
“A lot of companies are experimenting with that raw home video look, so you don’t need $50,000 to make a successful brand video; it doesn’t have to be polished,” she told Lifehacker Australia. “Video is such a rich medium for storytelling and all companies, not just the big ones, will have to make the leap.”
Lunman said there are few key ingredients to making a good video that can work to sell your brand, and it doesn’t involve hiring actors to give disingenuous testimonials on camera (remember the ‘fake tradie‘ ad?):
- You need to have a clear story to tell. What does your company represent? What are you trying to say to the audience?
- The video has to engage, entertain and appeal to the emotions of the viewer.
- Be confident, be bold and be authentic in your brand videos. Viewers can see through inauthentic messages that you’re trying to convey in video format.
Authenticity is also something that is important for testimonials videos, according to Lucinda Lions from small business blog Flying Solo:
“It’s relatively easy to write a fake testimonial, even though it’s frightfully illegal and usually glaringly obvious. It’s not as easy to fake a video testimonial. They’re real. They’re raw. They’re persuasive. They provide what’s known as social proof, which is basically a fancy term for the act of building trust by showing potential customers how much existing customers love your products and/or services. This proof provides reassurance and excitement, which encourages people to buy.”
Spandas Lui travelled to New Zealand as a guest of Positively Wellington Tourism.
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