You know the now-trite adage about an image’s worth. But what image, or succession of images? It’s been my experience that whenever an organization wants to make a company introduction video, they succumb to analysis paralysis. I definitely don’t want this to be you. To help you streamline the process, I’ll share some trade secrets that’ll grease your creative groove. Ideally, the birth of your video will be cause for pride and celebration, instead of an irritating sense of “let’s get this over with.”
But why do most companies struggle so much when it comes to putting out an awesome company introduction video? I would say the first thing that comes to mind is that they don’t have a clear brand identity or a handle on how to express their core value propositions. When the time comes to clearly and concisely state what they do, they panic. They fumble and grasp at straws, not knowing what sets them apart from the competition. Often, they just give up and try to copy whatever their competitors are doing. “If it ain’t broke…”
What’s worse, even if they’ve managed to single out some good ideas, there’s endless dithering. They can get mired in empty discussions about stylistic minutiae, or things that have no bearing on the video’s success. If you’ve ever been in the unenviable situation of trying to push one of these vids down the pipeline, you can relate.
So, today I’m going to go over some clear-headed definitions with you, and give you a few tips from experience. After all, the idea behind your company introduction video is to save your clients’ time. Since time is money, I believe it would be a good idea to also save yours.
Let’s take a look.
But if you prefer to watch a video instead, click here:
What is a Company Introduction Video?
A company introduction video is a way for a company to visually convey their identity and message. In essence, it’s a short and sweet video presentation that informs the viewer about the company’s logo, values, and brand. Many companies also choose to represent themselves by showcasing their main product or app.
In some cases, the brand is the product; think about companies that are built around a single value proposition or commercial app. Such is the case of Encircle, a mobile tool for web documentation. The startup is synonymous with the app, so their video is both a product and company video.
Notice how Encircle displays their most important values, their ethos, as well as the app’s value proposition. In that way, the video pulls double duty by clearly displaying “Speed,” “Efficiency,” and “Transparency” upfront. That’s an efficient way to present yourself if you want to make the most out of people’s shortened attention spans.
In a way, your company introduction video serves as a pitch. It’s a succinct way for your client to get to know the human side of the company, but also assess whether they want to do business with you.
Short, sweet, and to the point. More on that below.
How Long Should My Company Introduction Video Be?
There have been plenty of studies that set out to pin down the best length for a company introduction video. After the smoke cleared, experts settled on “It depends, but it should be short.” While that may not be the most satisfying, easy answer, it’s also the truest; as long as you don’t stray too far away from the sweet spot where the audience’s attention peters off, you should be OK.
Wistia, a video production company, performed one of these studies. Through consumer viewing statistics and metrics, they tried to pinpoint the ideal video length. They concluded:
Overall, shorter videos are more engaging than longer videos. You should strive to make your content as concise as possible to achieve the highest engagement. If your message is more complex, feel free to give it the time it deserves, but understand that a major chunk your audience won’t make it to the end of the video and consider front-loading your video with the most important information at the beginning”
They also found that:
- If the video is around 30 seconds, consumers will watch around 80%.
- It’s better to put the most important content at the beginning.
- On average, videos between 2-4 minutes tend to work best.
- Starting at 4 minutes, the attention span tends to flatten until around 10 minutes. In these longer videos, the engagement dropped very sharply but then remained mostly consistent at 25%. That seems to correlate with the idea that viewers decide early on whether they want to watch the whole thing or not if the vid’s longer.
More on Metrics
Pew Research performed another study related to YouTube videos. They found that around half of the content on the platform is under two minutes long, and many popular videos with high shares are around four minutes long. YouTube itself seems to favor videos that are just a tad over four minutes.
This seems to back up the 2-4 minute statistic on the Wistia study but skews towards the four-minute end of the spectrum.
Pew Research mentioned another study that added some weight to this hypothesis.
These findings are corroborated by a 2012 ReelSEO study which showed that the top ten most shared videos for a YouTube video was 4 minutes and 11 seconds.
So, bear this in mind when you set out to make an engaging corporate introduction video. Longer videos (from 4-10 minutes) tend to hold the attention of just a smaller subset of people. Go low to aim high.
Simplicity is Key
Don’t dilute your message, keep it simple. This is where many companies get weighed down with endless discussions. Here’s where I’ll add some of my personal experience with this company introduction video thing.
A few years ago, I was working remotely at a small company. A marketing associate and myself were tasked with creating a short company introduction video. This would also double as a product video because we wanted to showcase our flagship product, our best-seller. In a way, the video served as both an introduction for the company (“What we do”) through our product (“How we do it”).
You’d think this was simple enough, but it can get messy if you don’t focus on efficiency. We created a company introduction video script that would’ve been 3-5 minutes long when filmed. This was where we hit our first snag, and months of endless back-and-forth ensued.
Sometimes you have to reinvent the wheel and think about a revolutionary way to commercialize your company. But, 99.9% of the time, the chances are you’re not going to be (nor want to be) at the bleeding edge of sales strategy. It’s not ignoble to go for the tried-and-true when it’s the path of least resistance.
At first, we tried to leverage our research about the ideal video length to try to streamline the script. Then, there were months of discussions about whether the video should be an animated explainer video or a live-action demonstration. It ended up being a bit of both. And this wasn’t the only snag we hit on the way to finally getting it done — every bit of the process was packed with doubting, micro-managing, and backpedaling.
We took over a year to finalize pre-production on a simple 3-5 minute-long video script. You don’t want this to happen to you.
So, how exactly can you keep it simple?
Rules of Thumb
- Less is more. You want to express your message in a clear, manageable way that generates interest and maintains it. Don’t overload potential customers with jargon. Be as concise as you can.
- Tell a story. A company introduction video is a great way to create an engaging narrative for your viewers. Think about the spirit and identity of your company; you and your team have poured blood, sweat, and tears into making your success a reality. Now you have a chance to let your audience know about your values and where it all comes from.
- It’s OK to be sweet, but not sugary. People don’t want to feel like they’re being condescended to. They know that your final intention is to sell a product or service, and that’s OK. But when you come on too strong, there’s more of a chance to elicit groans than anything else. You want your video to feel authentic and not make people’s eyes roll into the back of their heads.
- Include a CTA (Call to Action). Leave a way for potential customers to get in touch with you and purchase your product or service. Strike while the iron is hot; you’ve already got their attention, and that’s where they’re most likely to dive deeper into your world. Your video may not be an outright ad, but let’s not fool ourselves. You want to win hearts, minds, and bank accounts.
Company Introduction Video Website – Leave it to the Pros
When I was trying to make that company introduction video at my previous job, we had two options: either do it ourselves (the cheapest, and most time-consuming option) or leave it to professionals. After all, would two first-time video makers be better than specialized companies with experienced professionals? We were salespeople and marketers, not videographers.
Sure, you may get the temptation to cut corners when it comes to creating your video. But this video will essentially serve as your virtual storefront. It tells people about your identity, values, and whether you put your money where your mouth is. It shows you care, and that you’re professional. If you leave it in untested hands, you’ll very likely have less than stellar results.
Back then, I already knew about Bunny Studio. I kept pushing to do our video with them because I knew that they would have the whole project done in record time. From improving our script, creating animations, to designing and voicing every aspect that was necessary. They worked end-to-end and gave us a quote that was extremely fair. In fact, it was way better than what freelance video makers were offering to do the job for — and they weren’t even taking care of the whole production!
In the end, we tried to do it in-house. The endless delays were a major factor in determining my decision to leave. After less than two months, the other marketing associate called it quits as well. The moral of the story is: if you’ve got access to quick, simple, and cost-effective creative solutions, take the plunge.
There’s no better investment than time. You’ll make the money back, and you’ll sleep soundly knowing you’ve got a video worth watching on your hands.
