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What is corporate video production and where do you get started?
With video marketing becoming more important than ever, corporate companies are quick to adopt video-content strategies. Many companies already have in-house production teams, but even if they don’t it’s possible to start producing video with the basics.
By the end of the article, you’ll understand everything there is to know about corporate videos. We’ll also give you the best tips and resources, so your company can successfully start producing corporate videos immediately.
What is corporate video production?
Corporate video production is the creation of videos by businesses for either internal purposes (onboarding, training, recruiting videos, etc.) or external marketing purposes (case study, ads, product demo, etc.).
Any video content produced by a corporation comes under the umbrella term ‘corporate video production.’ Usually, a video agency or an in-house videographer produces these videos. You can have a look at the different types of corporate videos later in this article.
What is a corporate videographer?
A corporate videographer is a professional who specializes in video production for organizations. They are responsible for filming events, capturing company footage, creating marketing video material, among other duties.
Here are three options to consider if you’re looking for a corporate videographer:
- Hire one in-house – This option is preferable if you foresee your company producing simple corporate videos in the long term. For more complex ones, you might have to choose option 3 below.
- Hire a solo freelancer – This option is more suited for one-time corporate shoots. Not only is it cheap, it also gets the job done.
- Hire a corporate videography agency – This option is ideal for complex shoots that require a larger team. It will cost you a pretty penny, but the results will be worth it. Below we share some of the best corporate videography agencies worldwide.
A corporate videographer might have to:
- Plan a video shoot.
- Shoot video footage inside a company.
- Set up equipment, lighting, audio equipment, and props.
- Interview people in the office.
- Work on the final editing of a video.
Why is corporate video production important?
The best way to convince you why video production is important is to show you the stats.
Wyzowl, a leading animated video production company, has been creating video marketing surveys since 2015 (their surveys are highly trusted). Here are their most recent numbers.
The reports are pretty long, so let’s just focus on the highlights.
- 86% of businesses use video as a marketing tool.
- 92% of marketers think videos are essential for their marketing strategy.
- 87% of marketers swore videos increased their traffic.
- 81% of marketers said video boosted their sales.
- 96% of people watch explainer videos to learn more about a product or service.
- On average, 80% of people have been convinced to buy a physical product or a digital service after watching a video.
These stats prove that consumers love videos and are more likely to purchase after watching one. The same principle applies to corporate training videos or investor presentations.
So the verdict? While not incorporating video production won’t break your business, it will undoubtedly hurt your business's chances of making it.
How much does a corporate video cost?
We’ll get to the more nuanced answer for this, but to sum it up, corporate videos cost you anywhere from $500-$10,000/minute of video content.
If you’re talking about commercials, costs vary between $5000 to $10000/minute.
For more giant corporations, the cost for corporate videos can reach as high as $100,000/minute.
Let’s look at different factors involved in shooting a corporate video and their corresponding prices:
Storytelling/Concept Creation
For this role, you need to hire someone who can create the video's concept, messaging, storyline, and script.
Look for a marketer with video writing experience. They’re often skilled at good storytelling and can develop narratives that achieve the goal of the video (whether that be marketing or convincing an investor).
Cameraman/videographer/production crew
Some corporate videos are easy to make. The cameraperson has just to shoot a video of a talking head.
For complex, high-budget corporate videos, you might need to hire a larger crew, including a Director of Photography, a camera assistant, and a lighting specialist.
Experienced camera operators may cost anywhere between $50-$250/hour. If you’re on a budget, you can hire a freelancer on UpWork who may charge anywhere between $25-$100/hr.
Editor
Editors are a vital part of a corporate videography team. They are responsible for adding graphics, color, tone, animations, and sound effects.
A good editor is like a good make-up artist; they can completely transform the final video cut into a thing of beauty. A great editor is good at visual storytelling.
Editors cost $45-$200/hr, depending on their experience.
Actor/voice-over/narrator
You can make training and onboarding videos with the help of talent within company ranks. However, marketing or animated videos may require you to hire actors and voice-over specialists.
Narrators and voice-over experts charge $200-$2500/min. Actors may cost $50-$500/hour or more.
Equipment
Depending on set requirements, the equipment required may vary wildly.
Do you need a drone to capture aerial footage? A track trolly or a motion rig? Audio equipment like a boom or a lav mic? Various lighting for different scenarios?
A video production agency will handle all this for you, so you don’t need to worry about the details. However, if you’re using an in-house person or a freelancer, they may ask you to purchase the above gear.
Depending on the specific item required, renting such equipment can cost you anywhere from $25/hour to $100/hour or more.
Types of Corporate Videos
Origin Story
A corporate origin story is a story of how a company was founded. It can include information about the company's founding members, their motivations for starting the company, and any early successes or challenges they faced.
Companies create corporate origin stories to build brand identity and create a sense of shared history among employees. Origin stories can also be used to sear your brand into the brains of your customers and investors.
Think Batman, Apple, and Facebook.
Not all companies have the luxury of possessing unique stories, so don’t fret if your company doesn’t. But if you have one, don’t hesitate to broadcast it. These stories can help your customers relate to your brand and help build trust.
To make a good story, here are some tips:
- Make it emotional.
- Make it creative.
- Make it authentic.
- Make it showcase your brand's vision and purpose.
Hire a good storyteller as well as a creative copywriter to accomplish the above.
Watch the example below to get a better idea of what a corporate origin story video is:
Employee Onboarding Videos
An employee onboarding video is used to get new hires up-to-speed with the company culture/values, protocol, and other important information.
These videos might seem simple, but good employee onboarding processes boost your employee retention rate to 82% and productivity by 70%.
A good onboarding video makes an employee feel at home and boosts their dedication and loyalty to the company.
Product Launch
A product launch video is a promotional video announcing a new product or service. These videos can generate excitement for a new product and generate leads or sales.
Remember how we talked about how awesome video is for marketing strategy purposes and how consumers loved them?
Well, product launching with a video (rather than a press release) can make your product a hit. Apple and its famous launch events are famous for these.
Here is an example:
Product Demo
A product demo video is a video that showcases the features and functionality of a new product or service.
Product demos are a superb marketing tool. It can make your customers visualize using the product in their mind’s eye and feel its benefits – making them automatically want to purchase it.
Check out product demonstration videos by Slack. Notice how you feel about them? Notice how understanding the product thoroughly and seeing its benefits make you want to purchase it even more?
Video Case Study
Video case studies tell the story of how a customer used a product or service to achieve success.
Storytelling sells and video case studies combine the power of storytelling with the power of showcasing customer results. Good video case studies are persuasive, emotional, and engaging.
Here’s an excellent case study video. It shows how TED faced many problems transitioning to remote recording and how Riverside was beneficial to them.
Video Testimonials
A video testimonial is one where a customer talks about their experience of using a product or service.
The best video testimonials should have the customer include descriptive and evocative language. Rather than a bland ‘this product is awesome, blah, blah, blah,’ a video testimonial should have the customer:
- Passionately explain the results they gained.
- Describe how the product made them feel.
- Position your product as better than what the competitors offer.
Video ads
A video ad is a promotional video advertising a product or service. It can be anywhere from 15 seconds to 2 minutes long.
Check out this brilliant ad about Taco Bell’s nacho fries. The video was responsible for one of the most successful food launches globally, with 53 million fries sold in the first five weeks.
Any good video ad should:
- Hook the viewer in the first few seconds.
- Keep them glued to the screen for the rest of the video – just like a good movie would.
- Be custom-tailored to your ideal customer, and make buying your product irresistible to them.
- Have a clear call to action.
- Be concise and do not have additional filler material.
Corporate Video Production Process
Pre-production (To the drawing board)
Pre-production often includes planning video concepts, scriptwriting, storyboarding, casting, and scheduling.
The person responsible gathers the necessary assets, props, and sets in this phase. Getting pre-production done right is vital for successful video production.
Production (And now the cameras roll)
This is when the actual filming of the video happens. The set of a big-budget video involves a production crew – including a director, camera operators, make-up artists, and set designers. If your video is a small-budget one, a freelance/in-house videographer can do the shoot for you.
Post-production(And that’s a wrap-up)
Post-production for a corporate video includes editing and finalizing the footage. The graphics and animations are added, and various sounds are mixed.
Head over to our article on video production for a more in-depth guide.
How do I make a corporate video?
Step 1: Plan and Develop the video concept with the end goal in mind
When coming up with the idea or story for a good video, keep the end goal in mind.
Ask yourself, what does your company want to achieve?
Do you want an employee onboarding video that makes employees feel inspired and dedicated? Or a compelling origin story that will forever stick in the hearts and minds of your customers.
Write down the end goal clearly and concisely. Here’s a simple example – ‘This video should make employees feel excited and motivated to work in our company.’
Now that you’ve written everything down, stick it somewhere where you can see it. Look to the statement as your guiding north star when you're stuck.
Step 2: Write the script
Basics of writing a good video script:
- Create a video brief – A brief acts as your guiding light for the whole video. To write a good brief, ask yourself the following questions:
- Why are you making this video?
- Who is your target audience?
- What do you want this audience to do after watching your video?
- What is the core message of the video?
- Turn your core message into a story – Find a way to turn your message into a story that is not only engaging but also satisfies the answers to the questions we posed above.
- Make it short and sweet – The script should be short enough to account for the audience's short attention span and be engaging enough to keep them hooked throughout.
- Add life into your script – Since the final video will involve the use of graphics, sound effects, music, etc, you have plenty of ways to convey your story through those means.
- Tweak till your message and brief objectives are satisfied – Keep tweaking your script till you feel comfortable that your core message is put across clearly and the target audience has been addressed. Ask yourself:
- Will the script resonate with the audience?
- Will my message get conveyed in the right way?
- Will it tell an engaging story with a logical flow?
- Is there a short, sweet, and impactful?
Step 3: Cast the video
Your next step is to sort out casting. This depends on what video you are shooting and what kind of roles you’ll need to fill. For example, you’ll want to find a good narrator for videos requiring narration or you might need a genuine and trustworthy-looking actor for videos requiring actors. For an even more authentic corporate video, you can even cast an employee who’s comfortable in front of the camera.
Step 4: Film the video
Select a location you believe will do your script justice. Have a clear production schedule and stick to it. When filming the video, make sure you get the lighting right. Don’t forget to take extra b-roll footage.
You can also remotely shoot an actor or presenter using software that records high-resolution videos. If you have a good camera, Riverside makes shooting 4K videos easy, and the audio will be crystal clear. Find out more on our site, or start recording to test the platform out yourself.
Step 5: Edit and post-produce the footage
Video editing involves turning your recordings into one seamless and professional-looking video. You can use software like Adobe Premiere, Final Cut Pro, or AVID to help you do this and you can even use Riverside’s Editor if you’ve recorded your video remotely.
First, assemble the shots into a rough cut. Then add different audio tracks to the footage (voiceovers, cast dialogue, and voiceovers) you’ve spliced together.
Lastly, add visual effects. Spruce up your video with animation, filters, fade-in or fade-out, text, etc. Correct any exposure or white balance issues.
The do’s and don’ts of corporate video productions
Do
Keep the video concise
A good corporate video should be concise and engaging. Any additional fluff can bore your audience and compel them to do something else (like check Whatsapp or Instagram. Pretty sure you’ve experienced this!). Or worse yet, make them press the YouTube skip button.
Keep the target audience in mind
Always keep the target audience at the forefront of your mind. For example, a Louis Vitton brand wouldn’t talk about clothing affordability – their target audience includes wealthy people, and talking about low prices wouldn’t make sense.
Plan your budget
While you might have first envisioned a video that puts Michael Bay movies to shame, you may not have the budget to implement the same. So plan your budget early on and be creative within the constraints of the budget.
Don’t
Forget about marketing
Not all videos go viral organically, so keep a separate marketing budget for an ad or case study.
Post the video on different social media platforms, including YouTube, LinkedIn, and Instagram. You can also repurpose this into short teasers or viral videos using Riverside Magic Clips.
Share the video on your mailing list. The more people it reaches, the more the chance they’ll share it with others, thus increasing the chance of virality.
Forget the call-to-action
A call to action is critical. It’s what pushes the viewer to take action.
Even if your video is creative and has high production value, if there’s no CTA, it will just be an interesting watch for the viewer, and they will forget it in 2 minutes.
Be too salesy in the video
A good video should use the soft-sell approach. Viewers have their skeptical minds on high alert nowadays: their trust in ads is at an all-time low.
So make sure your video focuses on being personable, authentic, and providing value. These are the kind of videos audiences trust. Avoid the hard-sell approach and give your audience the space to decide if they want to purchase your product.
List of the top corporate video production companies & agencies
BX Films
Despite having only 2-9 employees, they’re one of the most popular video production companies. They’ve worked with major corporations like Cisco, PayPal, JBL, and Toyota and are based in California.
Video Focus
- Product videos
- Brand videos
- Agency partnerships
Casual Films
Based in London, they have a much larger team of 50-250 employees based in London. Some of their past clients include Facebook, GoDaddy, Google, Adobe, among other high-profile names.
Video Focus
- Explainer
- Training
- Onboarding
- Marketing videos
The DVI Group
A veteran production company with 21 years under its belt, the DVI group has worked with Holiday Inn, Delta Airlines, Mercedes-Benz, and other companies. They handle a wide variety of video types, as shown below.
Video Focus:
- Human resources: Recruiting, Onboarding, Communications, Training.
- Marketing: Advertising, Content marketing, eCommerce, Explainer, Promotional Social Media.
- Communications: Investor relations, Culture.
- Learning and development: Training, Instructional Design, Explainer.
Covalent
This small company located in Pittsburg and Berlin focuses mainly on the target market of finance, education, and healthcare.
Video Focus
- Brand
- Internal communications
- Documentary/film
- Corporate
- Training
- Product
- Animation
- VR/AR
Lemonlight
Lemonlight is headquartered in California with offices all over the USA. It focuses on mid-level corporations. They have worked with Audi, Accenture, Uber, Hyatt, UCLA, and Uber.
Video Focus
- Video ad
- Testimonials
- Team video
- Product
- Fundraising
- Events
- About us
- Explainers
- Tutorials
Helpful corporate video production resources
Guide to hiring a video production company
- Hiring a Video Production Company (article)
Guide to Create Different Corporate Videos
- Employee onboarding (article)
- Video ads (article)
- Product Demo (article)
- Video Testimonials (article)
- Video Case Studies (article)
Guides to writing video scripts
- How to Write a Video Script That Keeps Viewers Watching (article)
- Strong Scripts (At one time was, this was one of the highest-rated scriptwriting courses in Udemy. Unfortunately, the creator has removed the training from the platform and has made it only accessible through his website for a higher price).
Guide to Video Production
- Video Production Bootcamp (course)
Guide to Filmmaking
- Full-Time Filmmaker (an excellent course that covers everything from cinematography to video editing).
- Complete Filmmaker Guide (course)
Guide to Video Editing
- Video Editing With Adobe Premiere Pro for Beginners (beginner course)
- Advanced Video Editing with Adobe Premiere Pro (advanced course)
Guide to Audio Editing
- The Complete Audio Guide for Video Editors (Premiere Pro course)
Tools for Recording Video Remotely
Tools for Video Editing
Tools for Audio Editing
