At some point, this process will likely lead you to creating your first marketing video for your new company. Now, keeping in mind that every startup is entirely unique, it’s important to remember that there is no cookie-cutter method for producing a perfect startup video! But there are certain steps you can take to make sure you’re getting the most out of your video content. So what do you need to do to prepare the video that’s going to embody your company’s spirit and culture?
WHAT KIND OF VIDEO WORKS FOR ME?
As we’ve said, there’s no one size fits all video for startups to choose from. When approaching your video, your main aim is to best deliver your company’s story. And while there are endless ways to go about doing that, you’ll probably have to ask yourselves some questions that’ll help you land on the right format: Who is our audience? What should our tone be? Should our focus be our product or our personnel? Are many voices contributing to the story, or just one? –and, ultimately, ‘Does this get to the heart of who we are?’
When producing an initial marketing video, there are a handful of popular styles that companies will use to share their stories:
COMPANY STORIES
Company story videos are best put in use if you’re looking to share your origin story and introduce your personnel and mission. With company story videos, you’re putting a face (or faces) to your company, and aiming for an emotional connection with your audience. Telling your company story can offer lots of freedom and creativity for you to introduce your startup and build excitement for the products and services that you’re offering.
EXPLAINERS
Every startup video is an introduction. Whether it’s a new service, new organization, or new product, your startup video is your chance to make a strong first impression. Explainer videos are tailored to do just that. Detailing the specs and benefits of the product or service, explainer videos are a great way to educate and also build excitement about your startup. While animated explainers are becoming more and more popular, how-to videos, and traditional product videos can be great ways to introduce your services to the world.
TESTIMONIALS
If your startup is a bit further along and you’ve already had some success, testimonials can make a great impression through sharing your customer’s experience. Whether with a product or service, the key goal for a testimonial is to convey a sense of trust. By introducing your company through the stories or real people and real experiences, you’re putting an emphasis on the impact that your startup has made and it’s potential to reach an even wider audience.
PROMO VIDEOS
We mentioned earlier that startups can create videos at any stage of their development. Typically, promo videos are made by startups in their earlier stages. However, where the lack in detail, they make up for in energy. Promo videos can adopt any tone from ridiculous to revolutionary, but either way you spin it, their mission is to ignite anticipation and buzz for the startup.
Once you’ve chosen the style you want your video to take, you’ll want to start thinking about how you’re going to tell your story in your own unique way.
HOW TO DIFFERENTIATE YOURSELF
With a startup video, you’re offered the opportunity to differentiate your brand from others and prove why you’re special. To risk producing something bland and forgettable, put some thought into how you’d like to showcase your team’s talent and ideas in ways that make an immediate impact to your audience.
BUILD EXCITEMENT
Introducing your new company is a rush. Being excited is natural, so your video should capture the energy and pride that come with starting a new business. Interviews are a great way of showing your employees excitement level, while putting a face to your business. High energy employees= high energy video. It’s that simple.
BE FUN, WHILE BEING INFORMATIVE
Sometimes startup companies get too preoccupied with making funny, or bizarre videos to introduce their brand. While it’s okay to flex your creative muscles and have fun, you don’t want to detract audiences from your message. A good way to prevent this is by laying out the top points that you want to hit on before writing your script. That way, your video will be sure to include the key information, and from there, your creativity can run free.
STAY CLEAR AND CONCISE
Startup videos should act as introductions. So although they should be informative, they don’t need to say everything about your company. Outline the essential information you want to communicate, and be sure keep it tight. You want to build excitement through focusing on your company, your employees, and your mission. By video’s end, the viewer should see why you take pride in your startup and be curious and excited to learn more.
FINDING YOUR RIGHT AUDIENCE
Your video, if anything, should best reflect the kind of startup company that you are. With that in mind, you also want to produce the video that your intended audience would most want to see. As a startup, your video will represent you for quite some time, whether at trade shows and investors’ conferences, or on your website and social media pages. Creating a startup’s marketing video, when done well, can really catapult your marketing plan into another stratosphere. Because when audiences have a memorable video to associate with your brand, they’ll be sure to have good impressions down the road.
By offering a visual glimpse into the culture of your company, videos offer what blogs, social media posts, and press releases can’t. So take advantage of the access that you can provide your audience into your startup and show off everything that makes you proud. People want to see companies that are ambitious, passionate, and qualified in what they do, so be sure to put your best on display.
THINKING AHEAD
Established companies generally have a vast collection of video content. From commercials, to event coverage and testimonials, videos can document how a company grows over time. With a startup video, a company is offering up the pilot episode of their company’s story. In doing so, main characters are introduced and a plotline hinted at, while room for detail and depth is left open to be filled in later.
Your startup video is the first step in the larger scheme of your digital marketing strategy. Once you’re off the ground with a video content plan, you’re separating from yourself from the pack and moving towards a more complete promotional campaign.
Later down the road, being able to reference a startup video can be a great way for a brand to stay grounded and remember what inspired them in their startup days. Plus, who knows, maybe some of the footage from the startup video may come in handy later on.
