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Is It Time to Take Chances with Your Corporate Videos?
One of the worst things you can do as a marketing professional is let your corporate video strategy stagnate. If you’re simply producing videos to meet a quota or make sure you get new content out every month, you’re definitely not producing your most inspired work. In the end, that means you’re probably not going to get the type of results you’re aiming for.
Taking risks with your corporate videos might seem scary, but it’s actually not that difficult. To help you take a risk or two with your next corporate video, we’ve put together a comprehensive guide on why it’s important to take risks, how you should go about doing so, and some examples of great video content that developed from taking a risk.
The Importance of Taking Risks
The word ‘risk’ comes with a somewhat negative correlation. When you think of risk, you might think of failure and volatility. The bottom-line, however, is that a little bit of risk is important. Taking risks, whether they work or not, gives your team a creative spark. Instead of doing the same old video time after time, they’re getting the chance to flex their creative juices. This is usually well worth the effort in and of itself.
Perhaps most importantly, taking a risk gives you the chance to truly connect with your audience. There’s a ton of content out there in 2017. If you want to break through the sea of boring, uninspired content everybody else is putting out there, you need to do something different. If you’re not taking chances, you’ll most likely get lumped together with everybody else and forgotten.
Finally, you should keep in mind that high-risk tends to offer the chance of a high reward. Take a moment to think about viral video content, especially when it comes to the corporate world. How many how-to videos have gone viral? The answer is not many. If you want to really break the internet and create something that blows up, thinking outside the box is your only option.
If you can make your audience laugh (or even cry), you’ll have a good chance of forging a connection with them.
Taking Risks in a Sensible Manner
Taking risks doesn’t mean closing your eyes and making videos without a plan. In fact, you actually need to take a measured approach to your risk-taking if you want to maximize your chance of succeeding.
The most important thing you need to keep in mind is your audience. Creating something a little bit different is good, but you don’t want to alienate or confuse your audience. For example, you don’t want to create something incredibly risqué if you’re targeting a mature, conservative audience. If you’re targeting Millennials, on the other hand, you might have a little more leeway.
Here are some other great ways you can start taking risks the next time you make a corporate video:
- Be definitive. Pick a controversial issue and take a firm stand one way or the other. If your views align with most of your audience, it can help a great deal. Even if it doesn’t, they could appreciate your candor and willingness to be honest.
- Take a stab at new technology. For corporate video, try something you’ve never done before. Livestream a Q&A session, film a 360 video of a conference, or create a virtual experience. You might attract a slew of early adopters, and at worst you’ll have experience in a brand-new medium.
- Focus on emotion. Whatever your risk is, try to evoke a specific emotion. People respond exceptionally well and stay engaged when you can make them laugh, cry, or feel nostalgic. Aim for the heart and your video will have a better chance of hitting home.
Examples of Great Risk-Taking Videos
Sometimes all you need is a little inspiration. One great example of a corporate video that took a risk and succeeded is Twitter. They took all of the tropes from typical bad corporate videos and amped them up in an incredible way. This included bad cuts, wooden dialogue, and cheesy music. In the end, it resulted in a video that was unique and extremely funny.
Quinlan Co., a small creative agency based out of Buffalo, proves that you don’t need to be a large corporation to take a risk and knock it out of the park. They decided to create a video that portrayed their company as fun and knowledgeable in a unique way. Thus, Casual Friday was born. In the end, it was such a success that it has become an in-house sitcom, with tightly scripted episodes that are watched by thousands of people.
A roll of the dice can yield great rewards.
One thing you never want to take a risk on with your next corporate video is the video crew. You need a crew that is reliable and delivers exactly what you want, when you want it. For help finding the perfect video crew, no matter where in the world you’re shooting, make sure to reach out to us here at Crews Control. You can get started with a completely free quote by clicking here.
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