Great Video Ideas for Any Business
There are so many different options and ideas when it comes to creating a video for your business. The important thing is to figure out who your target audience will be for the video, and what you want it to achieve. A video created to educate clients and customers would have a very different tone and language than a fun video created to share on your social media. Knowing your audience and what you’d like to achieve is a crucial first step in creating a video.
Once you’ve got your audience and purpose figured out for your video, you can start brainstorming what type of video you’d like to create. Videos created for businesses and organizations can fall under two main categories - education and entertainment. Live video on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube has also become very popular. Below are a few different ideas and tips for creating videos in those categories.
Education
It’s very important to keep your purpose and goals in mind when creating an educational video. You want to stay on topic and give your viewers the information you promised. For example, if you are creating a video explaining your services, you should avoid also giving how-to advice. These videos are great for websites, meetings, or social media. Remember to keep your platform in mind when creating a video, as longer form videos tend not to perform as well on social platforms.
Here are a few types of educational videos you can create:
Your story - general who you are and what you do information. You can see a great example of this kind of video and how it’s used on The Paper Vow’s website.
How-to - a video that give instructions on how to use your product or how to do something related to your services
Explainer - a video that explains a specific product or service in detail
Testimonial - a client or customer giving a positive review of your product or services.
Other informative videos such as Culture videos, Training videos, or Business and News Updates also fall under the educational category.
This video is a great example of how an educational video can still have a lot of life and be fun to watch. I created this video for United Way of Knox County about their after school programs. The video provides information on the programs and the response it has received, as well as some very fun footage of the kids enjoying the programs.
Here is another United Way video that provides a great example of testimonial style video. The video shows off United Ways workplace campaigns, with testimonials from people who donate to the campaign and why they choose to do so.
Entertainment
Entertaining videos are great to show off your culture and brand and help connect with your audience on a personal level. Have fun when creating these types of videos, but remember to stay on topic and don’t try to overload your viewers with too much educational information. These types of videos perform very well on social media and should be kept short and sweet.
Here are some ideas for entertaining videos:
Behind the scenes - Take a break to give your audience an inside look at your business. Show off your fun culture, office, or what might go on in a normal business day.
Videos for relevant holidays - Have fun and wish your clients, customers, followers, and fans a happy holiday.
Show off a new product or service - Video is a great way to launch a new product or service. Make a fun and entertaining video about the new offering, and then follow up with an explainer or how-to video to give more information.
Fun Social Media Content - Video is a great way to create fun new content to liven up your social media feed.
Above are two different videos created for The Tart Peach, a handmade lipstick company in Columbus, Ohio. One is a sharp and snappy promo piece for social media, and the other is a fun behind the scenes look at the day of the photo and video shoot.
Going Live
One of the biggest trends in video right now is going live. Everyone seems to be playing with live video on Facebook and Instagram these days, and why not? Live video is a great way to share information and connect with your audience. Keep in mind, that live video is not forever, and your audience won’t be able to view your video forever. So go ahead and play with live streaming, just keep in mind your audience and goal for your video and you’ll be just fine!