4 Mistakes Companies Make When Creating Videos

Quality video production is crucial to your business’s success. In today’s visually driven world, people are reading less and watching more. As with any endeavor your business undertakes, there are right and wrong ways to go about things. Do a video right and you will reap the rewards that come with it. Do it wrong and you may miss your mark. Here are several common mistakes that businesses make when creating videos for themselves or their clients.

Failing to Tell a Story

Your video should tell a story. If there is no start, no conflict, no solution to a problem, or no clearly defined conclusion, your video is lacking from the start. Invest in quality writers to storyboard your video for you, taking your input and using their creative abilities to create a compelling narrative. Your return on this investment will be multi-fold.

Tell a story that the audience will feel and one with which they can connect. Develop an impactful message and deliver it to your audience. Create characters and scenarios in your video that connect with your audience. Your client will thank you for connecting with their viewers this way, and if it is your organization you are creating a video for, your boss and your bank account will thank you. Keep in mind most viewers are wary of and numb from infomercials. Keep your videos fresh, interesting and entertaining – stories that people will remember.

Always Consider Where the Videos Will Be Seen

Where will your video be seen? It wasn’t long ago that the only platform for a video was television. Today, companies leverage social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube as a platform for their videos. If creating a video for your own company, make sure to post it on your company website. People go to your site to learn about you and your products or services. Make it easy for them to see what you do. Does your target audience frequent Instagram or YouTube? Make sure your video is created in a manner to connect well on these respective platforms. Many organizations miss their audience completely by not publishing their videos on platforms their customers use.

Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen, or Not Enough

It’s true, not all of us are blessed with a naturally creative mind. It takes skill and experience to create a great video. Taking your idea from a piece of scratch paper to a visual platform is no easy task. Inevitably, you will have the opportunity to either go it alone or hire a professional video team. What’s the right call? It depends on how talented your internal team is…and how much bandwidth they have to create a quality video without impacting other deliverables.

There are many quality video production companies, and finding one that works well with you and your team may be a wise investment. Spending your valuable resources to create a so-so video may sap precious time and money from your firm. Investing in a top-notch “wow” video may be one of the best investments you can make.

If the video is for your company, it is your chance to show people what you are all about. Take the time to think through all of the components that are critical to a great video. Not sure what they are? Check with a professional video team who can steer you in the right direction.

If the video is for a client, listen to them. Build a strong relationship with them, understand who they are and what they do and tell their story the way they want it told. Having too many people involved in the production of your video is not necessarily a bad thing, but too many cooks that are not used to creating a high-end meal can result in putting a bad taste in everyone’s mouth.

Forgetting SEO

Yes, SEO still matters. Especially with videos. Your video needs to be easily accessed online. This may feel like a daunting task, but many of your favorite video streaming platforms provide the tools to allow SEO during loading to enable a strong SEO foundation. Platforms like YouTube and many others allow video publishers to include metadata embedded in the video link. They also provide areas to write titles and descriptions of your video. These text snippets are important. Your primary keyword or keywords should always be in your title and again in your description.

It does no good for you or your client if nobody can find the great video you created. Disregarding SEO is a common mistake when producing videos. Avoid this downfall by keeping SEO top of mind when publishing your video.