So, you want a shiny new video to showcase your business. Awesome! We’re here to help. No doubt the cogs are turning already, and the Steven Spielberg within every business owner is dying to get out and create the greatest corporate video known to man. Huge locations, special effects, and a Morgan Freeman voiceover…

Your imagination may be running wild but, if it’s all in your head, your videographer won’t have a clue what you want! You need a corporate video brief, and you need to start creating it now.

What is a corporate video brief?

It’s exactly like it sounds.

Your videographer needs to understand who you are, who your audience are, and what you want this video for. A one-to-one consultation will be really helpful, but getting it written down helps you to solidify exactly what you want and gives the videographer a guide to work from.

A quick Google search will lead you to a nice, simple, video brief template. Use this to help guide your initial thoughts, and then to display them when you’re ready to pass it over to the videographer.

What’s included in the corporate video brief?

There are some key questions that any template will need you to answer. They may be phrased differently on each video brief template, but we’ve boiled them down to the crucial ideas:

Define your audience

Every business should be able to pinpoint their audience demographic. Use demographic and geographic data and develop an understanding of their behaviours.

This is vitally important when thinking about video. People watch video in different ways and on different devices, but there are trends to be spotted if you know who you’re targeting.

Once you know, write this clearly, with details, onto your corporate video brief.

What’s the point of your video?

Your finance team will probably be asking this question, but they’re onto something – it’s important to be thinking about the core purpose of your video. Why are you doing this? What is it you want to achieve from it?

The answer could be simple: maybe it’s to increase awareness of your brand or to launch a new campaign with a shiny proposition for the customer. To work out how to achieve your goals, your videographer will need to know what they are!

You can write a combination of purposes for your video on the corporate video brief, but if you’re overfilling the box and running out of space, you may need to simplify your reasoning for the video. This will help with monitoring its success once it’s made, too.

What are you trying to say?

This is the story you’re trying to tell. It’s the conversation you’re having with the customer as if you were sitting with them in a room and having a chat. What problem do you want to solve for them? How do you want to inspire them?

Not every corporate video has to be an origin story. Hollywood may love them, but they’re not always the right choice for a business. Rather than thinking about your company, and how your founder might be the coolest gal alive, it’s best to think about the customer first.

What will convince the audience that your brand is what they need? You might look at your competitors and say: ‘our product is better quality’, ‘our service is friendlier’, or ‘our new campaign is far beyond anyone else’s’. Work from this core belief when you’re thinking of the story you want to portray to your customer. And if it helps to have Morgan Freeman narrate your video idea in your head, go for it! Anything to refine and define the idea.

Decide on the details

Locations, actors, special effects and clever editing. This is where your imagination really can run wild.

With the whole world of filmmaking in front of you, you’ll need to take some time to think hard about what your customer needs to see in the video. If it’s too cluttered, they’ll miss things. Too stripped back, and they might get bored.

You’ll also need to think logistically at this stage. How many props can you handle, and how will you get them all to the location? We find a cheeky spreadsheet always helps with jotting down ideas at this point!

Budget like a pro

Budgeting like a pro doesn’t mean cutting corners to get a bargain. The trend is undoubtedly for videos that rival TV and movie quality, so you don’t want your video to look like it was fished from the bargain bin, however good you think the deal you’re getting is.

Know what your upper limit is, and then be willing to have a realistic conversation with the videographer about how much things cost. If your budget won’t stretch, don’t attempt to change the price or muck in yourself: change the idea. Minimalist ideas that don’t use many sets or actors can still look super cool. You just have to be prepared to put in the thinking time to come up with an awesome idea.

Be open to professional input

Finally, your videographer is there to help. Before you hand them the simple document that is your corporate video brief, talk to them about what they have done in the past, any awesome ideas they think would benefit you, and what they most want to display about your company.

An outsider’s perspective is one of the best tools for progress in any walk of life. Don’t pass up the chance to get the best out of your video by having a coffee, a laugh and a brainstorm. Getting to know your videographer will also help you feel more relaxed in a shoot, and trust that the process will produce what you’re looking for.

So, with that said, what’s stopping you from creating a video brief right now?

Start categorising your ideas, get them onto a video brief template, and things will become clear in no time. We can’t wait to hear about your big, crazy, beautiful plans!

If you’re ready to chat about them, give us a call. We’d love to see how we can help to bring your ideas to life.