Online video is a powerful communication tool. After a face-to face meeting, it’s the best way to communicate – to tell a story, visually and with emotion…and now with mobile it’s a preferred communication medium!  If your goals are to boost awareness, educate or covert sales, online video should be your new best friend. Don’t believe me? Well, how else are you making it easy for audiences to understand your core messages and get excited?

One way is a somewhat basic example consisting of a handful of interviews, some extra ‘b-roll’ footage and music, all edited together to give the audience a picture of the business landscape that exists in your company.

A straightforward but stylized format works for a number of reasons:

By using a ‘problem-solution’ story structure, you can help your audience engage emotionally in an issue that they experience and get them excited about the solution. It’s this emotional dimension that helps make video so powerful.

The power of interviews cannot be overstated in a B2B environment, particularly when interviewing a client and/or partner. Humans are finely attuned to be able to read the tiny expressions of the face and have a sensitive ‘B.S. filter’. We can just tell when a client is genuinely satisfied in an interview.  The persuasive power of testimonials for B2B is arguably the best way to demonstrate effectiveness.  It’s worth asking yourself “How else might a prospect become convinced?”

By scheduling a handful of interviews in a one or two day shoot, you’ll be able to get the professional qualities of a well shot, lit and conducted interview while minimizing the high costs of production days with a full crew.

Once the interviews have been conducted (and perhaps after the edit has begun) it may become clear that some additional footage might help make the piece shine. Typically we find that the interview clips that we actually end up using will touch on some specific mentions that would be ideal to be able to show with some visuals. For example, if an interviewee mentions how small their servers are, it would be great to be able to show the audience that evidence visually.

By using modern and upbeat music and editing, it’s possible to energize the audience and build excitement. This positive energy can lay the foundation for a chemical reaction in the mind so when your main messages are being communicated they will be painted in a more favorable light.

In order to have an interesting and engaging story, it’s important to have a variety of footage besides the interviews that both helps move the story along and set the mood.  Without this ‘b-roll’ footage’ you’ll be left with a dreaded ‘talking head’ interview. If you have enough time and budget, the best videos have enough creative development time built in to the schedule to develop the concept and visual metaphor to help engage emotion and drive the key messages home.

These are just a few of the reasons that this ‘interview story’ format is so popular for corporate videos– that and the fact that it has worked on “60 Minutes” now for almost 50 years! Ultimately, the return on investment is in the views and shares that you could earn. If the content is engaging enough for your audience to watch, share & like, they just might do so. The key is to respect your audience and give them something of unquestionable value…something that stands out against the noise.

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