web video

By Kevin D. Johnson, Jr. 

Marketing consistency is the key for any brand or company. Many small business owners put a great deal of value in their logos, blog design, website and custom social media pages, but fail to realize that it’s just as important to have the videos they post on their websites, blogs and social media pages reflect the same level of quality as the other forms of marketing.

When your web videos and your other branding efforts don’t reflect the same quality, It’s like buying a new suit but wearing old tennis shoes with flapping soles. It can paint a confusing picture for your brand or company’s audience.  Once potential clients are unsure about you, they may question your brand’s professionalism.  The last thing a company wants to do is weed itself out of the running for a new client. That’s a self-inflicted wound.

Web video is an important marketing tool for small businesses because it provides you with the ability to reach a broader audience.  There are people who might not want to read a blog post but will watch a video to get information. Video can also make certain processes easier for people, such as showing them how to set up a new online service. So you don’t want to do without video—but you do want to ensure that your video production presents the same level of professionalism as, say, your business website.

People share videos at an extremely high rate, which can be either a gift or a curse depending on the content and production value of your videos.  It’s possible that a video may be the only content a person sees from your company, and if their opinion of your video is poor, they may never make it to your business website and or social media sites to learn more about your brand.

It can be a daunting task to have your videos match your website’s level of professionalism because in a lot of cases the video production company didn’t have anything to do with creating your website or other marketing materials. The best way to work towards marketing consistency is to have a clear understanding of what your aesthetic goals are. It’s also crucial to make sure that the production company is capable of producing the quality that you desire. Hiring a company without the skills to achieve what you want is like hiring someone to cater an event who can’t even boil water.  To find out if a video production company is capable, look at their samples and check their LinkedIn recommendations. Ask around and do your homework on the company.

Once you’ve chosen a company with the skills you need, go online to find some samples of videos in the style you’re seeking. Share your other marketing materials with the producer so their company can understand stylistically what your brand is all about. Discuss color schemes and graphic concepts.  This way there’s an understanding from the beginning as to what is expected. Close collaboration during all three phases of production (pre-production, production and post-production) is a major influence on the success of the overall video project.

By knowing what you want to achieve, choosing a company with the skills to achieve it and collaborating with them during the development of your online video, you’ll have a better chance of developing a video whose quality is in line with the rest of your business brand.

Kevin D. Johnson, Jr., is director/producer at NorthStarr Media Group, a multimedia production company that specializes in all areas of video production.