Matt Holmes

About Matt Holmes

Matt Holmes is the founder of Visual8 Productions, which he started after graduating with a 1st Class (Hons) Degree in Film Production Technology and spending 4 years working at the BBC. Matt has a passion for all things video and film! From scriptwriting and concept creation, through to 4K and HD filming, video editing, motion graphics and video marketing, Matt works on a wide range of video productions for his clients.

What is a Corporate Video and how can it help grow your business?

WHAT IS A CORPORATE VIDEO AND HOW CAN IT HELP GROW YOUR BUSINESS?

So, you’ve heard of ‘Corporate Video’, but what exactly is it? Put simply, a Corporate Video is the production of a video by a business or organisation.

In this post, we’ll run through what Corporate Video is and how your business can benefit from it.

The possibilities of how you can use Corporate Video are endless. The majority of businesses use it to promote and raise awareness of their brand as a whole. However, Corporate Video can also be used for training your staff, filming live events and even communicating with your team.

HOW CAN YOU USE CORPORATE VIDEO?

Now you know what a Corporate Video is, you’re probably wondering how you can use it in your business. The answer is, there are infinite ways to use Corporate Video! Here are just a few…

CORPORATE VIDEO

A typical Corporate Video includes interviews with key members of staff or the managerial team of your company or organisation, as well as showcasing what you do, how you do it and what makes you different and unique to your competitors.

But Corporate Video has come a long with since its establishment 20 or 30 years ago. They don’t have to be long, boring, uninspiring videos that people switch off from after 10 seconds. You can have a lot of fun with Corporate Video! They can be creative, funny, have a great story behind them, or even something completely off-the-wall! The possibilities are endless.

You can use your Corporate Video on your website to introduce your business to potential customers or clients. Another way to use your video is at conferences or events where you are exhibiting; videos are a brilliant way to capture the attention of passers-by at events and catch their eye.

CONFERENCE VIDEO

Are you holding a conference for your business? Having a video produced of the day (or days) can reap huge rewards.

A short highlights video of your conference for example, will allow you to showcase it across your social media channels and your website, meaning that people who weren’t able to attend can see what a fantastic and beneficial day it was and encourage them to attend the next conference you’re holding.

TRAINING VIDEO

Maybe you have a team of staff across a number of locations and they all need regular training to ensure that they are aware of all the latest legislation within your industry. In the past, you perhaps organised your staff to attend a training session in-person. But this can be time-consuming, impractical and could actually be losing your company money.

Training Video is the solution you’ve been looking for! Once the video is produced it can be delivered again and again to as many people as you need. And your staff can go through the training videos when they have the time and at their own pace.

It is even possible to incorporate quizzes into your training videos, to make sure that your staff have understood the training.

COMMUNICATIONS VIDEO

If you send out regular newsletters or communications to your staff, then why not use video instead of text? A Communication Video is a fantastic way to communicate with your team; it allows you to deliver your message effectively and efficiently. It will also engage your staff much more than a text only newsletter.

IS YOUR BUSINESS READY FOR VIDEO?

If you’ve got a project in mind, why not request a quote! Or if you’d rather talk to one of our team about how video can help your business, feel free to get in touch with us

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People remember 20% of what they hear and 30% of what they see – but an incredible 70% of what they hear and see

Harvard Business Review

Wrapping Up…

I hope this has given you an understanding of Corporate Video and some inspiration for how you can use it in your business. If you would like to talk to us about a Corporate Video for your business, please feel free to get in touch and we’d be more than happy to have a chat with you about your ideas and goals.

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How To Tell Your Story in Video

When you’re trying to tell the story of your business, your brand, your products and services or even yourself, your video will benefit greatly from having a strong, well thought out story behind it.

A well told story is an effective and powerful form of online video. More so than other formats of story-telling, video has the potential to really engage and connect with viewers (AKA, your potential customers), making you memorable and leaving an impression with them, that may convert into a sale for your business. Carry on reading to see our tips on how to tell an effective story in your corporate video.

How to Start Your Video

Depending on the direction of your video and your target audience, we have several suggestions below to get your video off on the right foot:

Idea 1: Introduce Yourself or Your Business

Introducing yourself may seem like an obvious, simple way to start your video, but it is an effective and efficient way of establishing a connection between your business and your potential customers. In order to hold their attention and keep them engaged, it is important that they buy in to what you are telling them and wanting to find out more about what your business can do for them.

Idea 2: Show That You Are an Expert in Your Field

It is clearly not enough to just address one potential problem; in order for your potential customers to take on board what you are saying, you need to address their individual issues; you do this by establishing yourself as an authority. When you are on video and in the spotlight, you need to establish this authority as quickly as possible otherwise people will switch off.

Idea 3: Problem Solving

As human beings, when we come across a problem, our natural instinct is to solve it. In your video(s), if you address some of the most common problems in your industry, you create a connection between yourself and your potential customers and keep them watching and engaged.

Idea 4: Describe A Process

(n.b. this relates a little to option 3 – problem solving!) Perhaps you have a product or service that needs some explanation, or you are talking through some legislation. In which case a video that talks viewers through a process is a fantastic, engaging method for viewers because as humans we are wired to enjoy visual content; we don’t always want to read through pages and pages of instructions.

What To Showcase In Your Video

Idea 1: What Makes You Different From Your Competitors?

You need to understand and believe what your unique selling point (USP) is and you need to sell it in your video; if you work in a competitive industry, this is even more important. What makes you stand out? Why should people come to you rather than your competitors? What can you offer that your competitors can’t? All of this needs to come across in your corporate video.

Idea 2: Start With The Customer and Work Backwards

“Start with the customer and work backwards” was the mission statement of ‘Amazon’ founder, Jeff Bezos, and it is something that we believe should be the mission statement of every business. After all, without customers you wouldn’t be in business. You need to let your potential customers know what you do for them to make them feel valued and special and not just another number. If it’s possible, it would pay dividends to create some video testimonials of past clients or customers giving positive accounts of working with your business.

Idea 3: Make it Easy For Customers To Connect With You

If potential customers have to work to find you they are going to go somewhere else. You can use a number of different avenues, for example – social media, an email address, a phone number, your website or a physical street address. You need to give them a reason to get in touch with you.

Idea 4: Round off Your Video With a ‘Call To Action’

Your ‘Call to Action’ could be within the video itself, on-screen or in the video description – or both. You need to make conversions from your video to a sale as easy as possible. A clear and effective ‘Call to Action’ is crucial to bring visitors from your video into your website, or if they are already on your website, encourage them to find out more about your business and take a look around your site.

This brings us to the end of our short little guide to telling the story of your business with the power of video. We hope you enjoyed reading this and if you have any questions about ideas you have for your video, please get in touch with us.

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Two Tips for Using YouTube Categories

When you’re uploading your video(s) to YouTube, one of the fields that you will need to fill in is the ‘Category’. 
To find this field, along the top of your screen, just below the progress bar you will see 3 tabs:

  • Basic Info
  • Monetisation
  • Advanced Settings

Click on the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab and over on the right hand side you will see the ‘Category’ field, which is a drop down list.

Now, personally, I think that YouTube Categories aren’t particularly geared up for business users; you may be lucky and find a category that suits your video down to the ground. But unfortunately, most businesses will have to settle for using the ‘People & Blogs’ category, which isn’t ideal.

TIP #1

When you have selected a YouTube Category for your first video, keep on using this same category for every other video you upload to your YouTube Channel. This may sound a bit crazy, especially if your next video is about cars, when your first video was about education! But YouTube and Google want to see you being consistent with your YouTube Category selection, so that they gain an understanding of which sector you operate in.

This goes hand in hand with producing a collection of videos, all with a similar theme to one another and choosing related keywords; this will allow Google and YouTube’s algorithms know what your business is all about and what you do as a business.

TIP #2

To make the upload process as pain-free as possible, did you know that you can set a default YouTube Category, as well as a host of other defaults? To do this, follow the instructions below:

  • Go to your ‘Creator Studio’ – in the top right corner of your screen, left-click on the thumbnail of your channel and then click on ‘Creator Studio’
  • Once you are in your Creator Studio, on the left hand side you will see a menu. Click on the 4th option down, ‘Channel’
  • Then from the drop-down menu that appears, click on ‘Upload Defaults’
  • On this screen you are able to set the defaults of pretty much every upload option, including YouTube Categories.

Have a play around and start uploading videos to your YouTube Channel!

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4 Reasons Why Video Is Good For Your Business

So you’re interested in having a video produced for your business, but you still need some more convincing. We understand why video is such a great tool for business, so in this article we are going to cover why it is worth investing in a video that promotes your business.

1. Online Video is A Great ‘Call-To-Action’

Using online video is a proven technique of a call-to-action that provides conversions. It is an effective way of engaging prospective customers to interact and engage with your business and the products and services that you offer. It condenses pages and pages of text into a concise and informative short video. Using video gives you the opportunity to ‘show’ potential customers your work rather than just telling them. Whether you are showcasing past successes, allowing past customers to endorse your business or informing viewers about what makes you different from your competitors, video will engage your viewers in a way that written text can’t.

2. Video Helps Businesses Grow

A business that doesn’t have dynamic, interactive content such as video is going to fall behind its competitors. Consumers are getting more and more savvy and are expecting lots of engaging content; it also shows that a business is technology and progression aware.

A professionally produced video that communicates your message is the ideal way to reach this huge potential market and also shows that your business understands the needs of the modern customer.

3. Video Helps People Find Your Business

Online video has a proven track record of helping consumers find businesses online. With YouTube being the second largest search engine next to Google, there has never been a better time to harness the power of video. When people are looking for advice or business ‘how-to’ videos, one of the first places they will go is YouTube. And as a bonus, when carried out correctly, video on your website can increase your SEO (search engine optimisation) which allows potential customers to find your business online, because Google places video content on page 1 of search results.

4. Video Production is Affordable

It’s a common misconception that video production is extortionately expensive. But as new technology emerges the cost of products and services decreases. Video production is now affordable for all businesses like never before. Here at Visual8 we use new and emerging technology to keep our costs low, allowing us to not only keep prices for you that are affordable, but also professional quality video.

Visual8 Productions are based near Wolverhampton in the West Midlands, so are well located for filming across the country. If you have been in doubt about whether video production is going to benefit your business, we hope that this article has proved useful to you.

If you have any questions at all or are interested in having a video produced for your business, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.

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Optimising Your Corporate Video Content

As a video production company, we love the challenge of coming up with creative and engaging ideas, scripts and storyboards for our clients’ corporate videos. But occasionally clients come to us with a great idea that they have come up with for their video and only require and production and post-production services. Research suggests that the average human attention span is just 8 seconds (Statistic Brain) – that’s less than a goldfish, which have attention spans of 9 seconds!

So how do you optimise your corporate video content, and prepare your script and storyboard in readiness for filming and editing? We have come up with a few ideas to keep you on the straight and narrow when developing the concept for your video:

1. Research

Take a look around the internet and see what other corporate videos have been made that inspire you. Whether this be the style of video, the content, the humor, the graphics, the presenters, the voiceover; all of these things and much more has to be thought about when preparing your corporate video content.

2. Put The Important Information At The Beginning of Your Video

Drop-off rate’s for online video can be high, not always, but sometimes. So it is important that your important information is at the start of your video. This will keep more people watching your video for longer than the ‘average human attention span’ of 8 seconds. You need to start your video off in style, with a bang to maintain the highest number of viewers.

3. Less is More

If you are looking at a final video duration of between 90 seconds and two minutes, you will be surprised at just how quickly that time will get eaten up. So condense your content and get it down to delivering your key messages. Try making a bullet pointed list of your key messages. In a nutshell, your video is there to grab audiences attention and leave them wanting to find out more about your business.

4. Tell A Story

Your corporate video content needs to form some sort of a story; i.e. it needs a beginning, a middle and an end. Depending on the style of video you are going for, the beginning may be introducing your business very briefly, the middle will form the bulk of the message you are trying to deliver and the end will be some sort of a ‘call-to-action’, to encourage viewers to contact you, ask you a question, for example.

Next Steps…

At Visual8 Productions, we can produce your script, storyboard and video concept for you. But we are more than happy for you to carry out this process and we can provide you with feedback; the choice is yours. We always put your target audience first and work backwards, ensuring that the video is developed, filmed and edited with them in mind. If you have an idea for a video that you would like to develop, please get in touch with us.

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Why Online Video is The Future of Online Marketing

When it comes to online marketing, getting people to your website is only half the battle; the other half is inspiring them to stick around.

The problem is that our attention spans are gradually becoming shorter; studies have shown that humans now have an attention span of just 8 seconds. (StatisticBrain.com)

The competition we face with audiences is fierce; an estimated 30 billion pieces of content are shared on Facebook alone each month, let alone all the other platforms out there for social media.

Every day we are bombarded with chunks and chunks of information from companies who are all fighting for our attention, and we simply don’t have the time or energy to sift through it all.

This is where video marketing comes in… Now, when video is mentioned, the immediate “How much is this going to cost me?”, which is a fair question, as when we are buying something we all want to know what the price tag is. But it’s important when it comes to video to think of video as an investment and that it will provide you with a return on investment (ROI).

If you are doubting the power of video or need to convince your boss, take a look at some statistcis below:

1. One minute of video is worth 1.8 million words (Forrester Research)

Why it matters: Video is far more cost effective and practical than your budget might lead you to believe, because they deliver your message faster and clearer as well as connect with your audience on a more personal level.

2. On average we watch 32 videos per month (Heehaw Digital)

Why it matters: It is quick, consise and we understand it because we’re human. We respond well to the human voice, music and moving images.

We remember 20% of what we see, 30% of what we hear, but an incredible 70% of what we hear and see at the same time.

3. 20% of people SHARE videos on their smart phone and 41% of people WATCH videos on their smart phone (PEW Centre)

Why it matters: The number of people sharing video content on their smart phones is rather low; this is because businesses aren’t making it easy to share their video content. So make sure when you upload your videos that they are easy for viewers to share with friends, family and collegues.

4. 58% of people who watch video online, watch it on social media platforms (PEW Centre)

Why it matters: Watching video is a social activity. When we see a video we have enjoyed on Facebook for example, we want to share it with our friends and family, which is easily achieved with Facebook. So, when uploading your video to the internet, be sure to upload it to your social media platforms as well as your website to achieve the largest possible audience.

5. 90% of communication transmitted to the human brain is VISUAL. Visuals are transmitted 60,000 times faster than text in our brains. (3M Corporation)

Why it matters: Video delivers your message far more effectivly than text. It will allow you to communicate to your audience and retain their attention in just a matter of minutes.

6. Photos are ‘LIKED’ 2 times more than text updates on social media and videos are hared 12 times more than links and text updates combined. (Sprout Social)

Why it matters: Videos that are engaging will generate free, meaningful marketing to your potential customers.

7. ‘Dollar Shave Club’s viral video generated 12,000 new sign-ups on the comapny’s website within 48 hours of releasing the video. (WJS)

Why it matters: This is a prime example of how creating an engaging video generates interest and engagement which very quickly turns into sales.

8. We typically visit 5 websites when looking to buy a product or service. When there is video on a website, the number of websites visited decreases to just 2. (Agent Image)

Why it matters: Video helps to reduce the friction between potential businesses to buy from and means that the consumer has a shorter list of who to buy from, making their online purchasing experience much more user friendly.

9. 76% of people respond to videos that are included in emails. (Social Sprout)

Why it matters: Videos can help to convince potential customers that your website and your products and services are worth looking into.

10. 72% of people watch videos on YouTube and Vimeo (PEW Centre)

Why it matters: Content distributor such as YouTube and Vimeo will help to get your content out there into the big wode world.

Conclusion

When it comes to video marekting, it’s important to remember that you can’t cut corners. Video marketing isn’t magic. It takes time and energy to ensure that your business is showcased in front of your desired audience.

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10 Ideas to Get More People Watching Your Video

We know that it can seem like climbing a mountain when working out how to get more people watching your video, which is why we’ve come up with 10 ideas to tell the world about your new video.

  1. If it’s an overview video about your business, get it on the front page of your website; ideally above the fold so that viewers don’t have to scroll down to find it.
  2. Do you send out a newsletter? Either weekly, monthly or quarterly? If so, wrtie about it! And make sure you put a stil frame of your video on there which links directly to the page on your website where visitors can watch it.
  3. Get social! Share your video with all your friends and followers on Facebook, Twitter and Google + or with anyone you bump in to.
  4. Add a link to your video on your email signature.
  5. Write about it in your blog. Tell your readers why you needed a video and perhaps the results have seen from it since it went live.
  6. Make it easy to share. If viewers really like your video they will want to share it with friends and family or collegues, so make it as easy as possible for them to do this by adding in shortcode for sharing buttons to Facebook, Twitter and Google + right next to the video player.
  7. If you’re exhibiting at a trade show or exhibition or at meetings, bring your video along with you and play it anywhere that you have a willing audience to watch.
  8. Upload your video to YouTube; the world’s second largest search engine, which is also owned by Google – the world’s largest search engine.
  9. Optimise your video to give it the best chance of being spotted on the internet. By optimising we mean things such as writing a description that contains your keywords (but not too many) and around 10 ‘tags’ (words or short phrases that relate to the topic of your video).
  10. Shout about it from the rooftops! Well, not literally, but tell everyone you know about your video and word will soon spread.

So there we have it; 10 simple steps that you can do to really make the most of your online video. There are many more things that can be done to increase the awareness of your video, so if you have any thoughts, let us know.

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Advantages of a YouTube Channel

I’m sure if you’re reading this you will have heard of YouTube. But what are the advantages of setting up a YouTube Channel for your business?

In this ever-changing digital world it’s important to do everything you can to get ahead of your competition and stand out. Whether you are running a business from home or working for a large company, using YouTube is an effective and engaging way to help advance your product or service.

Trust

With YouTube open to anyone and everyone, this is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing in that the audience on YouTube alone is vast. A curse in that anyone can upload a video to YouTube, resulting in amateurish, questionable videon content.

However, don’t let this put you off. With a YouTube Channel for your business, it shows people that you have taken the time to set this up, provide informtation about your company, organise and label your videos accurately, custom graphics and links to every video you upload. Another advantage of a YouTube Channel is is that it will very quikcly provide your business with a high degree of credibility.

All ‘Your’ Videos

If you have used YouTube before, either in a personal or business capacity, you will know just how easy it is to watch a video. But you will also have noticed how easy it is to get side-tracked from why you originally went on to YouTube, with all the other videos down the right hand side of the screen. This isn’t good for you as it drives people away from your business and your message.

There is a solution! Create a YouTube Channel for your business; this way all the video content that you have uploaded or ‘favourited’ will be viewable to your viewers – there will be no video content from anyone else on the page. Only yours.

Trust

Some businesses lend themselves well to providing a ‘behind-the-scenes’ look at how they run day-to-day. For example, a video we produced last year for a laser cutting machine company in Rugby, Warwickshire, called ‘MSS Lasers’, approached us to produce a video that showcased what they offer to their customers and what makes them so different from their competition. Watch their video here: http://msslasers.com/

This approach to using video invites potential customers and clients into the heart of your business and gives them a glimpse of what makes you different from your competition. It also gives your business a sense of transparency and honesty, which can only be a good thing.

Feedback

As with all social media platforms, people can leave their comments and thoughts about your posts. YouTube is no different. You can allow people to leave their feedback on your video content and you can even join in the conversation yourself, creating a connection betweeen your business and your customers. A customer may discover your business on YouTube and trust you because of your video.

Subscribe to The Visual8 YouTube Channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNDuc4yBN76QVeVGy4UfJlw

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How to Upload Video To Your Rightmove Property Listings

In this short guide, you will learn in a few simple steps how to upload property videos to your Rightmove listings, enabling potential buyers to discover more about a property and encourage them to book a viewing.

Uploading a video to your Rightmove listing is as easy as 1, 2, 3. Simply follow our short guide and within minutes your property video will be viewable by people around the world.

How To Upload Video To Your Rightmove Property Listings

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Top 12 Reasons For Using Property Video

Selling any property can sometimes be a long and exhausting process. So the questions is, what can be done to showcase your property to a wider market and attract more potential buyers?

The answer…Property Video

This doesn’t mean ditch the traditional methods of property marketing, but more, use video as another tool in your property marketing arsenal. The use of photography has always been the traditional method of “showing potential buyers around properties”. The effectiveness of property photography has never been in questions, but that’s because there was never been a viable and more effective alternative. Until now…

With this in mind, here are our top 12 reasons as to why you should be using property video:

1. Property Tour

Unlike photographs, video takes the viewer on a tour through the property, showcasing the layout, space and special features

2. Perspective

Video opens up rooms in a property and creates a real sense of perspective – something that can’t be achieved with still photographs

3. Opportunity

Property video provides the viewer with an opportunity to imagine what they could do with the property and how they can make it their own

4. Connection

If viewers like what they see on the video they are far more likely to book a real-life tour of the property, as video creates an emotional attachment between the viewer and the property

5. 24/7 Viewings

Property video allows viewings to take place 24/7 and minimises the inconvenience of wasted viewings in person

6. Enhanced SEO

Google owns YouTube and it loves video! Meaning that your website hits will increase if you embed property videos on your website – the longer people stay on your website, the better it will be for SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)

7. Mobile Device Friendly

Our videos play seamlessly on iPad’s, iPhone’s and Android devices, meaning that you don’t miss out on the ever increasing traffic that comes from these kind of devices

8. Worldwide Exposure

Reaching a global audience, your property video will be viewable to local, national and international buyers

9. Property Portals

Include a link to your video from your Rightmove, Zoopla and Prime Location property listings

10. Social Media

With the power and reach of social media, you will be able to showcase your property video across all of your social media platforms

11. In-Store Display

Why not use your property video(s) on a TV in the window of your estate agency? This will show that you are serious about selling properties and another fantastic use of property video

12. Online Property Search

90% of people start looking for their ideal property online. Video can grab their attention right from the start and get them through the door for a real-life viewing.

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