Does Corporate Video Have to Be Boring?
Updated: Jul 18, 2021
The short answer is a qualified ‘no.’ The long answer is still ‘no’.
The term ‘boring’ is purely subjective. Personal taste is as varied as the goulash of human experience.
That which intrigues me might bore you to inconsolable tears. My friends can’t understand my fascination with Brian Eno’s ‘Music for Airports’. Conversely, I’ve been known to slip into a deep coma when subjected to even five minutes of live-streamed auto racing. To each, their own.
Video content producers have been programmed to fixate on view counts and ‘likes’ and such. What matters much more is the quality of their audience - or, more specifically, how well their content matches their audience’s interests.
Better to have ten enthusiastic and engaged viewers than 10,000 viewers that click away from your content after the first few seconds.
Here’s a simple two-step strategy to prevent viewer boredom:
Have something valuable to say.
Say that thing to the right people.
When strategizing video content for your business, I live by this immutable law of human behavior:
We all want to know: “What’s in it for me?”
This sounds so cynical and mercenary but it needn’t be. Sometimes my viewer just wants to know how they can make a positive change in the world, even in a small way. Maybe they want to know how I can take a problem or two off their very full plate. Still, other times they just need a break from it all.
You’ll hear this from me a lot. It’s that important: there’s just too much noise out there for anyone to care about what I have to say unless I am contributing positively in some way to their existence.
As a content producer, I am obsessed with the needs and wants of my customer. Finding a clear and concise way to communicate the goals that my organization shares with my customers is my rai·son d'ê·tre.
Once I have determined how I, or my company, can contribute something valuable to the lives of my customers through meaningful video content, I can take additional steps to ensure that my viewers will either be informed, inspired, or entertained.
The look and tone of our video will be developed through the use of storyboards and a detailed shooting script. I will use only the most qualified video production talent: cinematographers, directors, actors, crew, voice artists, editors, designers, composers, etc.
A compelling message combined with superb video production value is the most valuable tool in my arsenal as a content producer.
If you don’t want to make boring corporate videos, you won’t.
Stay singularly focused on providing value to the viewer and do it in the most polished way you can.
The end result will not be boring.