Creating video content for your brand is not that easy as you may think. With more and more people taking an interest in videos when researching companies and their products, businesses are now keen on creating their promotion content in-house rather than relying on companies like NRG Digital. The material does address both internal and external communications.
With the videos, companies can engage diverse demographics from websites to social media feeds and even email marketing. As such, they can influence the interests and behaviours of the online users to elicit positive actions or responses.
Some companies opt to develop their video content using an organic approach, even those that they commission from others. Such material then becomes a crucial part of their internal communications and marketing strategy. However, most of the animated videos and short clips made for social media and various online channels are produced spontaneously. As such, they often lack significant substance due to the lack of adequate planning that ensures adherence to brand guidelines.
How To Stay on Brand and Be Spontaneous
Spontaneous generation of content is fine, more so when you consider the time factor. Nevertheless, you must put some thought into the material you want to create before you start. You can create engaging content in a matter of minutes, whether you are using free online video tools or your in-house video production software. For instance, it can be an animated gif that responds to a client’s review, a birthday celebration clip for a workmate, or a how-to video answering a customer’s query.
Branding the video is one of the things that will be overlooked. If the video gains traction and people share it, then that means it will have missed an opportunity to promote the company. With the branding, people will know where the video comes from. And aside from branding, there has to be consistency in the message being passed. If there is any conflicting information, then it can confuse your target audience. Such a thing can also compromise the company’s brand.
Video Brand Guidelines for Content Creators
You can overcome the issues mentioned above by having some basic video brand guidelines that you will adhere to when creating different video content. Some of the primary areas to include in the video brand guidelines include:
• The right video content creators
You should have a list of video content curators that you can rely on for the production of the visual materials you need. They should be creators that have a deep understanding of your brand so that they do not misrepresent it in the video content they produce.
• The general tone for video content
You should have a particular tone that you can the visual material you create to have when talking about your brand. You can dial the tone up or down, depending on the content you want to produce. For instance, if you are going for something upbeat, then you opt for an explainer video narrated by an employee. It should not have a monotone or sound like a rushed narration.
• The right voice
In this instance, you need to check the voice you use in your content, both in spoken words and the text. The voice you use reflects your brand’s personality. It also is how your target audience will interact with your brand. The type of video content you want to produce will govern the voice and tone to use. As such, you should be particular when sharing the guidelines that the video content curators will follow.
• Brand colours, fonts, and logo
Ensure that every content creator has access to the brand’s stylebook that contains the brand’s logo, colour palette, as well as the preferred fonts and elements to use. You may have to create several video templates for some kinds of visual materials that you need. It will make it easy for the content curators to know the guidelines they need to follow.
• The right imagery
It is a matter that touches on animation, graphics, and picture quality. Moreover, it will help the creators you have to know the type of imagery to use for your brand. Let them understand what is acceptable and what is not.
• The audio aspect of the video content
A video without any sound is boring and is unlikely to captivate viewers. But then again, the sound should be unique, and it should reflect the brand. You can use online video tools that give you access to free online music libraries where you can pick tracks that enhance instead of detracting from your brand.
• Crucial messaging
You should take the time to think of what you want to communicate in your video. That means you should have a core brand message. It should stand out, be unique from the other content, such as the internal communication, marketing, or even customer support content. It also should be specific to a particular audience, be it your employees, investors, or customers. Therefore, you should have different video content samples for your brand and ensure each has a core brand message.
If you have such basic video brand guidelines, then the team you have creating the video content that will promote your business will not stray from its brand even when they produce spontaneous content. As a result, the visual materials generated will help your company reach new and potential customers or hires.
