Bad Corporate Videos: Avoid These 7 Mistakes At All Costs or It May Cost Your Company Business
Bad corporate videos are easy to spot.
Videos that are …
- Boring
- Cheesy
- Unengaging; and
- Low-quality
… can have negative effects on your company or marketing strategy.
At the same time, high-quality and skillfully crafted corporate videos can unleash numerous positive results and opportunities for growing companies.
We’ll take a look at some examples of bad corporate videos and the top seven mistakes to avoid when creating successful corporate videos.
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What Contributes to Bad Corporate Videos?
Bad corporate videos — we’ve all seen them.
You know what we’re talking about? The ones with cheesy actors or monotone narrators reading from a script?
Corporate videos can be used effectively for their intended purpose, but corporate videos done poorly are painful to watch and can be costly and bad for your business.
We’ll go into detail below about seven of the most common corporate video mistakes, but there are many elements that contribute to the effectiveness and performance of a corporate video.
Some of these include:
- Poor production values
- Bad sound
- Cheesy acting
- Lack of emotion or over-exaggerating
- Too much information
- Unnatural script
- Bad lighting
- Outdated or irrelevant visuals
Undoubtedly, no one sets out to make a subpar corporate video, but failing to avoid these common mistakes will often mean an unprofessional final product.
Examples of Bad Corporate Videos
Bad Corporate Video #1
Even with the decent graphics and background music, this video doesn’t quite hit the mark.
Granted, the content — a U.S. recession — isn’t the most exciting thing in the world to talk about. But this advisor’s delivery leaves a lot to be desired, as evidenced in his:
- Lack of emotion
- Monotone voice; and
- Obvious script-reading
This video doesn’t help engage the audience or keep their attention. Perhaps hiring a professional would have been a better way to go.
Bad Corporate Video #2
This video misses the mark in a couple of areas:
- Cheesy images (evil cat but cute mouse); and
- A voice-over that’s too fast
Though this pest control company may be top-notch, some customers may never find out because they couldn’t understand the speedy message.
Maybe they were trying to keep the video short and sweet, which is generally a good idea. But this video could have been produced better with some different images and slowing down the pace or shortening the message to keep it within the ideal timeframe.
Bad Corporate Video #3
This video takes the cake.
Yes, it’s pretty funny, but the goofiness may have been a bit overboard.
It fails the effective test by:
- Being overly goofy; and
- Using low-quality actors
Training videos are hard to get right; they’re either painfully boring or tortuously nutty.
Finding the balance necessary to get the message across while keeping the audience engaged can be challenging.
Perhaps this video could have skipped the goofy intro and gone straight to the correct “how-to” segment.
Avoid These 7 Common Mistakes That Can Lead to Bad Corporate Videos
Corporate videos may be the first connection some people have when connecting with a company or brand. And badly created videos are sure to lead to poor engagement, which is not what the company is aiming for.
The stakes are high when it comes to video content strategy, and the first video encounters the public has with a company’s videos will very often set the tone for how the company is perceived.
A bad corporate video may mean low engagement or a quick exit from the webpage, neither of which encourages sales or further webpage interaction.
Mistake #1: Being Clever With No Clear Message
These kinds of videos abound these days. You’ve certainly seen them, most likely during the Superbowl.
You watch an ad and think, “That was pretty cool.” But you can’t, for the life of you, remember what they were advertising — which is totally the opposite of what companies are trying to do with their corporate videos.
The point is to make a statement, make your name known to the audience, and convert.
Clever videos may indeed be clever, but without the message behind them, you risk losing business because your intended audience has no idea what your company is all about.
A clear vision and strategy are essential components of any good video.
Clearly communicating these key points will help audiences understand your motives and goals, which in turn will help you attract new customers and boost sales.
Mistake #2: Reading From a Boring Script
The content of your corporate video may be insightful and helpful, but if it’s read from a script, you risk your audience never hearing the message because they get bored and zone out or click out of the video altogether.
A little creativity could go a long way here.
Instead of reading a script word for word, consider using …
- Metaphors
- Stories
- Comparisons; and
- Emotion
… to keep the message exciting and engaging.
Mistake #3: Using the Wrong Music
Corporate videos with intro music or background music can be very effective, but getting the music right can be difficult.
When aiming to get the music right for a corporate video, let these suggestions guide your choice:
- Use music that reflects the tone of your video.
- Choose music that fits the overall message you are trying to send.
- Consider the volume — not too loud and not too inconspicuous.
Choosing the right music can turn bad corporate videos into ones that are polished and valuable, improving your company’s reputation.
Mistake #4: Not Using Professionals
We’re all tempted to save money and cut corners by doing things in-house. So, instead of hiring professionals, we try to do the professional work ourselves and end up with a low-quality product.
Spending the extra money on professionals to help with corporate video production can pay off in the end with higher revenue and more customer engagement.
Whether it be …
- Professional actors; or
- Video production specialists
… corporate video production should be handled by professionals who have the knowledge and experience to create high-quality videos that will help your business stand out from the competition.
Houston Video is an award-winning video production company with a team of professionals who have stellar video production know-how.
Our aim is to produce videos that perform better and generate leads. We make that happen by integrating various marketing strategies with our technical expertise.
Let’s start the conversation to see how Houston Video can move your company or brand to the next level.
Mistake #5: Being Too Long or Short
This may be the trickiest aspect of corporate videos to get right.
With our culture’s short attention span, people aren’t going to stay engaged in long videos. They’ll lose interest before the message even gets started.
On the other hand, if a video is too short, it may come across as unprofessional or too informal. You may also risk skipping over your brand’s intended message by trying to fit too much information into a short period of time.
There is indeed a fine line between being too long or too short with corporate video. It’s important to strike a balance that both educates and entertains your audience.
Mistake #6: Not Engaging Your Audience
Engaging the audience is key lest they lose interest and tune out.
To keep your audience interested and focused on your message, follow these tips when producing corporate videos:
- Use storytelling techniques.
- Leverage emotion by making your audience laugh, cry, or ponder.
- Scrap the lengthy intro and get their attention from the start of the video.
- Use relevant visuals.
- Make videos conversational.
- Use humor.
By remembering these things, your audience is more likely to stick around.
Mistake #7: Skimping On Production Quality
Good corporate videos require piecing together many elements — both technical and professional — together to create a quality piece. And this doesn’t come easy or without know-how.
Strong visuals and sound are key components of a good video, and skimping on either of them can leave you with a video your audience may not take seriously.
Investing funds in using high-quality equipment and experienced personnel will pay high dividends in the end. Being able to create a professional end product will boost your relevance, reputation, and believability.
Let Houston Video Create Engaging Corporate Video Content for Your Company
If you’d rather hand the corporate video production off to a professional than try to tackle it yourself, the pros at Houston Video are ready to take on your project.
We design our videos to achieve goals — your goals — and we promise to deliver a first-class production with conversion-focused results.
We create a variety of corporate videos, including …
- Overviews
- Explainers
- Training videos; and
- Promotional videos
… that support campaigns for:
- Websites
- Social media
- PPC; and
- SEO
To get our clients’ videos right, we take time to get to know their customers and their pain points and then develop videos that deliver an authentic message.
Our goal is to produce results for you. Let’s chat to see how we can get started on your next corporate video.