The 8 Types of Video Content your Business Needs to Grow This Year
It looks like it’s going to be another hard year for most businesses.
Belts are being tightened, budgets have been cut, and we’ve seen mass layoffs in the tech world.
If businesses want to succeed in building their brand, generating new sales, and attracting great talent, they’re going to have to work harder than ever to do so in this challenging & hyper-competitive landscape.
One of the most effective tools they can employ, in order to do this, is video content. You can use it to showcase your best work, explain a product or service and their benefits, highlight your company culture and much more.
This is the part where I could cite a bunch of studies and stats about the power and popularity of video content, but if you’re on the internet and you’re paying attention, you already know how prevalent it has become in our day-to-day lives.
At threesixfive, we create many different kinds of video content for a variety of different businesses, so we wanted to share some of our best ideas for how brands can leverage video content to stand out from the crowd and continue to build in a tough business climate.
The 8 Types of Video Content Your Business Needs to Grow
Here 8 types of videos your business should be making:
1) Project Showcase
Have a project or case study that you’re especially proud of? You may want to consider creating a short (in most cases) video to tell the story of that project.
Here is a short video we created, showcasing a project from Omar Gandhi Architects:
OG Architects | Jib House
Additionally, below is a slightly longer version of that video (2:38) with narrative.
We’ve become so obsessed with appealing to short attention spans and creating extremely short video content (which is often the right move), but we still need to consider creating longer, more detailed content for our viewers / potential customers who are truly interested in doing a deep dive on our brand, product, or service.
OG Architects | Jib House (Long):
Have a big project coming up?
You might want to document the process (either with professionals, or just on your iPhone) so you can use that content to market your product or service in the future!
Halifax in Wonderland BTS
Nova Scotia Fisherman BTS
Behind The Scenes - Tourism Industry Association
2) Lifestyle Ads
One of the best ways to create a positive feeling and connection between your customer and your product is by creating content that’s fun, aspirational, and that people actually like, while incorporating your product into that experience in a subtle way.
The video we created for Nova Scotia Fisherman, below, is an excellent example of this:
Daily Face Cream - Nova Scotia Fisherman
Check out some of the comments from when they posted it on Instagram:
3) Funny Content
We all love to laugh, and some humility goes a long way in building trust.
Our friends at Cottage Springs & The Ace Beverage Group have done a great job of leveraging humour to keep their audience engaged and entertained!
Cottage Springs Vodka Ice Tea Launch
Bobby Margarita
Cottage Springs - Flavour Island
4) Motion Graphics / Animation
In some instances, like an explainer video or a tech product video, motion graphics and/or animation can be very helpful in breaking down complex concepts, products, or services into simple, beautiful, and consumable content that potential customers can watch and understand immediately.
Motion and Animation Reel
You can create a video that is 100% motion graphics / animation or you can supplement live action video content with motion graphics layered on top for added effect. A common use would be displaying statistics, or displaying the UI of a product that a subject on screen might be using.
5) General Update Videos
We’re all familiar with companies sharing blog posts, Instagram & LinkedIn posts, or email newsletters to share what they’ve been up to, but I’ve seen very few do this in video format.
Last year, we began sharing general update videos about our company and some of the different projects we were working on. They’ve helped us drum up a lot of really solid impressions and I’ve had several new clients tell us they reached out after seeing these videos on LinkedIn.
Company Update
You can make these videos scripted, structured and polished like the one above, or they can be raw, off-the-cuff, and shot on an iPhone like the one below that I shared on our Instagram.
New Studio Build
A bonus benefit is that when we feature and tag our clients in our videos, they’re often proud to share the video or even just “like” it, which can help with engagement.
Keep in mind, with its current algorithm and feed layout, a “like” on LinkedIn essentially acts as a share because when someone likes your post, there’s a good chance it will appear in their connections’ feeds as well.
Go look at your LinkedIn feed right now (pending that the algorithm hasn’t changed by the time you read this) and see how many of the posts have the header “ _____ commented on this” or “_____ likes this”, and you’ll see what I mean.
6) Recruiting Content
In my conversations with other entrepreneurs, hiring and talent attraction seems to always be one of the biggest challenges.
A strong “About Us” style video will go a long way in helping potential candidates get a feel for who you are and what it’s like to work with you, but for any particularly important or challenging hires you may want to consider making a video for a specific job posting.
Here’s an example of a video we created for an open position we had in our Toronto office:
Hiring in Toronto
7) Authentic Content Around Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Community
If your company is looking to demonstrate its commitment to diversity, inclusion, and community building, video can be a powerful way to give voice to those who need to be heard.
In 2021/2022 we partnered with RBC and a team of Advisers from the Black community in Atlantic Canada to create a series of videos sharing the stories, challenges, and triumphs of a number of some of Atlantic Canada’s emerging Black leaders.
This project was recently recognized by the Canadian Marketing Association, in their article "5 Brands Doing Great DE&I Work in Canada".
8) TV Ads
I don’t have cable or watch broadcast TV, but my parents, aunts & uncles, and grandparents all do, and they all buy stuff.
With the internet and social media at our fingertips, it’s easy to cast stones at TV advertising, but the truth is, for certain demographics (primarily 55+), it’s still highly effective.
Additionally, just because an ad is created for TV doesn’t mean it can’t be distributed on other channels and platforms. With the right strategy, content for a TV ad can be captured with social cuts and alternate versions in mind to maximize reach and impact.
Below are two TV ads we created for clients looking to reach a mature demographic in 2022:
Tourism Industry Association Of NS
Wagners Law Firm TV Ad
There’s no perfect answer
At the end of the day, there is no fool-proof formula for deciding exactly which type of video(s) you should be making, but the best way to get started is to do a bit of research and start experimenting.
For more ideas, check out the videos page on our website, visit our Instagram, have a look at Nike’s YouTube channel (like I often do), or feel free to reach out with any questions you might have.
Good luck out there!
Dave