Before you even think about picking up a camera, you need to understand the different video types to be able to figure out exactly what you want to create and why. Here’s a quick rundown:
Demo Videos
Demo videos are pretty simple; you’ve got a product, and you want to show how it works. Whether it’s high-tech computer software or a pineapple peeler, demo videos can help you explain.
Brand Videos
Brand videos are a key ingredient in a company’s bigger advertising campaign to showcase their vision, mission, products or services. As well as this, brand videos give you the chance to highlight the why and the what of your brand, to attract the right audience.
Video Blog
A video blog is a great way to give a feel of your corporate identity while giving an authentic behind-the-scenes shot of your company. On top of this, a video blog can be a funny and entertaining way to get your audience engaged about your company and what you do.
Event Videos
Event videos are the perfect opportunity to show just how inspiring and awesome your company’s events are. Maybe you’ve got a conference coming up, a fundraiser, or even a summer BBQ? Event videos can help to advertise your upcoming event, and also keep people up-to-date and informed during the event itself. Plus by getting the whole thing on camera you can create a showreel that showcases your event and ethos all year round.
Expert Interviews
It never hurts to have experts, influencers or thought-leaders in your industry do short interviews on camera. Expert interviews give you the chance to get pearls of wisdom or new points of view in front of your target audience. You can use expert interviews to build trust and credibility, and educate your audience on the industry.
How-To Videos
How-to videos are a great opportunity to teach your viewers something new. How-to videos can give your audience the background they need to better understand your solution, while also helping to establish your brand as a thought leader.
Explainer Videos
Explainer videos explain your product or service in a short time and can help your audience understand why they should spend their hard-earned cash on it. Explainer videos often tell a fictional story of how a company’s solution is the answer to a problem experienced by their core buyer persona. There are two main types of explainer videos:
1. Animated Explainer Videos
Animated explainer videos are a fun way to explain what you offer and can highlight what makes your product or service unique, in a simple and effective way. Animated explainer videos are also especially useful when it comes to explaining sensitive topics, intangible ideas or complex concepts. Check out one of our best animated explainer videos here.
2. Live Explainer Videos
Live explainer videos allow you to explain your product or service in a more emotive way, human to human. Because they use footage of real people, live explainer videos help to create a connection with the audience and make your product more tangible by showing how it works in real life. Check out a great example of live explainer videos right here.
Live and Animation Videos
Combining both styles in one video can make your video game even stronger. Animation lifts a live video by adding another dimension of creativity and humor that keeps your audience hooked for even longer.
Testimonial Videos
The best tools at any company’s disposal are its loyal, happy customers. Testimonial videos give your clients the chance to talk about their experience working with you and explain how you helped them reach their goals. A few good testimonial videos on your website can really help to build trust and show your audience how well your product or service works.
Video Signatures
Video signatures let you and your colleagues give a bit more personality to your emails. A fun, snappy message in the form of video signatures not only shows the friendly face behind the name, but helps your clients feel more connected to who they’re working with.
Logo Animation Videos
Logo animation videos are a short and sweet way to instantly brighten your website and social media pages. They can help you stand out from the crowd and trigger potential clients.
Phototeaser Videos
Phototeaser videos are snackable videos that are easy for your target audience to digest. They’re short enough to keep viewers engaged until the very end and are perfect for social media sharing!
Stopmotion Video
Stopmotion video is a way of creating a video using a series of photos without the need for animation. A stopmotion video is a fun and visually appealing way to impress your audience and make sure they remember your company or product.
Loop or GIF
A loop or GIF is a very short, eye-catching video created by setting a key scene or visual on repeat. The movement and humor of a loop or GIF helps to catch the attention of the viewer and creates an easy-to-consume video that gets your key message across again and again!
Cinemagraph Video
A cinemagraph video gives a bit of sparkle to a regular image by adding a hint of motion. High-quality photos are given the magic touch to produce beautiful results that offer something different.
Mini Course Videos
Some topics are complex or lengthy enough that they need a series of explanations – or mini course videos – to really get the point across. Mini course videos are handy for delving deep into a topic while showing expertise and claiming thought leadership.
Video Articles
Video articles let you jazz up those old texts and make the information more visually appealing. Plus by transforming your text into a video that grabs your audience’s attention, video articles can help to drive more traffic to your website.
YouTube Ads
With only 5 seconds to grab a viewer’s attention and convince them not to skip, creating YouTube ads is an art. But when done right, YouTube ads can increase sales or brand awareness, and trigger your audience while they’re on YouTube.
TV Ads
Unique TV ads can get your audience talking. By incorporating sound, images and movement, TV ads let you showcase your product to a wide audience in an eye-catching way.
Lifehack Videos
Everyone loves lifehack videos, whether they show the easiest way to cut a mango or a solution to stop socks getting lost in the laundry. Lifehack videos contain simple, valuable, shareable tricks about your product that can make your customer’s life easier, so why not help them out?
Livestream Videos
Showing your company’s interviews, presentations and events in real-time through livestream videos builds bonds with your audience by giving them a peek behind-the-scenes. Encourage viewers to comment on your livestream videos and ask questions for yet more engagement.
360-Degree Videos
360-degree videos give your audience a whole new experience. Viewers can scroll around to see a video from whichever angle they choose, giving them complete control over what they see. The spherical video style of 360-degree videos is best for experiencing a location or event like a music festival or diving with sharks.
Virtual Reality Videos
Virtual reality videos allow your audience to experience something in a way that might normally be difficult or impossible. Virtual reality videos give the viewer control of their environment; they have the ability to move around and interact with their surroundings, for example picking up objects, and opening and closing doors. Virtual reality videos put the viewer in the driving seat.
Augmented Reality
Augmented reality is an enhanced version of reality. By adding a digital layer to your video view of the world, augmented reality allows you to simulate situations and objects. The technology lets viewers experience personalized content and products in an e-commerce setting, giving them a really memorable viewing experience.
Personalised Messages
Sometimes emails are just too predictable. Recording personalised messages to send to a client to continue a conversation or sum up a meeting can be a great way to give them that moment of delight and drive them further down the purchasing funnel. Soapbox or Loom are examples of some super-simple video tools that can help.