How to Create a Great Interview Video for Your Audience?
Everywhere you turn, someone is creating video content. Videos are becoming an increasingly popular way to draw people to your brand and your business. According to a survey by HubSpot Research, having a video on your business’ landing page can increase conversion rates by up to 80%. Video content has not just improved how businesses sell their products; it has also redefined how business sales teams interact with their customers. Now, companies need to do more than create one video advertising campaign every two years. With the current digital climate, creating video content on every possible platform is necessary for every business to stay afloat. That is exactly why your business needs to put more thought into the video content that it puts out.
More often than not, when businesses think video content, they think scripted, heavily produced marketing videos. However, the audience has moved beyond all of that. People no longer just want to hear about what you are selling, they want to experience what it is like to be a stakeholder in your business. That is where interview style videos come in. Interview style videos are a great way to create a relationship with your audience and let them feel the heart of your business. Therefore, if you are going to be putting out an interview video for your business, you want to get it right. You want your audience to not only hear you, but also feel you and believe in you. For those of you who want to get on it right away, here are a few things you need to know first:
Have a Strategy before You Start:
As a business owner, you do not contact your video production company just because you can. There has to be a strategy in place before everything can fall into place. Have you asked yourself what exact message you are trying to pass across with your interview style video? Ask yourself what feeling you want to leave your audience with when the video is over. What questions do I need to ask my interviewee to evoke this reaction from my audience? You also have to tidy up the back end of the production process i.e. the financing, the location selection, and the logistics of the production team. All of these have to be thoughtfully planned out if you are going to present your audience with the perfect interview style video.
Choose the Right People:
How well your video turns out is largely dependent on whom you interview in the video. Make sure you and your interviewee have had a conversation and there are no communication gaps between the two of you. The last thing you want is your interviewee looking like they saw a ghost when you ask them a question on camera.
A common mistake that people make is choosing anyone that seems willing or just choosing the CEO or business owner. However, there is much more to interview videos than that. When choosing the person to interview, consider what exactly it is you are trying to tell your audience. If you are trying to introduce a new product into the market, your best choice for an interviewee will be someone on the product design team or someone on the marketing team with ample information about the product and how it was developed. On the other hand, if you are making a recruiting or training video, then you might want to interview a current employee so that your audience already has a feel of what it is like to work with your company. The goal of video content is to connect with the audience and allow them relate with you and your business in a way that other media forms cannot. Therefore, when deciding whom to interview, make sure it is someone your audience can relate to.
Choose the Right Setting:
Deciding to use an interview style video is deciding to make maximum effort. If you are going to connect with your audience at the level that you envision, then the ambience of the video has to be just right. Your business area may not exactly be Universal Studios standard but it is YOU. Your audience may not exactly remember every little detail about your office, but they will remember how it made them feel.
When setting up your interview video, the little things are the most important. Sitting at a computer desk may give the impression that your interviewee is tech savvy. A pool table in the background of your office may give the impression that your business cares about the welfare and relaxation of its employees. If you are making an interview video to discuss the work that went into putting out a new product, you might want to set up a more dynamic interview with the interview subject showing the audience around the workroom and showing them the evolution process of the product. You can also decide to introduce some props to emphasize whatever it is your interviewee is discussing. If you are a small business that cannot afford to go the entire length of setting up a location for video shooting, there is also the option to use a green screen. As long as your video production team is up to the task, you will end up with just as satisfactory results.
Be Dynamic:
The last thing you want as a brand or a business is to create an interview video that is just one long question and answer session. If you would not turn off the video at that, I definitely would. Don’t approach it like you just have some answers to get off your chest. Instead of creating a video where the subject just provides answers to question after question, you can make it a conversation. So instead of going, “Why did the company do XYZ?” your interview could be more like, “So tell us about that time that the company did XYZ” This way, you take your audience on a journey. When approached in the latter manner, the subject is more enthusiastic and more likely to produce responses that the audience can relate to.
Include your Audience:
I understand that interview style videos are supposed to focus on the interview subject. However, making the video all about the interviewee answering questions may make the audience feel left out. Make sure your interviewer talks directly to the camera to make the audience feel like they are right there with you. You could also record and release a trailer before the actual interview and give your audience the opportunity to send in questions and opinions about what you intend to discuss in the interview. Doing this will bring the audience closer and make them feel more involved in your brand’s creative processes.
Hire the Right Production Team:
Nothing makes your interview video stand out like having the right team on board. In an area as competitive as London, if you’re not doing it right, why bother? At Fox and Falcon, we are committed to providing you with quality and affordable video production services. Hiring the right video production service will ensure that your interview video does not emerge looking like you just created it in the corner of your office with a 2003 camcorder. What many people are not aware of is how much more goes into video production asides the actual video shooting. Getting the right production team will not only ensure that the interview video is shot under the right conditions and with the right equipment, but they will also handle what comes after. The right video production service will handle the location set up, artistic direction, video production, mastering, postproduction etc. It is therefore necessary that you make the right decision in that regard if your interview video is going to touch your audience in the way that you need it to.
As a video production company operating out of the London, we understand the demanding and sometimes peculiar needs of our clients. We also understand that tight schedules are a possibility and we are willing to work out an arrangement for fast production service delivery. Whatever your video production needs are, Fox and Falcon has got you covered. Therefore, if you have had that interview video in the pipeline for months now, it may be time to contact us and let’s get to work today!