6 Things To Know Before Hiring a Video Production Company
Hiring a video production company nowadays is a necessity for every business.
Videos are the best ways to reach your customers and explain your ideas.
In this article we are going to share 6 alarming things before hiring a video production company:
What You Should Expect From a Video Production Company?
- Awards don’t matter
- The usage of text
- Comparisons
- Specialization
- The usage of Animation
- TikTok Ratio
Let’s discuss each point in more detail
1. Video Production Company Awards Don’t Matter
Prizes show credibility of course but they shouldn’t be your priority because the prizes that the company win doesn’t guarantee that the company will fulfill your needs.
Let me explain why.
These companies are given these awards from an artistic point of view (Which is a good thing btw) but here is the thing.
Making a super artistic video doesn’t mean that your video will bring you sales.
Don’t forget that you are selling these products to customers, not art directors.
We see in so many cases, a company produces a very artistic video that the customers love. But this is the problem.
They liked the video but they didn’t buy the product at the end, because you weren’t talking to him. You are just trying to impress him with visuals.
The best thing is to find a balance between art and the benefits that your customer will get when they get your product.
2. The Usage of Text
This is so crucial. Because copywriting in the video is what you say directly to the customer. So does the agency you are hiring understand this?
In this area, we see people think about topics that don’t really matter in the end like which text animation style we should use.
Or what font should we use?
So while the video production company is focussing on the visual content, they should focus on the copywriting in the video too.
All of these things are important (Don’t get me wrong) but what is more important is what you say.
Let’s see an example here:
When Apple released the iPod for the first time, it was 32MB.
But they didn’t mention how many MBs the customer gets.
They said 1000 songs in your pocket. See the difference?
Which of them is more relevant to the customer?
You should do the same thing.
Example:
Let’s say that you sell a fast-charging charger.
Average copywriting: Ultra-fast charging. (Bad example)
Compelling copywriting: 50% battery in 20 minutes (Much better)
So here we are focussing on the results and benefits, not the features
You will find more details about the mistakes to avoid in product videos
3. Does The Video Production Company Use Comparisons?
Does the video production company you are hiring understand your market enough? Does it compare different products in the ads they are producing?
The company you are hiring must have a deep understanding of your market. They should know what are your competitors offering.
Because, how they would advertise a product they don’t understand its market?
We will continue with the same example of the fast charger:
Let’s say that we have 2 chargers, yours and the competitor’s charger.
You have the advantage of safely charging the battery so it extends the life of the battery for 1 year.
How will the company show this? Did they go deep with you to know all of these features? Do they use comparisons as a way to make your product stand out?
Making comparisons is a great way to make your product stand out because this is the way our brain works, when it sees 2 things side by side, it can decide easily which product is better.
And finding a weak point in the product of the competitor is not that hard.
You can find that easily on Amazon reviews for example.
4. The Specialization of The Video Production Company
“A Jack of all trades, A master of none”
Most video production companies claim to offer the full package. 2D Animation, 3D Animation, Corporate videos, Product ads, etc…
But I think it is obvious that the more focused the company is, the better work it can produce in this specific niche.
5. Video Production Company Using Animation
What was the style of the last product commercial you saw from a big brand like Google or Apple?
In most cases, it was a 3D animation video. But why?
Animated videos have longer watch time and gain more engagement according to statistics.
Technology nowadays allows you to do more in less time. It gives you flexibility like never before and all of this applies to 3D Animation.
Everything is digital so that means you can change literally every aspect of the video. The camera movement, the lighting, the location (You can build virtual locations!)
And here I am not talking about a graphics video that looks like it is made in the 70s, we are talking about hyper-realistic visuals.
6. TikTok Ratio
Whether you like it or not it is a fact. People are now shifting towards short content. This is the future.
And as a marketer or a founder, you must make use of this. TikTok now is a hard weapon when it comes to organic reach.
You can reach thousands of viewers in a few minutes unlike YouTube (which still has its audience and reputation).
But at this specific win, Animation videos have the upper hand.
Let’s say that you want to make an ad. You plan to post it on YouTube (Regular aspect ratio 16:9), IG, and Tiktok (9:16 Aspect ratio)
You can’t find a company that can provide you with the same exact ad in the 2 ratios.
Because it is almost impossible to shoot 2 videos 100% similar to each other.
But in the case of 3D Animation studios, everything is under control. You can export a 16:9 video and then re-export the same exact video after re-framing the camera in a 9:16 ratio.
Here you go, these are 6 things you should make sure of before hiring a video production company.
P.S. If you would like to get on a FREE consultation call to show you step-by-step how to make an effective video ad, schedule a free strategy session with Andrew, the head of production.