When we get asked about what we do and our service offering, it’s very easy to talk about corporate video production and why we are good at it.  However the answers that we would give are pretty much the stock answers that any corporate video production company in Birmingham or around the country would be saying too.  Plus there is a chance that we aren’t actually answering the question that we’ve been asked.  You see it’s very easy to answer the question that you want to answer rather than giving the person asking the question what they really want to hear – politicians do it all of the time!

This isn’t something that only we are guilty of, it’s something that everyone does probably without realising it.  We have this conversation with clients all of the time when we are planning their promotional video – don’t tell your viewers what you want to tell them, tell them what they need to know.  Most of us, when we are in the market to buy something, are pretty selfish really.  All we want to know is can you satisfy the need that we have, can you solve the problem that we have or can you make our lives easier.  So if you can answer those questions, that’s the first issue overcome straight away.  After this it may well come down to good you tell them that you are or how long you’ve been trading or how passionate you are but firstly, you must be able to satisfy the customer’s need.

If you can master this then it works two-fold.  Firstly, it creates confidence in you that you actually listen to what is asked of you which will stand you in good stead when the brief comes and secondly it shows that you are customer focused.  In our case, there is no point making something that doesn’t do what it’s supposed to.  It can look great, be filmed wonderfully and edited to an amazing level but if it doesn’t communicate the key messages then what’s the point?  You’ll often find this with corporate video production company showreels that promote what the company does.  It will obviously look pretty and contain the best shots from some of the most glamorous projects but does it actually tell you anything?  It will generally always be a vanity project for the editor to show off but don’t be fooled by the flashy shots, cool music and the odd famous face.  Is that what you want for your business or do you want a video that works for you, appeals to your target audience and perhaps most importantly, fits in with your budget.  Can you afford a celebrity to appear in your video?  Do you need that expensive drone shot?  Do you want cutting edge 3D animation?  If the answer is no to those questions then don’t get taken in by all the bells and whistles.

Don’t get me wrong, we’re as guilty of this as the next Birmingham video company but we’re trying to address it.  You try getting a Creative Type to make a functional video that focuses on the benefits instead of the pretty pictures, cool music and graphics!!  What we try to look at though, is what the video is needed for and then fit it into brief.  That’s why we offer an £849 package which is all about businesses starting the video marketing journey or why we wrote this blog about knowing when there are times when you can do it yourself without the need for a video production company like us.

Whatever industry you operate in, you can apply the same principles and possibly recognise the same issues.  If you make widgets then think about what benefit you widget has over the competition.  Is it cheaper to buy, is it better quality, will it improve your customer’s service?  This is what they really want to know and if it does satisfy their needs then often price becomes secondary.  People will often pay to get exactly what they want even it’s more than they anticipated.

So next time you get asked by a potential customer about what it is that you do try to think about what they really want to know – is it “what do you do” or more of a case of “what can you do for me”?  The chances are that it will be the second option and you’ll much better off for answering that.

Blog writer: Adam Snelleksz is the marketing director of CMA Video and has worked in marketing for over 20 years.  He has worked in video production in Birmingham for five years with CMA Video and has been using video for marketing for nearly 10 years.  He also set up the video TV channel Blues TV, the official online channel of Birmingham City Football Club.  Some of the projects that Adam has used promotional videos for include the Birmingham Half Marathon, the European Gymnastics Championships and the World BMX Championships.