Video is an extremely valuable asset for your online presence as a business, however, it is not always the best medium for your content. Orbit offers a variety of ways to present information to your customer. It’s always important to pick the most appropriate form for your content in order to maximize the views and interest in your online presence. Here are some suggestions and common mistakes that occur in the brainstorming phase of video creation.

A very common mistake made by companies creating video is to treat it just like all their other website content. Taking a previously written blog post and essentially converting it into a video is a flawed system. If it works as a blog then visuals and music will not add to the user experience in a vital way. If it truly was missing something in its previous form it shouldn’t have been posted as a blog in the first place.

A question you should ask early on in the creative process: This content communicates perfectly in text and images. What will be gained by expressing it in video?  If the answer is “nothing” then stop writing your script, because you are taking effective content and making it complicated for no reason.

The Strength of Video

First recognize the strengths and weaknesses of video as a medium. It’s an integration of text, moving images, and sound. If one or more of these components doesn’t serve the function of the video then you are probably working in the wrong medium.

For example, if your content is highly conceptual, informative and text heavy it is probably more suited for text so the readers can move along at their own pace, or a speaker, so the viewer is able to engage with a real human being. Video is no place to dump your information.

If, however, your content is broad and simple, video might be just what it needs to add intrigue. If your content is difficult to explain in words, video could be the only way to get your point across and have it easily understood. It is always better to show than to tell, so make sure the visuals are the driving force behind all of your videos.

Video can be a powerful display of professionalism. Get it right and it will be an effective method to drive customers to your business.

Conor Cleary is the Video Director at Orbit Design and co-author of Genius Simple Sales. He can be contacted at Conor@orbit-design.com