Today I want to talk about what story structures, camera shots and editing techniques you could consider to help your business relate to your customers in your video. As I mentioned last time one of the most powerful elements of video communication is that people see you and form a relationship with you in their minds. Now I want to talk about how they form that relationship with your business and how we construct a video to relate to their experiences, desires and expectations. Using this power that video has to your best advantage is a large part of maximising the value of your video marketing: So it’s worth giving careful thought and consideration to how you will relate to your customers in a visual sense.
What Story To Tell?
The story you choose for your video does not have to be complex, or even have the elements you may think of when you read the word story. What I mean by this is the narrative flow of the video, x happens then Y and finally z, I don’t mean conceiving a three or five (very Shakespearean) act structure and characters etc. So an example story for your marketing video may be; A customer enters the shop, they are greeted by a friendly member of staff, they browse the displays, they choose a product that is right for them. That is a simple storyline that could cover everything from a carpet or furniture showroom to a mobility centre to an interior design boutique. What is important is the nuance we put into the story and how it is planned to work with our target audience. Let’s revisit that same simple story but consider our audience and how we relate to them first.
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Let’s imagine our shop deal in high end kitchen equipment and ranges of a very famous brand. As the shop owner we know quite a lot about our customers. We know they are usually A or B demographic group. We know they usually live in detached or semi-detached homes. We know they are usually couples rather than single people. Finally we know that the age range for buyers is 35-65 with the highest percentage of purchases in the 45-55 age bracket.
Now that we know this we can begin to think about the nuances involved in creating our story. Here are the points we will consider.
- We want to show good customer service but also show that the showroom is a pleasant environment.
- We want to show the full range we offer so customers can be sure of having their needs fulfilled.
- We want to show that we are experts so our customers know we can be trusted.
- We want to show our fitting service so customers know they will be taken care of with minimum impact on their time.
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How Do We Shoot The Video?
We have our simple story and we know about our usual customers and we have created nuance points that will inform how we tell that story. Now let’s think about how those same nuance points will influence how we shoot the video.
I would start by arranging to shoot several interviews with happy customers and agreeing to document a current installation. We would want a couple who we can follow through the process and who would allow us to shoot them recreating their buying experience. We would need to shoot them looking around the showroom, talking to a staff member, interacting with fitters/workmen in their home and looking happy after the installation. I would also want happy couple shots of all of the interviewees next to their ranges.
How does shooting all of that fit in with our nuance points and story outline? Let’s take a look at how we would edit all of this together.
How Do We Edit The Video?
Firstly we want to show the good customer service without it seeming that customers are crowded in the showroom. To do this I would choose to interview some happy customers and get some brief sound-bites about the service they received. I would lead the video with a shot of a couple in a beautiful home saying something like “They really looked after us.” Then I would cut to another couple looking round the showroom by themselves.
The next sequence of the video would still have audio consisting of happy customers talking about their experiences but intercut with our showroom couple exploring and interacting with the different ranges. We want to display the full range in the video. I’d be looking for a sound-bite where a customer says something like “They had just what we needed.” or “They understood what we wanted and made it happen for us.”
At this point I would show our showroom couple talking with a member of staff. A serious conversation where they are listened to and they are shown various options. I would go on to show the planning of a kitchen installation and perhaps a home visit where workmen take measurements and talk with the clients. The voice over would now focus on customer’s actual experience of installation and quality workmanship.
The penultimate section would show an installation with cut aways to happy customers by their ranges talking about their installation and how everything was taken care of for them.
Finally the video would show the couples we have heard talking standing by their ranges in wonderful kitchens looking happy. The final couple would be the couple we saw looking round the showroom.
What we have constructed is a video that is short and easy to consume and allows our business to relate directly to our customers. It displays our range of products and our quality service and gives those aspiring to be customers confidence.
