Step By Step Guide To Making A Business Intro Video [With Examples]

A video is a great way of introducing your company or brand to new customers.

It will instantly add more credibility to your business and make it look much more capable and professional.

And that’s what’s all about, right?

Any viewer can decide after watching a 2-minute introduction video if you are the right person to work with or not.

That’s why it is extremely important to carefully plan your company intro video.

It will likely be the most important video you will ever make and it can skyrocket your conversion rates if you do it right.

I know we did it for so many clients through Veedyou.com.

So in this post, I’m going to outline a step by step guide to walk you through the process of creating an awesome intro video for yourself, your company, brand, website, or whatever business you are in.

We’re going to be discussing things such as planning, video scripting, pre-production, video production, filming, lighting, sound, voice-over, video editing, stock video, and other video post-production aspects.

So buckle up and let’s get to it.

Oh, before we get started if you are looking for a bunch of ideas from business video content, check out this post where I’ve put together a list of 31 different types of videos you can start doing for your brand right now. Each and every one comes with an example.

#1 It’s about the customer, not about you

This may sound a bit counterintuitive at first but think about it a little bit.

Your prospects don’t want to watch a video in which you are talking about your company profile, how many awards you’ve won or how many people you are managing.

No, they want to know what you can do for them. How can you help them?

You need to know what problem they are trying to solve and you need to offer the solution to that problem.

Most company intro video sucks simply because they are focused too much on the company or the business instead of the customer.

In the intro video, you need to let them know that you thoroughly understand their immediate needs and you have a quick, easy and affordable solution. So make sure you build your script and whole video around that.

Don’t use the company video to tell everyone how great you are. Let the viewers decide for themselves if you are a big deal or not.

Sometimes a testimonial video might be the best intro video your company needs.

So that’s one idea to keep in mind.

#2 Answer common questions

One simple way of demonstrating your customers that you understand their needs is to have a list of common question which you briefly address in your video.

So start my make list with the top 3 to 5 frequently asked questions in your industry and briefly touch on those inside your video. It can be anything which is relevant to your business or the services you are offering.

For example, in my case – I’m offering video editing services, and the common questions I get are: what kind of videos do I edit, how much does it cost and how does the whole process happen.

You need to brainstorm a little bit or curate the feedback that you already have from your customers and put all that on a piece of paper. Pick the top common questions which are the most relevant for your business and touch on that in the video.

Appart from this Q&A part, your intro video should also cover tiny bits of essential information such as your name, what you do and anything you think it’s relevant.

#3 Draft the script

Now that we got that out of the way it’s time to draft the script for the video.

Start by making a bullet point list with all the topics you plan on touching in the video.

Always start with a short introduction and end with a call to action.

Keep in mind that people’s attention span for this kind of videos is just around 1-2 minutes. That means that your script should not be longer than 300-400 words.

Videos that are either funny or emotional (or both funny and emotional at the same time) tend to have higher audience retention rates, so get creative with your script.

It’s really important to make it catchy right from the very start.

And by that, I mean the first couple of seconds. You literally have just a few seconds to grab peoples attention or else you lost them forever.

Just think about the way you are scrolling down on your Facebook or Instagram feed.

How long does it take you to decide if you are going to keep watching an auto-play video or keep scrolling down?

I guess that answers the question.

So make the very beginning of your video really, really catchy.

Here’s an example.

 

#4 Call to action

I briefly mentioned above that your script needs to contain a call to action.

I video without a call to action is a video without a purpose.

Yeah, I know you are probably trying to sell something, so that’s your main goal. But the intro video is not the right place to do it.

So instead of making your call to action message something like “Shop now” or “Call us now”, make it less aggressive for the customer.

Sell without trying to sell. Have them watch another video or offer a free guide and collect their email address. Or maybe redirect them to a landing page on your website.

They will be more likely to convert into customers later on if you are not too pushy with making a sale right from the start.

Call to action messages should be placed at the very end of the video and should be clear and easy to follow.

Reinforce the call to action by having a text/copy overlay in your video which repeats what you are saying in the video.

#5 Tips for filming

OK, now that you have a script and a purpose for you company intro video it’s time to get to the fun stuff. Filming.

Putting together a video is usually not a one-man show. You have a writer, an actor, a voice-over talent, a director, a videographer and a video editor.

Now, if you are just starting out there’s a pretty big chance you will have to do all those things on your own or if you are lucky you have one more person to help you out.

So let’s start with the beginning.

a. Camera

Luckily we are living in a world where producing high-quality video is not as expensive as it was just a few years back.

Any camera that can shoot in 1080p (Full HD) will do. It can even be your smartphone. These things can shoot amazing looking videos, especially the high-end ones like the Samsung Galaxy S8 or the iPhone 7 or 8.

If you can use a DSLR that’s great too, but not mandatory.

So we got the camera thing out of the way.

b. Camera movement

Ideally, you don’t want to move the camera at all unless you know how to move it. Have it sit on a tripod instead.

Handheld footage will look shaky no matter how still you are trying to hold the phone or the camera. So put it on a tripod or any flat, solid surface and press record.

If you do have to move the camera you will have to invest in a little gadget called a gimbal which uses a gyroscope to keep the camera steady while you move it around.

A good gimbal will run you at least $200, but the quality of the footage you get from it is amazing. Everything will look super smooth.

c. Lighting

Another super important thing is light.

You need to have plenty of it. If you are shooting outside that will not be a problem as there will be plenty of natural light.

Well, actually it turns out that too much natural light can make videos look too bright and the colors will look blown out, so if its really bright day you want to film in a place where there’s a bit of shade, or film during the golden or blue hour – when the sun is close to the horizon (either early in the morning or at sunset).

If you are filming indoors there are two things you can do.

One – you can film in a bright room and stand in front of a window, so there’s enough natural light.

Two – use some studio lights to compensate for the lack of natural light and make it all look better. If you do decide to use studio lights, you will probably need at least two of them – one main light and one fill light.

If you are using a green screen setup – which is actually great for shooting corporate videos – you will need at least two additional lights to lit your green background.

Here are more details about shooting and editing a green screen video.

d. B-roll

Besides your main footage, you might find yourself needing supplementary footage to cut away from the main footage when needed. This is called B-roll footage.

You can film it yourself or you can use footage from stock video sites where appropriate.

So if you are talking about a product in your video, it might be a good idea to cut away from your actor/presenter and include some close-up shots of that product in the video.

And there are countless of similar examples that could be applied to your list.

e. Audio

The quality of the audio is just as important as the quality of the video.

First and foremost you need to make sure there are no annoying background noises that could distract the viewer’s attention.

So film in a place where there is quiet.

Using a built-in mic will work if you are standing relatively close to the camera and the room you are in is not big.

But for best results, you want to use a higher quality external mic.

If you plan on using additional sound effects you can record them yourself or use pre-recorded sound effect banks.

In post-production, you will also be able to add background music, but make sure it is copyright free or you have the legal right to use it in a business video.

#6 Tips for editing

By this time you are halfway through your video producing process.

Video editing can take a tremendous about of time. That’s why so many people decide to outsource it and focus on their core business or on creating more videos instead.

But if you’ve decided to handle it in-house, we got you covered.

a. Video editing software

Obviously, you will need to install a video editing software.

Personally, I recommend either Premiere Pro or Vegas Pro. These two will work great and they will allow you do get as creative as you want with your footage.

Free alternatives that will offer basic editing features such as cutting and stitching clips together are Lightworks and Shortcut.

b. Cutting

The first step is to import all your footage into the timeline of your video editing software and start cutting out any unwanted footage. It can be footage that doesn’t look good, pauses, setting up the camera and so on.

Cut all that out and only keep in your timeline the footage that makes it for the final cut.

Once you have done that, arrange the clips in order so that they follow the script and simply have them play one after another or add transitions between two clips.

c. Branding

With corporate videos, the first thing you want to make sure is that they are branded.

Add a logo, maybe a short branded intro and use your brand color scheme throughout the videos, such as for the titles and copy pull-outs.

d. Lower Thirds

Adding nicely designed lower thirds of the names and titles of the people talking in the video will make it look more polished and professional looking.

I like to do my animated lower thirds in Adobe After Effects and then directly insert them in a Premiere Pro project or export them with a transparent background and import them in any other video editing software.

Another option is to just go find a bunch of cool looking paid or free Premiere Pro templates, presets, or transitions and use those.

e. Copy pull-outs

Another cool and easy thing you can do in post-production is to add some slick copy pull-outs to your video.

This is very common in the corporate type of videos and it is used to emphasize key information, product features or any other data that you think it is worth underlining.

Again, I love using After Effects for creating animated kinetic typography kind of text.

Or you can use Premiere Pro text presets.

Something like this.

#7 Where to put your intro video

Alright, now that you are done with the video and everything looks good, what should you do with it.

There are two places on which intro videos work really well.

The first one is on a prominent place on your website where first-time viewers can see it really easy.

The second one is on your YouTube channel home page.

Set your intro video as your YouTube channel trailer so that everyone which is not subscribed to you yet gets to see it before any other video content you might have up there.

Other than that, you can also have your company intro video placed on Facebook or Instagram, but these platforms usually don’t convert as well as YouTube for business type of content.

That’s mainly because people go to Facebook and Instagram to chill rather than search for a solution to a problem.

So with Facebook and Instagram, you are better off if you would create specific videos which are more fun (instead of informational) and more likely to appeal to that kind of audience.

Examples

Before we wrap this up let’s look at a few business intro videos that rock.

I’m not saying you should copy these, but they are definitely worth studying.

Conclusion

So remember to make your intro video really catchy right from the very first second.

If you can’t grab their attention in the first 2 or 3 seconds you already lost your audience.

Then, make the video about the viewer, not about yourself or your business.  Don’t ramble for 2 minutes straight about how great your product is and how cool you are.

Tell your viewers that you understand their problem and offer a quick, easy and affordable solution.

Follow a clear script, keep your video short and to the point.

Always end your video with a call to action, but don’t try to make a sale with it. Offer something for free instead or ask your viewers to connect with you on Facebook, YouTube or whatever else you hang out.

You will be more likely to make them buy later on.

Once you have all that sorted out its time to produce your video.

Pay special attention to video and audio quality and don’t neglect the video editing aspect.

Most of the raw footage will not look like much, but if you edit it properly that’s when it really starts to look like a solid production.

If you are having trouble figuring out what you should talk about in your video or what type of video to create, check out this post where I’ve put together a list of 31 different type of videos you can start doing for your brand right now. Each and every one comes with an example.

That’s pretty much it.

Let me know how your video tuned out in the comment section below.