A professional video can make all the difference in your financial services firm’s marketing campaign. Videos are a unique tool in a marketing campaign due to their ability to explain concepts quickly to your audience without losing their attention. Many readers get intimidated by a dense wall of text, but won’t mind watching a high-quality, entertaining video. 

Videos are clearly very necessary to complete your marketing efforts, but can be difficult to produce in-house. Follow these tips to increase your chances of a successful outcome.

Be Prepared Before You Start Videotaping

Much of the filmmaking magic happens before the cameras are rolling. It’s important to take the time to get organized beforehand to make the most of your time. 

• Know what you want from your video. It’s always a good idea to have the video mapped out before the filming session so you make sure you get all the shots you need. Reshoots aren’t always possible, depending on your subject and venue.
• Prepare interview questions or a script. If you’re going to have someone talking on screen, make sure they have something to say. It could be as simple as a few leading questions or as advanced as a memorized script.
• Be ready to improvise. No matter how much you plan, some things will surprise you. If you see an opportunity to get a shot you didn’t plan on, go for it!

Film With The Eyes and Ears of an Editor

The most crucial part of any film is the shooting itself. No editing can save video clips that weren’t filmed, are blurry, or just don’t make sense in the narrative. Thankfully, there are things you can do while filming to prevent mistakes making the final cut.

• Film plenty of b-roll. You can never film enough b-roll. These supporting shots will come in handy by serving as the imagery for a voiceover. B-roll can also tell a story by itself and add value to your message.
• Coach the people speaking. Your speaker might be nervous to speak in front of a camera. You can help them by reminding them to speak concisely, with plenty of space in between sentences to help you cut in post-production.
• Do plenty of takes. Unhappy with a certain phrasing? Or maybe there was some mumbling. It takes much less time to re-film than to try and fix it in post-production. Take the time to run it again.

Edit Your Clips With An End Goal

After filming is wrapped and all footage is uploaded, the editing process begins. While choosing between three takes that are nearly identical can be difficult, there are other things you can do to help ease along the process.

• Back up all original footage. The first thing to do when editing any video is to save a complete copy of any footage. This ensures you can cut and delete as you please knowing you won’t lose anything.
• Don’t be afraid to delete clips. After saving your original footage, everything changes. Take the time to go through all your footage and delete anything obviously unusable. Once you’ve done that, allow yourself to stray from your original plan and make bold cuts. 
• Stay true to your brand. While editing and adding special effects, it might seem tempting to include crazy transitions and animations. Some flair can add value to your video, but too much can detract from your message. Know who you are, and remember that as you finalize your video.

Lights, Camera, Are You Ready for the Action?

With these tips in mind, you are one step closer to creating an eye-catching video for your financial services firm. For even more advice for standout videos, check out our blog post on what you should wear on screen. If you’re interested in having a video, but not sold on doing it in-house, read this article on what an effective video should cost. Videography is just one of the services Out & About Communications can provide for your financial services firm. For more information on what we can do for you, we have many of our services listed here. We can’t wait to help your firm find its spotlight.