Commissioning online marketing videos

Tips to help brief on-screen graphics for your videos and animations

Brands are increasingly employing video marketing to communicate their messages, engage online audiences and use content to support the sales and marketing teams. especially n B2B. According to the Demand Gen report, the use of video content in B2B marketing increased from 8% of companies employing it in 2013 to 58% in 2014.

Website Inc reports that 92% of B2B customers watch online video and 43% of B2B customers watch online video when researching products and services for their business. There is little doubt that video is both here to stay and will require your focus.

There are many styles of video from case study to product profile, feature to interview style films. What they have in common for a business is that they are professional, clear, informative and engaging for the viewer and potential buyer.

As part of the commissioning and production process, on-screen graphics should be agreed and added to reinforce the marketing message. And graphics are ideally suited to B2B brands as they help explain complex technologies and services.

For a marketing team, commissioning films should be creative and fun. But there are many pitfalls and making the wrong decision can cost you money.  If you're about to commission a video series, then take a look at this film. It's designed to explain some of the technical terms and to help you decide what kind of graphics and/or animation best suit your company.

Tips to help with commissioning animated graphics for videos

1. Don't get bamboozled by technical terminology

Any production company worth its salt will employ editors who have a working knowledge of Adobe’s After Effects or Apple’s Motion. These software packages should satisfy nearly all of your graphic needs. 3D or CGI graphics can also be commissioned but before you do, decide whether they are really necessary and worth the extra cost. The rule of thumb is: the more complicated the graphics, the more they will cost you. Complex CGI films can cost upwards of £50k, however most production companies can produce films featuring graphics effects similar to 3D for a lot less.

2. Make sure your graphics reflect your company image

Give your production company your brand guidelines. With simple guidelines, simple graphics can be created so that the video will sit seamlessly into your website using the same colours and fonts. This Hiscox film is a good example of where the company's font and colour palette has been utilised to create a basic animated graphic 'look and feel' that can be added to live action content.

3. Don’t let your production company go overboard

Graphics should not get in the way of the message; they should complement your content. Remember that it’s not the 1970s and your corporate film is not Top of the Pops. We think this HP info-graphic gets the balance about right between being highly creative and informative.

4. Make sure the viewer can actually read the information that’s on-screen

Do remember that it’s just as likely that your film will be watched on a smart phone as a widescreen computer monitor. So the font should be a decent size and the information should appear on the screen for a reasonable amount of time. Before you sign-off on an edit, watch your carefully crafted video on a range of different devices. If you can’t read the graphics on a phone then your potential customer won’t be able to either. So ask your friendly production company for a re-edit, it won’t take them long and shouldn’t cost you any more money.