3 Symptoms of Bad Branding
Some businesses are missing out on thousands of dollars in revenue each month without even knowing it.
Here are 3 symptoms to look for to see if it’s time to update your company’s branding.
Potential customers say you’re too expensive:
When you step into a Mercedes car dealership, you have a general idea of the pricing. You also know it won’t be cheap.
Due to their branding, Mercedes and other luxury brands do a great job attracting high-end buyers.
If people consistently are shocked by your pricing or can’t afford your services, your branding may be off. They should be able to look at your videos, website, and social media and KNOW that you’re more expensive than your competitor (if you are providing a high-touch service).
Be sure you’re showing off the quality of your work through videos and pictures to attract the correct audience for your business.
Confusion:
If potential customers routinely ask you what you do, even after visiting your website, your branding isn’t clear enough.
When someone hits your website or your social media accounts, they should know exactly what your company does within seconds. If not, this leads to confusion, and like Donald Miller (author of Business Made Simple) says, “When you confuse you lose”.
Make sure your messaging is crystal clear through your company’s branding.
Low Retention:
Have you ever had a client use your services and then find out they went with another company when they needed the same service down the road? Not a great feeling. They may have had a great experience with you but simply forgot about you. Ouch!
If this happens often, your ongoing branding may be off. Be sure to stay in sight, and in mind through email campaigns and social media content. The key is to make sure you’re helpful and not “salesy” every time you show up.
This will help your clients remember who you are the next time they need you and will result in more referrals as well.
What other symptoms would you add?
3 Trust Signals For Your Website
We’ve all heard that most people do business with those they know, like, and trust. This is not just true for people; we also like to use businesses we trust.
Believe it or not, even if your company is B2B, potential clients will check your website before considering you.
Here are 3 of our favorite ways that companies can build trust through their website:
Pictures of Team Members
Having professional headshots of your key employees (or at least pictures of actual team members) gives potential clients an idea of who they’ll be working with. We recommend replacing any stock photo on your website with a picture of an actual team member. It’s a great way to build trust for your brand.
Promotional/Brand Video
You probably knew this was coming since we’re a video production company, but we’re confident this is a great way to build trust for a company. We know this because, during discovery calls, this is the main reason why businesses tell us they need a video.
If one of your potential clients watches your website’s brand video, they get a sense of who you are. They can also see your team and the quality of your work.
A one-time investment for a professional video can pay off for years if you add it to the homepage of your website.
Case Studies/Portfolio
Proof that you’ve delivered the services that you offer is the ultimate trust signal in my opinion. When you can show prospective clients what you’ve done instead of telling them, it gives them confidence you can do the same for them.
When companies contact us for a professional video, they’ve usually watched a couple of our videos on the “Our Work” page of our website. If our style is what they are looking for, they know we can do it for them too.
Be sure to have some examples of your work, a client testimonial, or add the logos of the companies you’ve helped somewhere on your website.
I hope these tips help build trust for your brand.
What are some trust signals you have on your website?
How Long Does a Video Shoot Take?
This is a common question we get on discovery calls for a professional video shoot.
Most of our shoots last between 1 and 2 hours.
We know your time is valuable so here are 3 factors that determine how long your shoot will last.
How Many Speakers?
Sometimes we have multiple people that have speaking roles in a video. This will take longer than a single interviewee on camera. We have a video shoot coming up where we are interviewing the owner of the company and one of their customers (giving a testimonial).
We should be able to get all of the footage, including the b roll, we need in 2 hours or less.
How Many Locations?
We’ve shot videos in the past, especially with home service contractors, where we are getting footage at multiple locations. These could take 4 or more hours, depending on how far apart each location is.
We try to fit everything in one day, but there are cases (especially if we’re filming a project that has multiple stages like a landscaping project) where we need multiple days to get all of the footage for the video.
How Many Takes?
This one is on you, but don’t worry. Our production assistants are amazing at helping you deliver your message. We’ll do as many takes as you need to make sure the video is incredible.
We do recommend that you rehearse what you’re going to say before the day of the shoot.
We have a pre-production call with our clients about a week before your video shoot to cover all of these details, including helping with a script/outline.
This ensures that everything runs smoothly and efficiently on the day of recording to ensure we’re in and out in an hour or 2.
Ready to discuss your video project? Click here to get started: Get a Quote
How to Look Better on Camera
Most people we talk to aren’t naturally excited about being on camera, but they understand the impact that a brand video can make for their company. Here are 3 tips on how to look better on camera in your next video.
Talk Slowly
You may be thinking, “How does talking slowly help me LOOK better?”. When you talk slower, you’re more in control of your words and you will appear more confident and trustworthy.
Think about the opposite: have you ever come across someone who talks fast and looks “shifty”? These people tend to have us put our guard up. Slow down your speech and you will look like you’re in command of every word you say.
Also, use your hands when you talk. This makes you look confident as well.
Wear Clothes That Make You Feel Great
We’ve touched on this in a previous article called, What to Wear For a Video Shoot.
You want to pick out an outfit that you know makes you look and feel great. The feel is just as important as the look because you’ll appear more confident when you’re comfortable. I probably look better in a suit, but I feel better in a nice t-shirt or henley so that’s typically what I wear in our videos.
Be prepared
Preparation=confidence. When you’ve rehearsed what you will say before we shoot the video, you’ll be more confident and look better on camera.
It’s similar to giving a presentation: When you know your material, you look more natural and the words just flow.
We ensure you’re prepared by having a pre-production call with your company about a week before the video shoot. We cover all of the details of the shoot, including an outline of what you’ll be saying in the video. Our production assistant will be there on shot day to help guide you, but going over the content beforehand will help you look amazing.
We hope these tips help you look your best on your next video shoot.
What would you add?
Click here for a quote for your next video project: Get a Quote
