5 Underrated Types of Business Videos

In the world of corporate marketing, content is king, but video is his crown. The sheer amount of data that validates video as the best marketing tool of the 21st century doesn’t even bear repeating. If you’re not making video, you’re not marketing.

But what types of video should you be making? These days, business videos range from 6-second promotional Vines to 2-minute product demos and include everything in between. Are all types of business video equally important? No. Obviously, a viral 15-second ad will do more for your brand than even the most ingenious landing page video, but that’s besides the point.

This post is dedicated to shouting-out the overlooked, underestimated forms of business video that need more appreciate (and serious consideration). Without further ado, here are 5 types of business video that could seriously up-the-ante for your brand.

1. Recruiting

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There isn’t an HR director anywhere in the world who wouldn’t jump for joy if his or her budget was expanded to include recruiting videos.

It doesn’t matter what size your company is or if you even have an HR department! No matter how you’re finding employees, you need to recruit top talent. The only way to do that is to dedicate resources to attracting the best candidates.

Why not create short recruiting videos for your featured jobs? Tack the URL at the end of every job posting you make and embed the video into your on-site job description. Trust us, you can make every job description that much more engaging if you provide video.

Sample Video: WTS Prop Trading

2. Training

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Another seriously overlooked type of video is training video. Granted, not all job descriptions will require training videos, and sometimes it is better to have a senior employee or manager explain how to use Salesforce instead, but there’s something to be said about taking the time and effort to make a training video that speaks volumes to your employees.

By implementing training videos in meetings and presentations, you are communicating to new hires and veteran staff that you care about their work experience. A great training video is high value because it is reusable, will probably be watched more internally than any other video you make, and will also help employees will actually perform crucial tasks better.

Sample Video: Bookkeeper Zoo

3. Slice of Life (Staff)

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A hybrid between recruiting videos and client (in this case, employee) testimonials, staff videos fill two needs with one deed — they show potential recruits why your company culture is awesome, and they also show potential customers the people behind the brand.

People tend to rely on and do business with people they can trust. A staff video will show viewers that your company and brand are in good hands and will make them feel better to be a part of it.

Sample Video: Bath Fitter- Installer

4. Fun

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Sometimes, people just want to laugh. That’s why, sometimes, you need to show them something that will make them laugh.

GEICO and Old Spice have already made dozens of viral videos that have little, if anything, to do with what they’re selling, and public perception of their brand has only improved. Despite this, some companies still don’t buy that silly, viral videos actually lead to conversion.

Well, why not ask the Oracle of Omaha? Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway is GEICO’s parent company, and in a 2009 annual investor meeting he stated that he was willing to spend up to 2 billion dollars on GEICO advertising. So, were those silly commercials working? Probably.

Sample Video: How Do You Say ‘Vidaao’?

5. Vlogs

Oh, the Youtube vlog. We watched it take its first baby steps in the early naughts. Ten years later, it’s a full-fledged marketing machine.

Vlogs, short for “video blogs”, are perfect for so many reasons. They take the best parts of staff videos, recruiting videos, weekly content, and add in a dash of fun (where appropriate) to engage viewers more consistently than any other type of business video.

Vlogs are powerful because they have no standard, expected format, which means they can be incredibly vibrant vehicles for brand-building. They also tend to be more personal for the same reasons — and nothing engages a viewer as much as another human being.

Sample Video: Halo 4 — Will It Blend?

Justin Park is a co-founder of Vidaao, a video production marketplace that connects marketing teams with creatives and provides them a collaborative project space. Justin previously ran a video production company.