Tom Ricciardone: Four Simple Rules for Creating Successful Video for Your Business

Editor’s note: Tom Ricciardone is a 20-year veteran strategic communications consultant for corporate, nonprofit and trade association clients. In 2012, he co-founded Bespoke Video Productions and Multi-Screen Media Strategy to help companies and organizations of all sizes produce and use video, digital content and original programming to meet a range of business goals. He can be reached by email at [email protected].

The video era is here.

Across all screens and devices. From desktop to laptop, from tablet to mobile.

It’s everywhere.

Video as a powerful, strategic, purposeful, business communications tool is quickly moving from a ‘nice to have’ to a ‘must have’ for businesses and organizations of all sizes.

The implications of this touch upon almost all aspects of internal and external business communications, from sales and marketing to Google rankings, public relations, customer service, employee development and more.

In the past few years, the cost of video production has dropped tremendously, largely driven by steady advancements in digital technology. This is intersecting with a seismic shift in the media industry – the Internet has upended traditional distribution channels, shattering traditional media’s hold on distribution of video content of all shapes, sizes and budgets.

It’s not an overstatement to say that the two together have given rise to the media equivalent of the wild, wild, west. And it’s being played out daily on a screen near you — phone, tablet, television and laptop.

It’s an always-on, 24/7, on-demand world. The rules of engagement are fluid, fast-paced, dynamic and loose.

But just what does this mean for businesses in general and, of more importance, for your business in particular?

It’s a question I’m being asked increasingly. Clients want to understand how, why and when video can and should make a higher-value strategic contribution to business goals.

While I’d like to be able to give the easy answer here that applies to all companies, I don’t have one. There is no off-the-shelf answer for the specifics of your company. But you already know that.

There is, however, a first part of the answer that does apply to all companies, from the smallest to the largest, to the simplest of business models and the most complex.

This first part will at least serve to keep you grounded and headed in the right direction as you explore specific video options.

It’s simple stuff. I like simple. I really like it. Keeping things simple, has, more times than not, worked for me. And better still, for clients through the years.

My short answer, grounded in 4 basic guiding principles, is really no more than common sense. I wish I could offer you something at least a bit more profound. But this is all I’ve got. I’m big on the marriage of business sense and common sense. Stray too far from one or the other working in tandem and it usually doesn’t turn out well. Still, you’d be surprised, in companies large and small, how often these guiding rules, in the pressures of the day-to-day, understandably so, get short-changed if not entirely overlooked.

Before I get to the 4 principles, there is one point of context, in my professional judgment, we would all do well to keep in mind that directly relate to them. The fact is — despite what your advertising or public relations agency tells you — creating and delivering communications of all kinds that actually matter and that deliver results is increasingly challenging, if not outright daunting. In today’s message-saturated world, there’s the hype and somewhere, if you search hard enough, there’s reality. We live in a business world where ideas come easy. They’re everywhere. But meaningful execution is hard. Getting desired outcomes? That’s harder still.

So there’s that. Now onto the four guiding principles for successful video production for your business:

1: Success is in the details.

Yes, it’s a cliché, but it’s one for good reason. Avoid this rule at your peril. Yes, you could just wing it and get lucky, but for the rest of us, a very healthy respect for and allegiance to delving into the unique details, complexities and needs of your business is the difference between going through the motions (wasting time and money), and actually hitting the mark (getting ROI for your time and money).

2: Keep it simple.

What could be easier than simple right? Who doesn’t like simple? As mentioned above, I’m a big fan.

In reality, simple is much easier said than done.

Simple is hard. Getting to simple is challenging; more often than not, it’s found on just the other side of complexity. Unfortunately, there is no shortcut to getting there. But get there you must.

3: Keep it short. Even better: Be brief.

How short? As short as it needs to be to get it done.

It’s not about brevity for brevity’s sake. Just how short depends on a number of factors unique to your business, your audience and the purpose of the video. There is even a pretty good body of research to guide you for various formats and audience segments.

Sometimes short is 30 minutes. Sometimes more. Sometimes it’s 30 seconds. Sometimes less.

Related:  When in doubt, cut it out!

4: Creativity matters (or not), but always lead with strategy.

Sure, I like to help conceive of and write fun, creative ads and videos where called for, but for most businesses a word of caution is in order: go easy on the creative flair. I hate to be the buzz-kill but it’s almost always best, until proven otherwise, to err on the side of simple, straightforward and results-driven.

The Bud Lights and Geicos of the world can get away with an overabundance of creative joie de vivre. Most of the other 99% of companies and organizations in the real world? Not so much.

Dare I say it? Boring works.

Ok, perhaps not outright boring, but rather basic, subdued and tastefully understated. Yes, it’s counter-intuitive given the apparent “entertain me or else” edict of our time, but don’t believe the hype (or your teenage children). Unless your business in any way relates to promoting Miley Cyrus, overly creative concepts are usually a head fake.

Applying These 4 Rules: From Fortune 100 to Small and Local

So how applicable are these rules for companies of all sizes in the real world?

Recently, I was the lead communications consultant for a broad consortium of industry and trade association clients ranging in size and scope from Fortune100 to mid-size companies. All were competitors, but came together as determined, if uneasy, bedfellows, united in one specific, far-reaching agenda.

There were many stakeholders, many voices at the table. It was a complex space to navigate, at the intersection of business, politics, public policy, and public perception. The messaging required the equivalent of threading the needle to a range of audiences. The stakes were high for all involved.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, I recently was involved in scripting a TV commercial for a small financial services company, one relatively new to the Arkansas market. The messaging for this was relatively straightforward. They were seeking to focus and expand their identity statewide.

In the end, video was a critical part of the communications solution for both projects, and while the size, scale and complexity for each differed, the approach for both was grounded in adherence to the four guiding principles above. And that, I believe, made all the difference.