
By now, you should be well-versed in the reasons a corporate spokesperson video is a good idea for a website, from the fact that he or she represents the image of a company to the way video engages today’s attention-challenged audiences. Here, we’ll take a closer look at the necessary skills and character traits to look for when choosing a spokesperson for a corporate video.
Understand, first and foremost, that creating a successful corporate video can indeed be a daunting task; you need to not only convey your message, but also engage and retain your audience – something that has become somewhat of a challenge today because of the modern demand for instant information. Here are five qualities every corporate video spokesperson needs to exhibit:
1. He or She Boasts the Ability to Deliver a Clear Message
There should be NO confusion surrounding the purpose or message of your video. The script should get right to the point immediately, take into consideration time and be concise in the way information is presented WITHOUT being unnecessarily drawn-out.
Green Screen Talent Now Additional Tip: Clear brand messaging can include the use of humor to deliver the message and make the video very enjoyable to watch. Also, when brainstorming ideas for a corporate video, focus on a primary benefit instead of getting carried away with multiple ones.
2. He or She Easily Puts a Face to the Name
This is something Green Screen Talent Now has expressed through our own previous blogs, as well as in the blogs shared on our other sister companies’ sites: The message you are trying to articulate in your video will be better received if the audience has someone to actually relate to. Boasting what we like to call an “approachable identity” – whether it’s a figurehead of the company or just ideal casting – will give your audience a stronger sense of association to your brand.
Green Screen Talent Now Additional Tip: Identify one or more personas that your target audience tends to relate to and use them in the video to deliver your message; whether you’re selling a product, new procedure or policy change, it’s important to remember that people buy from those they like.
3. He or She Reflects the Brand Properly
Brand integrity is important (would you want your potential customers thinking negatively of you at ALL?) so the production company you choose to create your spokesperson video should be able to appropriately depict your brand’s values, message and mission…all while maintaining cohesive marketing consistency. Green Screen Talent Now, for example, can visually represent a brand in a positive light, incorporating a call-to-action that inspires a client’s audience to be an active part of that company.
How many times have you boarded a plane just to spend five minutes listening to the same boring safety instructions? Sure they’re important, but you could probably recite them from memory by now; a good airline marketing strategy would encompass seizing a great opportunity to make a video that not only shows the instructions, but also represents the brand (in this case, an airline).
Green Screen Talent Now Additional Tip: Look for opportunities everywhere! Extend your brand personality to even the most “standardized” channels – they might end up being the best ones, since nobody is expecting safety, training or recruitment videos (for example) to be creative. Make sure yours are!
4. He or She Follows the Pattern for the Target Demographic…in Other Words, Again, They’re Relatable
This touches on elements we’ve covered previously, but it’s so important it deserves its own tip point. A corporate video targeting an 18-to-35-year-old demographic needs to be scripted differently than one for a 35-to-55 demographic, obviously, and because the script is considered the skeleton of any project, it’s unfortunate that writing is often neglected in corporate spokesperson videos. The one-size-fits-all approach does not work in today’s targeted media messaging environment.
Further, content and dialogue need to be presented in a fashion that will compel the video’s intended viewers: We can’t tell you how many videos we’ve seen that were destroyed, disengaging the audience in a matter of seconds, with flat and boring content.
Some of the best spokespeople are those that remind us of ourselves, and their success with a product could easily be our own. Think about it: How hard is it to walk into a Subway and select a low-fat sandwich? It’s not hard – after all, “Jarred” did it!
Green Screen Talent Now Additional Tip: Selecting your target demographic should be the very first step of your video-planning process. Without considering this factor, you can’t have your corporate spokesperson dictate tone, company benefits, message or visuals for the video.
5. Their Delivery is Impeccable
Let’s face it: Speaking 101 seems a lot harder to some people than they thought it would be. From the perspective of a classroom example, great spokespeople are the students who somehow delivered. A great spokesperson for a website should have mastered all of his or her speech without breaking a sweat; understands timing, inflection and the power of a well-timed pause and is effortlessly articulate as master orators.
We love the idea of using spokespeople to establish a sense of continuity to a spread of videos. Understand that a corporate spokesperson is a brand ambassador, an extension of your business, which is why choosing the right person can seem like a daunting task. But we can tell you from vast experience that it’s a vital task in this day and age of visually-stimulated populations constantly ingesting video-based news, information and retail activity.