If there’s one thing you need to know before creating your social media marketing strategy, it’s the power of video.

Viewers retain 95% of a video message versus 10% of a text message, which is why creating fewer high-quality pieces of content such as video can be a strong way to approach content marketing (Forbes). Whether it’s to elevate brand awareness, connect with your audience, or educate, video content is your solution. Here are 5 things to look for when hiring a video production company.

1. Storytelling Ability

You can really gauge the quality of a video production company by its ability to tell stories. For any good video production company, their number one mission is to tell your story through video. People are watching videos to feel an emotion, be educated, or hear about others’ experiences. Without a strong storytelling ability, videos will fall flat. According to HubSpot, “80% of users recall a video ad they viewed in the past 30 days.” When making a video for your brand, you want to make sure the storytelling is strong, that way when people think of your video’s story they automatically think of your brand.

When initially contacting a video production company to work with, you have to make sure they are interested in hearing about your brand’s story. They should be asking questions in detail about what your brand is about, what is the problem you are trying to solve, what’s your why. It’s essential for video production companies to show interest in what’s driving the story. By asking questions about your brand’s message/ goal and what emotion you want your viewers to feel when they think of your brand, we are better able to understand what makes your brand unique and what drives your brand. When looking for a video, storytelling ability should be your biggest deciding factor.

2. Quality of Portfolio

You put a lot of work in to ensure your brand’s product/ service is the best quality it can be so you shouldn’t compromise when it comes to your video marketing content. When looking for a video production team ensure their quality matches what you are looking for. Whether you want 4k video, slow motion b-roll sequences, voice overlays or narration, these are all things to consider. A good way to tell if a video company is making good quality content is by looking at their portfolio. Are the visuals sharp? Are the transitions smooth? Is the audio seamless? You will want to ensure your video will turn out in the highest quality possible in terms of visual and audio elements.

3. Creativity

Creativity is a huge part of video marketing. Video production teams are filled with creatives ready to help you share your brand’s story in a unique and compelling way. When looking for a video company be sure to watch their portfolio and take note of elements they use that you feel are unique. Do they use a different sequence of footage that you have never seen before? Do they pair audio and visuals in a compelling way?

Fancy filming equipment can be purchased, but creativity is unique! With a team of creatives working for you, you can be confident the results will be a unique video that will make your brand stand out against saturated markets.

4. Engaging Content

When you’ve found a company you like, take a look at their portfolio and watch their videos. How do you feel? Are you clicking out of the video after the first 30 seconds? Or are you finding yourself watching video after video until you are working your way down the wormhole and spending hours watching their content? If you are watching their content and wanting to watch even more that’s when you know you have found the brand that is right for you!

5. Reviews

Reviews and customer testimonies will tell you everything you need to know about the experience of working with a particular video production company. It is essential you work with a company that has team members who are passionate about what they do. Many people get into the video production business because they live and breathe video. They want to bring your visions to life through collaboration. This will be reflected in reviews that talk about the enthusiasm of the team and their ability to collaborate.

Reviews will also give you insight into what the team was like to work with. Some video production elements can be nerve-wracking, it can sometimes be hard for people to be in front of the camera. This can all be put at ease by the right video team. Soar’s team aims to make you feel like the camera isn’t even there! We want to capture the authenticity and do so with engaging conversations, as well as tips and tricks throughout the shoot to make you feel more relaxed. You can take a look at Soar’s case studies as well as customer testimonials here.

Video marketing is the best way for your brand to stand out among its competition giving you a professional and authentic look that will draw audiences to your product/ service. Looking for a video production company? Let us help! Our team of videographers, producers, and creatives have a proven track record of creating video content brands and customers love! View our work here.