Behind the scenes video content: unlock the power of storytelling!

Before a product or a service, but even before a brand and a company, there is always a story. Better: a set of stories. And these stories need to be told.

This is the essence of storytelling, a contemporary label for identifying something extremely old, which has been at the heart of marketing and communication for as long as anyone can remember.  And today more than ever.

Indeed, digital has only multiplied the possibilities, spectrum, and range of narratives. There have never been so many tools available to communicators nor so many media and channels through which to convey these messages. At the same time, you have never had such a deep understanding of your target audience(s). The discourse, as is evident, is huge.

In this post, we want to focus on a more circumscribed but crucial area: that of video marketing. Even more specifically: we’ll focus on a particular type of video that brands and companies can deploy that ensures an excellent return in terms of effectiveness and closeness with the audience. We’re talking about behind the scenes videos.

Here, we’ll discover what they are. In this post, we will point out some typologies and we will isolate the main best practices to design, produce, and distribute them.

 

Behind the scenes videos – what are they all about? Why do they work so well?

We won’t dwell too much on the definition of behind-the-scenes videos: as the name already implies, they are videos that show what lies behind the scenes: of a company, a brand, a product, or service, but also of an event or an individual personality. 

Below we will look at some recurring models by which all of this can be staged.

However, let’s focus for a moment on the benefits and effectiveness of devising and producing behind-the-scenes videos. Without getting too abstract or into theory, the strength (and therefore the popularity) of this type of content lies mainly in the feeling of authenticity that they are able to convey. Authenticity, indeed, is the key word.  But—let’s face it—authenticity is not synonymous with naiveté or improvisation (and we will also come back to this later).

Behind-the-scenes videos work because they humanize brands, show the people “behind them,” who bring them to life. They bring companies closer to users, stimulating a sense of connection and empathy. They provide a dynamic rather than a static feel. And, if we’re talking about products, they are able to show not only the end result, but the whole process (thus, again, the story) that led to that result.

In short, it is no coincidence at all that we are all very attracted to this kind of content. And it is no coincidence that they are among the best-performing videos in terms of views and engagement across all kinds of platforms.

Now, as promised, we’ll share some of the types of behind-the-scenes videos that companies can use.

 

 

Behind the scenes videos – A (non-exhaustive) list of types

Without further preamble, let us turn to a quick roundup.  

We would like to emphasize that these are just a few examples out of all the types of videos that are most popular and appreciated by audiences: naturally this does not cover the whole spectrum of possibilities.

– Introducing team members: who they are, what they do, why they love what they do.

– Team building events (with related fun times).

– A tour of the company to show its daily routines, reveal its processes, and its atmosphere.

– Technical (but not too technical) focus on the tools that concern these processes.

– Focus on setting goals and strategies, including moments of meeting, brainstorming, and confrontation.

– Updates on the life of a company: new hires, renovations, location changes…but also birthday parties, why not?

– Stories to tell where a product came from. The idea behind it. The sources of inspiration.

– Classic behind-the-scenes stories related to particularly successful commercials or campaigns.

– Fun little-known facts (which can become iconic and memorable) related to corporate life, but also to the image of a brand or product.

This is just a short list of the many types of behind the scenes videos that you could create. But, in conclusion, let’s focus on some suggestions and best practices. We have chosen 5 that are, in our opinion, particularly significant.

 

 

Behind the scenes video – 5 best practice   

So, here are the best practices; we have chosen the most important ones that are fundamental and valid for all the types of behind-the-scenes videos we have identified above. 

Let’s proceed with the list.

1) Everything always starts from the script  

We said it above: the keyword for behind-the-scenes videos is authenticity. But never confuse authenticity with improvisation. So: the first aspect to consider is the script. A sense of spontaneity, in fact, is always a result of careful planning.

What are the pillars from which to best build a script?

• The first, which we will return to in the next point, is the target audience. Because there is no such thing as effective storytelling for everyone, for an audience of people who are too general, about whom we know nothing.
• The second concerns the goals of the narrative. Before devising it, we need to ask ourselves: what is the message that we want to stick in the mind of our viewers? 

Once it is clearly identified, the rest comes accordingly: the choice of the video’s style, its pacing, its narrative turns…but also more specific aspects, such as graphics, for example.

 

 

2) Know the target audience

This is the basic best practice. Knowing the target audience is an essential point for any effective communication. 

Before designing and shooting a video, you need to have a precise idea of your target audience. If we are targeting an audience of teenagers, for example, there is little point in showing behind-the-scenes footage of a corporate meeting; better to focus on other aspects.

The question arises: how is it possible to know this audience, which perhaps consists of thousands or millions of people? The answer is very clear: data analytics. The real driver of the digital turnaround.

In short, it is a matter of collecting, putting together and interpreting the digital traces related to your target audience—potential and actual—in the broadest and most thorough manner.

Understanding these people, their characteristics, tastes, and preferences is the best way to anticipate their desires; to offer something that can really interest them, and avoid being too focused on your brand.

3) Watch out for the narrative arcs and pacing of the video. 

Telling a story to the fullest means knowing how to capture your audience’s attention and keeping it constant.

A good rule of thumb is always to start with a hook that is capable of attracting and intriguing your audience. Otherwise, in fact, the challenge for attention is likely to be lost at the start. But that’s not all. Here, it’s important to study solid, eventful narrative arcs that take the viewer from one narrative turn to the next. This is not easy to do when you want to give the idea of everyday life, of “behind the scenes.” And there is no universal recipe that applies to all types of storytelling.

What is certain, however, is that these aspects cannot be ignored. It is good practice, therefore, to lean on experts and storytelling specialists.

4) Graphics and corporate image

Now we come to a more technical point, which takes us from conception to the production stages. We don’t need to stress how important it is to have high-quality productions. And if you want a handcrafted effect, it’s not enough to just pick up a smartphone and frame what is happening.

The same principle we have repeatedly referred to applies: aim for authenticity, without falling into improvisation.

Pay attention, then, also to the graphics and related aspects of the corporate image: those who view your video must lead them back—consciously, but also instinctively and immediately—to your brand and related imagery.

5) Distribution must always be omnichannel 

After best practices related to ideation and production, here we close our list with an aspect that is all about distribution. The channels and devices through which we view videos have multiplied. The distribution perspective, therefore, can only be omnichannel. If we talk about devices we need to prioritize smartphones: the device that we most frequently use to watch videos. 

The omnichannel view should also be applied to channels and platforms: it’s different to enjoy a video on a company’s website, on YouTube, or on a social network (with huge differences, between one social network and another).

Each channel has its own technical rules, its own settings, its own best practices; and you have to make sure that your video fits into them, in the most automated way possible. You must do so in a way that at once optimizes resources, expands the scope of visibility, and increases the quality and effectiveness of communication for each individual channel.

We close with an awareness that really makes a difference: every campaign and every strategy can, and should, always be improved. It’s a matter of learning to analyze performance and results lucidly and with the right tools. Treasuring what worked. Fixing what didn’t work.