Making the Perfect Promotional Video for an SME

If you’re an SME, then taking the decision to create a professional video can feel a little daunting. Which supplier should you use? Do we need a videographer or a production company? Is this going to eat up our entire marketing budget?

Those are just some of the initial questions you might be asking internally and the best advice I can give would be to engage with your business network and identify a handful or organisations who have had a professional video produced. If you like what you see, reach out and get the information of the supplier who did that video. The bulk of our clients have come through referrals exactly like this, and whilst that’s great for us in terms of new business acquisition, it’s also useful for businesses to be given a direct recommendation they can trust.

Once you’ve sourced your preferred supplier, you’re going to want to talk to them about the actual work you’re going to be doing together. Having a meeting to discuss the objectives behind why you want your video done is imperative and video producers need these details in order to give you a quote that is accurate. I would be wary of suppliers who give you a cost almost immediately without knowing much information - even if they’re quoting you a day rate they should be able to give you a fairly accurate estimate based on the information you can provide them with in an initial meeting.

Now, how the video actually looks may depend on the industry you’re operating within, but for the majority of SME businesses the most impactful method is to use a combination of interviews and B-Roll footage showcasing exactly who you are and what you do as a company. Why does this work? Think of it as mini-documentary telling the story of your business - it’s a very subtle form of marketing, completely the opposite to a hard sell, where you can inform prospects of how and why you started your journey, challenges you’ve had to overcome, your ideal customers and also go into detail about your ways of working. This type of video is successful because it is real to life and completely transparent - you’re giving viewers the chance to see the people physically involved in the organisation and also how you provide your product or service.

In terms of the interviews, you’re going to want to hear from several people if possible. It’s always nice to have some words from the people that started the business, but you’ll also be wanting to showcase the individuals that are going to be regularly interacting with clients. Take a dental surgery for instance, it would be worthwhile speaking to the actual dentists to provide patients with an understanding of who they are and hopefully make them feel a bit more relaxed ahead of their appointment.

Another really beneficial interview you can do is with actual customers - people that are willing to sit in front of a camera and wax lyrical about how great you are! There are fewer things more powerful than a real life testimonial and adding a few of these to any promotional video you do can really reinforce your credibility, especially if you’re a B2C operator like many high-street businesses and regularly deal with lots and lots of people.

Then when it comes to B-Roll, you want to be showing in detail what it is you actually do. If you’re a gym, showcase the equipment and personal trainers. If you’re a drinks manufacturer, capture the process of the drinks being produced. If you’re a school, highlight the lessons taking place. You get the idea! The challenge with this can be with businesses that are primarily office-based - some B-Roll ideas here can be to capture team meetings and staff interactions, although these can become repetitive quite quickly. With this in mind, it can be really beneficial to add in some testimonial interviews and motion design to keep the video varied and interesting throughout.

All of the above aside for a moment though, the main question at some point will be: “how much is this going to cost?”

The answer to that will vary enormously from supplier to supplier, but ultimately if you’ve set a decent enough level of budget aside then you will find someone capable of fulfilling the task at hand. Of course, with more budget you can expect a bigger output, but that’s not to say there are also some very talented videographers out there who can take on these jobs and prove to be a more affordable option.

Whatever route you decide to go down, having a professionally-produced promotional video should be a must for any business in 2025 and beyond. Transparency is what builds trust with consumers and video is the gateway to doing that.