I’m meeting with clients brainstorming about producing a video for their website and social media channels. I stress the importance of making the video personal, ensuring it connects with viewers on an emotional level. Someone in the room suggests we hire actors to portray the type of testimonials the company wants to show. I immediately explain this is a bad idea. And my opinion has nothing to do with the added cost of hiring actors. You want authentic people in your video. You want real people that viewers and potential future clients can relate to.
If your business provides a service the public wants, your company should have a handful of clients happy to help and take part in something such as a video. Plus, imagine for a moment, posting this video on various forms of social media and inspiring the type of conversation companies can only hope for. What if people on social media learned your company hired actors? What if viewers learned the people in the video they made a connection with weren’t even real clients? How would a company explain they had to hire someone to speak positively about their business?
When working as a television reporter, I often heard businesses explain to me and provide many excuses why they couldn’t produce a client or a compelling testimonial. That’s exactly what they are. They’re excuses. Sure, it takes a little extra work to make some phone calls and find people who are willing to help and express the same passion you feel about your business. It can be done. As a TV reporter, I persuaded companies to find such clients within a couple hours under deadline. A company producing a video with a longer timeline can certainly achieve the same. Keeping it real is the best way to do it when using video to market your company.
The same applies for using video to communicate to your employees. I’ve seen companies use actors instead of real employees for their orientation videos. Using actors takes away credibility. It shouldn’t be difficult to find an employee who exemplifies passion and company values for videos.
We apply a similar concept to pictures uploaded for blogs. We take our own pictures for blogs. We don’t use stock photos. People often ask me where do you get stock photos for your blogs? We don’t get stock photos. You don’t need them. Just take some pictures. Most people can spot a stock photo a mile away. And because it’s a stock photo, it’s bland. It’s vanilla. And it certainly isn’t going to stir up any sort of emotional connection. Stock photos simply take up space. Produce your own photos. Find photos from your albums. You’d be surprised how many random pictures you’ve taken over your lifetime you can somehow work into a blog.
Acting is for Hollywood. When marketing your business, even when the camera is rolling or the shutter is clicking away, keep it real. No one likes a faker.