Dylan Harmon
DIRECTOR OF MARKETING
How to Make a Company Culture Video: A Step-by-Step Guide
A video about your company’s culture should feel like a real tour of your business. It is not a highlight reel that makes it look like every day is great. Instead, it’s a clear picture of how your team operates, what your firm stands for, and what it’s like to be in your environment. When done right, business culture video production develops trust with consumers, helps applicants determine if they are a good fit, and offers your present staff something to be proud of.
We think of culture videos as brand assets with a purpose at Two Stories Media. They should help in hiring, keeping employees, and building a good reputation. You should also be able to easily share them on your website, recruiting pages, social media, and internal channels. This article breaks down the process into steps so you can make a cultural video that is real, focused, and ready to be made.
What a video on a company’s culture has to do
Before you design the shots or locations, think about what the film has to do. Three things are usually true in cultural videos.
The initial goal is to get people interested. You want the proper people to see your workplace and think, “This is where I belong.” The second purpose is to be clear. Before they apply, you want prospects to know the standards, speed, and what you expect from them. The third goal is to have faith. individuals trust individuals more than slogans, so you want consumers and partners to see the human side of your business.
Setting the aim early helps you avoid the most typical mistake, which is trying to present everything. Culture films are most effective when they reveal the truth from a clear point of view rather than a big list of facts.
Step 1: Write a statement that sums up the culture tale.
Culture is vast, thus the story needs a strong framing. Write a sentence that ends this notion to start.
Our culture is defined by __.
You might pick speed, teamwork, service, precision, care, or curiosity. You don’t have to be smart to use the word. It has to be right. Once you’ve picked the main idea, everything else in the movie should back it up.
This also makes it easier to get approvals. When everyone involved agrees on what the culture story means, feedback is more objective. You don’t argue about tastes; you look at whether the scene fits the story.
Step 2: Pick the correct audience and goal
You can make a culture film to hire people, get everyone on the same page, build trust with customers, or all three. But first, you need to choose the main audience.
The film should illustrate real work, how the team works together, and how leadership helps people improve if the audience includes applicants. If the target is customers, the video should show how culture affects the quality and dependability of service. If the audience is internal, the film should stress standards and solidarity, especially through messages from leaders.
You may still utilize the final edit for a lot of different things. First, you need to decide who the video is for. After that, the tone and structure will follow.
Step 3: Choose the correct format to make it real
The best culture videos usually use one of three formats.
Interviews and real-life events are used in a documentary format. This structure works best when culture is a part of relationships, mentoring, and everyday life. A narrative style method uses a guided story, which is generally told by a leader voiceover or has a clear arc. When you need to make your objective and direction clear, this style works effectively. A day-in-the-life method shows what a job or team does on a normal day. This style is great for recruiting since it makes expectations clear right away.
In real life, we often mix these formats. Don’t try to follow a blueprint. The purpose is to make the truth clear.
Step 4: Choose what to show, not just what to say.
When culture videos use generic lines, they don’t work. You can’t just say things like “family,” “hard-working,” or “innovative.” You have to demonstrate proof.
Choose culture evidence instead. Show team rituals, times when people work together, times when leaders check in, times when they train, times when they verify the quality of their work, times when they talk to customers, or times when they solve problems. If your culture promotes learning, show how to advise and train others. If your culture prioritizes speed, illustrate how decisions are made and how work flows. If your culture prioritizes caring, explain how the team helps each other and consumers.
The video seems real when you present proof. Because of this, the audience believes the message without having to.
Step 5: Come up with interview questions that will get authentic answers.
Your questions will decide how good the tale is if your video has interviews. Don’t use prompts that encourage business language. Ask inquiries that require details.
Ask them what astonished them when they first got there. Inquire about the characteristics of a terrific day. Find out what the team won’t give up. Inquire about how leadership gains trust. Find out what kind of person does well here and what kind of person has a hard time. Ask about a time when the team worked together under stress.
These ideas lead to actual tales, and real stories are what make videos about business culture worth watching.
Step 6: Make the visual plan based on real places
Places are where culture lives. If you want the video to seem real, film in places where the culture really happens.
That might be the office, the break room, the conference table, the warehouse, or the place where the client works. It also involves capturing people performing the work instead of pretending to do it.
Pick places that look clean enough for the camera but are still authentic. If the room needs light staging, do it slowly. The idea isn’t to change how the workplace looks. The idea is to make it look like its best self on a normal day.
Step 7: Get b-roll that illustrates the tale of the culture
B-roll is not just extra footage. The statements are backed up by the pictures.
If someone says the culture is collaborative, you should show concrete examples of people working together. If someone states the culture is detail-oriented, you should illustrate how it works. If someone says the culture is full of vitality, you should show how fast and how much movement there is.
This is also where the video can be used again. You can use strong b-roll to make social media video, recruiting commercials, website headers, and internal updates without having to shoot new footage.
Step 8: Make the modification interesting right away
The opening few seconds of a culture video will determine if the viewer stays. Begin with something specific and human. A strong line from one of the team members. A clear mission statement. A moment that really shows the work.
Then go to a simple structure. Say who you are. Show what you can do. Show how you do it. Show what you think. Finish with a clear invitation.
If the video is meant to get people to apply or connect, the invitation could be to do so. If the movie is aimed at customers, it can ask them to look into services or ask for a price. If the video is for internal use, the invitation could be to agree to a standard.
Step 9: Get ready to send out copies
A culture video shouldn’t stay in one spot. Plan versions that fit how people use content.
A version for the web can be longer and more detailed. A social version should be quicker and more to the point. A recruiting version can have cutdowns that are tailored to each function. An internal version can have more information from leaders.
Planning this before you film makes sure you get the proper formats and makes the editing process faster.
Step 10: Publish on purpose and see what happens.
People frequently think of culture videos as merely brand items. Also, they can be performance assets.
Keep track of how many candidates bring it up in interviews. If it lives on a careers site, keep track of how long it stays there. If it exists on social media, keep track of saves and engagement. Keep an eye on if it cuts down on low-fit applications and makes interactions better.
Vanity metrics are not the goal. The idea is to make sure that what you exhibit and who you draw in are more in sync.
Two Stories Media can help you make a video about your company’s culture.
When company culture videos are honest, specific, and based on genuine evidence, they work. Two Stories Media can help you develop, make, and edit a culture film that looks and feels real while yet being of professional quality. This will help with hiring, trust, and brand reputation.
Check out our portfolio to see how we create stories in different fields. If you want to talk about a culture video for your team, get in touch with Two Stories Media. We’ll help you turn your culture into a video that people will want to watch.