When you’re putting together a website, a social media post, or a presentation for a new grant, you might find that there’s something… missing. Perhaps you’ve put together your landing page and something just feels a little bare, or you’ve typed up social media posts lined up to promote your latest launch, but it all just looks like a compilation of text and colors. A video might be the missing piece in the puzzle. Here are some popular video types that can be used:
1. The Sizzle Reel
A sizzle reel is a quick thirty second to one minute promotional video that showcases a slice of what your organization has to offer. You may have heard of this type of video under its nickname, Highlight Reel. Think of these videos as a teaser trailer for your audience. This is often fast paced and music-driven with the intention of showcasing your mission in a compilation of images, sound bites, and footage. This video may not be able to display every single service your company has to offer; it’s more of a proof of concept. A good sizzle reel will help your audience understand what your company is and who you serve, and leave potential clients curious and wanting more.
2. The Feature
A feature video is a two to five minute video that highlights one aspect of your company. The videos can be directed internally ( for employees or training) or externally (for customers, partnerships, or applications for funding/grants). Often interview-driven and lighthearted, this type of video can showcase a wide variety of things, including but not limited to:
Description of services
Employee Features
Company Culture
Employee Training
How-to’s and tutorials
Behind-the-Scenes
Features are great if you want to answer direct questions that your audience might have, like: What services do you offer? What will working at this organization be like? How do I use this product? How can I support this organization?
3. The Film
If a sizzle reel is like a teaser trailer, a film is like the full length movie. Films are emotion-driven, deep dive videos into an issue that your organization is trying to address. Often, the focus isn’t necessarily about the organization, but it’s about the organization’s mission, and with that, comes a problem they are trying to address in the world. Films can range from five minutes to up to an hour. Here at Light Theory, we call them documentaries.
While this isn’t a comprehensive list of videos you can use to showcase the work you do, this list is a great place to start. It all depends on the purpose behind putting out video content: do you just want to give your audience an incentive to check out your organization? Do you want to highlight one or two things about your company? Or do you want your target audience to be more aware of an issue you are trying to solve?
At the end of the day, the video content you put out serves one purpose: to tell your story.