WHAT TYPE OF VIDEO DOES YOUR BUSINESS ACTUALLY NEED.
by Freddy SImpkin - Junior Producer
START WITH THE PURPOSE, NOT THE VIDEO.
A lot of businesses reach the point where they know they need video content, but they are not always sure what kind. They might have seen a competitor launch a new promotional video, noticed their own website feels a bit flat, or realised their social channels have become a steady rotation of graphics, staff birthdays and the occasional photo from an event.
So the brief starts with something fairly broad: “We need a video.”
That is understandable, but it is not always the most useful starting point. A business does not usually need video for the sake of having video. It needs the right type of content for the right job.
A homepage promotional video, a recruitment video, a customer case study, a social media edit and an event highlights video all do very different things. They might involve similar cameras, crew and editing software, but they are not built in the same way. The audience is different, the structure is different and the reason someone is watching is different.
This is where a lot of business video content starts to go wrong. The company knows it should make something, but the purpose is not clear enough before production begins. The result is often a polished but slightly vague video that tries to explain everything and ends up not saying much at all.
The better question is not “should we make a video?” It is “what do we need this video to achieve?”
UNDERSTAND THE JOB BEFORE THE FORMAT .
Before deciding what type of video your business needs, it helps to understand the problem you are trying to solve.
Do people understand what your business actually does? Are potential customers struggling to trust you before they enquire? Are you trying to attract better staff? Do you need to show the quality of a recent project? Are you launching something new? Are your social media channels technically active, but not doing much beyond proving someone has access to Canva?
The answer changes the kind of content you should make.
A business trying to build trust on its website might need a strong promotional video that introduces the company properly. A business with brilliant customers and strong results might benefit more from case study videos. A company struggling to recruit might need content that shows the real people, culture and working environment behind the job description.
This is why strategy matters before anyone starts planning shots. Choosing the wrong format is not always obvious at the time, because the production can still look professional. But if the content does not match the problem, it will struggle to do anything useful.
A good video production company should help shape that thinking. At Inspire Films, we are usually trying to understand where the content fits before deciding exactly what it should look like. The platform, audience and purpose all matter. A video made for somebody visiting your website is not automatically right for somebody scrolling past you on LinkedIn or Instagram.
Same business. Different context. Different video.
WHEN YOU NEED A PROMOTIONAL VIDEO.
A promotional video is often the best choice when your business needs a clear, confident introduction.
This is usually the video that sits on your website, supports your sales process and gives potential customers a stronger sense of who you are. It should explain what the business does, but it should not feel like a moving version of the About Us page.
The best promotional videos tend to show the business in a way that written copy struggles to do. They let people see the team, the environment, the process and the personality behind the company. For businesses selling a service, this can be especially valuable because the people are often a major part of what the customer is buying.
A promotional video is useful when the business has grown, changed or become more ambitious, but the existing content no longer reflects that. We see this quite often with SMEs and growing brands. The work has improved, the clients are bigger, the team has developed, but the online presence still feels like it belongs to an earlier version of the company.
In that situation, a promotional video is not about pretending to be something you are not. It is about making the content catch up with reality.
This type of video needs focus. It should not try to cover every service, every award and every department in two minutes. The aim is to give the viewer enough understanding and confidence to take the next step, whether that is enquiring, booking a call, visiting a location or simply remembering the business later.
WHEN YOU NEED A BRAND
VIDEO.
A brand video is slightly different from a promotional video, although the two can overlap.
A promotional video often explains what a business does and why someone should care. A brand video usually goes a little wider. It is more about the story, values, personality and direction of the company.
That does not mean it needs to become vague or overly emotional. Nobody needs three minutes of slow-motion coffee pouring over a voiceover about passion, unless the business is actually coffee and even then we should probably be careful.
A good brand video should still feel specific. It should help people understand what the company stands for, what makes it different and why the people behind it do what they do. This can be especially useful for businesses trying to reposition themselves, attract larger clients or create a more consistent identity across their marketing.
Brand videos work best when there is something genuine to build around. That might be a founder story, a clear mission, a distinctive way of working or a culture that genuinely affects the customer experience. If those things are real, video can make them much easier to understand.
If they are not real, the video will probably expose that fairly quickly.
WHEN YOU NEED SOCIAL MEDIA VIDEO CONTENT.
Social media video production is not just a smaller version of a website video.
People behave differently on social platforms. They are not sitting there patiently waiting for a business to introduce itself. They are scrolling, half-watching and deciding very quickly whether something is worth their attention.
That changes the way the content needs to be made.
Social media videos usually need stronger openings, faster context and a more specific idea. They might answer a common customer question, show a quick behind-the-scenes moment, share a useful piece of advice or highlight one part of a larger project. The best social content often feels direct and easy to understand without needing a long setup.
This is where many businesses struggle. They try to crop a polished website video into a vertical format and expect it to work on Instagram, TikTok or LinkedIn. Sometimes it can, but only if those outputs were considered before the shoot.
A proper social-first approach means thinking about the platform from the start. What will stop someone scrolling? What can be understood without sound? How quickly does the point become clear? Does the video feel native to the platform, or does it feel like a corporate upload that has wandered into the wrong room?
For businesses that need regular visibility, social content can be just as important as one main promotional video. It keeps the brand active, gives people repeated reasons to pay attention and helps build familiarity over time.
WHEN YOU NEED A RECRUITMENT VIDEO.
Recruitment videos are often overlooked, but they can be one of the most useful types of business video.
A job advert can explain the role, salary and responsibilities. What it struggles to show is what it actually feels like to work somewhere. That matters, because candidates are not only choosing a job. They are choosing a team, an environment and a place they can imagine spending a large part of their week.
A good recruitment video should give people a genuine sense of the business. It should show the team, the working environment and the culture without turning everyone into a walking HR document.
The strongest recruitment content usually comes from honest conversations with staff. Why did they join? What has kept them there? What does the day-to-day actually feel like? What kind of person tends to do well in the business?
This is particularly valuable in sectors where recruitment is competitive, such as childcare, hospitality, construction and growing service businesses. If another company is only offering a written job advert and you can show the people, atmosphere and values behind the role, that gives candidates far more to work with.
The key is honesty. A recruitment video should not make the business look perfect if that is not the reality. People do not need perfect. They need believable.
WHEN YOU NEED A CASE STUDY OR TESTIMONIAL VIDEO.
If your business already has happy customers, case study and testimonial videos can be incredibly powerful.
The reason is simple: people trust other people more than they trust a company talking about itself. A business can say it delivers great results, but a customer explaining what changed after working with that business usually carries more weight.
A good case study video should not just be a compliment on camera. It needs a bit of structure. What problem did the customer have? Why did they choose the business? What was the process like? What changed afterwards?
That journey gives the viewer something to follow. It also helps potential customers see themselves in the story. If they have a similar problem, the case study becomes more than proof of good work. It becomes reassurance.
Testimonial videos can be shorter and more focused, but they still need to feel specific. “They were great to work with” is nice, but it is not as useful as a customer explaining exactly what made the experience better, easier or more successful than expected.
For businesses that rely heavily on trust, reputation and referrals, this kind of content can be one of the strongest additions to a website or sales process.
WHEN YOU NEED EVENT
COVERAGE.
Event coverage is useful when a business needs to capture the energy, scale or importance of something happening in person.
That might be a conference, awards night, product launch, charity event, team day or brand activation. The value of event video is that it allows the moment to keep working after the room has emptied and everyone has gone home with a tote bag they may or may not ever use.
Good event coverage is not just a random collection of shots from the day. It should understand what the event is for. Is the priority to attract people to next year’s event? Show sponsors the value of being involved? Create social content during and after the day? Capture speakers, reactions or the atmosphere?
The answer affects how the event should be covered.
For some events, the energy of the room matters most. For others, the useful content might come from interviews, talks or short pieces captured with attendees. A good production approach should make sure the final video is more than proof that the event happened.
It should make people wish they had been there.
CHOOSING THE RIGHT VIDEO FOR THE JOB.
Most businesses do not need every type of video at once. They need to understand which content will solve the most important problem first.
If people do not understand what your company does, a promotional video might be the place to start. If you need regular visibility, social media content may be more useful. If recruitment is the challenge, showing the people and culture behind the business could be the strongest move. If trust is the issue, customer stories might do more than another company-led explanation.
This is why the early conversation matters so much. The right video is not chosen because it sounds impressive. It is chosen because it has a job to do.
At Inspire Films, we create promotional videos, brand videos, social media content, recruitment videos, case studies, event coverage and commercial campaigns for businesses in Manchester and across the UK. Our approach starts with understanding what the business actually needs the content to achieve before deciding what should be made.
If you know your business needs video but are not sure what type would be most useful, we would be happy to talk through the options and help shape the right approach.