What should a business marketing video include before you hire a production company?

Start with the decision your customer needs to make

“Show everything we do” is too broad to guide a production. Choose a question that matters to a prospective customer: Can this team handle our project? How does the service work? Why should we choose this company?

Then name the action that would make the video useful, such as visiting a service page or booking an introductory conversation. A company introduction and a paid campaign can share footage while serving different decisions. Establishing that purpose is part of marketing strategy, before a shot list or editing style is chosen.

Write one message and identify the proof

State the main idea in a sentence a customer would understand. Replace broad claims such as “industry-leading service” with something you can demonstrate. Useful proof might be a process explanation, a demonstration, approved project footage, or a specific customer account used with permission.

• Founder interview: explain the problem the business solves and why its approach matters.
• Process footage: show the steps, decisions, or care behind the service.
• Project story: explain the challenge, the approach, and only the outcomes you can substantiate.

You do not need every type of footage. Choose the material that supports the message and remove attractive shots that do not help the viewer understand it.

Plan the opening and the next step together

The opening should make the subject relevant quickly. The ending should make the next action clear. For YouTube advertising specifically, Google’s creative guidance organizes this around attention, branding, connection, and direction. It emphasizes a focused message and an intentional call to action. Those are useful planning questions, not a promise that a particular video will produce sales.

For a website brand film, consider the surrounding page too. If the page already provides a booking button, the film can lead naturally toward that decision instead of trying to explain every service and contact detail within the footage.

Agree on placements and deliverables before filming

A wide website video and a vertical social clip need different framing. Tell the production team which placements matter before the shoot, including whether interviews, graphics, captions, and key actions must work in multiple formats.

• Where will each version appear?
• What orientation and approximate length does each placement need?
• Are captions, thumbnails, stills, or alternate openings included?
• Who supplies brand assets, music permissions, and approved claims?
• Does the scope include raw footage or project files, or only finished exports?

Ask for a written deliverables list. “A video plus social clips” leaves room for different expectations about how many edits, formats, and revisions are included. See our business video production approach for the planning questions behind a useful scope.

A practical example: a service business introduction

Hypothetical example: a service company wants prospective customers to understand what happens after an inquiry. Its central message is that the process is clear and organized. The film could combine a founder explaining the first conversation with footage of planning, preparation, and delivery. The next step is to book an introductory meeting.

The brief would request a website version and separately scoped vertical edits. It would not claim faster completion, better results, or customer satisfaction figures unless the business could support those claims. This is an illustrative concept, not an Eventure client case study.

Set approvals, constraints, and a way to judge usefulness

Name one person responsible for consolidating feedback. Agree on concept approval before filming, the review stages, revision limits, and the deadline. Identify access restrictions, participant availability, and any location or appearance permissions that need to be arranged.

Keep the production budget separate from advertising spend. Ask how changes to locations, filming time, animation, edit count, or usage affect scope. After launch, evaluate the video against its purpose using the information you actually have. Views do not automatically mean qualified inquiries; booking clicks do not automatically mean completed meetings.

Copy this short business video brief

• Audience: Who is this for, and what do they already know?
• Objective: What decision or action should the video support?
• Message: What one idea should viewers remember?
• Proof: What can we show or substantiate?
• Distribution: Where will the video run?
• Deliverables: Which versions, formats, captions, and supporting assets are needed?
• Constraints: What budget range, timing, access, or permissions affect production?
• Approvals: Who signs off, and at which stages?
• Measurement: What available evidence will help us judge whether it served its purpose?

Not every answer needs to be final before the first conversation. Mark the unknowns so they can be resolved before committing to production.