This is 7 minutes and 17 seconds…a bit long for the internet. It is the story of three people who were helped by HIRED and co-told by the three employment coordinators who helped them. You hear where they came from, how these found HIRED, and what happened afterwards (getting to hear from a couple of the employers who hired them). In so doing, you also hear about HIRED’s process. This is a great example of a “case study” format mini-documentary.

It is a very good “about us” kind of video for marketing, but it lacks a call to action that any good marketing video would have. A purely branding and feel good video is nice, but ineffective without a call to action. What action are we supposed to take after watching this video – apply for help, donate to their cause, hire one of their people, what? Who is the intended audience of this video…and what are they supposed to do after watching it? These are questions to keep in mind when you are thinking about having a video made.

Small businesses are not Coca Cola…our brand does not mean anything to the world or even in the city we operate in. Purely brand pieces are of little use to small businesses. So I usually focus on the intended audience and what you want them to do after seeing the video…unless a purely branding video is what someone really wants.