Searching for a corporate video company can be quite daunting due to the mass of search results you will come across on Google. You know the 4 signs of a great production company, but do you know how to avoid the bad ones? Learning what not to look for in a company is a great way of learning what is right.

Remember you will be paying and trusting the company that you choose, so you want to be certain of the 4 signs of a bad corporate video company.

Proceed with caution if you come across any of these.

“Watch out for these warning signs when looking for a video production company.”

Quality of Work

It isn’t hard to tell the difference between a good video and a bad video. If you are presented with a corporate video company showreel you should keep an eye out for certain techniques used.

Old, out of date, or bad quality graphics aren’t very appealing for you or your customers. Cheesy cuts and transitions, no matter how amusing they can be, are definitely not appropriate for a professional environment, which is why no good company would use them. Also keep an eye out for things like low quality video, poor audio quality, overly shaky footage, grainy footage and bad audio cuts. Little things like this are dead giveaways of a poor video production company.

Be aware of these and you will be closer to finding a good company.

They Promote Themselves As ‘Cheap’

When looking at the price that companies offer you have to be very conscious of the price. Finding a company promising ‘good value’ is very different to one offering ‘cheap’ services. When you pay a low price you have to be prepared for your film to be of a low quality – which no one wants.

Cheap videos can sometimes do more harm than good. The quality of your corporate video will be a reflection on the quality of your product/services. You are trying to sell and promote your business. So it needs to be good.

You don’t have to break the bank for top quality videos. But definitely avoid companies who market themselves as ‘cheap’.

Bad or No Showreel

Before we get into this point, let’s consider what a showreel actually is. A showreel is a compilation of work that a video production company considers their BEST. So if you’re watching a showreel and the content looks terrible, this should be ringing major alarm bells. It either means that they don’t make quality work, or they can’t see that they’re best work looks terrible. We’re not sure which is worse!

If they don’t have any work on their showreel then that either means that they haven’t made anything noteworthy, or they know it’s not very good and don’t want to show you.

This should speak for itself.

They Don’t Ask You Questions

When you initially contact companies you will have questions for them, however they should always have questions for you too. If they don’t this should be a red flag.

They won’t ask for the companies brief or won’t be interested in it. They will need to know the target audience, platforms it will be shown on, use of the video intended business results and the investment needed. If they don’t ask these questions, do they have your company needs at heart?

Avoid companies who just say ‘yes’ to everything. Companies like that are only after your money and not focused on making quality video content and do not have your best interests at heart.