What are corporate videos?

Corporate videos are any video content produced by or for a business. That's a broad definition on purpose - it includes internal communications, training content, marketing material, recruitment videos, event coverage, and customer testimonials. If a company made it for a business purpose, it's a corporate video.

The term sometimes carries a stigma - people picture stiff, scripted content with stock footage and a voiceover. That's the old version. Modern corporate videos are shorter, more authentic, and produced at a pace that keeps up with how businesses actually communicate.

Here is a good example of what modern corporate video production looks like:

What types of corporate videos do companies produce?

Internal communications

CEO updates, company announcements, change management communications, and culture content. These replace the all-hands email that nobody reads. A 90-second video from a senior leader lands differently than a 500-word memo. Read our internal communications video guide for the full breakdown.

Training and onboarding

Training videos replace repetitive workshops with on-demand content. Record it once, train every new hire forever. Compliance training, system walkthroughs, and onboarding programs all work better as video because employees can watch at their own pace and rewatch what they missed.

Marketing and promotional

Brand awareness videos, product launches, campaign content, and social media clips. Marketing video production is the fastest-growing category because every marketing channel performs better with video. LinkedIn posts with video get more engagement. Landing pages with video convert at higher rates.

Customer testimonials and case studies

Testimonial videos are the most effective sales asset in B2B. A real customer describing their experience on camera builds trust that written reviews can't match. The best testimonials focus on a specific problem, how your product solved it, and the measurable results.

Recruitment and employer branding

Recruitment videos show candidates what it's actually like to work at your company. Employee testimonials, day-in-the-life features, and hiring manager introductions on your careers page attract higher-quality applicants.

Events

Event videos turn a one-day conference or product launch into weeks of content. Keynote highlights, attendee interviews, and behind-the-scenes footage can be repurposed across channels long after the event ends.

How much do corporate videos cost?

It depends entirely on the production model.

With a traditional agency: $5,000-$30,000 per video. This includes a crew, creative direction, filming, and editing. Turnaround is 4-8 weeks. This model works for flagship content but is too expensive and slow for regular production.

With a freelance videographer: $1,000-$5,000 per video. Good for occasional projects but hard to scale. Read our freelancer vs Shootsta comparison for the trade-offs.

With a subscription platform: a flat monthly fee for ongoing production. Your team films on phones or with a provided kit, professional editors deliver branded videos within 48 hours. The per-video cost drops as you produce more. This is the model that scales for teams needing 5-50 videos per month.

How long should a corporate video be?

Length follows the job, not a house rule. An internal announcement from a CEO holds attention for about two minutes. A product explainer lands between 60 and 90 seconds. A training module can run five to eight minutes if it is chaptered, because people watch it on purpose rather than by accident.

The one reliable rule is that the first ten seconds decide the rest. If the video opens with a logo animation and a slow fade, most of the audience has gone before the point arrives. Start with the point.

Who is involved in producing a corporate video?

Fewer people than most teams expect, and more than one. A typical corporate video needs someone who owns the message, someone who appears on camera, someone who films, someone who edits, and someone who signs it off. In a small business that can be two people wearing several hats.

The role that gets underestimated is the approver. Video approvals run slower than document approvals because there is no track-changes equivalent, so every round costs a re-edit. Agreeing who signs off, and at which stage, saves more time than any camera decision.

In-house, agency or subscription: which model fits?

There are three ways to get corporate video made, and the right one depends on how often you need it.

• In-house team. Fastest for small, frequent jobs and best for confidential content. Expensive to start, and it stalls the week the one editor takes leave.
• Production agency. The right call for a flagship film where craft is the entire point. Priced per project, so a full content calendar gets costly quickly.
• Subscription or managed service. Your team films, a partner edits to a locked brand template. Suits volume and consistency, and the per-video cost falls as output rises.

Most enterprises end up with a mix. A project budget is held back for one or two hero films a year, and a repeatable model covers everything else. Where the line usually falls is covered in how a video partner extends an in-house team.

Corporate video FAQs

What is the difference between a corporate video and a commercial?

A commercial is bought media aimed at customers, usually short and paid to be seen. A corporate video is owned content aimed at a defined audience, whether that is employees, candidates, customers or investors, and it is distributed rather than advertised.

How much does a corporate video cost?

Anywhere from a few hundred dollars for an internally filmed and professionally edited update, to tens of thousands for a scripted brand film with a crew and talent. The useful question is not the price of one video but the cost per video across a year. The video production cost calculator gives an order-of-magnitude figure.

Can a corporate video be filmed on a phone?

For internal comms, updates, testimonials and training, yes, and the results hold up once audio and lighting are handled. See how to shoot corporate video on a phone. For a brand film that will run for three years, hire a crew.

How many corporate videos does a business need in a year?

The number matters less than the rhythm. One video a quarter that nobody expects does less than one a fortnight that people start looking for. Pick a cadence you can hold and build the library around it.

How do you start producing corporate videos?

Pick one format and prove it works. If leadership alignment is the priority, start with CEO update videos. If pipeline is the priority, start with customer testimonials. If you're hiring, start with recruitment content.

Produce 5-10 videos in the first month. Measure whether people watch them and whether they achieve their goal. Then expand to a second format. Most companies start with 2-3 video types and grow to 6-8 within the first year.

See the full list of formats in our enterprise video playbook, or take the video quiz to find out which types will have the biggest impact for your team. Read the complete guide to corporate video production, or explore all our corporate video production capabilities.