{"id":5835,"date":"2017-02-15T22:22:00","date_gmt":"2017-02-15T22:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bigstockphoto.com\/blog\/uncategorized\/creative-ways-small-businesses-use-stock-video\/"},"modified":"2018-05-29T15:11:22","modified_gmt":"2018-05-29T15:11:22","slug":"creative-ways-small-businesses-use-stock-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bigstockphoto.com\/blog\/uncategorized\/creative-ways-small-businesses-use-stock-video\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Creative Ways Small Businesses Can Use Stock Video"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bigstockphoto.com\/blog\/image-96815327\/stock-vector-viral-video-production-flat-line-illustration\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.bigstockphoto.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/05\/2e870-screenshot2015-08-26at3-04-51pm-51pm.png\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>You already know stock photography can work wonders for your small business, whether you&#8217;re using images for brochures, your website, or <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.bigstockphoto.com\/blog\/design-tips-large-scale-printing\">designing large scale prints<\/a> for your storefront. Stock video can add an additional layer of cool to your brand. It can also be a real &#8216;no brainer&#8217; approach to upping engagement on your website, in your store, or at your event, especially if you&#8217;re on a tight budget.<\/p>\n<p>There are loads of creative ways for small businesses to use stock footage. To help get your ideas in motion, we thought we&#8217;d set you up with some inspiring ways to use video.<\/p>\n<h2>Segue Footage<\/h2>\n<p>Even if you have the resources to create a great custom video, you can use stock footage for the &#8220;in-between&#8221; shots &#8211; the bumper shots that help you transition from one scene to the next, or one point to the next. This could be, for example, a clip of traffic to show you&#8217;ve changed (or added) locations, or a walking shot of a row of storefronts to show you&#8217;ve arrived. You can also use beach and other industry-style clips to set the tone for what kind of city you&#8217;re in.<\/p>\n<h2>Ambient Footage<\/h2>\n<p>First, you can replace those old header shots on your homepage with short video clips to breathe some life into otherwise static website imagery and backgrounds. Instead of a friendly image of a customer service representative for your brand, have that face actively smile at your site visitors. Overlay some text, and you&#8217;ve got yourself a living, breathing header image.<\/p>\n<p>Are you the owner of an edgy clothing store? Create a montage of street scenes, kids&#8217; skateboards, and stylish people doing stylish things, and loop it behind your homepage&#8217;s tagline.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 596px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bigstockphoto.com\/blog\/video-81994112\/busy-traffic-in-shanghai\/\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.bigstockphoto.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/05\/fd633-img.png\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Press the &#8220;play&#8221; button to watch this  clip at Bigstock Video .<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>Mood Footage<\/h2>\n<p>Inside your physical location &#8211; and especially during an event you&#8217;re hosting &#8211; you can keep a running loop of stock footage meant to communicate a specific vibe. A hip downtown bar, for example, could have some fun by running ironic clips of people conducting meetings and closing deals with handshakes &#8211; could be particularly effective as video installations during a night of punk bands.<\/p>\n<h2>Faux Behind-The-Scenes Footage<\/h2>\n<p>Putting together a web video to show off how your product gets from the warehouse to the customer? String together a series of clips and narrate it. You can show a warehouse worker picking a product off the shelf, a forklift moving it from one place to the next, an 18-wheeler on the open highway, a sorting facility, a delivery person handing a package over to a customer, etc. Showing &#8220;the process&#8221; with high-quality stock footage saves you time and money vs. having to capture these day-to-day business scenes on your own.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 596px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bigstockphoto.com\/blog\/video-77568404\/taping-up-a-box-with-sealing-tape\/\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.bigstockphoto.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/05\/e58d6-screenshot2015-08-26at4-22-00pm-00pm.png\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Press the &#8220;play&#8221; button to watch this  clip at Bigstock Video .<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>Vlog Post Intro Footage<\/h2>\n<p>Got a blog? Video posts are a great way to take it to the next level. You could interview one of your customers, for example, or do a video tour of your business, or of an event you hosted. Then you can use stock footage to create an intro montage for the post &#8211; like you&#8217;d see in the opening credits of a TV show or movie &#8211; and use it on every company video you create. Having a consistent video introduction adds familiarity to your brand.<\/p>\n<p>Stock footage opens up all kinds of possibilities for improving the look of your brand, adding new visual interest to an event, and bookending those interview clips you&#8217;ve been wanting to put together.<\/p>\n<p><strong>If you&#8217;re looking for great stock video clips, why not try a <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.bigstockphoto.com\/blog\/video\/free-trial\">7-day Free Trial of a Bigstock video subscription<\/a>? You&#8217;ll be able to download up 35 free video clips over the course of your trial. Happy downloading.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>About the Author: Robert Hoekman Jr is the author of acclaimed books and articles on UX for the web. He&#8217;s also a columnist and editor for Iron &amp; Air magazine. <\/em><\/p>\n<h2>RELATED POSTS<\/h2>\n<figure style=\"width: 744px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bigstockphoto.com\/blog\/the-best-video-editing-tools-for-beginners\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.bigstockphoto.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/05\/12d84-related-posts-ctarelated-posts-cta.png\" alt=\"  The Best Video-Editing Tools for Beginners  \" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Best Video-Editing Tools for Beginners<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure style=\"width: 739px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bigstockphoto.com\/blog\/5-key-elements-marketing-videos-must-have\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.bigstockphoto.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/05\/d0ce3-related-posts-ctarelated-posts-cta.png\" alt=\"  5 Key Elements Every Marketing Video Must Have  \" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">5 Key Elements Every Marketing Video Must Have<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>      <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bigstockphoto.com\/blog\/free-trial\/\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.bigstockphoto.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/05\/73985-image-ctaimage-cta.png\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You already know stock photography can work wonders for your small business, whether you&#8217;re using images for brochures, your website, or designing large scale prints for your storefront. Stock video can add an additional layer of cool to your brand. It can also be a real &#8216;no brainer&#8217; approach to upping engagement on your website,&hellip;<\/p>\n<a class=\"read-more-link\" href=\" https:\/\/www.bigstockphoto.com\/blog\/uncategorized\/creative-ways-small-businesses-use-stock-video\/ \">Read More<\/a>","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[813],"tags":[913,829,585],"class_list":["post-5835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-small-business-tips","tag-footage","tag-stock-video","tag-website-design","col-sm-6"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcS8aA-1w7","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bigstockphoto.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bigstockphoto.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bigstockphoto.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bigstockphoto.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bigstockphoto.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5835"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.bigstockphoto.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5835\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7928,"href":"https:\/\/www.bigstockphoto.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5835\/revisions\/7928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bigstockphoto.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bigstockphoto.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bigstockphoto.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}