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How to Choose Music for Business Videos

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Last year, video officially became the leading piece of marketing content strategy, according to a HubSpot report. And with 66% of customers preferring to learn about products from a video, the writing is on the wall.

If you aren’t using video marketing in your current strategy, you’re overlooking an invaluable tool.

 

But for a video to really pop, and draw the attention it deserves, it has to incorporate a killer soundtrack.

 

But don’t worry. Just because you haven’t maximized your video channels doesn’t mean you’re out of the race. It just means you’ll need to double down, diversifying the types of videos you produce (and the different parts of your audience that you target).

 

earphones computer

The style of music needs to fit  the specific video category. So let’s get right to it. Here’s how to choose background music to complement the top five corporate video categories.
All recommended tracks can be found on Soundstripe; check them out for royalty free music,
 cinematic music and sound effects

 

1. Promos

The foundation of your video marketing strategy should be promotional content. No matter how many other types of marketing videos you produce, you’ll still need to advertise new products and services as your company grows and develops.

Fortunately, this is also the type of video content that people expect. That means you can create traditional ad videos, or explore new ways of presenting the same kind of information in new ways.

When it comes to finding a background music for promotional video content, you’ll see two genres most often. Some people go with ambient music here to put all the focus on the visual element or narration. The alternative is going all-in with some energetic beats that will grab people’s attention from whatever else they’re looking at.

Examples of ambient music and energetic beats:

man looks at computer

 

2. Social media videos

Social media has become a very, very noisy place. Spend a few minutes on Facebook or Instagram and you’ll soon get lost in the weeds of brand marketing. Everyone is competing for those few precious seconds when someone is actually receptive to an ad.

In order to stand out from the (big and constantly growing) crowd, you need to find ways to market your company outside the traditional paid advertising method. And one easy way is with social media videos.

You don’t need to hire a videographer and editor for this. In fact, you don’t even need to invest in $10,000 worth of camera gear. To get started making compelling social media videos, all you really need is a smartphone and a friendly person to get in front of the camera.

(Although, for the record, producing professional videos should be an end goal if you start seeing some benefits from this channel.)

Choosing a genre of background music for this style of video can be tough. If you’re creating content that has someone talking, you’ll want to pair those videos with a slower pop song. And if you’re highlighting a new product, you should amp up the energy with something faster. Don’t go full-on dubstep, but a song with heavier guitar or techno vibes will add some excitement.

Examples of slow and fast pop music:

 

guy walks with earphones

3. Customer testimonials 

Fitting-in customer feedback into your marketing strategy is more important than ever. Sometimes it’s just not enough to talk about your products and services, or to share awards and ratings.

More often than not, potential customers want to hear from people like them before they commit.

Chances are that your top competitors already feature customer testimonials. In fact, you might have them on your website or social media. However, people prefer to watch videos rather than read stuff, so you should plan to create video content to facilitate that need.

This style of video requires a little bit of flexibility when it comes to choosing musical tracks.

You have a few different options for how you present testimonials. Maybe you want to do short, 60-second documentaries. Or maybe you want to do something more lighthearted and fun. Either way, your music should match the emotional tone of the customer’s story.

Ultimately, we recommend you look into acoustic music, or indy music for this type of video. Most acoustic songs are soft enough to avoid distracting the viewer, and they also tend to have a happier tone.

Examples of acoustic and chill music:

 

 

ear phones computer

4. Tutorials

Tutorial videos have become a widely popular and hugely successful corner of YouTube. While we think of YouTube as a source of entertainment, smart content creators know that people enjoy learning new things and polishing up old skills — now more than ever.

If you already have a video production team, this can be an easy way to incorporate some of your team’s knowledge into helpful content. And if you don’t have a team, you can easily create animated whiteboard videos that highlight what your products do best.

Educational content can sometimes feel a little bottom-of-the-funnel, chock full of technical processes or complicated steps. Aim to pick playful music that will hold the viewer’s attention, and let the educational videos do the rest.

 

In terms of genre, this style of video works perfectly with the chillstep or lo-fi genres. You could also go with a more low-key pop song, or even acoustic. You have flexibility, but remember to pick something that is upbeat.

 

Examples of chill or lo-fi music:

 

 

girls smiling

 

5. Company culture videos

Creating content around your team gives people a chance to get to know you — what you stand for, how you work together, and ultimately what drives each person at the company.

In other words, it puts faces to a name or brand. That kind of relational content brings a lot of value, and could even be the reason why a potential customer chooses one brand over another.

 

Choose background music that highlights your company’s “spirit.”

 

The pop genre can often be a perfect fit here — it’s got a little bit of electronic music, a little bit of rock, and a whole lot of polish. If your company culture videos are a way to introduce your brand to potential customers, you want to put your best foot forward with the content and with the atmosphere it creates.

Examples of non-generic rock and pop tracks:

 

 

earphones black guy

Stay flexible and explore new ideas

One of the best things about video marketing is that the field of play is still evolving. New trends pop up every week, and even major corporations will try experimental techniques.

 

You should apply that same sort of freedom to your own strategy. Obviously if you find something that works, you should add that to your repertoire and stick to it going forward. But as you find more and more success with video channels, that will also afford you a little room to try new things.

 

And, once you start to build a team around video production, those people will start to come up with ideas to innovate content strategy. Make sure you allow that kind of creative freedom, because chances are that the production team will also be staying in tune with what’s popular.

The end goal is to find a happy medium. Try these 5 top video styles, and create content that engages your audience and also starts to generate leads for you. The ideal video marketing strategy walks that line, because sometimes risk-taking is the best way to find a new niche you never even knew existed.

Once you find that sweet spot, the results of your new online video marketing strategy will speak for themselves.

 

 

About the author:
Drew Gula is a copywriter at Soundstripe, a company that creates cinematic music and sound effects to help businesses produce better video content.

 

 

Originally published on July 13th, 2020, updated on February 21st, 2024
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How to Choose Music for Business Videos

by Drew Gula time to read: 5 min
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