In any corporate, there is a need for business videos for use in recruitment, training, promotions and advertising purposes. Nowadays, companies and brands are required to have a strong presence in the online world. Potential employees, financiers and customers are always on the lookout for relevant video content and expect top-notch quality. Be it viral campaigns, sales presentations, or even product demonstrations, corporate videos play a significant role in brand identification.

Actors are usually a big part of such videos, but there are companies and brands who also invite their full-time employees to be a part of some of their videos. By doing so, they save on the expense of hiring professional actors. Bu choosing your employees may not always be the best option. At the end of the day, the budget available for the corporate video speaks volumes on how you go about the video production process. Here are the pros and cons of opting for professional actors and actual employees.

Hiring Professional actors for a corporate video

Advantages of using actors

1. Actors have the experience and skills to deliver the results that your company desires. They will convey your message to your audience in the way you want.

2. Professional talent provides a confident on-camera presence, has the ability to take direction, and possesses the experience to help build a company’s brand.

3. Most professional actors have worked on projects and videos like this before and they usually need little instruction as they have already worked with scriptwriters and video production companies before . Production is prone to moving quicker which results in less production time.

4. Having professional actors taking these roles usually results in a much more natural result. They are also aware of their performance and can be consistent over multiple takes, which helps the edit a lot.

Disadvantages of using professional actors

1. The cost of hiring a professional actor can be quite expensive. Acting is a skill that requires years of training and your company will be expected to pay for these highly qualified individuals.

2. Depending on what your video content is going to be, the actor may not be familiar with your company or technical terms, so the on-screen delivery may come across as inauthentic.

Hiring a real employee for a corporate video

Advantages of using an employee for the project

1. By using real company associates who play their real-life roles, it adds a natural credibility and authenticity to your video. This is exactly what your audience may be looking for.

2. Employees will understand all acronyms and corporate jargon, and will be able to explain each terminology with ease. Since they already know what the script is trying to present to the audience, they would be the perfect fit for all your video promotions.

3. In video production, when there are real-life testimonies given by employees, it creates an impactful and hard-hitting effect based on the content.

Disadvantages of using an employee for the corporate video

1. Confidence in a working environment and that of appearing in front of a camera are very different. Not all employees would be comfortable to be in the spotlight.

2. Usually, you will require twice the amount of employee involvement to achieve the desired goals of the video project. They may get nervous in front of a camera, forget their lines, or struggle through a convincing performance. It sets the video production team back in time and energy. 

Every type of video will have its own requirements, so it’s best to consider actors or employees depending on what the context is. At the end of the day, it really depends on what style you want your corporate video to portray. For example, if you're talking about a recruitment video, an actual employee can share their own experiences and give you a sense of authenticity. In a video that sells products, however, actors can bring in a specific personality and presence suited to the video.