Project Description

Car parts manufacturer uses promotional video to accelerate student booking onto new in-person training course

It’s one thing being a training provider, and using video marketing to promote the courses which you offer.

But when you run a training course, but being a training provider isn’t what you’re known for? Then it’s absolutely crucial you get the message out there that this is something you offer. Otherwise, people just won’t know about it.

That’s the boat Direct Parts Ltd were in.

They’re a steering components manufacturer for the bus and coach industry.

But after a series of successful training videos teaching garage fitting staff how to properly install their parts, they decided they wanted to create a new arm of the business, focussed on in-house training for engineering apprentices.

Enter VideoHQ.

What was the pre-production process like?

I was checking in with Managing Director Roy Kendrick over the phone about the past training videos, when he mentioned the new direction for the business, and the fact that they’d got their first cohorts of students coming in for a weeks’ training course.

We both immediately saw the value of me coming and filming that session.

Instead of having promotional videos where you talk about what you’re going to offer, you have real-life footage of it in action, and testimonials from students who’ve done the course.

So I chatted to Roy about what they were looking to offer; who it was for; what benefits people would see to their careers / garages – basically, all the questions you need to ask to ensure that your messaging for the video is on point.

After that, it was a case of getting a date in the diary.

What was the filming process like?

Filming days like this one are what we call in the industry ‘run and gun’.

I don’t know exactly where that comes from… gun as in to shoot? Run and shoot video?

Anyway, the point is, it’s not set up shots. I capture what’s happening in the training session, and make it look amazing.

Other than that, I also did interviews with Roy and Engineering Director Ian Roberts, so they could give an overview of the training course.

And at the end of the session, I filmed testimonial interviews with all four of the engineering apprentices on the course.

These kind of testimonials are great for two reasons:

• It shows companies that the apprentices will find great value and appreciate being sent on the course
• They’ll get a return on the investment with the new knowledge that these students are bringing into the workforce 

What was the editing process like?

My videos like this always start with going through the interviews with a fine tooth comb, and working out which great quotes work well with each other in order to form the narrative.

I’m also looking out for those great snippets from the training session which work well to show the trainers’ style of delivery.

So for example, after student William says “it’s delivered to our level”, I put a clip of Ian saying that a part works just like a light switch.

This adds credibility to the student testimonials, and also helps people to gauge whether the course is for them.

Once the narrative of the video is laid out, it’s a case of finding footage of the training session which helps to illustrate what’s being said. As well as showcasing the training session more fully, this also makes the video a but more visually interesting than just showing the footage from the interview.

After that, I spend a bit of time searching for the perfect, punchy music track, and the video is complete.

If you’ve got a training course for which you’d like to boost student recruitment, get in touch for a free 30 minute video marketing review.