LOCAL Video Advertising… Who and Why???

This is for all of your business owners out there trying to improve your business but don’t know the next step- Video Advertising.

Do I enjoy standing in front of a camera? NOPE

Do I enjoy creating content? NOPE

Do I have to suck it up and do it anyway? YEP

If you feel intimidated, I’ve got ya covered. Read on.

Video advertising is more important than ever for small businesses. Who wants to deal with all the planning and researching to find the right videographer? I know someone you can trust to make a PROFESSIONAL video on a BUDGET.

Consumers want to see and (visually) feel the products they buy and/or the people they hire to work with. That is where the Whole Street Productions team comes in.  I am not familiar/confident with video productions but they made me feel CONFIDENT and REASSURED throughout the process.

As the need for video advertising continues to grow, you or someone you know may have no choice but to dive in full force with video ads. Well, these are the guys to help you bring your vision to life.

Ryan and Mike are the creators and owners of Whole Street Productions. I was lucky enough to find these two (and their impressive body of work) to shoot my video shown above. They walked me through my first video shooting and made the entire experience enjoyable and truly exciting. 

THEY ARE EVERYDAY PEOPLE… COMFORTABLE TO WORK WITH BUT PRODUCE TOP QUALITY PRODUCT.

I could keep bragging on my experience with them all day, but I will let you read it from their words.

1. How did Whole Street Productions start? Tell me a little about yourself and your ties to St. Louis. 

We grew up in the small town of Bethalto, east of St. Louis, in Illinois. During our Junior year of High School, we started a garage band – which is where the creative partnership truly began.

As we both moved on to college, the projects became video/film-related. Michael was writing his own music at the time, and Ryan shot his music videos. It was a great way to train our creativity, create a process, and really build a team dynamic. Around 2014, we both decided to take the leap and go full-time into Whole Street. 

We’ve had the honor of shooting for some fairly large companies but have had the most fun when given full creative control on smaller gigs, with the room to experiment and play. 

We both have a deep affection for St Louis (Ryan graduated from Webster University) and have always had the long-term goal of building our company here and working with as many local businesses as we can! 

2. What is your specialty? 

We are a video production company that produces commercial video, music videos, and narrative films. 

Storytelling drives us. We love to capture beautiful, eye-catching visuals but story is first and foremost our goal for everything we produce.

Sharing a story is so incredibly important to connect with viewers and engage an emotional connection. That’s why we recommend to each business owner that they have a brand film. It’s an extremely efficient way to sell yourself before selling your product or service. Having a statement video like this really helps to separate you from the pack. 

We believe what sets US apart is our ability to offer high production quality at an affordable price. We are unconventional in the way we do some things, as Michael is a self-taught artist and entrepreneur and Ryan is formally educated filmmaker. As both worlds collide, we are able to identify the most effective avenue to accomplish our client’s goals. 

3. How can your company help a business grow? 

We strive to help businesses create video content that may have previously been thought to be out of their budgets.

The importance of video in marketing has exploded in the recent years – if you’re not using video to promote your business, you’re already behind your competitors who are. 

Whether it’s more informational content like testimonials and brand films, or more creative type work like narrative commercials, we produce quality video that you can use on multiple platforms to showcase YOU. 

What we find really exciting is the ability to produce expensive-looking commercials at lower budgets. This opens a ton of possibilities for online marketing. 

4. What is the process for someone new to video shoots? (For the businesses trying to decide if they should make the jump to video rebranding/advertisements) 

First and foremost, we like to do a deep dive and really learn your story. We want to fully understand your style and head space so that we can provide the proper materials to not only reflect your personality, but reach the correct audience. 

If you have never utilized video before, we’ll explain our workflow in depth and take your hand through the process. (It’s really not as daunting as it seems!) 

Plus, if you’re not comfortable on camera, we’re really good at creating a relaxed, stress-free atmosphere. 

5. What is your favorite thing about St. Louis? or favorite local businesses? 

St. Louis is so diverse – in people, cultures, style – that you really can’t run out of things to be amazed by. The food and drink are absolutely incredible. We are both huge craft beer fans and there’s no shortage of amazing microbrews to try. The restaurants are seemingly endless, with diamonds in the rough, everywhere you go. 

We also just really love the fact while the city is large and expansive, it still has that cozy, homey feel. We just feel so comfortable when working the area. It’s a tight-knit community and we have great relationships with some of our direct competitors. You just don’t find that everywhere. 

6. Anything you would like to share with my readers… (How to get in touch) 

We’re extremely proud of the recognition and referrals we receive from all our clients. Our goal has always been to be personal and invest ourselves into each and every individual we work with. Word of mouth advertising has been paramount in getting to where we are today. 

If you’ve thought about video and don’t know where to start, or felt it was out of budget, reach out to us at www.wholestreetproductions.com and drop us a message. We love to answer questions or give our suggestions. If nothing else, you may learn some cool info that you can take back and employ in your own marketing strategies! 

The benefits of video advertising is worth it for any business. It’s also bada$$ to watch all your hard work come to life in a professional video. You WILL level up against your competition.

Thanks for reading me today and subscribe below to follow along on my mission to spread LOVE for LOCAL STL.

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