“Thank you” videos offer a casual way to intentionally appreciate the supporters, customers, and employees who meaningfully impact your business or organization.
Companies typically create “thank you” videos to highlight milestones (such as celebrating 13 years in business), honor employees, or show appreciation during the holiday season. Nonprofit organizations, on the other hand, create “thank you” videos to stay connected with donors.
If your organization has recently received funding or your customers have enabled you to reach a significant goal, why not express gratitude with a short video? In this article, we’ll look at the best “thank you” video examples and share tips for making your own.
5 Tips for Creative Thank You Videos
1. Focus on the Message
A concise video with no superfluous content will ensure a more engaging and compelling video. Remember to consider the goal of the video when determining how to focus on your message. If the goal is simply to make your customers smile, that’s a very different message than showcasing why more donations are needed to create a positive impact this year.
2. Showcase Impact
Create a moving “thank you” video by centering impact. The Air Canada video, for example, showcased the impact its employees had on travelers experiencing unique challenges.
Nonprofit organizations, especially, should be specific about the positive developments your funders contributed. Give details about how the money will be used and the changes people can expect to see in the near future.
If they’re willing to appear on camera, feature the people who have directly benefited from the success of the company or organization. This will help your customers and donors feel joy.
3. Include Employee Titles
Companies seeking to create a “thank you” video often use in-house employees as talent. Whether it’s a compilation of appreciation from the team or personalized videos sent to specific donors and customers, make sure to include the titles of those employees.
Realistically, your audience won’t know the key figures in your company. Making it clear that the CEO is taking the time to express their thanks makes the message much more effective than if an actor has been hired. It also allows those interacting with various team members to put a face to the name and build one-to-one connections.
4. Don’t Be Afraid to Go Off Script
Having a clear plan of what you want to say is important, but being creative at specific points makes the video come across as genuine and heartfelt. “Thank you” videos offer the most room to be silly and have fun of any corporate video.
These videos are generally less about ROI and more about creating emotional connections. So don’t be afraid to infuse the personality of your team and working culture. Showcase the human-powered heart of your company or organization.
5. You Don’t Need a Big Production (or Budget)
Sometimes, less is more. You can easily create a stripped-back video where the speaker looks directly at the camera and explains the impact of recent funding (or whatever positive development has occurred). This, too, can be incredibly powerful. Instead of worrying about achieving the highest quality production, lead with sincerity to create a recipe for success.
Thank You Video Examples
“Thank you” videos brighten someone’s day, adding heart and personability to marketing campaigns. Often, the goal of a “thank you” video is simply a positive impact through employee, donor, or customer appreciation. Every video on our list accomplishes that and more.
TD Bank
TD Bank created a mega-viral “thank you” video that gave back in a big way. The Canadian company turned an ordinary day into a magical experience by providing unique gifts for a few long-time customers. In doing so, the company generated immense awareness for the brand (25 million views) by successfully integrating multiple feel-good elements into its video.
For example, TD Bank provided plane tickets to a mom with a daughter undergoing cancer treatments in Trinidad. TD Bank gifted another customer tickets to see his favorite sports team and even brought his favorite player to the bank for introductions.
By making the video, the company expressed its appreciation and created an opportunity for joy that anyone, whether a potential customer or not, can delight in. The video inspires joy in anyone who comes across it and creates a positive and compassionate image of TD Bank.
LifeStraw
LifeStraw is a mission-based company that uses each purchase to provide clean water to school children. The company doesn’t just drop off products. Its Give Back program contributes year-round support to build relationships with schools. Every school receives a five-year commitment from the company, which hires local staff to ensure transparency and quality.
To highlight the accomplishments of this program, LifeStraw’s customer appreciation video mimics donor-gratitude videos usually created by nonprofit organizations. It focuses on the ways LifeStraw has been able to positively affect communities thanks to purchases from customers. In doing so, it showcases that LifeStraw’s Give Back program isn’t a PR stunt; it’s why the company exists.
Nordstrom
Nordstrom employees shared their appreciation and talents during the 2016 holiday season with this short commercial. As individuals, the employees sing the classic Golden Girls theme song, “Thank You for Being a Friend.” Then, with editing magic, the video combines their voices into a symphony of song and sign language.
This is the most corporate “thank you” video on our list. It showcases what can be done with a larger budget while radiating warmth and personability. This short holiday ad calls on nostalgia and encourages a smile, making it an ideal example of a holiday “thank you” video.
Summit Utilities
Summit Utilities is a United States-based natural gas company. For Thanksgiving a few years ago, the company created this customer appreciation video that captured a short montage of employees expressing their appreciation. The resulting video is a great example of a low-cost production that directly thanks the customer base for their business. And the comment section suggests it was appreciated, “That was awesome! Thank you!”
The feeling of community stands out in this video. It wasn’t made for a large audience. It was simply made to show appreciation. There’s also nothing particularly clever here. It isn’t optimized for engagement, doesn’t have a script, and no cinematography tricks were used to get the perfect shot. Yet it accomplishes its goal by leading with sincerity.
Charity Water
On its fifth anniversary, Charity Water — a nonprofit organization on a mission to make clean water accessible globally — created 250 personal videos to thank donors for their support. The company even created a dedicated YouTube channel to showcase the best videos. One example from the 250 videos they created is featured above.
In the video above, team members share their gratitude for a company that has consistently offered their time and resources to Charity Water. The team members highlight how the company’s contributions have made a difference and even thank specific people who helped to support the charity’s mission.
Air Canada
For last year’s holiday season, Air Canada wanted to thank its employees for the many ways they go above and beyond for customers. They brought together employees to watch personal “thank you” videos from customers particularly impacted by their service. As the viewer, we get to watch the employees react to the heartfelt words of those who appreciate them.
This “thank you” video captures the power of connection and showcases the exceptional people who work for Air Canada. In an industry that has forgotten the customer, Air Canada positions itself as the exception — both for customers and employees — with this video.
How to Create a Thank You Video
1. Create a Goal
Why is your organization making a “thank you” video, and what results do you intend to achieve? Answering this question will make it easy to determine the video’s audience, purpose, and budget. Your goal will inform all other aspects of your “thank you” video.
For example, a nonprofit organization creates a “thank you” campaign to increase repeat donations with past contributors. The video has a specific audience, and the organization selects a challenging-yet-possible conversion rate to measure success.
2. Consider Your Audience
If a “thank you” video is designed to brighten someone’s day, who is the central “someone” your video intends to uplift? A “thank you” video can have multiple purposes. However, to successfully convey appreciation, there should be a “main character” receiving gratitude.
In the “create a goal” example above, the nonprofit organization focuses on sparking joy with past donors who are already invested in the cause. The nonprofit organization doesn’t need to reintroduce its purpose to past donors; it can get right into the impact of their contributions.
Even when the goal of a “thank you” video is awareness or conversions, its success hinges on the ability to create sincerity. Instead of crafting the most clever or impressive video, focus on creating an emotional connection.
3. Outline Video & Pre-Production
“Thank you” videos don’t necessarily require a script. Yet it’s essential to fully develop the concept and be thorough during pre-production planning to make the most of your time and budget.
For small-to-medium businesses, “thank you” videos are generally creative endeavors with small budgets and team members stepping in as talent.
A nonprofit organization, however, might use a significant portion of its marketing budget on a video used in fundraising campaigns for the next year.
Either way, planning documentation is essential for an organized production. This includes but is not limited to:
- Creative Brief: Outline the project, audience, deliverables, and publication channels.
- Video Treatment: Describe the video’s creative concept, tone, and message.
- Script/Outline: Write the sequence of words and actions that will occur in the video.
- Shot List: Break the script into a list of shots to film the video.
From here, you might create a storyboard to visualize the end product before filming. You will also want to create a production schedule for the day of filming. Before filming, you will need to determine the location and gather all required equipment.
If you’re hiring a video production company, you will only need to create a creative brief and video treatment, often in collaboration with the company you hire.
4. Produce the Video
There are various options for the production, including hiring freelance videographers, using in-house resources, or choosing a production company. The best choice will be a compromise between your vision and budget.
The success of your “thank you” video likely won’t be determined by production quality but by emotional impact. Therefore, don’t be afraid to spend less money to create a video that is visually lower quality than your company’s usual standard.
Just look at the Nordstrom and TD Bank videos from our examples. Nordstrom created an impeccably produced commercial. Meanwhile, TD Bank’s video could have been created with basic, low-cost equipment, or even an iPhone. Nonetheless, TD Bank generated over 25 million views by centering customer appreciation and aiming to make a genuinely positive impact in their lives.
5. Choose a Video Host
A paid video host allows a business to embed the video on its marketing website ad-free with customized branding, in-player calls to action, and post-play screens. It also makes it easy to track viewership and get detailed analytics on engagement. Heat maps, for example, reveal drop-off points in videos, helping you to learn from past projects and improve watch times.
Looking for an easy solution? Host your videos free for 30 days.
6. Make a Distribution Plan
Return to the goal and intended audience for your “thank you” video to determine the distribution plan. A “thank you” video intended for past customers might be shared in your newsletter, across social media, and in a blog post on your website.
If the video is part of a larger campaign, it can be used within the sales funnel — to draw awareness and encourage brand exposure or increase retention and build loyalty. Once you have chosen which marketing channels will distribute the video, consider how you want to package and share the content across each channel.
7. Share Your “Thank You” Video!
Share all the content across channels during a defined time window for the greatest impact. This wave of campaign content will create continuity for viewers, who are more likely to engage with a campaign that’s been brought into their awareness multiple times.
Once the campaign has concluded, review the video’s success with analytics. Your video host should provide detailed analytics for each video, including visitors, plays, time watched, average engagement, and more. For SproutVideo users with hosted video websites, you can also use Google Analytics for additional insights.
Most corporate videos are all about ROI. But “thank you” videos are so much more, offering a chance to build genuine human connections and show the people behind the curtain, as it were.
Customer interactions with a business or organization often feel impersonal. “Thank you” videos break through this wall and introduce viewers to the people working toward a common goal.
Ready to get started? Get inspired with these viral holiday videos. Brainstorm “thank you” video ideas, then grab our free template for writing the script. Need tools to speed up the production process? Here are the best AI tools for video creation and editing.
Thank You Video FAQ
How Long Should a Thank You Video Be?
One or two minutes is the ideal length for most “thank you” videos. Most marketers (64%) claim that 20 to 60 seconds is the optimal length for marketing videos. However, “thank you” videos vary greatly depending on the purpose. A nonprofit organization, for example, might create a longer video (three to seven minutes) to showcase the positive impact of donations made for the cause.
What Do You Say in a Thank You Video?
The most powerful “thank you” videos show the impact rather than tell it. Suppose you bring together people impacted by your company or organization. This is a potent vehicle for telling the story of your organization and thanking customers or donors for their support.
Simple “thank you” videos can be effective as well! When directly sharing your thanks, share specific details or instances that illustrate the impact. A “thank you” with context will be felt far more than simply expressing gratitude.
How Do You Sound Genuine in a Thank You Video?
Conjure the genuine emotion of appreciation within yourself. This may involve recalling a situation with a customer that made your day brighter. Alternatively, you might ruminate on the goals you’ve been able to meet, thanks to their continued support.
Press record and allow yourself to speak freely. The additional footage can easily be edited out in post-production. Give yourself time to get comfortable in front of the camera. This will go a long way to being able to sincerely share your appreciation.
If you struggle with being on camera, check out these 27 tips for feeling natural.
