Why Your Video Score Is Low (And What a Face Does to Fix It)
David Dabney breaks down the five factors behind MarketScale video scores and shows why on-camera presence is the fastest way to raise them.
Transcript
Hi there. So we're going over why your video score is low. It could be because of several different factors, and I'm gonna show you how today. So if you are, looking in your, dashboard and you're in your media studio and you see a video score feature at the top right corner here. As you could see, it has this plus a question mark next to it, and it's gonna give you a little more information on what that is. So, literally, market scale video score is based on five different factors. What video score looks for is expert led education, authentic voices, intentionality, dynamic visuals, and editing techniques. All five of these factors are what makes a great video for your social and your web presence, within your communities. So, this video score, if it's low, it's ineffective. And if it's high, it is more effective. Right? So if you can look at this one, we created this internally so you could see that this video is a basic video of stock photos with voice over on top. So So as you can see, this is a straight run of the mill corporate sort of b to b backdrop of stock photos and voice over. It's all it is. It's information that really doesn't have too much authenticity to it. So there are a couple things that that you can improve on this video. So there's some notes, as you could see, rating notes and notes here that show what these are, what this is grading. So in the notes, you'll see a little more of a rundown of how this video can be improved. So it shows content relies entirely on still stock photography. The narrative is driven by detached scripted voice overs, zero decentralized or multicreator contributions, so there's no contributors, live contributors in this example. The script consists of high level promotional buzzwords. Right? So general buzzwords that's not bringing or delivering thought leadership, within the sound bite. And the audio identity utilizes a generic dated corporate stock track as we could see. Visual edit is static, lacks modern text overlays, the video lacks, captures or visual hooks. So all of that is, a basic note to say, hey. This is a video that is not going to perform well within your social media. And now if we go to a different example here, I'm gonna show one that's from our client, Briggs and Stratton. This is a public video. It's on their LinkedIn, that scored an eighty out of a hundred. And I'll show you a little bit, of this piece now. Perfect. So you could see they're at the trade show. They're showcasing the products. They're showcasing their partnership, and it's a authentic, use case of their, their, use case here. So if you look at ViewMore for their, whole score, it says there's expert, to expert dialogue. There's narrative focus on insider technical details. There's excellent audio quality. So they had captured all audio clarity during that time during so it made no noise in the background. And then dynamic editing. So the editing was slick. There was nice transitions. Text overlays are effective and translate booth signage into mobile first content. So it's mobile friendly. Strategic use of b roll provides visual proof for the technical claims being made and then direct call to action at the end. So all of that is an effective b to b video, and this one does a great job at that. So I wanted to share those two examples within this video. As you could see, the first one is very much what we're trying to steer away from, which is all stock photos and images and voiceovers and move to your authentic contact where where you're in front of the camera, you're speaking to your your experts in the field, and showcasing your partnerships and also showcasing what makes you great in your communities. So if there's anything else, let us know.
Overview
In this 4-minute screenshare walkthrough, MarketScale contributor David Dabney compares two real videos side by side — one built from stock photos with a voiceover, the other a Briggs & Stratton trade show video that scored 80 out of 100. The comparison makes the five MarketScale video score factors concrete and actionable. By the end of the session, viewers understand exactly which elements pull a score down and which decisions push it up.
What Is This?
A MarketScale video score is a structured quality rating that evaluates content across five dimensions — expert-led education, authentic voices, intentionality, dynamic visuals, and editing techniques — to help program operators understand whether their video assets will perform effectively with a professional B2B audience.
What You'll Learn
- Understand what each of the five MarketScale video score factors measures and why it matters
- Identify the specific weaknesses that cause stock-photo-and-voiceover videos to score poorly
- Recognize how on-camera presence and authentic subject-matter experts raise multiple score dimensions simultaneously
- Apply the intentionality criterion to your own content planning before a shoot begins
- Evaluate dynamic visual variety in existing footage and determine whether editing can recover a weak score
- Use the Briggs & Stratton trade show example as a benchmark when reviewing your own program's video submissions
Key Insights
- Stock photos with a voiceover fail on authenticity and expert presence simultaneously, compressing the score across at least two of the five factors at once
- A human face on camera is the single highest-leverage change a contributor can make — it directly addresses expert-led education and authentic voices without requiring additional production spend
- Intentionality is evaluated before the camera rolls; a video that lacks a clear objective cannot recover that score through editing alone
- The Briggs & Stratton trade show video demonstrates that field-captured content, when purposefully shot and competently edited, can reach an 80/100 score without a studio environment
Deep Dive
MarketScale video scores exist to give program operators an objective signal about content quality before that content reaches an audience. Without a scoring framework, quality assessments tend to be subjective and inconsistent across contributors. The five-factor model solves that by anchoring evaluation to specific, observable characteristics rather than general impressions.
The two most commonly misunderstood factors are expert-led education and authentic voices. Many contributors assume that a polished voiceover paired with clean graphics satisfies both. It does not. Expert-led education requires a credible subject-matter expert to be visibly present and driving the narrative. Authentic voices require that the speaker convey genuine experience or perspective, not a scripted marketing message. Stock imagery removes both signals entirely, which is why that format consistently underperforms in scoring.
Intentionality operates differently from the other four factors because it is assessed at the concept level, not the production level. A video that sets out to answer a specific question for a specific audience type enters the scoring process with an advantage that cannot be manufactured in post-production. Program operators who brief contributors on audience, objective, and key message before a shoot begins will see this factor reflected reliably in final scores.
Dynamic visuals and editing techniques are the two factors most amenable to improvement after capture. Camera movement, shot variety, and purposeful transitions all contribute here. The Briggs & Stratton example illustrates that trade show environments, often dismissed as chaotic or uncontrollable, can actually supply natural visual dynamism when a videographer anticipates the action rather than reacting to it. Editing then shapes that raw material into a coherent viewing experience that sustains attention through the full runtime.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a good MarketScale video score and how is it calculated?
A score of 80 or above, like the Briggs & Stratton trade show example in this video, indicates content that performs well across all five factors. The score is calculated by evaluating expert-led education, authentic voices, intentionality, dynamic visuals, and editing techniques, with each factor contributing to the overall 100-point result.
Why do videos with stock photos and voiceover score so poorly?
Stock photos and voiceover remove the two signals audiences and the scoring model rely on most: a visible expert and an authentic human voice. Because those two factors are absent simultaneously, the score drops across multiple dimensions at once, making recovery through strong editing alone very difficult.
Can a video shot in a trade show or field environment score as well as studio content?
Yes — the Briggs & Stratton video in this walkthrough scored 80/100 despite being captured at a trade show rather than in a controlled studio. What mattered was intentional planning before the shoot, on-camera subject-matter expert presence, and editing that shaped the dynamic environment into a coherent narrative.
Related Topics
After reviewing the video score framework, program operators should explore the MarketScale guidelines on contributor briefing and pre-production planning, since intentionality scoring begins before any footage is captured. Sessions covering on-camera coaching techniques and interview-style filming approaches are also directly relevant, as they address the expert-led education and authentic voices factors in practical terms.
#VideoScore #ContentQuality #ProgramOperations #MarketScale #B2BContent #VideoProduction #SuccessMetrics #AuthenticContent #ExpertLedContent #TradeShowVideo
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