How Grant McKinstrie Uses Video to Build Trust Across Customers, Teams, and Partners
Grant McKinstrie is the CEO of Digital Position, an ecommerce growth agency. His interview focused on a practical theme many teams face each week: when to use video instead of text, and how simple on-camera choices can change relationships.
The conversation mattered for one reason. McKinstrie treated video as a human medium, not a file format. He described moments where face-to-face calls reset tension, created space for context, and turned transactions into working rapport.
Across the interview, he moved from a personal shift in habits to concrete behaviors. He explained how an email made a client conflict worse, and how a brief video call fixed the tone and the scope. He walked through five specific practices he now uses, from showing his real background to walking people through complex decisions live.
He also looked ahead. With AI accelerating written communication, he argued that on-camera exchanges retain signals text cannot carry. In his words, video is where people still see how you speak, how you carry yourself, and whether you believe what you are saying.
Video restores tone and intent that text removes
McKinstrie described a client relationship that slipped after a scope issue. His attempt to fix it over email backfired. A short call changed the tone in minutes, and the relationship improved once both sides talked like people, not line items. He later called the move to video the turning point.
For production teams, the insight is tactical. When stakes, uncertainty, or emotion rise, choose live video over written updates. This does not mean more meetings by default. It means setting a trigger for the medium. If a message is likely to be reread for tone, schedule a call with cameras on and resolve the issue while both sides can add context in real time.
Let the room do some of the work
He cautioned against treating video like a phone call with a face attached. Blank walls and blurred backgrounds hide useful information. He leaves a dog bed in frame, and Onyx, his dog, often becomes the first thing the other person mentions. That detail opens small talk that would not happen over email.
The point for brand communicators is not decoration. It is relevance. In a remote setup, include one or two cues in the frame that reveal something simple and true about the person speaking or the work being discussed. A prototype on a shelf, a field notebook, a team poster. These are entry points to a normal conversation, which can carry the rest of the call.
Build relationship equity before you need it
McKinstrie advised getting on video early, not only when something goes wrong. He has shifted first-touch communication away from long intros by email and toward brief on-camera meetings. That early contact made later problems easier to handle because there was already a baseline of familiarity.
This is a scheduling decision. Replace some intro notes with short face-to-face calls for new clients, partners, or hires. Record and send a two-minute welcome video when calendars are tight. When a hard conversation arrives, both sides will have a mental model of the person, not just a name in an inbox.
Explain complex work live, not as a document
He argued that the more complex the topic, the worse a document is perceived. A written summary of a hard decision can be skimmed and misread. Walking someone through the decision live allows them to hear your confidence and caution, and to stop you with a question.
For information that needs to remain available after the conversation, educational video content can turn the same walkthrough into a reusable resource for customers or teams. People are not only seeking the conclusion. They want to see that a person thought it through.
Use video to rally internal teams when the moment matters
McKinstrie drew a line between informing and moving a team. Email can deliver facts. Urgency and alignment land better live. He prefers calls when the goal is to rally or steady a group, especially during change.
Leaders planning video for internal communications can apply a simple filter. If the message is a policy detail, send it. If it affects identity, workload, or direction, say it on camera, then follow with documentation. The order matters. People process change faster when they hear it from someone they know, not just a subject line.
Practical applications for video marketing
The interview does not discuss corporate video directly, but the ideas fit brand storytelling. Viewers now assume a portion of your text is AI-generated. That raises the value of human signals on screen. If you have a content calendar built around graphics and captions, add recurring video interviews and on-camera segments with your team, customers, or partners.
Frame decisions matter. When filming executives or subject matter experts, avoid sterile backdrops when the story benefits from place. Shoot where the work happens or let a few lived-in details sit in frame. Keep lighting clean and audio clear, but do not strip away every cue that shows this is a real person in a real context.
Relationship timing also translates. Do not wait for a crisis to put faces on camera. Publish short intros to new initiatives, project walk-throughs for complex updates, and pre-launch explainers. A related lesson for brand production is to record quick asynchronous videos for support or product changes that trigger questions. A two-minute face-on walkthrough can blunt confusion better than a long email.
When you need to land a nuanced point, pair formats. Release the memo, but also film a live or recorded Q and A. Invite interruptions and show your reasoning. Audiences are more likely to accept difficult tradeoffs from people who explain them plainly on video.
Team Beverly Boy's Takeaway
We heard a bias for the simplest fix. Put people on camera, earlier and more often, when the outcome depends on trust. Small human cues carry real weight. A visible workspace, a mention of a weekend race, a dog asleep in frame. These are not production flourishes. They are the start of a real conversation.
For marketing teams, the risk is over-polish that removes those signals. Good production should help, not hide. We think the sweet spot is clear audio, honest light, and frames that show the work and the person. Do that, and your videos will carry the tone your emails cannot.
Conclusion
Grant McKinstrie treats video as a relationship tool, not just a medium. The details he shared are small and repeatable. Choose video when tone matters. Let your space support your story. Build face time before you need it. Explain complex ideas live. Use calls to rally people when the stakes are high.
This article is based on an interview originally published by Authority Magazine. Read the full interview here.
