With 95% of viewers retaining messages from video, it should be one of the most important components of any organisation’s marketing communications. Video reaches out to a wide audience in a way that words just can’t.
Creating a new promotional video might appear complicated. But, no matter what it is you do and want to shout about, all you need is to follow these 5 simple steps for a creative and engaging video that packs a punch…
1. What’s your goal?
The first thing you need to do is identify the purpose of your video. Are you conveying information, promoting a new product or service, are you looking to drive sales or traffic to your website or are you trying to increase brand awareness?
Top tip: Don’t try cramming too many messages into one video. If you identify multiple goals then you might need to consider a video series. Otherwise, your message and audience will become confused.
2. Know your brief
Planning is key. Sit down with a colleague and flesh out a plan for your video. After defining the purpose of your video, consider the following questions:
- What is the core message?
- Who is the target audience?
- How will the audience be reached?
- What is the call to action?
3. Pick a style
You’ve decided on the ‘what’, now you need to consider the ‘how’. Select a video type that compliments your objective and key messages. You might want to think about using one of the following ideas:
- Introductory – tell an audience who you are/what you’re about
- Informative – educate your audience
- Explanatory – explain how something works (a new product/service/feature)
- Problem/solution – pose a question showing how your product/service is the solution
- Product launch – introduce or showcase a product
- Drive action – encourage your audience to do something
- Narrative – use traditional story telling to explain/inform
- Endorsement – use a key influencer/celebrity to promote your product/service
- Testimonial – use interviews/talking heads and soundbites to promote your product/service
Top tip: Whatever style of video you opt for, keep it snappy to encourage viewers to watch and digest the full video. 60% of users stop watching videos after 2 minutes.
4. Tell a story
Nobody likes being pitched to so don’t be overtly salesy. Your video needs to be exciting and interesting in order to engage your audience. One fifth of people click off a video in the first 10 seconds, so keep the intro sharp. Telling a story is a much more effective way of engaging an audience than banding around stats and figures. It’s also much more likely to be remembered if it’s conveyed in a narrative.
Top tip: A great script can make all the difference. Invest in putting together an engaging script to bring out your key marketing messages.
5. Make it happen
It’s important to think about the logistics of your video to ensure it’s as good as it can be. Who is going to feature in the video? Have they been appropriately briefed? Where will the filming take place? When is a good time to shoot the video? A good video production company will work with you to help ensure that everything is in place to achieve the best results.
Here’s just some of the things we’ve been up to so far this year, so if you’re looking for a full service video production company to help you with an upcoming project, please get in touch today for a no obligation quote.