Why would you ever want to create a promotional video? It allows your viewer to experience your world or your product. Video is a powerful tool that brings what you are offering to a person in the comfort of their personal space. There are many different kinds of promotional videos. You could be promoting a product, location, event, experience, non-profit, school, music artist, restaurant, or just about anything. Whatever you want to promote in a video format here are 5 tips before you begin.
- People: Make a list of who will be in your production. Write out the main point you would like each person to talk about and then form your question in a way that will allow the person to speak on this particular topic. Include follow up questions that are specific to certain areas you would like addressed as well as a general overview question. This will give you some options when editing. Also my secret tip is to always ask a feel question at the end like, “How do you feel to be a part of this?”
- Images: In order to be captivating and have an emotional response from your viewer you need to have great supporting images. You want your images to look great with good lighting. Get close to your subjects. Whether it be a diamond ring or a child in a classroom. The closer you are, the more the viewer will be drawn into the video. Video seems more dimensional when you are closer. If you are shooting subjects far away they will seem more flat. Now, there is a point of being too close and you want to have a variety of images but to really sell your product or cause, you want to have great looking images to support what is being said.
- Action: I always ask clients, “When your viewer is done watching the video what do you want them to remember or do?” Do you want to recruit volunteers, get donations, receive a grant, raise awareness, get more enrollments, or sell your product? Before you begin production you should know what you are trying to achieve. You can have your “ask” or “action” be said with a voice over narrator, or you could have one of your interview subjects ask. For a children’s hospital it would probably be most effective to have a parent or a child give the ask. However, if you are selling a phone it might be the product specialist sharing the main benefits of the product. You need to look at your target audience and see who would resonate best with that audience.
- A Story: Try to put a personal story or an example into your video. People love stories and love to be inspired. If you can share stories that will be memorable - then they will remember your story and your message. Stories also help your viewer to relate. Stories where a person overcomes a disease or an obstacle is inspiring to people that are facing a similar challenge. We tell ourselves, “If they overcame, then so can I!” This is what the American Dream was built upon. Share the dream. Share the hope that your product or organization can bring to the world.
- Length: You need to make sure your video is the right length for your audience. If you are showing it at a live event you can probably get away with 5-10 minute video if it is very, very compelling and emotional. If you are putting it on-line then you would want to probably keep it between 1-6 minutes depending on your goals. You could also do a campaign where you would have multiple videos talking about different stories but the same action. Instead of making one video with 3 life stories you could make 3 videos with one life story in each. You could then keep it very specific so that the video has a greater web success rate of being shared. This would help to reach a specific audience of people searching for help. People are always searching on the web, why not let them find you? If your promotional video matches what viewers are searching for it’s a win-win.
If you do your promotional video right and distribute it properly you can have great results. As a producer/videographer/editor I have had a chance to do many promotional videos. The ones that have focused distribution have astounded me with the results. One video in particular that our team created promoting a non-profit, was shown at a national conference where after they received $100,000 to help further their mission. There is power in promotional storytelling. So if you have read these tips and found them helpful I encourage you to comment or contact us to let MCCI help you tell your story in an impactful way.
