Why your promotional video never works out the way you plan.

In 2020, consumers are watching more video content than ever before. Many marketers believe that it’s easier to produce blogs, case studies and even white papers. The concept of regularly rolling out fresh, unique video content is a daunting prospect.

It is very simple provided one follows a process. The best marketing videos don’t just happen, they’re a result of meticulous planning and preparation. I am sharing a step by step guideline which will help you meet your objectives and engage your audience.

LIST DOWN YOUR OBJECTIVES FOR CREATING THE VIDEO – WHY

Before you release your creative juices, question the why for creating the video. The cost of production can go very high if we are not clear with our objectives.

Some reasons why businesses create promotional videos:

• Brand awareness
• Educate your customers
• Increase engagement
• Drive sales conversions
• Drive traffic

CREATE A STORYBOARD:

Once we have clarity on the objectives, the next important step is to create a storyboard. It will help you plan your video, from start to finish and identify any gaps in your content, before you spend money on production.

Think of the direction and tonality you want to engage your audience with.

1. Humour and entertainment
2. Emotional
3. Motivational
4. Informative: educate your audience with data with the before and after state of customer journey
5. Product centric with endorsements
6. Influencer based
7. Sharing your own story
8. Narrative and conversational

Decide on duration – The normal attention span of the audience ranges from 30 seconds to 2 minutes beyond which they tend to lose interest. However, in the past, short films as well as feature films too have been created to promote a concept or a product. What you need to keep in mind is the attention span. Ask yourself, how long will your audience engage with the content?

Choose a video style – Post clarity on the direction and duration you also need to consider the visual composition of the video.

• Real actors
• Graphics/animation
• Stock footage

Script –Now it is time to work with an artist to create visuals that will go with your script. The idea is to help bring the script and ideas to life.

• Scenes – Location, costumes, props and manpower, food, logistics and miscellaneous.
• Characters and casting
• Audio – Voice over (male/female and what accent)
• How to introduce the product in the video
• Final call to action – The final message that you want to leave your audience with.

Post production – It is advisable to hire an agency who can take of the entire process from conceptualization till the final video is ready.

• Editing
• Audio (layering of music, narrative and sound design)
• Graphics
• Mastering (audio mixdown)

And… finally it is action time !

Sharing a case study to make you understand better. Apple in their latest campaign communicate their message through a film and a song. They claim that by 2030 their whole carbon footprint — from manufacturing to transportation to end-of-life material recovery — will be nonexistent. All of Apple will be 100 per cent carbon neutral.

If you are still not clear and need a 5 minute pep talk, I would be delighted to know how can i add value to the project you are currently working on. Feel free to share your comments.