With an ever-changing media landscape, it pays to stay ahead of the game when it comes to promoting your brand. There are several different ways to market and advertise your business, and you hopefully already have a good strategy in place.
One great marketing practice that can truly help you to get noticed, is to create a promotional film. Video may be an interesting change from the traditional marketing materials that you typically create for your business, and can therefore be an exciting challenge.
Why Choose Video Content?
Video content is one of the best ways to get noticed online. Whether you want to create something for your social media channels, your newsletter, or your website, video content is a fantastic way to attract attention.
Promotional films can enhance your brand image and direct attention to products and services.
Videos can also help people to gain a deeper understanding of your business, which can encourage them to leave more informative reviews. These genuine testimonials can be a great way to enhance your reputation.
Although it can be a powerful marketing tool, video can also be complicated and expensive to produce. For both of these reasons and more, it is important to have a clear strategy and process in mind.
The following steps are a basic guide to getting started with video, so you can soon become an expert at making your very own promotional films.
Determine Your Goal
When someone decides to watch your video, you may not have their full attention for very long! Limited attention spans are an unfortunate side effect of the limitless access to information that the internet provides.
This means, that when you do have someone’s attention, you have to make the most of this time. If you don’t have a clear goal or message, then this person may quickly lose interest.
Your promotional film should have one main goal in mind. This could be highlighting a new product, promoting a special offer on an existing service, sharing a limited offer sale, or something else that it is of benefit to your business to talk about.
If you have multiple goals in mind right now, then it is worth making individual videos for each of them.
Brainstorm Your Vision
Before you jump into the actual production process, you will need to brainstorm some ideas.
Consider the following questions:
- What is going to happen in your video?
- Will this be a real-life video or an animation?
- Who is going to feature in your video?
- How long will the video be?
- Where will the video be set?
- What is your budget for this project?
The direction that your promotional film takes will depend heavily on the goal of this project.
For example, if you are explaining a product to potential customers, then you may opt to have an employee of the company talking about the benefits of the product. This kind of film could be relatively short and low-cost.
On the other hand, if this is a more in-depth video to demonstrate how your service solves a particular issue, then it may involve a more complex production process.
It is also a good idea to consider the tone of your video at this point. Is it going to be funny, serious, casual, dramatic, entertaining, etc. This will form the basis for the script to then be developed.
Write the Script
This is the part where you truly start to bring your vision to life.
If you are not a confident script-writer, then you may wish to outsource this task to a professional. Hiring an expert writer can save you a lot of time, and also ensure you convey your message in the desired way.
An important detail to keep in mind when writing the script is how long your video is going to be. This is a point you will have considered during your brainstorming session.
It is worth reminding yourself of your video length regularly when you are writing. This can help to ensure that you are staying within the time limit you have set for yourself.
If you allow the script to go on for too long, then you run the risk of losing the attention of those watching. You also risk losing the focus of your video, which can dilute your message overall.
If you are writing the script yourself, then starting with a summary can help to get you started. As you work your way through the writing process, keep track of any props that you are introducing as your vision unravels.
Also, try to keep the budget in mind when adding new elements into your production. This can help you to avoid having to make too many changes as your project progresses.
Remember, if you are writing yourself, then you will have to format your script in a way that allows everyone else to easily read and understand it.
From Script to Storyboard
Once you have completed your script, it can be incredibly helpful to now turn this into a storyboard. A storyboard is basically a visual version of your script, and can really bring the project to life!
By creating a storyboard, you can demonstrate your vision to the other people involved in the project.
This can be something you create on your computer, or even as a much bigger visual on a whiteboard in the office. You can then match up the scenes with the dialogue, and develop a more coherent sense of how your video is going to look.
Source Your Equipment
Before you get to the actual filming, you now need to obtain all of the props and other items that you need.
This is, of course, only applicable if you are filming real-life scenes, and won’t be necessary if you are creating an animated film.
You will also need a camera to do the actual filming, and it is worth investing in a high-quality device for the best results.
You may decide to hire a production company to create your promotional film for you, and can therefore forego many of these tasks.
Get Filming
If you are filming your own promotional video, then this can be the most fun part. Although it will be a lot to organize, being on set and seeing your ideas come to life is the rewarding part.
This part of the process can be quite time-consuming. You might want to shoot each scene several times so that you have more choice during post-production.
You may also find that new ideas come to you while you are filming and that you might want to incorporate these into your vision.
Allow yourself some creative license to mix things up, but try not to deviate too far from the original script. You could soon lose track of time and the message you are trying to portray!
Post-Production
Once you have wrapped up the filming, you will need to piece your video together.
If you have already hired a production company, then they will take care of this for you. If you don’t have the necessary skills required to do this well yourself, then definitely think about outsourcing this part for the best results.
The post-production editing process can take a while to complete. If you have given this task to someone else, then now is a good time to take a break and unwind after all your hard work. Online games can be a great way to relax and take your mind off the task at hand for a short while, you can visit our website here to play now.
Share Your Content!
With your project complete, you can now set about sharing your video creation with the world.
You may wish to post it across your social media platforms, add it to your website, and even share it directly with your existing customers. Creating your very own YouTube channel is also an amazing way to share your video content all around the world.
Once your promotional film is out there for everyone to see, you can start to think about the next one!
