Resources
How to Create a Professional Video Promo for your Business
Creating a video promo for your business starts with identifying where the promo will air.
This article is about building a professional video promo for social media campaigns, presented on Facebook, YouTube, or similar.
If you’re making a promo for TV, radio, events, or cinema broadcast, then the process is similar, but the fees involved are much higher. For broadcast promos you are best engaging a digital marketing agency to assist you. I don’t advise doing it yourself.
I’ve broken this article into four sections to guide you logically through the process.
- Define the purpose of your promo
- Creative concept, brief & scriptwriting
- Methods of creating the video promo
- Campaign selection & delivery
1.Define the purpose of your promo
Before you get stuck into any creative endeavor, pin down why you are creating the video promo. There has to be a clear call to action (CTA) which asks your audience to do something; be it subscribe, signing up, buy now, book an appointment, get a quote, learn more, or any other action that they can take to interact with your brand.
Clicking the ad will funnel the user to a landing page designed to take them to the next step in the process. When they complete the next step it is known in marketing and sales jargon as a ‘conversion’.
Tracking conversions is vital and will help you to optimize your campaigns to the audiences most engaged with your brand. I’m not going to talk about conversion tracking here, but if you’re creating a video promo, ensure you have a CTA, landing page, and conversion tracking set up before spending any time or money on producing a promo.
2.Creative concept, brief & scriptwriting
The fun part! There are myriad ways to convey your business message or tell your brand’s story. Start by identifying a single user and speak to their specific needs. A highly targeted promo allows you to craft a tight, singular message. If you have multiple user groups it’s best to create a separate promo and funnel for each group; because if you try to say too many things in your promo material, people won’t connect with it. It will come across as vague.
At a minimum, write for three different promo durations. I recommend 6-second-ads, 15 seconds, and 30 seconds. Why? Because attention spans are short, and you may get more engagement from a concise promo. Starting with a 6-second promo and then building more on to the message to create a 15, 30, 60, and even 90-second version is well worth the effort. For example, you may find that 6 seconds is ideal for YouTube pre-roll, 15 seconds works best for Instagram, and 30 seconds for Facebook.
I will say again, don’t try to create a detailed message. Please keep it simple! I cannot stress this enough.
Write out the message, read it aloud, and show it to colleagues. Get their feedback. If you’re not confident writing a script or in your own creative abilities, hiring a scriptwriter is recommended. Most video production companies will have a scriptwriter in-house, or alternatively, you can use a freelance platform to engage directly.
At this stage you should also decide whether the promo will use animation, images, stock video, or any other creative elements. Make some notes about what you want the audience to see, as this will save you time later in the process.
At a minimum, adding a voice-over will immediately elevate the video and captivate the audience’s emotions. A human voice is instantly making it more relatable.
And, once you’ve finished your clip, YouTube bots can promote your video for you.
3.Methods of creating the video promo
If your budget is limited you can create a simple promo using a video maker app. Popular apps like Promo, Animoto, Biteable, and Adobe Spark include stock footage, images, music, and animations. The drag and drop interface creates a user friendly environment to create a compelling ad in minutes.
Each video maker app has its strengths and weaknesses but if you want to use stock footage and images instead of animation, choose an app that includes the desired features. Most apps are available for a free trial.
If you want a high-end looking promo then hiring an animator or video producer to create original content will set you apart from the competition. Still, it can easily cost tens of thousands of dollars, and I’d only recommend this option if your business is already flourishing. There is no point in spending this kind of money unless you also pay a similar sum on the campaign delivery; for example, what you are spending boosting or sponsoring the video online.
With your audience identified and your promo created, it’s time to set up the campaign.
4.Campaign selection & delivery
There are hundreds of platforms you can use to deliver your video promo. Knowing your audience is crucial. What socials do they use more? Often your audience’s age can determine this; 51% of people ages 50-65 use Facebook, in contrast with 17% on Twitter.
It is worth experimenting with newer platforms like Pinterest, TikTok, and Snapchat alongside the more prominent mediums like Reddit, Facebook / Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
I operate in the B2B sector, and I find that Google Ads, YouTube, and LinkedIn work best. Still, many of our B2C customers use Facebook / Instagram campaigns almost exclusively for delivering their promos.
Lastly, consider translating the video promo to reach new audiences. Translate the script and on-screen text and use a foreign voice-over to narrate the video. Here at Voquent.com, we do this every day, and it is straightforward to grow your sales by speaking your audience’s language.
It sounds obvious, but most businesses, especially Startups, fail to do this. Don’t miss out on the opportunities that translation can bring.
Whatever your campaign, ensure you can monitor the results by measuring the cost per action (CPA). This will tell you how many people are converting after they click? It can vary wildly depending on the platform, user demographic, and message of the ad. Measure the results and optimize your budget by testing different videos.
Conclusion
Creating a video promo in 2021 has never been simpler or more affordable. Small businesses can take advantage of budget-friendly video maker apps. Medium/large firms can more directly control the creative process by getting agency help. Everyone can improve their campaign delivery by creating different versions (cut-downs) of the promo and translating the message to engage with audiences worldwide.
About: Al Black is the Co-Founder of the online voice-over agency Voquent.com helping business communicate their messages in any accent or language.
-
News8 months ago
How to Recover Deleted WhatsApp Messages without Backup (iOS/Android)
-
News8 months ago
How to Unlock iPhone if Forgot Passcode without Restore
-
Resources8 months ago
TOP 154 Niche Sites to Submit a Guest Post for Free in 2024
-
News10 months ago
How to Restore Deleted Data from Android Phones without Backup