Video marketing is one of the most effective ways to introduce your product or service to potential buyers. Knowing the basics of marketing video production, you can draw customers’ attention to your brand and outperform your competitors without spending a lot of time and money.
Video content is one of the top marketing tools for 86% of businesses. Moreover, 93% of marketers consider video to be one of the key components of successful marketing strategies. Below, we share some simple tips on how to produce high-quality videos in ad campaigns.
1.Identify Your Target Audience and Their Favorite Platforms
Before launching any advertising campaign, you need to determine the circle of people who will be interested in your product. Then you should study the behavior of your target audience to produce relevant content for your potential customers.
In general, your main marketing efforts should be aimed at the people who will benefit the most from your service or product. Creating multiple variations of video content for different demographics is a wise and powerful decision. This will allow you to present your product focusing on those features that are important for a particular group. Using this approach, you will increase conversions.
In the next step, you need to decide which platforms you will interact with to implement your video content marketing strategies. Analyze which social media and type of video content are the most popular among your target audience. If you want to reach Gen Z’s and millennials, then you should place your ads on TikTok.
Facebook is the most effective platform for capturing the attention of the 25-34 year male audience. Check out the list of online video’s top channels to find the perfect place for your video ads.
2. Define Your Goals
To get started, decide on the goals of your marketing campaign. When investing in the creation and promotion of video content on the Internet, you must clearly understand what kind of response you expect from your audience.
Here are some actions people can take after watching your video:
- Buy the product
- Download something
- Get in touch with you
- Keep your business in mind
- Build a positive image of your business
- Send the video to other people
You should create your content using advanced marketing video production techniques and pay attention to the expected response.
3. Write a Script
You should write a plan before you start with the script. Create a logical list of key points.
A spectacular setting and appealing characters are important for a successful script. Come up with something unique and unforgettable. There are many ways to engage an audience, from classic love stories to creative combinations of unexpected worlds.
If you need to create an infomercial type of ad with a spokesperson talking into the camera, you can try to tell a cool story. Using an unusual metaphor to convey the concept of your product can be an interesting solution. Come up with an ad based on this metaphor or play with its opposite meaning.
It’s best to invest in the 30-second, 1-minute, and 2-minute videos to get the results you want. Here is the best length of a clip and its text:
- Video Length: 30-second video requires a 60-word script
- Video Length: 1 minute requires a 120-word script
- Video Length: 2 minute-clip requires a 240-word script
4. Define Your Video Marketing Budget
Once you have decided on the main components of your video project, you should calculate how much you can invest. The formation of a video content marketing budget is an important stage for both start-up businesses and those who have been on the market for some time. The total costs include pre-production, video shooting, and further editing.
Remember that making commercial videos shouldn’t take your entire budget. Replace an expensive professional camera with a smartphone. You can also use free stock videos and complement their background music tracks. Average businesses spend around $20,000 a year on their marketing video production needs. One basic video can cost around $1,200. The price of a premium video is about $50,000.
5. Create a Storyboard and a Shot List
To make a high-quality video, you need more than just a script. You need to decide how you want your video ad to look and understand how you can achieve it. Experts recommend making a shot list and a storyboard before starting filming.
A shot list includes everything you need for a smooth shooting process. You must specify the scene order, add the necessary notes, and so on.
Your shot list must consist of these things:
- Scene and shot number – helps you to follow the order of the shots.
- Location – specifies where you will shoot your video.
- Shot description – reveals the actions taking place in the scene.
- Framing – helps to use the right lens for each shot.
- Action – talks about all the necessary actions not mentioned in the shot description.
- Dialogue – marks the start and end of a frame according to the script.
- Actors – information about the actors who should be filmed in the frame.
- Props – contains a list of things required for a particular scene.
With a clear shot list, you will make post-production easier. The video editor will be able to save the desired sequence of frames by checking the scene number and shot number. This is critical because you can take pictures in a different order than they are written in the script. With a shot list, you will get a video that matches the story you created.
A storyboard helps to understand better how a video will unfold, shot by shot. It is reminiscent of a comic strip. Using a storyboard with a shot list, you can be sure that all the things you need to create a great promotional video are taken into account.
6. Address Video Editing Services to Edit Your Footage
The next step is editing the footage. You can find lots of free and paid software to edit your videos. I recommend taking advantage of well-known programs, such as Adobe Premiere Pro or DaVinci Resolve. Since these programs are designed to solve professional problems, you may need a little more time to master their features.
You can also entrust video post-production to professional services, like FixThePhoto This is a common practice not only for newcomers but also for the biggest movie producers. The best outsourced video editing services always use the most advanced software and keep track of the latest techniques to deliver results that exceed your expectations.
By cooperating with outsourced post-production companies, you get the chance to get better quality than is offered in your area. Professional teams have tons of successful projects and know how to produce high-quality videos in ad campaigns.
7. Consider Using Subtitles
Many users prefer to watch video ads without sound. For example, on Facebook, this figure is about 85%. People may turn off the sound because they are on public transport, standing in line, or simply being in a crowd.
Unfortunately, the picture itself often cannot convey the essence of the story shown in the video. This means that words are also important. To reach your audience, add subtitles to your commercial, and your message will be delivered even without the words heard.
8. End Your Videos with a Call-To-Action
Though your videos shouldn’t be overly intrusive, you must add something that will make your audience buy. The main goal of video content marketing is to increase sales. That is, videos should show that your services and products are necessary for your customers. Think about what call-to-action (CTA) will be relevant for your business video. It should also reveal clear benefits to your customers. The absence of an appropriate CTA element will make even an outstanding video almost useless.
You can place a call to action both at the end of the video and in the middle (if it fits into the script). After seeing/hearing CTAs, viewers should decide on the next step. There are several ideas you can use as CTAs. You can invite the audience to contact the manager for advice, fill out a form to get the right content, etc. It is crucial to ensure that customers have everything to complete the action. Your CTA can be presented as an image or text as well as a combination of both. Remember that the design should match your brand’s colors and concept.
9. Gauge the Performance
To get more out of your video content marketing, you need to track the performance of your posts and make adjustments for better results. You can increase your gains if you know where some changes and improvements are required.
As a rule, various social media platforms have their own reporting tools. Define the metrics that matter most to you and create custom reports that provide you with key data.
I believe that A/B testing is another effective method. It consists of showing two different videos to the same viewers. A/B video testing helps you understand which of your ads works best to achieve your marketing goals.
Keep in mind that some platforms do not support A/B testing. However, this method can be useful for measuring the effectiveness of your ads on Facebook, YouTube, and your website.
10. Keep Up with the Trends
Compared to corporate videos, it’s more important that you keep your marketing clips up to date. Moreover, you should know how to produce high-quality videos in ad campaigns and keep track of all the current video trends so that all your video solutions bring good results.
What I mean is to be flexible enough when designing your marketing strategies to be ready to respond to any changes. Only the use of the most modern technologies and adherence to the latest trends will allow your business to be ahead.
Today, experts recommend focusing on relatable video content, Ad Sequencing, live videos, and user-generated content to be successful.
