slingfly

September 27, 2019
w

Let's Talk

Aliquam lorem ante, dapibus in, viverra quis, feugiat a, tellus.

w

Get in touch!

Aliquam lorem ante, dapibus in, viverra quis, feugiat a, tellus.

Contact Us

5 Tips For Creating Successful Marketing Videos

VIDEO | 0 comments

Videos, we all love them and so do your prospects. From explainer videos to software product demos, nothing catches the eyes and ears like a well produced video...

Videos, we all love them and so do your prospects. From explainer videos to software product demos, nothing catches the eyes and ears like a well produced video.

Sometimes the creative process seems to drag on for months without an end in sight, but there is a definitive roadmap that can help you streamline the process when creating your next video project.

No matter if it’s an animated cartoon or highlights from last years trade show booth, put these tips to work on your next video project and start creating your content the right way.

1. Nail down your concept (and share it)

You may have all sorts of awesome ideas in your head, but unless your team in on the same page you will be wasting valuable time and resources sharing your vision. 

Start off by collecting samples of other videos that have the same look, feel and style as your video project so that everyone starts off in the right direction.

Your video may be live action, animated, include motion graphics or a mix of all of these. 

This also applies to the overall video length, tone, message and what the plan is on sharing the video content once it’s completed. 

2. Create a voiceover script

Most videos are driven by the audio narration for length and scene changes. It’s easy to add more visuals, but challenging to make up for “dead air” when the narration is much shorter than what’s on screen. 

To plan for these timing details, it’s best to start with a voiceover script that dictates the narration using sentance grouping.

In order to keep your video engaging, a rule of thumb is to changes the visuals every 10 seconds. This equates to one or maybe two senates at most. 

An exception would be during a software demonstration video where the narrator may be showing details on screen and moving the mouse between settings, for just about any marketing video the “10-second” scene works perfectly. 

This also helps craft your writing style and prevents unessasary rambling, another enemy of a great video.

Your script can be written using a simple text file or Microsoft Word, which can be shared among your team for revisions and review.

3. Storyboard time

Once you have your voiceover script completed, each scene can be created into a visual storyboard. This is one of the most exciting steps as your visions starts to come alive.

This is a visual layout that shows what will be on the screen during each scene, and should be based on the original concept you agreed on as the initial step.

It also gives you a picture of how the final video will look in terms of colors, audio effects and transitions. If you are using any stock footage for your video, this would be the time to select those clips and add them into the storyboard for those involved to agree with the design choices.

This step is important, starting to edit a video without a storyboard is like driving without a destination. It’s a recipe for everyone arguing while you go nowhere fast.

4. Editing – Bringing it all together

By this time, your storyboard will be complete and include the details on a scene by scene basis.

A lot of work has been done, but it’s not in vain. A properly designed storyboard will help with the editing process dramatically…there should not be any surprises.

Also, in the background the voiceover can be sent off for recording and any background music can be selected and added.

Don’t forget sound effects too, these can add a dramatic and entertaining aspect of your video that makes it stand out.

An important tip on editing, there may always be adjustments and tweaks after sharing the initial draft, which is normal.

Make sure and use timers in your comments so it’s very specific when and what needs to be changed. If you offer generic suggestions with no reference to the exact point in the video, it makes it hard for your video production team to know the specifics you want changed.

5. Putting your video to work

Now that your amazing piece of video content has been born, it’s time to put it to work. That means embedding it into your website on a landing page, sharing it with your newsletter and uploading it to YouTube with the right descriptions and tags.

Make sure that your landing page has a call to action depending on the overall goal of your video in order to give visitors a next step after watching it.

And if you’re using video as part of your adverting, you may need to edit it down to specific lengths depending on the platform you use.

If you have questions about your video project, feel free to contact us and tell us about your vision.

 

slingfly