Start with filming anything you want and then upload it. What could possibly go wrong?
If you’re not willing to go ahead with that “Russian roulette” version of creating a marketing video for your business or product, then you need to learn the proper way.
And that’s the plan for this post. We will tell you how to make a marketing video that will not only bring in tons of prospects but buyers too.
Let’s start with the basics.
“A Marketing Video is one you use for promotional purposes. When you’re using a video to spread the word about your business or product, that video is your marketing/promo video.”
Although there’s no formula or a spell that can teach you immediately how to make a marketing video; there is a craft, a framework that you can put your ideas into to get great outcomes.
No matter how large or small your ambitions are, the best thing to do with any piece of video communication, including marketing video, is to break it down into three stages:
Doing this means you have a higher chance of ending up with something you want, instead of something that resembles a dropped mince pie.
So, where does this bit of comms sit within your marketing strategy? If you don’t have one or maybe that’s a bit above your pay grade, then think about it this way:
Whatever you’re communicating needs to sit somewhere in the sales and marketing funnel.
We’re going to assume that your marketing video is going to be somewhere near the top of your funnel, either building awareness or helping with consideration.
Note: Any communication can inadvertently talk to audiences that are in different stages of the buying cycle, but you don’t want to be making anything that is trying to talk across these stages deliberately.
Or it’ll be a big pile of mush that addresses no one in particular.
If we haven’t lost you till now, hang in there. Here’s an explanation of both of these categories in detail so you can decide your audience:
An awareness video sits right at the top of your funnel, connecting you directly to the world and is knowingly promotional. It’s for those potential prospects who don’t know you from a bar of soap (or chocolate, if you like that better). It’s clear that you need to give this audience a reason to care about your product or service. However, how you do it is very different from the later stages of the buying cycle.
These videos sit further down the funnel. There the prospects already know you, and maybe need your product or services already. It’s the consideration part of your funnel, and communication here should be less promotional, and more about overcoming objections, or answering questions. This space is about building more trust.
Now that you’ve decided what level of familiarity your audience is at with your business, it’s time to help you through the structuring stage, so you know how to make a marketing video targeted at the right audience.
We structure this type of comms by the way of PROBLEM/SOLUTION. Define the problem for your target audience as clearly and uniquely as possible, and then present yourself as the solution. Make the definition stage fun, surprising, arresting, dangerous or whimsical; whatever you do, don’t play it safe.
Keep in mind that these prospects are not ready to buy, but they may need you in the future. Make your product or service already more familiar by making an awareness marketing video for your business. Now, if an event occurs that makes them ready to buy, they’ll come straight to you.
Here’s a fun explanation to clarify! Put yourself in your prospect’s shoes for a moment (literally). No one’s interested in a raft of superior features and benefits that are in a pair of Nikes if they’re not ready to buy a pair of running shoes yet.
But running shoes do wear out. In the meantime, being reminded of Nike by way of inspirational ads – (and yes Colin Kaepernick) keeps them in mind for the time they do need a new pair. It may seem obvious now that we’ve broken it down, but that’s what’s going on at the big end of town.
The idea might sound manipulative, but it only is if you’ve got a product that can’t deliver. The same applies to every level of marketing.
A few ideas to help you define the problem:
Working out how to define the problem for your promo can take a lot of work, but it’s worth it. We’re listing down a few ideas, so you know how to make a marketing video that your audience finds relatable.
1 – Use a metaphor of some sort. “The problem is like slaying a dragon!”- Use something better than that. That’s just a metaphor to show you what we mean by “a metaphor.”
2 – Use a historic quote or reference.
3 – Use a statistic or scientific rationale as seen on every cleaning product ever, for good reason too.
4 – Use an absurd interruption. It relies on exceptional talent to pull it off, or just a decent voice artist with a well thought out script.
5 – Use an anecdote or a true story
However, you choose to define the problem, don’t forget to present your service or product as the perfect solution.
Your prospects are already considering you among others, now what?
You don’t need to sell here anymore, but you do need to give answers. This video is for those features and benefits-more like a website video than a social media video. It’s the perfect place for your case studies and testimonials.
Another fun explanation: Put yourself back in the shoes of your prospect. You go to a store to buy a pair of shoes, and the assistant tries to inspire you by running in slow motion in front of a wind machine screaming, “Just do it!” It’s not going to “do it”, you need more information.
You need to know the size and weatherproofing.
To make a brilliant video for marketing, you need to keep everything targeted at your selected audience. And that includes the style and tone as well.
If you know your audience is fed-up to the back of the teeth with melancholy ads about planning their will, then take a risk! Talk about the death of a loved one through whimsical medium and nursery rhymes.
Decide if it’s for internal comms or is it a public-facing?
Internal comms messaging can be acceptable on a phone or a laptop. The audience is generally more forgiving of the low production. However, unless you’re making a feature of it somehow, the same trick will appear cheap to anyone at the top of your funnel.
But we recently got a phone-shot welcome video, and although it wasn’t personally addressing us, it was just spontaneous enough to feel like it was. So, as always, there are exceptions that prove the rule.
Some of your options for professionally shot videos are:
In order to make sure your audience stays with you, you need to start from where they are. Otherwise, they’re going to feel out of place.
If you know your audience, you’ll know what they know already. Make a list of information you want your audience to take away from the video.
This strategy will help you understand what sort of supporting material you might need-a next video, a sign-up or a booking form, perhaps the better laid out graph you mentioned in the video.
To make a marketing video that sells, you need to polish it for the right platform. Distributing your video over the right platform ensures that your message or product information reaches the audience you’re targeting.
We believe YouTube offers the best way to get found by the right audience and has, by far the largest data-set and audience on the planet.
If your video led strategy has YouTube at its core, we believe that’s the best medium for the long-term placement of your content anyway. So, it’s always going to be a platform to consider.
Now that you have confidence in the concept, it’s time to tell you how to make a marketing video spontaneous and unexpected. All those videos that leave you surprised, they’re scripted that way.
If you’re using talent, they will need to work to a script and to have some direction on the sort of content you’re making-which you’ll know inside out if you’ve followed everything up to now.
So, your talent will be expecting props, a list of shots, and a short description of the outcome you need.
If it’s down to you or your team, then the same thing applies but in that case-you’re the talent. No doubt, you’d want everything organized too.
And that is why the pre-production process of making a marketing video is so important, right from selecting a target audience level, to creating a perfect script to make your video seem natural.
Production should be the shortest part of the process if you’ve done all the pre-production well. We’ve got an entire channel dedicated to production basics if you’re ready to dive in and do it yourself. If not, all the pre-production planning will mean that the professionals you work with can get productive and creative because you’ll be able to provide all the ammo they need.
We told you the production stage is going to be short. Of course, there’s more to production than that, but covering every possible production type in this blog would make it too long, and we’re sure you’re too busy binge-watching your show to read all that.
Once you’ve made your marketing video, get it ready for the prime time. That involves editing, repurposing, and sharing it on the right platforms.
If you’ve read the blog till now, you know how to make a marketing video. However, making a marketing video successful depends highly on the post-production process. And that starts with editing it for every platform.
Editing a promo is different from other kinds of editing, so if you’re not experienced; this isn’t the place to start. Have a look at outsourcing if you’ve done everything yourself up to now.
All that research of the pre-production process should now form part of supporting content:
Make sure when the video goes live, you share it multiple times.
The first 48 hours are always crucial to help any new content get the lift-off. Give it the best chance it can have by sharing it on your business page on any platform and then, with a different spin on your personal page.
If you’ve segmented your email lists, then include your promo video on the one that fits the audience best.
Remember, promotional videos are background noise to most people when building awareness, but they’ll tolerate them if they’re in your buying set.
Note: Sending a promo to an email audience that already has your product is going to appear a bit obnoxious. So, be careful about who gets to see it.
And that’s a Wrap!
Now you know how to make a marketing video, right from the pre-production stage to the post-production stage. If you’re looking to grow your channel, check out this video about how to promote your videos on social media. Don’t forget to check the rest of our blog too!
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