According to a recent study, 73% of marketing professionals say that promotional video has a positive impact on the ROI (ROI stands for “return on investment.”) of their operations, and companies that make use of video in their marketing strategy convert 34% more on the digital channel than those that don’t. But if you’re here, you already know the importance of making a promotional video for your business 😉
In this article you’ll discover our 7 professional tips for making a promotional video that stands out from your competitors!
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Know your target audience
You don’t have to be an Olympic archery champion to know that to hit your target, you need to know what you’re aiming at. Wouldn’t it occur to you to imagine that a person shooting into the air could miraculously hit his target? The same applies to your promotional video.
For it to be successful, it must have reached your target, but above all it must have aroused their emotion. Or better still, a reaction. But to reach them, you need to know them.
In marketing, the best way to identify a target is to draw up a Persona. To do this, you can define their environment, their family situation, their economic situation, their professional situation, their values and commitments, their needs, their codes, their deep-seated motivations, what motivates their purchases, their habits of life and consumption, their universe, their geographical data, their interests and hobbies, their personality type, their political thoughts, their dream vacation spot, their absolute dream, etc. And so many other questions that you can ask yourself. And so many other questions that will help you sketch a portrait of your target.
The more you know about your target, the more you’ll be able to interest them, reach out to them and evoke a reaction.
If you don’t know your target well, you won’t know how to approach them, or what tone to adopt, for example. You can’t make a completely offbeat promotional video if it’s aimed at senior citizens, for example.
This step is essential before defining your objectives. It’s easier to determine the video’s objectives when you really know your audience. You need to take the time to study your prospects’ expectations before making your promotional video.
DEFINE THE OBJECTIVES TO BE ACHIEVED
Once you’ve defined your target audience, you can set the objective of your promotional video. In other words, what exactly is it promoting?
Your promotional video can have several objectives. It could be a video to present a new product, service, software or application, a short promotional video to communicate on social networks, a storytelling video to flesh out your branding, or a video for your teams for dynamic, digital internal communication.
It’s up to you to set the objective of your corporate video according to your needs and expectations!
To help you, here’s a tip from Solid Rusk ☝️
Just ask yourself:
– Why make this promotional video ?
– What do I want to promote?
– What do I expect in return?
Once you’ve answered these three simple questions, the objective of your video will become crystal clear 😉
And don’t forget the golden rule! 1 promotional video = 1 message
Promotional video for the University of Monaco. After drawing up a set of specifications with the client, each shot was carefully thought out and developed to convey each message. IUM 2022.
Choosing the right format
Literally, the idea of your promotional video is to promote through the video format. Why choose video? Because this format is more dynamic, better remembered, and generates far more interaction on social networks than traditional content, enabling you to grow your visibility and your community.
On social networks, videos longer than a minute are generally not watched to the end. Especially since Tik Tok and Instagram have got us used to 15-30 second formats. On average, you only have 5 seconds in a video to grab your viewers’ attention. And 5 seconds isn’t much. You’ll need to adapt the format of your promotional video to the social networks you choose to broadcast it on, because each social network favors a particular format, and has different users who don’t like the same formats.
If your target audience is between 15 and 25 years old, choose Instagram and TikTok with a vertical format (shots filmed in 1080 x 1920) and don’t exceed 1 min in length!
If you’re talking to customers, BtoB prospects or future employees, opt for a more business-oriented social network like LinkedIn. But beware, unlike these acolytes, LinkedIn prefers the horizontal format and will put two black horizontal bars on your vertical videos, which will spoil the video experience.
So, what format for a promotional video?
Solid Rusk tips ☝️: Choose the .mp4 format to set up your video correctly, and a quality higher than 1,440 x 1,080 px. Finally, avoid Youtube links and integrate the video directly into your post, so that it goes viral more easily 😉
Creation of a short vertical video for Instagram – SBM 2020
TAKE THE TIME TO WRITE THE SCRIPT PROPERLY
Asking your videographer to prepare a storyboard without having done a great deal of preparatory work beforehand would be like shooting a bow with a blindfold on: it’s hard to hit your target. To help you reach your target, you’ll need to build a hand-sewn storyboard for your target!
How do you write a script?
Before writing the script for your promotional video, define the tone you want to use: humorous, emotional, corporate, etc.
Then comes the writing stage. It’s not easy, but it’s essential if you want an effective promotional video that captures your audience’s attention, conveys the right message, arouses desire and converts.
But don’t worry, it’s not about writing the new Tarantino, it’s about having a script that will arouse emotions! Yes, these days, people don’t make logical purchases that respond to a precise need, they buy with their emotions! And this is particularly true for B2C brands.
Haven’t you ever bought a product because the brand seemed nice? But far be it from us to lay the blame on you, Pierre 😇
So it’s important that your promotional video appeals as much as possible to the viewer’s emotions.
To show the public the human, real and authentic side of your company, we advise you to add a real context of your employees’ daily lives in the office to show people that your brand federates and that there’s a whole group of people working hand in hand to carry the brand and lead to its success. In this way, it will be much easier for the public to connect with your brand!
Video created for mountain sportswear brand Lagoped. The creation of a dynamic intro that will be reused on a series of mini-documentaries presenting different players in the field provides continuity and visual identity. Internet users are very receptive.
Choose music that rocks!
The success of your promotional video depends not only on the quality of its sound, but also on the background music you use. The power of music is immense. It helps to create the famous emotion that everyone is looking for. It can be seductive, moving, joyful or nostalgic.
Just like your offer and your communication, the music you choose must be adapted to the target audience you hope to reach with your promotional video.
Teenagers and young thirtysomethings won’t be sensitive to the same soundtrack as senior citizens. There are well-stocked online libraries of royalty-free music that will give you the impeccable rendering worthy of a major production house.
To choose the right music for your promotional video, we recommend that you first define the purpose of the music, and choose the emotion that your video should convey: the music chosen must be in phase with your branding and the message conveyed.
Solid Rusk advice ☝️
Be careful not to loop background music in a video interview, as this creates noise pollution. Also avoid polluting your promotional video with “over-sung” music if your video includes tutorials and requires the audience’s concentration.
Production of a series of video vignettes for Indiana Café, presenting different products from their restaurant menu. The music, which is quite intense from the start of the video, makes it possible to hook the viewer and keep up a steady rhythm of images. The mix of these two parameters is the key to success.
Don't forget the specifications!
To help you find your way around during the project. To make things easier for you, we’ve devoted a complete article to this subject: How to write the brief or specifications for a corporate film?
The brief is a prerequisite for a successful promotional video!
It must contain the essential elements to be passed on to the video production agency: a short presentation of your company and its context, the objective of your video, the message to be conveyed, the target audience, the tone to be used, your expectations and objectives, etc. But it must also include all the elements required for a successful promotional video.
But it must also include all the technical elements concerning the video’s contours: duration and format, distribution channels, the resources at your disposal, the schedule to be respected, the budget, etc.
Make sure the videographer masters the subject
If you’re a restaurant owner, independent or franchise, and you want to make a promotional video for your restaurant, the videographer you choose needs to know the restaurant industry and its codes. He doesn’t necessarily have to be an expert in the field, but we do advise you to make sure he’s familiar with the brand and the concept he’ll be working on. This will make it easier for them to understand the concept, and will ensure that the script is well-calibrated and in line with your restaurant’s concept!
Solid Rusk Production is a video production agency based in the south of France. We are experts in video creation, photo shooting, sound design and graphic animation for professionals based in Cannes, Nice, Monaco, Menton and Avignon.
Article written by Emeline l Prête-moi ta plume
