Video advertising is now available to everyone. The Internet and the development of digital technology have done their job. Simple advertisements can be filmed and uploaded by yourself. But if you don’t want to miss your commercials for people, you need to know a few rules.
You can attract people to the size of an advertising banner, artistic tricks, or original slogans, but not get the desired result. Nowadays audience is distrustful and picky. It wants to get not a beautiful package, but a quality of product or service that will solve its problem. So, how to make commercials that will attract attention?
How is video advertising different from classic advertising?
Great advertising is always effective, that’s why it works by delivering necessary messages to consumers. Advertisements must encourage consumers to respond to them in a certain way. This is the basic principle by which advertisements in newspapers, advertising posts on Instagram, and banners on websites work. Commercials are not different from them. Video ads are the same. They call to action but in a different visual format.
What makes it more effective? What characteristics do influence consumer response?
Video influences the viewer with colorful images and music for commercial video. Such advertising is much easier to understand than text. To get consumers to act, the advertisement must attract attention. In addition, it needs to hold interest for a long time to persuade consumers to change their preferences and try a new product which can sometimes mean switching to another brand, and then ensure that they get used to the product and buy it again. Video advertising accomplishes this task more easily and quickly than any other.
In general, an advertisement or advertising campaign works if it creates the right image of a product or brand in people’s minds, makes them react in a certain way, and highlights the difference between a company’s product or brand and competing products and brands.
Why do people skip promotional videos on the Internet?
One reason is that 76% of users don’t watch commercial videos because they’re used to skipping ads. Moreover, the vast majority skip commercials as soon as the “Skip Ads” button appears, i.e. after 5 seconds.
Many viewers don’t like boring and formal videos. Studying user behavior, Google divided ads into 10 main categories which are based on the user’s style and tone. The leader in terms of total views was the “humorous” category. So, funny ads in videos have a better chance of getting people interested in them.
It has also been proven that the younger audience, the more likely it is, skips ads. It is another useful observation. Older users are more open to different offers.
How to make commercials
At first glance, it may seem that creating commercials is not such a complicated process, but it is not true. To make a high-quality and interesting video, you need to put a lot of effort and show your imagination.
1. Research the market
If you want to have your online spot of high quality, before you start your advertising campaign, you need to define your target audience, gather information about your most potential customers. After that, based on this information, segment the market and understand how to sell your product or service. Remember that advertising should be targeted to a specific target audience.
2. Generate ideas
Video advertising on the Internet is often characterized by the absence of a plot and directly advertises a product. Of course, this option is possible, but such commercials affect a narrow circle of customers. To increase the target audience and attract new customers, the script of the commercial should be interesting to the viewer, but not to the buyer. Do not be afraid to entrust the generation of ideas to a specialist, namely the writer. Of course, it is your product and you know everything about it, but the scriptwriter knows how to interact with the audience through advertising.
3. Think over every detail
Involve more specialists in the process. Have copywriters and creative directors who write a script for a future masterpiece. Once the script is approved, allow the director to present his or her vision of what is written. Shooting commercials does not tolerate sloppiness and inaccuracy. Every frame, every movement of the lens here should be checked for 100%. Main characters, costumes, interior – everything is important.
4. Prepare
Now you need to prepare everything that is required by the script. For some types of advertising, there is no special preparation. It is enough to rent a studio. But finding a good actor can be difficult (if necessary). Ideally, you should hold a casting session, then the actor’s audition with the director, and only then approve the candidate. This is how the professionals shoot commercials.
5. Audience
The main rule is that the right advertising is aimed at the right audience. Depending on your goals, it could be those who have already bought your products or users who are not familiar with your product. You need to know the portrait of the consumer. Determine your target audience and purpose and use that when you start creating your video. If you get only one of these points wrong, your advertising money will be wasted.
6. Duration
Before you start shooting a video, you need to decide on its duration. Some experts say that it should not take more than 30 seconds to watch an ad, while others believe that 30 seconds is not enough to attract customer’s attention. One certain thing is that regardless of the duration. Video advertising on the site should be exciting from the first seconds. But try to stay within 2-3 minutes.
7. Technologies
Most often, the customer is not aware of the possibilities of implementing the idea of advertising. Specifics of the filming process and further work with the material are important when you create commercials. Good advertising techniques will help to transfer the idea to the screen and get a good response.
8. Dealing with emotions
What are the emotions of your target audience? How do they change depending on the situation? What emotions should people feel when they see your ads? Use all this information. Emotions are an integral part of our lives. They determine our mood, our ability to absorb and remember information, and our willingness to take action. The emotional experience of watching an advertisement contributes to remembering the message.
9. Budget
Sometimes you have to spend a little more than expected to make commercials. But any advertising that meets the modern canons of marketing has a predictable income. And since the money will come back to you with a profit, why not go over budget?
10. Other resources
If you plan to get the most out of your video, it should be placed on popular social networks. Video advertising on YouTube, Facebook, and, of course, Instagram will bring maximum benefit. The main guarantee of the success of the video is its recognition. Therefore, it is necessary to expand the territory of its distribution.
Conclusion
By investing in effective advertising, calculating its conversion rate, collecting statistics, and working with clients, you can recoup the cost of video production and promotion several times over. The main thing here is to find a professional team with a good portfolio. Give them a clear description of the work, a portrait of your audience, detailed information about the product, calculate the budget, set goals for project payback, and go ahead!