A promo video is a short commercial video, usually no more than five minutes long. It encourages viewers to perform certain actions or formulates certain attitudes in the audience. I will tell you how to create such content, and how it differs from regular advertising.

Promovideo is one of the types of advertising. It is based on artistic images and techniques, metaphors. The product itself and the brand may not be mentioned at all, but serve only as a random decoration. However, the material remains commercial. Business tasks are solved due to the fact that when viewing promotional videos, the audience creates the necessary emotions.

These features require a special approach to content creation. The whole process is divided into several stages.

A brief is a questionnaire about the company itself and the product that you are going to promote. Describe the following points in detail:

• the main and additional activities of the company;
• how does the company outperform its competitors and what are its weaknesses?;
• what results should be achieved by releasing a video;
• portrait of the target audience — people who are more likely to place an order after watching a video;
• tone of voice (literally "tone of voice") is a style, manner of presenting information, for example, youth, with slang and addressing as "you" or, conversely, restrained and rather official.;
• budget, project implementation period;
• how the content will be distributed — on TV, on social networks — your own or bloggers', through partner channels or in another way.

We need honesty and specificity. You will not be able to influence people's moods if you use incorrect information when creating a promo video.

"The best product on the market" is a big phrase that doesn't really convey anything. "Our model of power tool can run on a single charge for 2 hours, while competitors' batteries run out after half an hour," is a more correct answer.

It is extremely rare to find truly unique products that every person in the world needs. We almost always deal with a lot of similar offers, and they are positioned for specific groups of people.

A completed brief is the initial information that will suggest the appropriate format, theme and idea of the video, that is, its concept. For inspiration, watch ads from other brands, including foreign ones and those operating in other industries. You can try to adapt a current meme, a scene from a famous movie or TV series.

The script describes the scenery, every action, and all the lines of the characters. If you organize the shooting yourself, then the format can be free. The main thing is that the script should be clear and easy to use. Classical plays can be used as a design sample.

When the filming process is organized by contractors, it is necessary to clarify in advance which script design is preferable for them. For example, the American standard ("American woman") is widespread in cinema and television. In it, the text is typed in Courier New font, 12 size (size), left alignment. The upper margins are 2.5 cm, the lower margins are 1.25 cm, the left margins are 3.75 cm, and the right margins are 2.5 cm. Locations and character names are capitalized. An indentation of 6.75 cm is made before the hero's name on the left. For a replica — 3.75 cm on both sides. 

By formatting, you can track the timekeeping. On average, one page of the American Woman corresponds to one minute of screen time.

Before filming begins, select the actors, find a suitable location or rent a studio, prepare the scenery and all the equipment. Consider legal issues. In some places, photography and videography are prohibited in principle or require prior approval. For example, you cannot record for commercial purposes at airports and train stations without permission. In public places, passers-by may accidentally get into the frame, which will also create problems.

Create a reserve of time and consumables. Most likely, it will take several takes. Unexpected delays may occur — someone will be late, the passage will be blocked by someone else's car and you will have to look for its owner. When shooting outdoors or outside the city, arrange food and heating for the crew in advance.

When you start shooting, connect and configure all the equipment. Do a test take to check the serviceability of the equipment.

If possible, record the material with a margin and with minor changes. Some flaws are not always noticeable in place. For example, the cameraman's hand accidentally flashed in front of the lens. During the installation, it may turn out that a phrase uttered with a slightly different intonation sounds better.

It is not necessary to shoot all the scenes in the sequence in which they go in the script. Focus on organizational and natural conditions. All fragments at dusk can be recorded early in the morning or late at night. Episodes with bright natural light should be left for daylight hours.

The voiceover is recorded separately in a special studio. There are usually no suitable conditions on the set.

Before editing the promo video, review all the filmed materials. At the same time, it is better to arm yourself with a notebook or a piece of paper so that you can immediately take notes on which episodes were successful, where you need to cut out the excess.

Follow the script during postproduction. "Improvisations" on installation are not always appropriate. You can get carried away and go beyond the timekeeping or miss marketing triggers.

Throughout the video, the video and audio sequences should be uniform and comfortable for the viewer — the picture without overexposure, and the conversation without sudden changes in volume. Exceptions may be initially conceived techniques.

If necessary, dilute the video with other content, for example, overlay a photo on a video. However, keep a balance. If there are too many effects, graphics, and animations, they start to annoy the viewer.

A few tips will help you make your content more effective. I have already mentioned some of these points, and now I will tell you more about them.

Modern people don't like advertising. He had long been tired of loud but completely empty slogans. The viewer wants to watch a short story that looks real, evokes empathy and other emotions.

The mood from the video will turn into sympathy for the brand. As a result, a person may become interested in his products or immediately place an order if there is a corresponding need at the moment.

A brand archetype is an image or character that helps a company communicate with people as if it were a living person. It's as if the brand has its own personality, values, and character traits that people recognize and remember.

Imagine that a company is a person. What should he be like for you to enjoy talking to him?

There are 12 main brand archetypes in total, and each company chooses the one that best matches its values and goals. For example, T-bank (formerly Tinkoff) uses the Revolutionary brand archetype system./Innovator: he initially positioned himself as someone who changes the rules of the game in the banking sector. He offered a convenient online bank without branches, which was a revolution for the market.

Vkusville behaves like an honest farmer. He appreciates the naturalness, transparency of the origin of products, and is close to nature. In the marketing model, he can be attributed to the archetype of an Innocent and Ordinary person.

Following the archetype helps to create an emotional connection between the brand and people, to make communication more human and understandable.

This is the category of people who are more likely to be interested in the product or service being promoted. Before you start working on the script, make a portrait of the target audience (hereinafter referred to as the CA). Specify your gender, age, marital status, income and education level, place of residence, range of interests, a list of common everyday problems, and so on.

A portrait of a target audience will help identify the triggers that will evoke the desired emotions in the audience. For example, in a video for students, you can touch on fears about future employment, show fun parties, romantic relationships, boring studies, and joy after successful exams.

The viewer feels the falsity, insincerity and outright lies. The obvious discrepancies between the declared values and the actual activities are puzzling. For example, statements about environmental protection from a company selling hunting equipment look strange.

Be self-critical and don't deceive yourself. There is no need to attribute properties to a brand and its products that they do not have. Lying can result in serious reputational losses, lawsuits, and even criminal prosecution.

Modern people continuously receive huge amounts of content. In this situation, he will not make extra efforts to find your video or figure out the author's intention.

Try to interest the viewer from the first seconds and keep his attention until the very end. Balance between simplicity, clarity, and innovative solutions. Create intrigue, arouse curiosity, or meditative aesthetic pleasure.

Research shows that 66% of viewers will fully watch a video if its duration is less than one minute. Some formats (stories, or stories) are technically limited by this timekeeping.

A promo video is not a movie or a release of a video blog. Get all the ideas across to the audience as quickly as possible before they get bored and lose interest in what's happening on the screen.

Smartphones account for almost 68% of global Internet traffic. Approximately 30% remains for computers (laptops and desktop systems). The share of tablets is only 1.6%.

On phones, videos are more convenient to watch in portrait mode (in the vertical orientation of the display). However, this position of the screen is rarely used on computers. However, platforms and formats set certain technical requirements. For example, in Rutube, "regular" videos are horizontal, while shorts are only vertical.

Decide in advance on the platform and format for future content. Do some research on which devices and in which environment the target audience prefers to watch videos. The frame construction depends on this information. If you trim the original horizontal footings to vertical ones during installation, the result may look strange. If you upload a horizontal video in a format for which only portrait mode is provided, the service will automatically add wide stripes at the top and bottom.

The easiest way to keep the viewer's attention is to constantly show them something new. The average frame duration is considered to be 5 seconds. For fast scenes — 3 seconds. 

Dynamics are set by changing camera angles, superimposed content, effects, and scene switching. As an example, a fragment of a possible scenario for a promotional video advertising an electronic door lock:

CAMERA FROM TOP TO BOTTOM ON THE STAIRWELL OF THE HOUSE ENTRANCE

A breathless man (obviously in a hurry) quickly climbs the stairs.

THE GENERAL PLAN FOR THE MAN WHO IS NOW STANDING IN FRONT OF THE APARTMENT DOOR

The man nervously and hurriedly fumbles through all his pockets.

CLOSE-UP ON A MAN'S FACE, SLOW MOTION EFFECT

The man's face stretches, his eyes widen in horror.

THE GENERAL VIEW OF THE MAN IN FRONT OF THE APARTMENT DOOR

The man remembers something, exhales with relief. He takes out his smartphone from the inside pocket of his jacket. Something in it is pressing.

CLOSE-UP OF THE DOOR LOCK

The lock mechanism is triggered, the door opens slightly.

THE GENERAL VIEW OF THE MAN IN FRONT OF THE APARTMENT DOOR

The man opens the door, enters the apartment and locks the door behind him.

Good viewing experience helps you create effective marketing content. Other materials will give you your own unusual ideas. Make it a point to regularly watch classic, modern, famous, and not-so-famous movies, TV series, music videos, and video ads.

Here are some examples of promotional videos that the audience has received positively.:

• "Dear Kitten". An advertisement for Friskies cat food. In the story, an adult cat writes a letter to a kitten that has just appeared in the house. She reports everything that the new tenant will have to face. The video shows a cat and a kitten doing their daily activities.

• "Sorry" ("Sorry"). An advertisement for a Mercedes-Benz E-class, whose braking system can save lives in a seemingly hopeless situation. 

• «Cake Later. Cart First. IKEA SALE is on!" ("Cake later. The cart [for goods] is now. IKEA sale has started!"). An advertisement from IKEA's Indian division. The woman, instead of going to a retirement party, decided to have some real fun by shopping.

Work on a promo video begins with writing a brief and searching for the concept or main idea of the video. Next, you need to write a script. 

The filming process is preceded by the preparation of the location and equipment. It is advisable to record several takes of each scene. If some of the material turns out to be damaged, you can easily find a replacement during installation.