Your script is like a business plan for your video.
In most cases, there are higher benefits when the client writes their own script.
Not only does it cut down on costs, but the client always knows their own industry better and can ensure the message is projected perfectly.
With that in mind, here are some great pointers that will save you hours in brainstorming.
First and foremost, start with a hook – which is the basis of your video. Your hook is one ‘big idea’ that is portrayed in an interesting and compelling way. This which means you are sticking with one point you are trying to get across to your intended audience and explaining is some detail your reasons. The most successful marketers mix the hook with a pain point they know their prospects are having – then they twist the knife by tapping into the emotional part of the problem. A great example of this is any weight loss product promo video.
Many amateurs don’t apply ‘the big idea’ concept and make the mistake of thinking “I’m not completely sure what benefit is going to appeal to the masses so I’m going to throw a bunch of different ideas in the mix so I can appeal to everyone”. I call this type of sales copy ‘the mixed salad approach’ – and it doesn’t work. The reason why is because you only get a chance to glaze over each point in order to finish the video in a respectable time. Which leads to the next point.
Keep the video short.
The best example to give would be the ‘elevator pitch’ – If you haven’t heard of it, imagine you have a proposal you want to relay to the right person but you can’t get past the secretary to present your idea. But by a stroke of luck, you step into an elevator with the decision maker of the company on the ground floor. Now is your chance to make your pitch. Think about it… would you waffle on about unimportant information? Or would you cut straight to the chase – trying to get your best points put forward (centred with one clear idea) first before the elevator stops and opens? This is how you should treat your video script.
Always keep the mindset that you are lucky someone is paying attention to your ad or clicked on your video in the first place, so don’t waste their time. We all know how short people’s attention spans are. This is another reason why you should stick with one ‘big idea’. If you have too many different great ideas, create separate ads or videos to accommodate those concepts. A good point to remember is that depending on how fast you talk, you can roughly fit 180-200 words into a minute of video. And the general rule of thumb is to keep your web video clip to 60-90 seconds – less if you are paying for TV commercial production. This means you have no room for unnecessary sentences. Take your time writing the sales copy, remove any words that you could do without – and keep it punchy.
Lose the industry jargon.
You may think that using fancy industry jargon makes you sound sophisticated and smart, but the general public’s eyes will glaze over. Especially acronyms you think people ‘should’ understand. This also applies to B2B (I just did it there) videos.
Your ‘call-to-action’
The whole idea of creating the video is to get the viewer to do something right? Like buying your product, visiting your sales landing page for more info, subscribing to your mailing list, becoming a fan on your business Facebook page or subscribing to your Youtube channel. Don’t assume anything – tell the viewer what to do at the end of your video!
If you watch any wwell-producedpromotional ad or video of any kind you will notice that they all include a call-to-action. And if you want to really want a great conversion rate, try to add a touch of humour when you are doing it – If your video is hosted on Youtube be sure to add clickable annotations, so all the viewer has to do is click the screen.
Writing long winded sales copy is easy. But writing a very short script is challenging. So be sure to spend time boiling your words right down to the bones and get straight to the point.