Even when visual, marketing is never entirely about engaging imagery and compelling graphic presentations. However attractive-looking a video is, its message cannot be conveyed effectively without a killer story to tickle the viewer’s mind. Think of Steven Spielberg or Akira Kurosawa for a second – though visually stunning, their movies wouldn’t have been so influential if the scripts weren’t the ones setting the pace.

The differences between moving pictures and marketing videos are manifold, but that still doesn’t mean that your advertising tour de force shouldn’t be as equally artistic and awe-inspiring. In fact, that’s the one lesson you’ll need to take from your fellow screenwriters before moving along to your storyboard.

Here’s how great pieces of marketing videography are written, edited, and inwrought into visuals.

1. Research Before You Write

However grand, every story starts off as a brief or a draft on a blank piece of paper. Long before the first sentence is written, though, a storyteller needs to figure out what it is that he’s trying to bring to life and who are those that have to be affected by it. This is why, like always in marketing, video scripting begins with thorough research. You’ll have two critical elements to deal with – the message you’re trying to carry out and an audience that needs to be engaged with it, so start determining both with the utmost precision and clarity. The first should align with the definite goal of the marketing campaign your video is a part of, while the results of an audience targeting strategy should give you a clear sense of the other.

2. Address Your Viewers as Individuals

Once your audience’s behaviours, needs, preferences, and pain points are understood, you’ll know which approach to take. Personalization is one of the biggest tricks of storytelling for marketing purposes, and you’ll have to address each one of your viewers individually. Start off by introducing yourself and move quickly to a conflict or problem that the product or service promoted by your video should solve. Both aspects should be custom-tailored according to your target demographic, which is why you’ll need to adjust the form and language to their gender, culture, profession, education level, personality, lifestyle, and personal values. Depending on those, you’ll address them formally or casually; in any case, approach them directly, as if you’re trying to engage them in conversation.

3. Be Brief, But Consider Every Word

With so many options to choose from, modern viewers have grown quite impatient. A lot of them will close your video during the first 20 seconds, which is why you’ll need to be brief and effective enough to catch and retain their attention. If endowed with an imaginative mind, feel free to start big and give a backstory to each of your characters and lines. The more information you have about who the protagonist is and what is his mission, the easier it will be for you to focus on the punch line and shorten the story afterwards. Remember to consult the professional video editing team about how each word will be incorporated into the bigger picture – together, you can make even those sporadic ones resonate with viewers.

4. Never Forget About CTA

Since it’s brief, every part of your script needs to be equally effective. Addressing the audience is what captures their attention, but a strong point that you need to make at the end is necessary for the purpose of your story and your marketing message alike. Remember to be unique, since that’s what’s going to differentiate you from the competition and persuade viewers to convert into paying customers. And always, always, close with a clear call to action. If engaged by a story, the audience will need a convenient and fast way to get in touch with the brand, so help them understand what action they need to take in order to do so. Be that an invitation to the website or an appeal to share your video further on, your call to action has to be as organic, concise, and as potent as possible.

5. Hear It Out Loud

Once your story is done, don’t rush with the production, but arrange a table reading instead. Words have a nasty habit of sounding differently when red out loud, so never be too hasty to skip this step. If the official table reading is for some reason impossible to stage, ask one of your teammates or friends to read it to you. You’ll be surprised with how many details you’ve overlooked, and hearing them from someone else’s mouth will help you discover how to smooth them out. And, however little time you have, never rush the creative process. Even when finished, let your script breathes a bit before passing it over to directors. Ultimately, that’s the only way of writing something you’ll be proud of, even if its ultimate goal is to increase sales.

About the author
Helen Clark has over 5 years of experience in writing and creating Video films, She has been associated with a host of sites related to Video films and have the expertise to work both on an editorial and advisory level. Presently, she is associated with Video Caddy – a services company