The biggest challenge in writing the script for a sales or promotional video is not knowing what to include, but knowing what to leave out. I’m wrapping up work this week on a script for a 90-second sales video and so this particular topic has been on my mind.
The initial creative session with the client involves a lot of fact-finding. This may include tours of their facility and interviews with key personnel. It also includes sorting through a ton of information. Usually the client will have brochures, articles, statistics, research results, etc. all pertaining to their particular product. They will also have ideas regarding what they want to say in the video and how they want to say it.
The problem is that there’s no time to include every statistic and little-known-fact into your final video - even if the running time is upwards of 10 minutes. It’s the job of the writer and the director to sit down with the client and trim everything down into simple concepts. This is why it’s so vitally important that you find out who will ultimately see the finished video. Writers and directors have to speak to the audience. Different demographics respond differently to certain keywords and images.
Basically the script must do the following:
- Identify the viewer’s problem
- Empathize with that problem
- Show why the product is the best solution to that problem
- Alleviate the fear that prevents the customer from buying the product
The client for this 90-second script I’ve been working on has a great product, and they have an abundance of supporting information. But understanding who would eventually see this video helped me tremendously when I had to decide what material to include and what to omit. Do the research. Absorb the information. Then simplify everything into key points that will motivate the viewer to act.
Video is an artistic medium, meaning that the final product is always influenced by a certain interpretation and aesthetic approach. Give four directors the same subject and tell them to create a promotional video on that subject, and invariably you will receive four very different videos.
This means that a budget for any one video can run from one extreme to the other. The final cost always depends on several factors. That’s why it’s very difficult to nail down an accurate bid, simply based on the question, “How much do you charge for a commercial?” Video production is something different from an item you find on the grocery store shelf. Every commercial or promotional video can’t always be packaged and priced with a nice, neat little label. Businesses are different. People are different. Therefore, directors that strive to give clients unique content that speaks directly to their audience will want to sit down with you for a creative consultation.
I always try to meet with a potential client face to face to gather information for a particular video project. In that initial consultation, I like to find out the following:
- Basic information on the company; history, products, services
- Main selling points that make this company different from their competitors
- Values the company holds
- Perceptions about the company (both internally and externally)
- Marketing goals that the company has for themselves (more specifically, what do they want this video to achieve?)
- Information on current customers (why do they buy from this company?)
- Their target market
- Problems that this marketing effort will help solve
- The reasons why they contacted me
- The role they want me to play in this project
- Ideas they have for a video (both in terms of content and aesthetics)
These items are incredibly important to me as I move into any video production, because it helps in developing a concept and a script that will be most effective to the client. I want the client to know that what interests me most is helping them gain greater public exposure and increased profitability.
