Creating a short engaging script

Creating a short engaging script

Video marketing is becoming increasingly important to the success of today’s business. This is because marketing strategies have to be much more diverse and creative than they once were. An effective marketing strategy will allow you communicate important messages, raise awareness of your brand and build authority with your clients and prospects. Video production is just one of the ways that you can do this. Through a well produced video you can instantly capture and hold the attention of your audience. Video content should be clear, concise and powerful and for this you need a strong and short but engaging script.

The average attention span only lasts for a matter of minutes, so your video has to draw people in and encourage them to stay because as web users browse for content, they are clicking on videos at a rapid rate in order to decide what is worth watching. This means that your production has between ten and fifteen seconds to really capture the attention of your audience. Easier said than done? Well not exactly. In this guide we have put together some top tips and strategies for creating a short but engaging video script.

Create a Plan

A good script is one that is well structured. Before you even begin to formulate your script, you need to understand what your goals are and how you will achieve them. What do you want to say? Who is your audience? Why will the audience care? What value can you provide? Once you have answered these questions, start to put the framework of your script together, using a series of bullet points. Don’t forget that your script should be conversational and as natural as possible. Make your brand unique and personal. People buy from people and more often that not, consumers are more likely to buy stories rather than products so focus on the story and you will naturally sell more of what you are trying to promote.  Your script should include three main components; the problem you can solve, how your product can help the viewer and why you are the best company to help them solve their problem.

Develop a narrative

Content that tells a story is more effective than factual content with a series of points. By telling a story you are more likely to engage with your audience. Incorporate a narrative into your script that gradually builds interest throughout the video and leaves the audience wondering what will happen next. There are lots of creative ways that you can develop a narrative from talking about your company history and staff through to using case studies and more.

Begin as you mean to go on

Start your video with something valuable and interesting, perhaps bringing in an emotional angle. This can be achieved through an anecdote, a motivational quote, a unique perspective on something or surprising statistic. You need to give your audience something to care about from the outset.

Keep it Simple

As we have already mentioned good planning is important. As you develop your ideas for your script, remember to keep the script simple and avoid covering too much ground. You don’t want to confuse the audience by trying to cram too much in to such a short script. Focus on a single message and use the power of video and visuals to reinforce this point. You can always produce additional videos as a series to explain related points or topics in more detail if you need to.

Use emotion

When you create your video, emotion is a powerful thing. Choose a topic relevant to your niche that your audience can relate to on an emotional level. Video that engages emotionally will be incredibly powerful in establishing a strong connection with your audience who will be more likely to watch the full video to find out more if they can instantly relate to what you are saying.

Finish with a strong statement and relevant call to action

Once you have finished the main narrative of your script don’t forget to include a brief yet powerful call to action. This should compel the viewers to take some form of action, whether it’s visiting your website, filling out a form, signing up for some exclusive content or sharing the video with friends.

The purpose of any marketing video is to encourage the viewer to click on the call to action at the end of your video. If they fail to do that then your campaigns won’t prove as successful as you would like. Every word that you communicate in your video is important and should be working to maintain the attention of your audience long enough so that they reach the end of your content and click on the link. But don’t forget to instruct your audience at the end of the video to click a link or share the video.

Industry Influencers

A good starting point for creating video content for your business is to look at videos developed by influencers in their niche. Use social media platforms such as YouTube and Instagram to see how they are developing and delivering content and try to incorporate some of the techniques and approaches they use to develop your own video. You can learn a lot by seeing how professionally produced video content is created and delivered by leading figures in your industry. It might also give you some ideas for the types of topics that you should cover.

Keep it Short

Don’t forget to keep your short video script, well, short. A marketing video should be around two minutes in length. But again, look at what people in your industry are doing with video, some may be shorter or longer than this. Although it is important to differentiate yourself and your brand, it is also important to focus on proven techniques that work in terms of video marketing. Trying something too different can have the opposite effect of what you are trying to achieve. When writing your script think about how you can communicate what you want to say in the shortest possible way.

Creating a strong video script takes time, patience and practice, but delivering a great video can have lasting benefits for your business.