Write A Video Script That Gets Results
Write A Video Script That Gets Results
Video content is the latest and greatest thing in digital marketing. When you have a process that provides you with a steady supply of quality videos, you have everything you need to boost blog posts and make social media profiles stand out. But many nonprofit organizations and mission-driven businesses struggle to come up with the content they need to compete in this environment.
Writing a video script doesn’t take any special training, a fancy degree, or Hollywood connections. If you know the audience you want to reach and the goals you have for the video, you’ve got everything you need. Writing your script is just planning what you need to shoot and what you need to say during production to make sure what you want to say ends up being easy to understand.
Getting started with video marketing can be overwhelming when you try to go the DIY route. Other options can seem like too much of a financial risk until you’re sure you’ll see results. If you follow the process we outline in this article, you’ll get the scripts you need to get video content that will get the job done. Whether you want to educate, persuade, or thank your audience—you’ll find what you need here.
How To Get Started With Video Marketing
If you have anything to do with the marketing program at your organization, you know the numbers on video content. Video does more to grab audience attention and get people interested in what you have to say. It can do more to boost a blog post than word count or keywords. It can keep people on your website longer and do more to convert a call to action.
An organization that wants to make video content a pillar of its messaging program needs to have a process in place that will deliver the content they need to be consistent with their efforts. If you don’t have the budget to outsource video content creation, you don’t have to settle for getting by without it. You can script great content in-house and get a great video that will have viewers hanging on every word.
Video Production Process
Every video needs a good script, but most folks with scriptwriting experience will tell you that it takes a couple of steps to create scripts that hit their target. You can look online for a video script template and paint by numbers. We think it’s better to do a little bit more work to get a video that is unique to your company, your product or service, and your viewers.
Step 1 is a creative brief that pins down the strategic goals you want to hit with the video you make.
Turning your creative brief into an outline helps to make sure you maintain a balance between the building blocks that make up your script.
With a solid structure in place, writing a script is just a process of filling in the blanks with dialogue, narration, soundtrack, and shot selection.
Creative Brief
The creative brief is where you set out the broad strokes of what you want your video to do. There are different types of marketing videos but each one has a specific purpose and it’s better to be sure you do one thing well than to cross wires and mix messages.
Are you making an explainer video to demonstrate a product or service? Do you want your video to convert a call to action with viewers from a particular audience segment? Do you want to thank your customers or supporters?
If you don’t set clear goals, you’ll struggle to write a video script that will make your video good at its job.
Video Outline
This is where you write down the ideas you have about writing a video script that will do what you set out to do in the creative brief. You don’t want to get bogged down in every single word of dialogue at this point. You want to identify the most important elements of the message you want to send or the story you want to tell.
The outline for a marketing video isn’t the same as an outline for a blog post. You need to remember that visual elements and sound will intersect on a screen to connect your brand to viewers. Write an outline that keeps you focused on finding the right balance for the audience you’re after.
Video Script
The more experience you have with production, the easier it will be to write a script that checks all of the boxes to set a video shoot up for success. This is where you write the story you want to tell, but remember that a marketing video isn’t a blog post.
When you write dialogue, you need to make sure it is right for your brand and right for the audience. You also need to consider whether the stage for your shoot will let you record dialogue or if it will be so loud that you’ll need to plan for voiceover.
Your script should identify the characters, scenes, and shots thoroughly. A good script is one that you could hand off to someone else with confidence that they’ll shoot the video you want to see.
Script Video That Your Audience Wants To Watch
Just like anything else in the world of marketing, a marketing video needs to win the competition for attention and be ready to convert that attention to interest when it does.
Some tips can help you write a script. Whether you opt for scriptwriting from scratch or follow a video script template, the bottom line is that your message won’t convert a call to action if viewers quit watching before you get there.
Keep video scripts simple. Focus on the audience and what you know about them. Focus on your goal for the video and make sure you write a script that does what you want it to do. If you do these things, your call to action will connect your audience to your brand.
Let Argonaut Productions Help You Create Marketing Videos Your Audience Will Love
Over the years, we’ve developed an approach to pre-production that we call our Discovery Process. We use it to help our clients find the right stories to tell and the best ways to tell them. If you know you want marketing videos that will boost your message but you’re not sure how to get started—Let us help you discover the story that will Amplify Your Mission.