Video should be one of the most important media that you’re using in your marketing right now. But the success of how well it performs all hinges on one thing…
…the script.
Follow this guide to writing the best script for your video.
Before you start ordering all the props and costumes for your amazing video idea you’ve got flying around in your head, you need to have a rock-solid script to make sure it’s worth all the effort.
Use this guide to get your script perfect so that you can produce a video that doesn’t just look great but brings you customers too.
1 Brainstorm Your Ideas
Go on, let it all out! What ideas have you had that you want to include in your video?
2 What’s the Goal?
Determine exactly what you want the video to achieve. Is it sales? Is it to get them to call you? Is it to get them to fill in their email address? Work this out first and it makes the writing of the script so much easier.
3 Keep it Short
You’re not writing the next Star Wars sequel. Your video needs to be as short and to the point as you can make it. I’m guessing that this video is going to be on the internet somewhere, so it needs to be short because internet surfers have a short attention span and you’ll lose them.
4 Who is Watching Your Video?
This is so important when it comes to marketing. If I ask you who you customers are and you reply “Everybody” then you will be sent to Marketing Prison and punished for saying such a thing.
No business owner can say “Everybody” is their customer. Not even Apple or Amazon. All businesses have a customer type and you need to work out who you are making the video for. We call this a Customer Avatar.
It makes it much easier to craft your script if you know what type of person you want it to appeal to.
- What problem do they have that you solve?
- What are their common fears, frustrations, pains or urgencies?
- Describe some of their common experiences and the reality as it applies to your product/service
- Name and describe your customer avatar and bring him/her to life
5 Speak Directly to the Audience
When you write your script, you need to talk directly to your audience as if it were just one person listening on the end of the camera.
So when you write it, try to use the words You and Your as much as four times more than you use the Words Me, My, I, Ours, Us and We. Doing this will make it look like that you’re talking to them and not just talking about yourself.
When you finish it, get a red pen and ring all the Me, My, I, Ours, Us and We words and get a green pen and ring all the You and Your words. Make sure you get more greens than red.
6 Start With a Hook
You’ve got 10 seconds buddy. 10 seconds to grab the viewer’s attention and hook them into watching the rest of the video. You could:
- Give them an incentive to watch
- Something in return for their time
- BIG Benefit Statement
- Outrageous Statement
What are you going to say in the first 10 seconds of your video to hook the viewer in?
7 They Love a Good Story
We love stories. From the day you’re born until now you’re been told stories all of your life. Nursery rhymes, kids TV, soap operas and the news. They’re all stories. We’re preconditioned for stories.
What story could you put into your script that relates to what you are trying to get across?
8 Call to Action
It would be terrible to produce a beautiful video and it doesn’t do anything for you. You need to tell the viewer what to do at the end of the video. Otherwise, it would be a waste of time. Remember at the beginning of this guide you needed to work out the goal of your video was? Well, now it’s time to tell them. Is it to make a call? Is it to make a purchase? Is it to leave their email address? If so, you need to say in the video “Put your email address in the box below now and I’ll send that thingy straight to you”. Tell them!
What is your Call to Action going to be at the end?
9 Say it Aloud
Once you’ve written your script, you firstly need to read it aloud to see if you’re comfortable with what you’re saying. If you’re not it will come across on camera when you wince when saying “We’ve never had a complaint”!
Once you’re happy with it and feel comfortable, test it out on some colleagues and trusted customers and get them to give you their honest feedback and any changes that need to be made.
There would be nothing worse than to get it all recorded and edited and when you show it to people, then they give you negative feedback.
The next thing to do now is to get on and film it.
ACTION!
