Gerry BlackAny business can benefit from promo videos. They allow you to communicate your message in a thorough and creative way, not to mention video is extremely popular right now on social media.
In our current world, consumer’s time is precious. Instead of making them read about your company, you can provide a more engaging yet passive way for them to absorb your information. However, especially now that it’s in demand, video production can be costly. Here are some tips on how to create a low-budget promo video for your business.
Do It All Yourself
The large misconception about promo videos is that you need to bring in a video production company or PR company to do it for you. Untrue! Even if you’re not a creative type, as long as you understand the general idea of how to put a video together, you can do it yourself for less. Just make sure you:
- Set a goal for your video
- Write a general script, including mapping out which shots you will need and what main points you should discuss
- Find the locations and people you need for your video
- Shoot the video
- Edit the video
- Show the video to friends and family to get opinions
- Re-edit
- Post!
You may want to do a short, small practice video first if you plan on making this a habit for your company.
Use Clients and Employees
Big expensive productions may hire actors to participate in their video, acting out stories or situations in which your business is the hero. However, hiring actors is an expensive move and not always necessary. A good promotional video shows how your business really works and the real people who make it run.
Get employee volunteers to act as clients and buyers. Use your employees at work to show your company or business is run on a day to day basis. It’s much more financially effective to show employees at work that to recruit expensive actors to act out a false story.
You can ask satisfied clients and customers to talk briefly about why they like working with you. You can either sit them down in an interview-like setting or record a voiceover of them talking. Instead of paying them, you can offer them a free or discounted item or service in exchange for their help. Testimonials are extremely powerful persuasive marketing tools and they can give you free or cheap content for your video. Not to mention the fact that whoever delivers the testimonials will want to show the video to their friends, giving you some free advertising.
Editing Software
The editing process can be intensive and sometimes difficult. However there are tons of free softwares available online which allow you to edit your videos at the professional level, all while paying little or nothing to use. Some provide sophisticated animation tools, others allow for the cutting and splicing of footage you already have. No matter what your needs are, you can find a way to edit online for a minimal cost.
Use Royalty Free Music Library
Royalty free music is great because you only need to pay for it once, not every time you show the video. This means a huge cut back on costs. Some royalty free music is actually completely free! Make sure you find music that is organised by tone and type on the website so you can find what you need easily. Also, it’s important to choose music that is created with real instruments; fake electronic instruments can make your video seem amateurish.
For instance, the music at Gerry Music Library meets all the criteria for perfect promo video background music. You can search the Corporate section and find tracks like Strings of Success and Inspiring Journey. No matter what your video is like, you are sure to find the perfect piece of music to complement your message.