According to a Cisco study, 80% of internet global traffic will be constituted of videos in 2019. More than one million videos will be shared each second – Yes, this is literally enormous!
On Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg announced in 2016 that more than 8 billion of videos were played every single day. Snapchat got a score of 10 billion videos watched each day, and according to the Institut Research Now, 82% of Twitter users are using this social media to watch videos. Finally, hundred of millions videos are broadcasted every day on Youtube.
Based on audiovisual and experiential marketing, videos are an universal communication way, even more on nowadays’ world. So say goodbye to your long texts and papers… and say hello to the magic of video!
Why you should use videos to promote an event…
Immersive and vector of emotions, videos have became an inescapable instrument to communicate! So what is best than a little teaser to motivate your guests? It is not the only objective though!
Spend less to communicate more
In a one minute video, sharing tenth of ideas and information is possible by using hundred of words and visuals. And this is very useful, mostly when you want to pass a strong message in a limited time.
If you have a restricted budget, you can perfectly edit a video with limited ways. An iPhone, a microphone, a green background (or not), and the job is done!
Catch your guests’ attention
Use audiovisual technics to catch the viewer attention and make him/her stay until the end of the video. Make sure the viewer will not be bored. The purpose is to watch the video until the very end!
We advise you to opt for a short video, because the first seconds are crucial! On Facebook for example, videos are played automatically, thus the viewer must watch the beginning of the video event though he did not intend to. At this time especially, your video has to catch a maximum of attention.
Keep in mind that most videos are played without sound. It will be enabled only after the user clicked on the video. So try to make an attractive video with beautiful images and texts.
Moreover, to make an emotional video, we advise you to use the storytelling. This technic consists of telling a story, which will facilitate the memorisation of the video and create further links with the brand. Ingeniously used, it can make you cry a little bit. Here is a video example… which left our Marketing team quite sad.
The most pragmatists and cartesians among you would rather use computer graphics. This will enable you to put numbers, key datas and studies results forward thanks to animated visuals. In order to make your guests remember you, use colour codes and font from your company, as well as charismatic actors.
Because you video has for objective to convert viewers, try to embed a Call To Action (CTA). Do not let your viewers without telling them what they must do! Here are some examples to guide your viewers after they watched the video:
- Find more on our website « www.website.com“.
- Subscribe now on…
- Follow us on our social media to be informed…
- Contact « entity » right now and have a VIP invitation.
Increase visibility thanks to social media
Because they are free, they are much more accessible, social medias have became an inescapable communication tool wether it is in B2C or B2B. You can easily increase the visibility of your organisation and present your products without spending any pennies. So, what are you waiting for?
Among existing social media where videos work very well, you can find Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat. These platforms are more and more video-friendly: videos are automatically played and are even put at the top of the new feeds.
Knowing that Youtube is the most used platform for videos with approximatively 1.5 millions users and that Facebook is counting more than 2.2 billion users… the potential of views and shares that you can get with these social networks is just e-norm-ous.
Thus, the probability for the video to be watched will significantly increase. This is why it is necessary to catch the viewers’ attention as best as possible during the first seconds, and then let the magic work!
You will also find these famous video sharing platforms such as Youtube, Dailymotion and Vimeo. You can subscribe for free and create a dedicated account to your company. A perfect way to host your promotional videos and share them easily by sending the link to your guests.
The advantage of digital is that you can follow the video performance and metrics in real time. Indeed, you can have access to the publication statistics, directly from the social media, and see the number of views, media played, followers and links opened. Magical you!
Share emotions
You live and feel an event. And sometimes, it is difficult just to write everything and share the emotion. People are more sensible to images, musics, colours. The visual information is more likely to trigger one or several emotions. Keys to impress your viewers:
- A dynamic and fluent edited video
- A powerful, popular music
- A story which the viewer can identify himself to
Your video must share the idea that if your guests do not come, they will miss out on an extraordinary event. For a maximum of participants, give them an overview of what to expect.
Improve your brand image
You should not neglect this: you can complete your website with promoting videos of your events, and attract futur customers. Moreover, your brand can be seen as an innovative and modern one thanks to its actions.
Indeed, why you should do long and complicated sentences such as Shakespeare, whereas a very simple video is enough to summarize information and maintain attention during the entire video? You can add musics, colours… And easily represent the company spirit.
Finally, you have understood that promoting an event through a video is an interesting strategy and give an excellent overview of your upcoming event. This is the best way to attract your futur participants and provoke emotions immediately. So do not hesitate anymore and go ahead 😉
How to promote an event thanks to videos ?
Step 1: objectives
Define the objectives of your video. This will orient the way you will create it : Is your objective to launch a new product during your event? Increase your notoriety? Or create new links with your collaborators?
Step 2 : format
Think about the format of your video. Several possibilities are available for you: an interview, a classic presentation, or something more designed and animated with the use of motion design and 2D animation…? Several choices are possible, you just need to select the one that will fit the most with your event 🙂
Step 3 : budget
Analyze resources and budget that will fit your need. Creating a video (mostly if it is in motion design) will require particular skills. This is why you must identify the internal competences or otherwise you will need to go through an agency or a freelancer.
Don’t hesitate to ask for quotes to compare them all and have an idea in mind about prices.
Step 4 : script and storyboard
Now that you thought about your objectives, format, and budget, it is time to be creative! The scenario must be simple and efficient.
Do not forget that a short video between 30 secondes and 1 minute is more likely to be fully watched than a 2 minutes video. A good method to write a script is to create an Excel file where you will put:
- What is said
- A description of the scene and what is happening
- Characters who will appear
Etape 5 : action !
If you make the video yourself, you must respect certain rules. If you do not have the appropriated equipment to realize motion videos, you should opt for not moving too much.
Think about the audio quality of your video that is often forgotten. It is better to have a specialized microphone equipped with a rycote to reduce extern noises such as wind.
Think also about the luminosity and lighten the subjects if there are some for a better video optimisation.
Etape 6 : editing
Give life to your video by making it dynamic and creative! For this you can use professional software such as Adobe Premiere or Final Cut, but if you do not have access to these ones, you can still use IMovie for free on MacBooks. Otherwise, if you do not have a MacBook or professional editing softwares, you have some for beginners such as Camtasia and Movavi.
Etape 7 : broadcast
As we have seen previously, you can choose between broadcasting your video on popular social medias such as Twitter, Snapchat, Youtube and so on. Hundred of thousand of users use these platforms and thousand of videos are daily uploaded there.
You can also integrate your video on your website to make it more actual and dynamic. If the traffic is important, there is a good possibility to promote your event.
If you have a blog, we advise you to publish an article about your event with you your video integrated. Moreover, you can add your video to the newsletter so it can be communicated to as many people as possible!
