Did you know that there are more than 60 million small businesses across America? Because of this, you’re up against a lot of competition no matter your industry.
As you’re developing your marketing strategy, you may want to invest in making a commercial. But this can be easier said than done.
Here are the top tips you need for how to make a commercial. Keep reading to learn more.
1. Determine Your Goal
First and foremost, it’s a good idea to determine the goal of your commercial. What are you wanting to accomplish? Most businesses have multiple objectives that they’re trying to achieve.
Are you wanting to drive sales of a product on your website? Promote an upcoming event? Generate leads for your sales team to all?
Once you’ve chosen your goal, you’ll have a much easier time creating a video that has a purpose. It will also help you determine the success of your ad. A measurable metric will allow you to know if the time and money was well-spent.
Plus, we’ve all been a part of a project without a goal. They’re usually messy, confusing, and frustrating.
On the flip side, with a clear direction, each step of the video production process will be better, from storyboarding to shooting to editing.
2. Decide on Your Budget
Next, think about the budget you have for your commercial. This consists of multiple parts.
First, you’ll need to factor in production costs. Will you hire an outside agency to film? Will you hire actors?
Will you need to pay for travel expenses? What about catering costs?
Also think about post-production. Do you have an in-house editor or will you be hiring that out? These costs will all add up too.
The second main part of the cost will come in the form of airing your commercial.
Where are you going to air it? Traditional TV, connected TV, or both? You could also run it on sites like Youtube.
How often do you want to run your ad and for how long? Thinking about all of these things will help you determine a budget that’s realistic and big enough to accomplish your goals.
3. Create Your Script
Now it’s time to think about what you want to say. You know your goal and you have an established budget. It’s time to write your script.
A good way to get started is to do some research. Find commercials that are similar to your concept and pay attention to voice, pacing, and tone.
Start by writing a rough draft. From there, you can trim things down and get it to fit in your time constraints.
In all you do, remember that you have a limited amount of time to capture your audience’s attention. Your sentences should be short and direct. There’s no time for rambling.
4. Make the Storyboard
Next, let’s work on the storyboard of your video. Storyboarding is the process of sketching out the various scenes of your video so you can see it visually.
Think about how you want your video to look.
Will it feature actors? Include an infomercial voice over? Be animated?
Take your script and think about how you could represent the information visually.
Then go scene by scene, drawing a rough sketch of how the scene will look and the content that will be covered in each moment.
5. Hire a Reliable Production Company
Most small businesses don’t have the internal resources to produce a high-quality commercial on their own. And that’s okay!
There are lots of great production companies out there that specialize in just that—helping companies tell their story through video and accomplishing their unique business objectives.
Of course, they’ll be able to handle the actual video shoot. A production company will have all the necessary cameras, microphones, lighting, and stabilizers for a great commercial.
But that’s not all they can help out with. If you’re interested, many video agencies can assist with ideation, scriptwriting, and storyboarding as well.
6. Always Include a Call to Action
Last but not least in how to make a commercial, be sure to always wrap up your video effectively. The best way to do this? Include a direct call to action.
Large companies like Adidas, Coca-Cola, and Apple have the level of brand recognition and have the marketing budget to produce purely branding ads. They’ve reached that level of success.
The rest of us? Not so much. Most companies simply don’t have the money to create a commercial just for the sake of branding.
Instead, you should always make sure your videos end with a call to action.
This way, you’ll be more likely to get your viewers to take action after watching your commercial. The type of call to action you include will depend on your goal for the video. It could be:
- To go to a specific webpage for an offer
- To call your sales team
- To visit your physical store location
- To come to your event
No matter your goal, be sure to include all the necessary information, like your phone number, website, or street address.
When you include a clear CTA, your video will have a much higher chance of succeeding.
Always Include a Call to Action
There you have it: the top six tips you need on how to make a commercial. Now that you’ve read through them all, it’s time to put them into practice.
Soon, you’ll have a high-quality, relevant ad that will take your company to the next level.
Want to learn more? Check out our blog for other business ideas.
