A guide on creating effective event promo videos that are fun and engaging to watch in seven simple steps.
We all know that some videos are engaging and fun to watch.
This applies to virtual, hybrid and live events, too!
If you’re an event marketer or an event planner, now is the time to invest (or invest more) in video marketing.
This blog will tell you how to create an event promo video that increases your events’ visibility and engages your attendees.
All in seven simple steps.
Let’s dive right in!
An event promo video, or event promotional video, is a type of video that is created to promote an upcoming event.
Some event professionals suggest using it as a way to show attendees the potential value and experience they’ll receive, if they attend your event.
An example of a great event video is one from Kathryn Frankson, that focuses on capturing the experience of an event from various angles.
Rather than simply having a post show event video, with B-roll of the venue, 3-5 testimonials and some music; the video focuses on showing the experience of the event from every perspective: attendees, speakers and your team of event planners, marketers or professionals.
Something like this may require some time and energy.
A simple tool that I’d recommend using if you don’t have in-house video editing resources, nor advanced video editing skills yourself, is a promo video maker tool. It provides features such as video editing, animations, special effects and CTAs, for you to easily create engaging and professionally crafted event videos that reach your target audience and drive sign-ups for your next event.
A great promotional video will increase brand awareness, drive ROI, and boost attendee engagement and loyalty.
When deciding on the length of your promo video, you’ll want to typically keep it at around 60 seconds max, which is the ideal length according to Vidyard.
Since attention spans are on a steep decline you may even want to keep your videos as short as 30 seconds long.
With this kind of length you can push out more videos much more quickly, and repurpose them sooner.
1. Product demo videos
2. Introduction videos
3. Recruitment or Human Resources video
4. How-To or Explainer videos
5. Event videos
6. FAQ or Tutorial videos
7. Testimonial videos
How do you decide?
It boils down to experimentation.
Play around with different video types. See what works and what doesn’t.
Alternatively, you could just see what your competition is up to and draw inspiration from them.
That way, you will clearly understand what works for your industry, what the audience loves, and what you shouldn’t waste your time on!
Next on, let’s go through the process of creating a promotional video from scratch.
You need to have clearly defined goals before starting any marketing activity. The same applies to video marketing too.
Knowing why you are creating a promo video is as important as what video you’ll create.
This will help you develop clear parameters for evaluating the video’s performance and knowing what metrics to track.
1. Shares
2. Likes
3. Comments
4. Engagement time
5. View count
According to Wyzowl, 61% of video marketers say that the level of audience engagement – defined as things like shares, likes, comments – are metrics by which they measure the ROI on their video content.
1. Increasing Website Traffic
2. Improving Customer Education
3. Reaching New Customers
4. Building Brand Awareness
5. Boosting Social Media Engagement and Following
6. Increasing Leads
7. Increasing Sales Revenue
Once you’re happy with which of these goals you wish to pursue with your event promo video, it will become easier for you to choose your video type.
Let’s say I want to increase brand awareness and registrations for my next event.
1. What kind of video is right for me?
2. How long do I want my video to be?
3. How many videos do I want to make?
4. What are the most important things I want to show in my video?
5. What action do I want people to take after watching my video?
With these questions in mind, I may want to create a fast-paced video that has some energetic music, clips from a previous event that I held, a few testimonials toward the end of the video and finally, a CTA asking people to register.
For example, I could throw in a 30% discount to increase FOMO (fear of missing out)!
All while remembering to keep it within the 30-60 second threshold.
Now that you’ve formed the skeleton for your promo video, let’s talk about video types!
Now that you’ve set your video marketing goals, it’s now time to decide what type of event promo video you’d like to create.
Will it be a product demo video, a how-to video, an FAQ video, a testimonial video or anything that suits your fancy?
Based on the video type you’ve chosen, you’ll need to have the right environment, camera, microphone, props etc. to match your ideal video type.
For instance, let’s say that I’m a Digital Marketer who is looking to have a product launch event.
I want my event video to be a product demo video, that showcases, in 60 seconds, the story behind our new product and how it works.
I’ll need a voiceover recording using a condenser microphone that explains various parts of the video to viewer.
I won’t need any lighting as it will have animations and screen recordings using software such as OBS.
The type of video I’ll be producing (product demo video)
What the video will contain (the story behind our new product)
What tools I need to make this video (OBS and a condenser microphone)
Could I use these videos as part of my attendee journey?
Should I create more than one video type to match different attendee personas?
Will I be repurposing these videos?
Could I set up a social media and email marketing campaign?
These questions will help to frame the style, pace and tone of your video, which I briefly mentioned in the previous section.
Now that you’ve decided on your video goal and type, you can start working on your video script.
Especially if you’re going to feature a voiceover in your video.
Not only should your video script mention what your video should be about; it should also serve as an aid to help you implement various shots, graphics, animations or stock footage, that you may want included in your video.
Doing so will help you save time when filming at your chosen location or while editing the video, as you’ll know where to place your video’s assets!
Besides that, a good storyboard comes in handy when editing videos, as it helps you structure your edit so that your attendees can understand your video’s story. A storyboard also helps to visualise where your shots will go and inspire you to come up with even more creative ideas!
If you’re wondering where to get started with writing a script, you can use ChatGPT as a helpful resource:
And voilà. It created a simple, actionable video script:
1. Live action videos
2. Illustrative animations
3. Typography
4. Motion graphics videos
5. Screencast videos
Here’s the deal, having a clear understanding of your ideal video format will also help you decide on the tone of your video and the assets that you’ll add in post production.
For example, if you’re planning to do a live action video at your event venue with a few testimonials, you may consider adding an intro, an outro and some lower thirds in post production.
Besides giving you direction, it enables you to get a clear picture of the video creation schedule, the potential costs involved and so on.
The truth is that, all these points are determined by the goals of your event video strategy (what are you seeking to achieve?) and the target audience of your video marketing efforts (what do they prefer?).
If you’re not sure on either one of these points, you can always look at your industry and competition to understand what the standards are for video.
It’s now time for some action (pardon the pun)!
Now that you have the basics under your belt, you now need to shoot your video.
Take your storyboard and script to your recording location and start shooting your video. If you’ve decided to hire a videographer, then ensure that your storyboard and script are as detailed as possible. Better to err on the side of too much information!
1. Incorporate all the shots and angles outlined in your storyboard and/or script.
2. A camera or a phone with a 10-20 megapixel lens.
3. A lens polariser filter – to reduce glare when shooting outside.
4. A tripod for stabilisation
5. A boom microphone
6. Some adequate lighting – natural or studio lighting.
For a live action video that’s outside, consider picking the right time of day for your video shoot to ensure you get even lighting across your promo video. It will help save a lot of time during post production.
Considering a product demo video? You may consider capturing footage of your virtual event platform using OBS: a free, open source software for video recording and live streaming.
According to Treetop Therapy, attention spans can range anywhere from 20 seconds to 20 minutes, with the average being 8.25 seconds!
The truth is: you’re competing for attendees’ attention. Making it even harder to get your message across.
This means that those who watch your event promo video need to know what the event is about, why they should attend and the opportunity cost of not doing so.
Now, if you aim to reach a wider audience on the internet, a video between 30 and 60 seconds would be ideal.
If you happen to be showing your video on TV (that’s if you have the budget for it!), then the standard length of your video should be 15 seconds long, even though it can span up to 60 seconds.
Short and snappy videos are great for repurposing, as you could repurpose a 30-60 second promotional video into a short 10-20 second clip, share it on LinkedIn, and encourage your audience to sign up for your event by visiting your event’s landing page.
If you use or plan to use LinkedIn ads, then these short videos are perfect for getting the word out!
Editing a video can be a daunting task at first.
And that’s because you need the right tools and knowledge to edit a video like a professional.
But did you know that you can create stunning and professional promo videos seamlessly using online video editing tools? Hundreds of promo video maker tools are available online that let you edit your footage, add music, filters and special effects!
Once you find the right tool, you can upload your video, edit it so that it aligns with your storyboard, cut out any unnecessary parts and render the final video.
Remember that editing is the most crucial part of video creation and can either make or break your final output.
So make sure to spend enough time perfecting this step.
This is the stage where you may want to add an intro, outro or some other video asset, like lower thirds.
For your intro, you may have an animated one that transitions into some B-roll from a previous event!
Your outro may be an animated one that adds a stinger transition to transition from your final shot, to a typographical end screen with your event date and time.
Your event video strategy is crucial in this day and age. However, contrary to popular belief, creating videos for marketing is fairly easy.
With the right tools and plan, you can seamlessly create thumb-stopping videos without burning a hole in your pocket!
You can make a promotional video that seamlessly promotes your event to your target audience by following the simple steps mentioned in this blog.
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