Top tips for creating your first sales video

Creating videos for sales doesn't have to be complicated.

But if you're new to the process, it's easy to overthink your execution and ruin it before you ever get going.

Shooting a sales or marketing video requires far less equipment and effort than you'd imagine. In this blog are some simple tips about how you can start recording and posting engaging, worthwhile videos for your prospects in a matter of minutes.

If you're also curious about what types of sales and marketing videos your team should make, then we have this blog which can help you with that.

Basic components of video for sales

• Lighting - While you can invest in a full lighting rig if you want, you really don't need a professional set up for your sales videos. The key things to remember are that the more lighting you have the better and that natural works better than artificial light anyway.
  Find the biggest window you have in the office and film in front of it. But make sure you're facing the light as having it behind will make you look like a shadowy figure on screen - especially if you're shooting a video on your phone with a less powerful camera. 

• Location - While you may have always dreamed of filming from exotic locations, a simple sales video in your office works just as well, if not better. You'd be surprised how those little "perfect imperfections" like colleagues walking past on a tea run can add a touch of authenticity to your videos and help you connect with prospects on a more personable level. But just be careful not to go somewhere too loud. Likewise, your colleagues might enjoy the humour of you sat at your kitchen table in a dressing gown, but a professional setting will probably go down better for a prospect.

• Sound - The audio of your video is just as important as the visual. It's also the one thing most people filming a video forget about (especially if they're new to it). But again, you don't have to break the bank to get great sound. For the price of a coffee round you can buy a lav mic you can clip onto your clothes and plug into your phone. The closer the mic is to your mouth, the quieter the background noise will be in comparison.

So remember! You don't have to break the bank to create an effective sales video. But this blog helps explain in more detail how much it costs to start with video for sales.

Sales video scripts

Now that you've got your video technical set-up sorted, let's tackle what you're going to say.

You can either write down the entire script (although you'll have to work hard not to sound like you're reading rather than speaking) or you can pick a topic and just wing it (just be careful you don't start rambling or go off-topic).

It's usually safer to have your overall topic and a few bullet points of key points you want to cover and then work around those.

Something as simple as this sample script below can have the desired result as long as you're giving the audience useful information to take away:

Hey - how are you? It's ‘your name’ from ‘your company’

I'm getting in touch because... (give context and the reason for your video)

Value add - what you have that they may be interested in / offer

CTA - pick one and let them know there will be a button at the end of the video or a link in your message

Thanks!

Adding subtitles to your sales video

One key thing to consider when making a video for sales or marketing is that some of your prospects or customers will be watching from a laptop, tablet or phone with the sound off.

(Research by Facebook found that 85% of videos watched on their platform were viewed with the sound off).

With that in mind, make sure you include subtitles in any sales video or marketing video you create.

Biggest mistake in video for sales?

Whether you use the technically correct phrase "pre-production" or just prep, putting enough time in to plan your sales video, or marketing video, is a critical part of a good video for sales strategy.

Even in the professional video world, the time spent planning scripts and filming can go on for years. The actual filming is only a small part of the process. 

Make sure you take the time at the start of your video projects to plan what you're going to say, where you're going to film, who is going to present, and the outcomes you want.Putting this extra effort in at the beginning will make a huge difference when it comes to seeing results.

If you're looking for more information on creating effective, engaging video for sales, we've recently updated our complete video for sales guide. 

Download by clicking below.

And....

'Action..!'