A century ago in 1913 Nils Granlund, the ad manager for the Marcus Loew theater chain, came up with the idea to produce a short film to promote the premiere of Broadway musical The Pleasure Seekers. Granlund showed this short “trailer” prior to the full length motion picture, and the world of audiovisual promotion has never been the same since. Today we’re all used to seeing the one to two minute trailers promoting the latest blockbuster movie, but very few bloggers have followed the lead of the big Hollywood studios in creating trailers for their own blogs, placing them on YouTube and enjoying the increased traffic. With the increased accessibility and affordability of good quality video production gear, there is now no excuse for any blogger to not adopt video trailers as a primary means of promoting their work.
Many Movie & TV Producers Use Affordable DSLR Cameras
It is absolutely imperative to ensure that your video trailer is of the best quality you can afford. Many smartphones and tablets now incorporate video hardware and software which although not strictly professional level, can certainly be utilized to produce acceptable quality videos. If you aspire to something a little bit more on the high end of production quality, you may be surprised to learn that many motion picture and television producers use DSLR photographic cameras for action shots, special scenes and second unit shoots. No longer do you need to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in a pro movie camera, but you can shoot amazing quality video with a DSLR camera which costs less than a thousand dollars complete with necessary accessories such as a decent quality tripod!
Promote Your Blog’s Values in a Strikingly Creative Way
Once you have your gear figured out it’s now time to turn your attention towards the concept of the video trailer itself. Like any other audiovisual production from the cheapest promotional YouTube video done on the barest shoestring to the most expensive motion picture that costs hundreds of millions of dollars to produce and market, you have a fundamental requirement to create something that will engage and resonate with your audience. Therefore you must start with asking yourself what is the unique value of your blog that you want to portray to that audience. You would never think of promoting your blog by using the marketing tag line of “read my blog… it’s just like a hundred others!” Similarly you should not even remotely consider producing a video trailer unless you are promoting an aspect of your blog that sets it apart from your competition. Determine what your blog’s unique values are and then come up with the most strikingly creative way to make it the focal point of your entire video.
You Have to Trigger an Emotional Connection in Your Viewer
One of the standard tenets of any form of marketing is that the message must motivate your audience not through a cerebral but through an emotional approach. “Read my blog… it’s historically proven to provide 1.37% more information than the others” is no way to spark an emotional connection with your video viewer. You don’t do that with dusty facts and figures, you do it by addressing how your blog can provide the solution to a problem they are experiencing. Whether that problem is selecting the proper video card or learning how to rebuild their life after a loss, the approach should always be the same and it should form the core of your video’s conceptual approach. My blog can help you and here’s how.
In your video you have to address your audience’s needs and demonstrate to them how your blog can provide the desired result. In order for the viewer to do so they have to be told what action they should take. This call to action needs to be clearly defined and easily accessible. Don’t beat around the bush, make it very clear what you want the viewer to do. If you have crafted your video to be compelling, they will not hesitate to provide you the clicks you seek!
