How to Write a Video Marketing Script

There’s no doubt that video is one of the highest-converting types of content you can use today to market pretty much anything – and this isn’t about to change.

According to Wordstream, 87% of digital marketers use video content, 85% of US internet users watch online videos, and video has the potential to boost organic traffic by over 150%.

So, if you are doing anything in the sphere of digital marketing, you can be sure that putting a bit of extra time into making a high-quality (or even medium quality) video can go a long way towards marketing your product.

But when it comes to creating and scripting the video, where do you start? Here’s a rundown of some best practices and options for creating a highly effective marketing video.

Editing Tools

First off, you may be wondering exactly what to use to produce and edit a professional video. You probably have experienced creating a simple introductory, one-frame, unedited video using your built-in software and then uploading it onto YouTube – and in truth, there’s nothing wrong with this if you are a small business with a small budget. The key is more about what the video offers than whether it’s super professional.

However, if you want to take it to the next level, you’ll want to test out a few different types of software and tools. Here are some examples of a few of the best video tools to try this year.

Animaker allows you to put animated videos on your site. Animation can be great for demos, especially if your product is kid-friendly, or even if it’s not. The tool is very easy to use and can create a big impact, especially if your audience is a little on the creative or quirky side of the spectrum. It’s also a great choice if you’re looking to create an explainer video.

Another inexpensive option you may want to test out is Animoto. You can use it for any type of video and even add your favorite song in the background.

You can also try Moovly for free for the first 30 days. It offers several templates and themes that are suitable for almost any type of marketing campaign or industry. This one is meant for more advanced users, but also allows you more options for customization if that’s something you’re looking for.

Video Formats

Before you go anywhere near writing a video script, it’s important to establish what type of video(s) will work best for your company or a given marketing campaign, as well as for your specific purpose. Here’s a rundown of the main types of videos.

Branding Videos

These ones really are just introductions to your brand, service or self, if that’s what you’re marketing. You have the opportunity to tell your story and share your key mission. These types of videos should be kept short, and they work great on an about page. These are great if you’re creating the video for the top of the sales funnel.

Explainers

If you have a product or service that is a little more complicated to use, or if you have the type of product that benefits from visuals and step-by-step instructions, you may want to consider an explainer video to add some color and pep. For instance, if you are selling a kitchen gadget, having a video demonstrating various uses and recipes can go a long way.

These types of videos can be useful to your audience even before they purchase the product – if you offer a unique recipe, for instance, viewers will likely associate that recipe with your product.  

VLOGS or Webinars

VLOGS are great tools for the segment of your traffic that has already purchased or is about to purchase. This is for the bottom of the funnel and matches well with services and educational products.

Company or Event-Focused Videos

People are becoming more and more aware of the companies that they’re buying from and to that end often appreciate knowing what goes on behind the scenes. 

A video is a perfect opportunity to be transparent about the positive business practices you put into place every day – for instance, using environmentally friendly materials or ensuring that employees are paid fair wages. When people know these types of details, they’ll be more likely to purchase your product.

You may also want to include events or promotional activities in this type of videos so that your customers have a clear understanding of not only the company culture but the kinds of relationships you have with customers as well.  

Testimonials

Including testimonials in your video can go a long way towards selling your product and can even be more effective than written reviews. This is because when we see a person’s face and hear their tone of voice, there’s more potential for trust and authenticity.

Another reason why testimonials can be so effective is that we can use them in combination with product demonstrations or simply footage of a person using a given product or service in real life.  

Scripting Steps

Once you’ve found a tool that works for your budget and skill level, you’ll want to start developing your script. Here are the steps for creating an awesome script.

1. Create an Outline

Just like any other writing or marketing project, writing a video marketing script is about telling a compelling story. In this case, you’ll probably want to make the video itself short and punchy, but depending on what your intent is, it may need to be longer.

The point of creating an outline or brief is so that you have an easily digestible outline that you can share with everyone involved in making the video. This is important for discussion as well – you’ll want to ensure that anyone else in charge is on board with your tone and brand messaging.

Questions to consider at this stage:

• Marketing goals
• Purpose of video
• Emotional response you want from the audience
• Project participants
• Call to action
• Educational or informative points of the video

Post-production marketing plan ideas

Your outline should clarify the actual story line of the video, and the accompanying brief will act as the project outline.

2. Writing the Script

If you’ve never written a video script before, don’t worry – you have a few options. You can employ someone who has had experience writing a script, find an actor friend, or just write conversational type copy as you normally would if that’s something you have experience with.

The point is that you want to generate a unique story line that is brand-focused and action-oriented. One tip may be to start from the end and work your way back in order to establish the right type of call-to-action for your brand, product, and advertising platform.  

Some questions to consider:

• What’s the primary call-to-action?
• What would make you actually watch to the end of the video?
• What kinds of content do you find engaging when you’re on social media or other channels? How do you end up finding YouTube videos when you’re searching?

As you consider your script, remember that simple is best. The way to make the video pop will more likely be with the visual elements, and of course, the best marketing videos use just the right combination of visual elements and text messaging.

Your script need not be complicated; it doesn’t need to be wordy – you’re just giving a viewer something interesting to take in to leave them with a good impression.

A few more points to bear in mind:

• Choose conversational writing, of course, rather than the type of writing you may use if you were to write an article or blog post.
• Write for the demographic that is key for the social platform you plan on using.
• Use humor and color to the extent that it matches your brand.
• Keep the length in tune with the type of advertising you’re going to do.
• Consider writing a series of super short videos that you can use in sequence to establish brand awareness over a longer period of time.
• Create it so that it works well with subtitles and narrative in order to reach a global audience.
• Include all of your notes in the first drafts – even though you want it to be concise, it’s better to start longer and then edit later.

Still stuck? There are plenty of script templates available online.

3. Practice & Tweak

Once you have your script finalized, you can then move onto a table read before recording your video. This is particularly important of course if you have people doing extensive voice components.

It’s important that you get to the practice phase well before the deadline because sometimes you’ll find that during the table read, things just don’t sound as solid as you expect. But if you don’t have a ton of time for rehearsals, you can always use a laptop as a teleprompter.

Bring it All Together

There are many different ways of composing a video and depending on what your expertise is; you’ll probably want to consult some experts at least one point in the process, even if this is editing and finalizing audio if you just have a series of simple clips, for instance. 

Don’t be afraid to ask for help, and have fun while you’re learning –video creation is a highly valuable experience and skill for any digital marketer today!