Crafting a Formula for Success.
So you’ve got an idea for a business. In your mind it’s the most brilliant idea that’s ever been conjured up. But how do you make this idea a reality? To jumpstart their business, many budding and established entrepreneurs are now looking to crowdfunding websites as means of funding their venture. Since the early days of crowdfunding, video has always been the go-to tool for communicating business ideas to the masses.
According to MWP Digital Media, projects that feature a video in their pitch are “86% more likely to achieve their funding goal”; our brains are more responsive to visual content with the average viewer remembering 95% of a message when it is watched, whereas only 10% when read.
A video is a hugely powerful communication tool, so much consideration should be given to how you structure and style your presentation… and whilst there isn’t a magical recipe for securing backing from investors, by following these 5 rules, your crowdfunding campaign will stand a far greater chance of hitting target.
Knowing your aims and audience
Benjamin Franklin famously said “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail”. There needs to be a categorical outlining of why you’re making this video and your business aims need to be clearly defined. What you want from the crowd-funding video needs to be outlined and expanded upon before any production takes place. Collaborating with clients, we fuse our creative capacities to produce a detailed treatment and then develop an efficient script that clearly outlines your product, service or business vision.
Who are you trying to reach and why are you trying to reach them? Tipsy Pud emotively taps into it’s target audience through indulgent images of luxury chocolate products. To emulate their seductive and sensual branding we incorporated shots of the chocolate slowly rotating on a turntable with subtle lighting. Playing upon the black and white colour scheme to take audience’s back to the glitz and glamour of the Roaring 20’s.
The Hook!
The opening moments of your videos are crucial and will dictate whether a viewer sticks with a video or not. Due to the’recency effect’ phenomenon, people tend to recall the first thing and the last thing they see. If there’s one thing that you want your audience to take away its the association with how they feel towards the product and the brand. Our NovelTea video captures Vincent and Lukas’ distinctive aesthetic – a couple of Germans in English gentleman’s tweed with all the trimmings, beckoning a yearning and admiration towards a by-gone era of aristocracy and gentry. This period-esque charm is woven into the brand, filtering into the stylized labels of the bottles, the delicate brew itself and the regal and whimsical logo.
Recommended for You
Webcast, March 7th: NXT Stage Playbook: Finding the Winning Formula for Your Growing Brand
What’s the story?
You’re trying to sell your product, but you’re also selling your story. How effectively that story is conveyed is crucial in maintaining interest and sustaining attention. There needs to be beginning, middle and end which provides structure; allowing the viewer to navigate from the business’ fruition, their developments and what they hope to achieve in the future.
Locoshout’s crowdfunding video follows a step-by-step journey, illustrating how their app operates, whilst painting pictures for the end user. Supporting the narrative, we’ve also used motion graphics and aerial video, to highlight the app’s functionality. Always keep your customer front of mind when you ask: Who, What, When, Where and How.
The trajectory of the business is important but make it personable. Locoshout have fostered a passion for connecting people and services. An investor will always want to know the people behind the brand. Transparency is key is gaining trust.
Stick to the facts
From the get-go a sense of trust needs to be established between your business and the viewer. Business deals aren’t founded on passion and opinion alone, decisions are also based on evidence and hard fact. We helped NovelTea demonstrate their business growth plans through animation; figures were overlaid with stills from product launches and animated namedrops of their customers. Highlighting the business’ achievements in a professional and eye-catching manner increases the chances of them being understood.
Get their attention
The most valuable commodity in the digital world of social media is attention. The golden rule is that the duration of crowdfunding videos should be less than 5 minutes, otherwise people’s interest will dissipate. Elements within the frame need to keep on moving and transitioning whilst covering the main points of your pitch. Variety is key, therefore it’s important to utilise different ways of exploring visual narrative.
Thinking of pitching a product or service, but don’t know where to start? Give us a shout and we’ll help you explore and structure your video. We’re big fans of startups and look forward to hearing your big idea!
