Are you planning to include crowdfunding videos in your campaign?
Are you an agency that handles crowdfunding videos on a regular basis?
Last year my company Supercool Creative Agency wrote and produced the video for “Reviv | The Affordable & Eco-Friendly Weighted Blanket” https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/revivblanket/reviv-the-affordable-and-eco-friendly-weighted-bla
The campaign raised over $2 Million across KickStarter and other platforms
Along with several others, we wrote and produced the video for a campaign that’s currently running – G1 | Futuristic Far-Infrared Heated Jacket From Graphene: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/g1jacket/g1-futuristic-heated-jacket-made-from-graphene
They’re just under $100,000 with 15 days to go!
Here’s how we do it!
START WITH A GREAT IDEA / CONCEPT
For the Reviv Blanket, we combined the idea of bamboo fabric with the purpose of the blanket – relaxation – and somehow came up with Pandas – because they always look pretty chill and they eat bamboo.
“This blanket helps you chill like a Panda.”
NAIL YOUR “BRAND VOICE”
For the Reviv campaign, the founders of the company wanted a fun, snarky, funny feel.
They wanted the opposite of boring!
So, we modeled David Spade and Dennis Leary – snarky, fun.
WRITE A GREAT SCRIPT WITH SNAPPY, CATCHY COPY
“…a nappy time happy sack of pure cozy that takes relaxation to a whole new level.”
LENGTH – KEEP IT UNDER 3 MINUTES
On a crowdfunding page you have plenty of room for additional videos, GIFs and text. Don’t feel like you have to cram everything into this one video.
Your hero video is a teaser to get out the most important information and make potential backers want to learn more.
You can always make “breakout” videos based on sections of the main video like “founders’ story,” “product in use,” “tech specs.”
BONUS SCRIPT TIP:
Time the sections of your script based on about 150 words per minute of script.
That’ll help you to not over-write
HAVE FUN WITH IT
If you don’t enjoy your video, your potential backers won’t either.
Neither will social media.
Neither will bloggers and journalists.
Neither will anyone
People aren’t looking for ads, they’re looking for compelling stories and reasons to buy.
HOOK VIEWERS FAST OR LOSE
Start with a catchy hook to grab viewers’ attention.
Something funny
Something shocking
Start off with something that makes people take notice!
GET STRAIGHT TO THE PAIN POINT
What do people need?
What problem are you solving?
You’ve invented a product that makes something easier, software that makes life better, music or movies that will entertain everyone in a new way.
HOW IT WORKS / WHAT IT’S ABOUT
How does the product work? What’s the movie about? What does the software do?
FOUNDERS’ STORY
Who created it? What are they all about? What’s their backstory
Make your video into ‘infotainment.’
KEEP YOUR BUDGET REASONABLE
I know this seems counter intuitive for me, the Creative Director for a production company that makes crowdfunding videos to advise you to spend less, but remember you’re crowdfunding to make money, not spend it.
That said, you still have to spend some, and make videos that are consistent with the quality of your brand, product and service.
I’m just making the point that there are many creative workarounds that can help you crank out a quality video while staying within an affordable video production budget.
BONUS PRODUCTION TIPS:
MAKE A “MUST HAVE” SHOT LIST AND THEN SHOOT LOTS OF EXTRA
Make sure you cover all the essentials:
- All aspects of the product
- Use cases
- Features
- Benefits
Shoot your product in action. Get all angles of your product. Show people using the product, use cases, all the scenarios.
FEEL FREE TO USE STOCK VIDEO, PHOTOS, MUSIC, MOTION GRAPHICS AND TEXT AS NEEDED
Stock video, photos, music and motion graphics have come a long way – even to the point where entire commercials are being made using stock video / photos, music and a really good voiceover.
Some of my favorites are iStock, Pond 5, and Adobe – to name just a few.
Mix in some visual effects, transitions, motion text, with a dash of creativity and Bob’s your uncle.
Remember, you’re telling a story for the highest impact and lowest budget possible.
The tendency sometimes, is to feel like you have to shoot everything on video, but there’s more than one way to tell a story.
Not everything in your script has to be shot. Think creatively about how you might use voiceovers and visuals that already exist to drive the script, for example, an airplane taking off, a nighttime city skyline, a sunrise or a tropical beach.
In our Reviv Weighted Blanket video – we worked in stock photos of Pandas, bamboo and a fat guy with a panda suit and a ukulele.
That raised over 2M so…
Any questions? Email supercool@supercoolcreative.com and we’ll work it out with you.