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If your business already has an outdoor LED display, it’s time to start making the most of it to promote your brand and your products and services. For this, nothing better than a high-impact advertising spot. A purpose that can seem like a daunting task when we are dealing with a small or medium-sized company with a limited budget, but who said fear? In the following lines, from Visual Led we want to give you the keys to create an ad without an agency step by step.
And why bet on a spot to be broadcast on a television? In the age of web analytics, many advertisers are reluctant to take actions whose results cannot be unequivocally quantified, as is the case with traditional ads. However, the figures show that these are still highly effective. For example, a recent study shows that the percentage of TV ads we retain is 42%, compared to almost half, 23%, of YouTube videos. Additionally, according to a survey by inbound marketing and software company HubStop, 50% of users are interested in seeing ads for your brand.
To this should be added that, since you already have an advertising LED screen, broadcasting an advertisement will be much cheaper than hiring its insertion on a television channel. And if you want, you can also save the fees of an agency.
Do you want to know how? In that case, keep reading.
Before you start, define your goal
One of the most common mistakes is skipping this first stage in the ad creation process. Although it may be tempting to brainstorm with your partners or collaborators as soon as possible to start looking for ingenious and imaginative ideas, they will be useless without a previous step: defining the objective of the advertising campaign. To establish it, a question must be asked: what do you want to achieve with it? If we go beyond the ultimate purpose of the vast majority of companies (increase sales), we will find many other goals that we can achieve with our announcement. These purposes can be grouped into three groups.
- Cognitive. In this case, the ads seek to increase brand awareness and its products and services among its ideal clients or buyer persona. To reach a successful conclusion, it is important to underline the added value with respect to the competitors – although without making direct reference to them – and to attract the interest of potential buyers.
- Emotional. It is an ideal approach when, already enjoying the company and its activity and popularity, you want to awaken positive emotions and feelings in the viewer. These spots also often help improve corporate social responsibility.
- Conative. They are usually the most direct spots, and they encourage the audience to take an action (visit a commercial establishment, make a purchase, take advantage of an offer or promotion, etc.)
Identify your audience ... and their needs
To be effective, the ad must convey a marketing message aimed at the company’s target, not at anyone who passes in front of your LED screen (although there are many who fall into the trap of wanting to please or please everyone ). We admit it: if you regularly follow our blog, you will see that we insist a lot on this issue, but it is not on a whim. In an increasingly globalized market and with a growing offer, consisting of products and services that are practically identical to each other, knowing your audience in depth is essential to understand their demands and needs and to be able to give a satisfactory response to them.
Creating a multichannel customer service, interacting with your community through social networks or conducting market research are often very useful strategies in this regard.
Create the message
After establishing what we want and how we want to achieve it, the peak moment of the message creation process arrives: developing the message. For this, it is essential to have a script, which is nothing more than a written summary of everything that the spot will include: scenes, dialogues, subtitles (something essential if it is outdoor advertising).
Here are some tips:
- Explain a solid and convincing story that awakens positive emotions and connotations among your buyer persona.
- Reflect the personality of your brand, emphasizing those aspects that help it differentiate itself from its competitors.
- Play with non-verbal communication, humor and visual codes, if you plan to broadcast the ad on outdoor advertising screens.
- Include a call-to-action (CTA) at the end of the video, prompting the audience to make a purchase, participate in a promotion, and so on. This should be in line with your initial goal.
Do you need more clues? If so, check out our tips for creating an effective outdoor advertising message.
Prepare the storyboard
If you are not familiar with this concept, you should know that a storyboard is the illustrated version of the dialogues that you have prepared in the previous point. In this document, you will put your story pictorially on stage, presenting each and every one of the plans that will make up the advertisement.
The idea is to define the actions and movements that will appear in each shot, before proceeding to the filming. It is very important that the indications are very clear, since it will be third parties (for example, actors, camera operators, etc.) who will have to execute them.
To make the drawings, it is not necessary to hire the services of an internationally famous cartoonist. It is enough with simple sketches or designs that reflect the location, gestures and attitudes of those who will be positioned in front of the camera. Also keep in mind that there are some softwares on the market, such as Storyboarder, which are free and open source, that may be very useful for you.
Organize the filming thoroughly
Before filming, take note of the following recommendations.
- Be sure to take an inventory of the technical equipment you are going to use. For filming, you can use, for example, a quality mobile phone. To record sound — as long as you plan to broadcast your ad on an indoor LED screen — don’t forget to get yourself a good microphone. You should also get a powerful lighting system, especially if the lighting conditions are not the most suitable.
- Take maximum care of the frames. Although sound issues during editing can be fixed on the fly, there is no plan B for poorly framing after shooting is complete.
- Bet on dynamism, thanks to quick shots.
Do the video editing without rushing
To finish creating an ad without an agency step by step, you only have one last step left, no less important than all of the above: editing the video. For this, you have countless video editing programs. From the simplest, such as Windows Movie Maker (free), to much more complex ones, such as Final Cut, Adobe Premiere, Pinnacle Studio or Filmora. Choose the one that best suits you and the needs of your spot. In addition, if you choose Visual Led LED screens, you will have a built-in program that will allow you to edit images and videos without prior knowledge of graphic design or programming (if you wish, you can also sign up for our online courses to learn how to take advantage of all its functionalities ).
For an even better result, also check out our tips on how to edit an engaging video.
Do you have even more questions about how to create an ad without an agency? In that case, call us at (+44) 203 769 5276, write to comercial@visualled.com or fill out our contact form. We will provide you with all the information you need without obligation and, if the creation of your ad continues to be difficult for you, we can offer you the services of an experienced creative team, with which you will obtain an impressive and professional result. Don’t miss out!
