Video is a powerful tool to tell your startup's story and attract customers, investors, and talent. It can showcase your product, your mission, your values, and your team in a captivating and engaging way. But how can you create a video that stands out and resonates with your audience? Here are some tips to help you use video to tell your startup's story.
Before you start filming, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve with your video. Do you want to explain your product or service, showcase your impact, or share your vision? Do you want to target potential customers, investors, or employees? Depending on your goal, you will need to craft a different message, tone, and style for your video.
Story telling is the best way to communicate about your intent, what you want to achieve and how. Articulating your goal in the form of a story that communicates strongly that you know what you are doing and how your heart and soul is connected to it.This is what is needed to convince your investors, buyers and end users.
Once you have defined your goal, you need to understand who your audience is and what they care about. What are their pain points, needs, and aspirations? How can your startup solve their problems, fulfill their desires, or inspire them? How do they consume and share video content? Knowing your audience will help you tailor your video to their preferences, emotions, and behaviors.
The best way to connect with your audience and make them remember your startup is to tell a story. A story can be a narrative, a case study, a testimonial, or a demonstration of your product or service. A story should have a beginning, a middle, and an end, and should follow a logical and emotional arc. A story should also have a hook, a challenge, a solution, and a call to action.
One of the advantages of video is that it can show rather than tell your startup's story. Instead of using words or numbers, use visuals, sounds, and actions to demonstrate your product or service, your impact, or your culture. Show your audience how your startup works, how it helps your customers, or how it makes a difference. Show your audience your team, your values, or your personality. Show, don't tell, and let your audience see for themselves why your startup is unique and valuable.
Attention spans are short, especially online. You don't want to bore or confuse your audience with a long or complicated video. Keep your video short and simple, and focus on one main message or idea. Ideally, your video should be between 30 seconds and 3 minutes long, depending on your goal and platform. You should also use simple and clear language, avoid jargon and acronyms, and use subtitles or captions if needed.
Critical to keep your pitch videos short as you can always use your other materials to get into details. Given typically a pitch video is to be a teaser to get emotional interest for your audience be it investors, partners or customers. Agree that ideally keep it no longer than 1 minute, in my past experience once it gets past that you'll immediately see a drop off in viewers.
Finally, you want your video to be authentic and creative, and reflect your startup's identity and voice. Don't try to copy or imitate other startups or videos, but be yourself and showcase your uniqueness and originality. Don't be afraid to use humor, emotion, or surprise to make your video memorable and shareable. Be authentic and creative, and let your video tell your startup's story in a way that only you can.