the 3 keys to making brand assets that increase sales & decrease time on sales calls.
1. the hook
The average attention span for video content is 8 seconds. imagine wasting 8 seconds on a boring establishing shot. (it’s ok. we’ve all done it.)
Audience interest must be earned. So how do you hook your audience? how do you earn interest?
Answer: Know your target market.
Who are they? What are they struggling with? What would solve their problem? what drives them? what gets their attention? These are the questions we ask when developing hooks for client content.
Example: true classic. it’s the shirt.
True classic does over 150M / year in sales.
Reviews on the product? not great. it’s the ads. so what makes their content “work” in driving sales?
The hook hits a pain point of their target audience at the start. the next shot provides the solution: the shirt - and an emotional solution - breaking tension with comedy that culturally connects
We’re 5 seconds in and the ad has earned audience interest in a saturated market.
Effective hooks speak authentically to their clients.
They address their audience’s pain points, make unexpected / challenging statements or ask great questions. they showcase unique visuals or sounds, or center A moment of relatable conflict or humor.
Professional content creation means knowing and understanding the culture & psychology of your clients, and knowing how to communicate in a manner that respects who they are and their time.
Without a good hook your videos could be filled with valuable information but nearly guaranteed to be ignored.
first impressions are critical
2. the pain point
For videos to engage an audience after a good hook, they have to give your audience attention, not ask for it.
What does that mean?
It means good content fulfills a real need, a good ad answers a burning question in the heart of your audience.
The more emotionally charged that question, the stronger the interest will be in the answer.
That doesn’t mean every brand video has to be dramatic or dramatized.
But it means your business has to tell a story. A personal one.
Stories work the same in advertising as they do in entertainment, the audience is invited to put themselves in the shoes of the main character.
The main character could be on-screen. Or they could be the person a video is addressing.
If we relate to that character, we willingly live a relatable journey vicariously through them.
Why do we identify with characters on a screen? Pixar and disney show us we can identify with a fish, a fawn, or a fuzzy blue monster.
So it’s not just image - although image can be very important. But even more deeply, it’s the obstacles that characters face that we identify with.
It’s their pain points.
The strength of our engagement will be determined by the strength and authenticity of our relationship to that pain point.
I once asked the great film scholar jim hosney for his favorite definition of a hero. he thought for a minute and said: “a hero is someone who carries our dreams for us until we’re strong enough to carry them ourselves.”
I shared that with the screenwriting guru Robert McKee who barked: “who the hell is ever strong enough to carry their dreams? Most never do.”
Oof, right?
But that’s why the “wish fulfillment” of storytelling is so powerful.
That’s why good branding works.
What is the pain point of your audience? What dreams are you carrying for them? What problem can you authentically solve?
Good branding has your potential clients deeply engaged with your content saying: “Wow, they are talking directly to me. And that’s the answer I’ve been looking for.”
good ads should provide a valuable service
3. clear call to action
So you nailed your hook, and authentically addressed your audiences pain points.
Your potential customer is now engaged and ready to take action - for a few seconds.
This is your shot.
Now what?
There’s a basic rule of psychology that applies to “user experience design.”
Keep it simple.
Your call to action should be singular, clear, and easy.
your job is to make this easy
That’s It.
Those are the 3 key methods to creating videos that increase sales, accelerate buy-in and level up your brand.
If you share our passion for brand building, green tech and scaling businesses on a mission to serve people and planet, and you’re interested in having us help you execute these methods for your company, book a strategy call now - using the links provided in your private invitation.