TV advertising is still among the best if you're looking for the perfect method for advertising your business. It's highly profitable, potentially yielding as high as 300% to 500% ROI. Intriguing your audience with a television commercial can lead to a significant boost in conversions. However, you will need to know how to produce a top-quality ad if you want your campaigns to succeed.
Have you thought about how to develop an engaging commercial that intrigues your audience? The following are some tips to create a TV commercial that fuels a successful advertising campaign.
Decide on Your Subject
Before you can begin creating a TV commercial, you need to choose a specific subject. If you know what you want to cover with your ad, you'll know which direction to go with the messaging and ad creative.
Some examples of subjects may include:
- A new location for a local brick-and-mortar business
- The launch of a new product or service offering
- A campaign intended for building brand awareness
- A community event that you'll be hosting
- A cause that your business is backing
Choose Your Call-to-Action
Once you've chosen a focus for your commercial, it's time to select a specific call-to-action you would like to incorporate. Depending on your goals, there are many types of actions you can encourage your audiences to perform.
For example, you may want people to visit your website, in which case you could direct them to an address. You may want them to call your business, in which case you can include a phone number. For a new location, you could highlight the site and encourage viewers to visit.
Prepare a Script
With your subject and call-to-action determined, you can begin preparing your script. To start, consider the length of the script. For a majority of TV commercial scripts, 30 seconds is usually the ideal length.
Think about what to include in the actual script, based on what you want to achieve with the commercial. You can develop a hypothetical scenario that illustrates your audience's problems and the ways your business solves them. Storylines in commercials should have a defined beginning, middle, and end. You also need to consider whether you want to use characters and actors in a fictional scenario or feature real people and their stories.
Getting the tone just right is also essential. You'll need to decide if you want your commercials to be lighthearted and humorous or serious and touching, for example. At the same time, it's important to try not to overload your commercials with too much content. Keep your commercials balanced, with simplicity and effectiveness built-in.
Choose Your Talent
The next step is to begin selecting the talent you want to feature in your commercial. Depending on the scenario and how you plan to approach your ad's subject, you can cast and hire actors to fill various roles, or you can work with actual customers or staff. In some cases, you may be able to produce animated commercials and use voice actors in place of people.
It's also important to consider whether you want to produce your commercials on your own or work with a media partner.
Plan Out the Shot List
To make sure the shoot goes according to plan, you need to establish each shot. Bear in mind that you'll only have around 30 seconds or so, which makes it essential to determine precisely how to use that time.
Figure out where you want to film, whether you'll produce the commercial on sets or location. With the site in mind, you can figure out the number of shots to take and decide if you need to capture B-roll footage.
Shoot the TV Commercial
At this point, you're ready to shoot your commercial.
You should take the time to prepare well before the day of the shoot. This will help prevent any frustration if you forget any equipment or steps that are crucial before shooting. One of the best ways to ensure everything is ready to go is to prepare an in-depth checklist of everything you need.
During the shoot, make sure the lighting is just right with ample natural or artificial lighting, film all the takes you need to give you multiple options during editing and adjust acoustics to make sure the sound is balanced.
If you want to make sure shooting goes as well as it can, consider working with an experienced and prepared media partner.
Post-Production
After shooting is complete, post-production comes next as the final step before your commercial is ready for circulation. Some of the processes involved in post-production include:
- Editing the commercial
- Adding transitions between shots
- Adding animations and graphics
- Syncing the video and audio
Once you've completed the post-production process, you can decide where to place your ads to reach your target audience.
Work with a Media Partner to Develop Your Next Commercial
If intriguing your audience with a television commercial is your next goal, taking each of these steps can help you put together the perfect local TV commercial. However, working with a media partner can give your commercial project the combined experience and expertise needed to succeed. A dependable media partner will provide the equipment, resources, and knowledge needed during every stage of production.
