A movie trailer, YouTube video, or book trailer is a marketing tool designed to get people to watch a project. It’s an essential part of the filmmaking process, and a critical first step in any marketing campaign.
There are a few basic steps you need to follow when creating a trailer. These best practices can help you create a trailer that engages and intrigues your audience.
1. Make a list of all the footage you have and what story you want to tell with it.
Whether you’re making a book trailer, movie trailer, or promotional video for your product or service, it’s essential to keep all of your footage in one place. This will give you a better idea of what to include in your final product and what scenes are important. It will also help you avoid overlapping footage and wasting time editing unwanted material.
2. Make a storyboard for your trailer to help you visualize all of the major elements that go into making your film.
A storyboard is a visual representation of your film that shows how all of the elements come together, including the visual cues, script, voice-over, and animations. It can also help you see where there are issues that need to be addressed before production.
3. Use press quotes to up social proof in your trailers and teasers
As we’ve mentioned earlier, a great way to get people to buy or click on links in your videos is through recommendations from other creators. While word-of-mouth referrals from friends are still the most effective, using press quotes from reputable publications is a solid marketing strategy as well.
4. Use the 3-act structure to craft your trailers
A 3-act movie structure is a classic storytelling framework that works for movies and books alike. By implementing this structure in your trailers, you can introduce your characters and plots, raise the stakes or complications, and then tie everything together with a compelling conclusion.
5. Find eye-catching clips and footage for your trailers
A trailer should be a mix of exciting, unique content that will grab the attention of viewers and hold it. Choosing the right footage to include in your trailer is an important step in achieving this goal, and it’s easy to do with Animoto. Our library of over 1 million photos and video clips from Getty Images will have something for you.
6. Add social proof to your trailers and teasers
Finally, incorporating testimonials, reviews, and other forms of social proof in your trailer can be an excellent way to increase interest in your products or services. This is especially true for e-books and webinars, where potential subscribers might be skeptical of the quality of a product that hasn’t received many positive reviews yet.
7. Add a call-to-action
A strong, compelling trailer can be the difference between gaining a new subscriber or losing them, so make sure that your video’s CTA is both effective and genuine. This will ensure that your subscribers have a great experience when they subscribe to your channel, membership site, or video-on-demand service and will want to share it with their friends.