In this discussion, SolidLine Media provides an overview of what makes for an effective demo reel and how one can be effectively created from various types of footage to highlight your brand’s capabilities.
What is a Demo Reel?
Visuals paint a picture that it’s hard to convey with words, so when it comes to providing potential clients with a breakdown of the products and services you can provide, you can’t go wrong with a brochure. As we increasingly resort to digital media and leverage video content to portray our brand through our online platforms, businesses are creating video portfolios to showcase the products and services on offer. These videos can be simple snippets of product overviews, or the firm can compile a more elaborate presentation containing product overviews, customer testimonials, how-tos, and other targeted content to entice customers.\
How to Shoot a Demo Reel Properly
As with any other piece of video content, demo reels should be shot according to best practices that will enhance the final product and the impact the video has on consumer behavior.
The Right Sized Video
Overall, demo reels should come in at around 2 minutes long but structured in such a way that your strongest clips come at the start of the video to grab and maintain consumer attention. You also want to include natural breaks in the content narrative to allow the marketing team to cut down the long-form piece into multiple smaller multipurpose videos. The intent is that you should be able to pull small 20-30 second clips from the piece for use elsewhere.
High-Quality Content Will Boost Your Demo Reel
Using poorly shot or unstructured clips won’t help you build out an effective, high-impact demo reel. Instead, your reel should consist of high-quality clips that show the versatility of your brand and services. Keeping the content that speaks to your brand and relevant to your overall mission will go a long way towards creating a more impactful reel. Highlight your best work and strongest clients in your portfolio to ensure the strongest impact.
Keep It Simple and Don’t Get Overly Fancy
Showcase your services or products to maximum impact by making them the focus of the bulk of the demo reel. Remember that consumer attention means you need to grab their attention and speak to the questions they are looking to answer within the first 20-30 seconds, so if you waste time with fancy transitions or ornate intro sequences, you’re already wasting valuable time to showcase your brand itself. Similarly, be intentional with the reel’s soundtrack and ensure that it doesn’t distract from the viewer’s overall experience.
Include the Right Contact Information for Clients Interested in Your Brand
Depending on the channels you’re using to distribute your demo reel, potential customers might not be in a place where they can easily navigate to your contact forms. Include clear contact information, including to whom on your team viewers should be reaching out.
SolidLine Builds Versatile Demo Reels for Clients Across Chicago
As with standard-fair marketing videos, demo reels can be built from live-action clips or as animated and motion graphic projects. No matter what kind of demo reel you need, Chicago-based SolidLine Media’s talented team of marketing professionals can transform your vision to the screen. Learn more about our video production services and find the right solution that fits your marketing strategy.
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