“Emotions rule us” Alex Morris of Lambda Films tells a keen #UpLevelling Fiverr audience. Despite our predisposition to facts and figures, emotions and feelings are how you cut through the noise in videos and films to make your target audience care.
Commercial Director Alex founded his company in 2009. He is drawn to companies who have a similar mission and values which fit in with their own. As a Fiverr Pro seller, the inspiration behind this presentation to entrepreneurs was to share five agency tips on how to get to the heart of creating the most compelling content.
Citing Simon Sinek’s golden circle of why you do what you do, how you create what you offer and only then talking about what you offer, Alex’s presentation began at the core of why video relies on storytelling. We heard why an inspiring idea and aspiring to more is the real key to producing a strong, outstanding video. How conveying emotions and a feeling of camaraderie delivers a special drive to feel love and affection for a brand. Alex says this is why big brands compete for mindshare and giants like Coca Cola and Johnnie Walker still advertise.
It can be hard knowing where to begin when commissioning an agency though or getting to the root of what you actually want to communicate. Alex recommends starting from a position of “make me care” because it can help you communicate better with people.
Entrepreneurs were encouraged not to just “roll over and accept the agency’s ideas — because sometimes it just turns into an ideas competition” and to share reference videos of what you love and hate so you can help increase the chances of robust pre-production.
Here are Alex’s top five tips for getting the best from your agency:
ONE — Understand the process and trust it.
Go into working with an agency with an open heart. You’ll want to have your views challenged because that will make your thinking robust. Otherwise, you’re at risk of sleep-walking into a dated version of what you originally wanted to create.
TWO — Think backwards from your desired results.
Be mindful of the platform you’re creating for. Getting it right is important. Video should be about powerful visuals. Facebook video is changing the marketplace.
THREE — Be decisive and of one mind.
Involve all stakeholders early on. Deal with the people who can make good decisions quickly. Make sure you’re all on the same page before you begin, ideally before the storyboard stage because you don’t want to be discussing amends in post-production.
FOUR — Lose the detail to create impact.
Forget the facts and figures. Alex says “We have all his anxiety around communicating our USPs, but the more confident approach is lighter on detail and is all about communicating with people on an emotional level. Then it becomes impactful.” We were reminded that our videos will never be seen in a vacuum. Always add a call to action and add steps to take. Leave the facts and figures to your brochures and websites.
FIVE — Plan well.
Allow sufficient lead time. Be mindful of what you want to achieve in what timeframe. Decide your priorities amongst quality, time and price.
Some agencies give undivided attention to the post-production phase whereas in reality, to have a strong outcome, 50% of your time should be in pre-production in order to create a smoother shoot and a faster edit. Pre-production is a smart investment.
Producing a video within four to eight weeks is a reasonable expectation when you have a smart plan. Digital content is on the rise, so it’s important to get things right.
Neuroscience maintains we buy on emotion and justify with logic. In a nutshell, the job of a video is not to tell everyone everything you do, it’s to create an impact and compel your audience to take action. Emotions are the secret to connecting with your audience early on and getting them to stay long enough to hear your message.
Originally published on 6 February 2019 on Medium.