We’ve mentioned before that campaigns with video pitches raise on average 114% more than campaigns with no video. Which means that it’s a pretty good idea to make a video pitch for your campaign — even if you’re not in film, video or television.

Here are some tips for making a great pitch video:

1 – Keep it short. Keep your pitch under 5 minutes in length so you don’t lose people’s attention and so they can easily fit watching your pitch into their web browsing time.

2 – Remember the 5 Ws. Don’t assume people already know what your campaign is and what you’re all about. In your pitch video be sure to address the 5 Ws: who are you? What are you raising money for? Where will this campaign take place? When do you expect to be finished? And of course — why do we care?

3 – Show, rather than tell. Use concrete examples, like photos, video clips of your work, testimonials from others, etc. Don’t just face the camera and explain your campaign. Make your video a visual showcase of what you’re all about. These guys do a really good job at incorporating direct testimonial and additional video.

4 – Don’t hide behind the curtain. Conversely, don’t just show us your project. Give your audience a little face time! Speaking directly at your audience makes your appeal more personal and gives a face to your campaign.

5 – Make sure we can hear you. Good audio is key. Take your video (or any audio recording) in a quiet space and try to eliminate white noise and static by using the controls in your video editor. If anything is at all unclear, consider using subtitles.

6 – Have a great opening. Make sure to get people’s attention from the very beginning of your video. There are several ways to do this, but my favorite is a straightforward appeal that gets right to the point, sort of like this one.

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