You know what it’s like when someone comes to your door and tries to sell you
something? Unless it’s something you really want, which is rare, the ‘hard sell’ can
be intrusive and annoying and sometimes it’s a bit difficult to get away. Nobody likes
being badgered and it very often has completely the opposite effect, with the would-
be seller leaving in a huff.
It’s not quite the same with a commercial video. Yes, your aim is to extract something
from the viewer, whether it’s a sale, a follow on social media or a visit to your
website. But unlike a person being trapped at their front door, if viewers of your video
don’t like what they see or aren’t engaged immediately, they’ll simply scroll past. It’s
got to be outstandingly good just to get people’s attention, let alone get them to buy
or sign up.
So how do you achieve the impossible and get genuine results from a video ad
without it coming across as a hard sell and putting people off?
The answer is one which you may have noticed we regularly bring up in these blogs
– you can’t just try and sell. You have to ensure viewers are emotionally involved in
your content and want to hang on until the end of the story.
So what does a hard sell look like in a video?
Let’s say you’re trying to raise awareness of a new car package which has been
developed by your insurance business. You could have one of your managers
reading out a list of the benefits – it gives you peace of mind, it’s better value than
many competitors, you get legal expenses and windscreen cover and you get a
courtesy car if your car has to go in for repairszzzzzzzzz . . . and the viewer’s fallen
asleep, or at the very least completely lost interest. In fact, they probably scrolled
past before they even got to legal expenses. There’s no connection and frankly, it’s
boring.
You could try battering your viewers with a high-energy pitch full of urgent calls to
action. This product is better than any of the others on the market! It’s cheaper! You
really need it! Buy now while there’s a special offer on, it finishes this week, get in
quick, we mean NOW, you can’t afford not to! But that’s not a good approach either.
People don’t like being hectored and, like the previous suggestion, it’s impersonal
and manipulative. It indicates that your business isn’t interested in gaining trust and
building a long-term relationship with clients, you just want their money. Viewers will
scroll past and won’t come back.
What your viewers really want to know is how your product or service is going to
make a difference to them; how it will solve a problem and make life better and easier. So forget reciting lists and bombarding people with orders; the best way to do
this is create a captivating story which gets viewers emotionally involved so they can
get behind your message and see the results. Content which arouses emotions is
more persuasive and more likely to be shared, spreading the word about your
business.
Let’s take another look at the car insurance package. One of the benefits is a
courtesy car. Instead of listing it among other benefits, a persuasive video can show
how this could be a real lifesaver. Your car’s suddenly conked out. It’s always a
nuisance, but these things have happened to all of us and it’s always at the worst
possible time: a baby’s on the way and you need to get to a hospital, you have a vital
job interview or important exam, your teen’s waiting on their own in a darkened
railway car park, it’s Granny’s 90 th birthday and you have to pick up the cake . . .
Highlighting that sense of anxiety or panic and how it can be easily removed by a
promptly delivered courtesy car shows more than anything why viewers should
consider this kind of insurance. They can get involved with the story, and are much
more likely to keep watching to check that the baby isn’t born in a layby or Granny
gets to blow out her candles than they are to linger over a list. And the subtle
message of the call to action isn’t the hard sell ‘buy now’, it’s the pull on the
heartstrings – ‘wouldn’t you like to have this kind of reassurance?’
Getting it right isn’t easy and, even if you think you’ve got it nailed, you still have to
think about visuals, lighting, music, editing, not to mention ensuring it’s right for the
platform you’re going to release it on. Why not contact us? We’re experts at creating
commercial videos which hit that soft sell sweet spot and we’d love to do it for your
business.