Nothing quite garners interest, anticipation, and buzz like social media—and even more so if the content is in video format. Whether you’re launching a new brand, a product or service, or announcing a new direction for your business, well-designed teaser videos are essential for building an engaged audience ahead of the official launch. But a teaser video requires a few essential elements to really be successful. In this guide, we’ll take a look at what to include to craft a compelling teaser video for your social channels.
[Image source: Deposit photos]
What To Include In A Teaser Video
A teaser video that really captivates audiences and is instantly recognizable as your brand depends on a combination of visual appeal, clear narrative, and identifiable sound design. You want to create content that leaves viewers wanting to know more.
Get Clear On Your Message
No matter what you’re announcing in your teaser campaign, you need to be clear on your messaging. Your messaging is how you intend to express yourself and attract attention for the right reasons, so it’s a critical component of your video.
“If you don’t have a concept in mind already, use content around you to curate ideas for your shoot” suggests photography experts MPB “We are constantly exposed to marketing through social media ads, billboards, grocery stores, product design, etc. Instagram, Pinterest and Behance are great web resources to search for visual inspiration”. Look at how competitors in your industry are creating interest and use that as a starting point.
Ask yourself a few key questions to define your message and purpose—who are your ideal customers? What makes you unique in your industry and what words do customers tend to use to describe you, your services or your products? What tone feels authentic to your brand when you’re creating other types of content—how can you remain consistent and genuine?
Grab Attention Quickly With A Hook
The first few seconds of your video are vital – they’re what will make or break the campaign, and either keep viewers engaged or have them scroll away instantly. So, what hook can you incorporate that will get people interested? It might be an unexpected visual or a thought-provoking question that gets viewers thinking.
The goal here isn’t shock value. You want to create an emotional connection straight away, whether that’s happiness and laughter, curiosity, or something that tugs at the heart strings.
[Image source: Deposit photos]
Think Outside The Box With Visuals
Social media videos are short, which means you don’t have a lot of time to play with. Each frame needs to have a purpose and be integral to the message, so think outside the box to make sure they count. High-resolution videography will give your teaser video a more professional and polished look and can reinforce your brand’s integrity. You might also experiment with Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality for special effects that add visual intrigue and set your content apart from other videos on the feed.
Think About Your Shots
Well-edited videos are pre-planned—you want each shot to flow seamlessly and transitions to be natural. Use techniques like slides, dissolves or fades to create an effortless fade from one shot to the next, and play with colour and lighting for contrasts that make your video visually appealing but also signify a change in context or message. A mixture of shots, from wide shots and close-ups to unique angles will enrich the story and create a more professional look.
Consider Your Sound Design
Sound is so important to an engaging video, especially if you’re trying to drum up interest and excitement for a new campaign. Whether you’re using a particular song or piece of music for the background, integrating sound effects that relate to the tone you’re trying to convey, or jumping on a TikTok trending sound, carefully considered sounds make your videos much more interesting and tie everything together.
Voiceovers are another option to lend a narrative guide to your video and provide context for what you’re sharing. Try to match the tone with the purpose of the video, such as a friendly, conversational tone for a light-hearted campaign or something more dramatic, depending on the project. Your voiceover should be clear and crisp, and well-paced to match the rhythm of the visual content.
Don’t Forget CTAs
Your teaser video was created to grow your audience and your business, so don’t neglect CTAs. Think about what you want viewers to do next so you can tailor the call to action accordingly. A well-placed CTA might encourage them to sign up for more information about your launch, get them to sign up to your social media channel, or direct them to your website to find out more. Just make sure the CTA is clear, stands out from the rest of the video, but still complements its design and style.
Grace Lau at Startup Magazine explains that there are several types of video CTA you can consider. “Informational CTAs typically ask the lease of the viewer. The goal of the content is to entice the viewer to visit a landing page or view additional content. Consideration or lead generation are asking the viewer to give a bit more to get to the next step. This may be filling out contact forms, subscribing to a newsletter or even signing up for a free trial”. Finally, transaction or conversion CTAs need to instill a sense of urgency or inspire action.
End On A Cliffhanger
Finish your teaser with a cliffhanger that leaves people wanting more and leaves certain questions unanswered. Maybe it’s a blurred visual that hints at the final reveal or perhaps a tagline that builds suspense.
You might tie your final frame into a CTA by encouraging viewers to go elsewhere to find out more, such as a dedicated landing page or your website, which gives the whole campaign a fun treasure hunt feel. A cliffhanger helps to keep your audience engaged long after the video ends, especially if you’ve given them food for thought in the video itself.
Teaser Video Best Practices
Keep Something Back
Remember that this is a teaser video, so you don’t want to reveal everything immediately. You want to keep some details back for later, while still revealing enough to pique your viewers’ interest. A good teaser video strikes the right balance and builds suspense, so consider how you can keep your audience engaged until the full reveal while still disclosing enough.
Build On Storytelling Techniques
Storytelling principles, with a clear beginning, middle, and end, create a narrative that viewers can follow along with and are familiar with. It helps prevent your video from feeling disjointed and chaotic, and creates flow through the story that provides an emotional pull.
Utilise AI, But Don’t Rely On It
AI shouldn’t be the sole tool you use to generate your teaser video, but it has its benefits when it comes to scripting and producing a video that will stand out online. When you’re creating video content for your own brand, you’re focusing on context that’s highly relevant to you and your goals—your audience, your brand voice, your target market. While these are all beneficial, AI can help you see the bigger picture.
Using AI, you can tighten up the script, remove any filler content that’s not driving your message forward, and come up with unique ideas that can set your video apart. It can also be used to storyboard the video so you can play around with different concepts for the perfect result.
Create A Unique Hashtag
Hashtags aren’t just useful for making your content easily accessible but it’s also useful for you to track its engagement more easily and monitor the performance. For a product or service launch, they’re particularly useful because it pools all your content into a single place so potential viewers or customers can learn more about it with just a few clicks and share information to others who might be interested.
[Image source: Deposit photos]
It pays to put in some time to really think through the hashtag you’re going to associate with this campaign to make sure it’s unique, easy to remember and spell, and relevant to your product or business. Try to avoid long strings of words because it makes it complex for users and means you run the risk of spelling errors making your content difficult to find.
Stay Consistent Across All Platforms
Consistency is important when you’re launching a new product or service. You’re unlikely to be running your teaser video in one place only, so if you’ve shared a video on TikTok, make sure you’re staying consistent elsewhere—not just in terms of the video itself but also hashtags, messaging, photos and logos, and captions.
Even the style of the text is important—if you’ve used white text on a dark background on one post, or all capital letters for headings, make sure you do the same on all other platforms. If a user catches your video on one channel, you want them to be able to recognise your style in other places too, so they know it’s your brand and product.
Engage With Your Viewers Regularly
As your video starts to generate interest and social buzz, you’ll start to see comments coming through, so make sure you’re staying on top of those conversations and engaging with your viewers. This not only shows people who are new to your brand that you’re authentic and reliable but also helps to grow your following and build more excitement for your launch.
Naturally, you’re unlikely to receive exclusively positive comments but don’t be deterred. Address any and all concerns and provide more details or information when questions come through but always stay professional and courteous.
Creating content for social media is something that takes time and effort to get right, especially when it comes to teaser videos. Persistence is key—continue to post high-quality content that speaks to your audience while staying true to your brand goals, and you’ll start to see a positive impact from your efforts.
