6 Steps to Making an Engaging TV Commercial

Although TV commercials are not what they used to be when it comes to being the ultimate advertising tool due to the arrival on the scene of new technologies and new ways of reaching out to your target audience, this doesn’t mean that television shouldn’t be part of your marketing mix or project.

Irrespective of whether you’re a film enthusiast who has been tasked with the production of a TV commercial or a marketing professional looking forward to expanding your marketing mix, TV commercials require some strategic thought first. Then you can come up with a great idea to work on until it becomes something your audience wants to watch.

Getting started with TV Commercials

Before you start coming up with all sorts of ideas, you’ve got to consider the main roadblocks in making a commercial first. You might pay a special price for a primetime spot, but still, this doesn’t guarantee that your target audience will actually view your ad. Today’s DVRs allow viewers to fast-forward through commercials and ads. Some other devices even skip ads altogether.

Smartphones, tablets, TVs, gaming consoles, and even VR devices make it rather difficult to keep eyeballs on the screen during ad breaks even when they’re not being fast-forwarded or skipped. Your ad might be playing in thousands of households, but only a really small percentage of your target audience is watching it.

So, how to elicit interest? The aforementioned hurdles are just a sample of the most common roadblocks you have got to get past if you want your TV commercial successful and reap the benefits. Here are 6 steps that will help you refine your ideas and set your project for its success.

6 steps to making a successful TV commercial

1. Develop your idea

2. Write a solid script

3. Define the characters

4. Hire a production company

5. Plan every shot

6. Match audio and video

Step 1: Develop your idea

TV can be really expensive. You’re probably going to spend a large portion of your budget purchasing time to make the spot, so you will be better off if you manage to come up with a big idea that will get your target audience looking at your product or service.

Remember the first Dollar Shave Club ad? The founder of the company even starred in his own commercial and, even though it wasn’t an expensive commercial to shoot, the ad got more than 22 million views on YouTube.

Try it yourself. Try to come up with something catchy that will draw people’s attention.

Step 2: Write a solid script

You have come up with a great idea. Now you have to come up with the script. You don’t have to be an advertising genius to do this, but watching commercials that are similar to your idea will definitely come in handy. You will get a much clearer idea of direction, tone, pacing, and feeling.

Remember: you have a very limited portion of time to frame and capture your audience’s attention, so you’d better get your message across quickly. Keep the lines short and punchy. Your script should tell your audience what it is that you’re advertising, even when they’re not watching your ad directly. 

Finally, make the time a priority. You will be buying chunks of time, ranging from 30 seconds to 2 minutes, so your script has to fit. Carry out a dress rehearsal, act it out, and remove what needs to be removed.

Step 3: Define the characters

Some of the most engaging ads and TV commercials out there contain no people at all, but individuals are prone to relating to other people. Carry out demographic research and decide whether or not to include people in your ad. Remember: you have 30 seconds, so choose wisely. Maybe a 30-second shot of your local park won’t draw in your target audience.

Step 4: Hire a production company

If you want your commercial to be professional you will probably want to hire a production company. Irrespective of how simple or complex your idea is, a production company will definitely help you handle all the aspects of your project: writing, shooting, and post-production.

Step 5: Plan every shot

Since time is of the utmost importance, carefully plan every shot. Choose whether you want to display a lot of elements or display just a portion of what you have in mind and then support the storytelling with other visual and audio elements. A production company will help you get the most out of the air time you’ve purchased for your ad.

Step 6: Match audio and video

The post-production aspect of your ad is also pivotal. The moving images you shot need to be accompanied by a compelling sound. When it comes to ads and TV commercials, matching your video with sound will help you develop the stickiness you want, and since your message needs to be conveyed over a 30-second time frame, you want to make sure that your ad checks off all the boxes: script, video, and sound.

*The images used on this post are taken from Pexels.com