Mobile DJ Trade Tips - Issue 71 - Promotional Video

DJ Promotional Videos

Selling yourself and telling everyone how brilliant you are at what you do doesn't come naturally to everyone. There's only so many words you can use to make yourself stand out from the crowd or try to convince people that you can confidently fill a dance floor and create a party spirit. Possibly the easiest and most effective way of getting your message across is by video.

In recent studies it was revealed that people searching on the internet are more inclined to watch a video than read what is written on a website.

There are many ways to present a video, with arguments for and against all. The purpose of this article is to give you ideas that you may not have thought of and some food for thought.

Content of Video
Just putting up any video you capture could work against you or give the wrong message. It is a powerful beast that could sway a potential client either way so it is vital to look at the material critically and pre-empt the impression it will make on the viewer. If you are looking to tap into the higher end market, showing a pub gig won't help and vice versa. If you appeal to more than one type of client, consider creating a promotional video for each.

Other people’s opinions are very powerful so consider including testimonials from previous clients. This can be done via a text note on the video, a still photo of a card/email or actually getting the client to talk on camera.

From client feedback, they like to see that you can get a good party going, but they also like to see how the DJ performs on the mic. Don't be afraid to show clips of you doing an introduction, announcement or general interaction.

Still or Moving
A promotional video can take three forms; actual video clips, still pictures combined into a video or a combination of both.
Stills: Compiling a collection of still photographs with a suitable music track dubbed over the top can be very effective. Use only high quality pictures and look critically at how long each photo stays visible before moving on.
Moving: Putting a collection of short clips together is very effective. You need a variety of videos showing different venues and situations, edit them to just a few seconds each showing the best bits and then combined with interesting transitions.
Combine Still and Moving: This is effective if you want to demonstrate your different skills and services. Between each moving clip you could put a still with a title explaining the service, or use the stills at the start.

Dub or Leave Original Soundtrack
The sound quality on your video clips might not be the best, but, before you over dub it with a track of your choice, would it be more powerful to leave it on?
Consider:
1. People dancing out of time with the music can look a little strange.
2. The original track might have captured guests singing along or cheering and laughing which demonstrates they are enjoying themselves at one of your gigs. Taking off the original sound track can result in removing the atmosphere which is present in the room.
3. The one track you choose might not be to everyone's taste, so leaving the original, especially when doing a compilation, actually works in your favour because it demonstrates the breadth of music you perform.
4. If you load to YouTube, your video could be blocked because of copyright infringement. They tend to allow short clips rather than most of a track.

Alternatively you could consider adding a voiceover onto the video clip outlining the services you provide.

Editing
Ideally, a video needs to be short enough to keep attention but long enough to get the point across. Clips need to be combined and cut to show the best bits. There are so many excellent programs available, both free and for less than a hundred pounds. It has made it easier than ever to produce an all singing, all dancing promotional video of your footage.

Video editing programs
There are numerous options available to download. Although there are some very good free options, if you want to be really creative with your promotional videos, the bought ones offer far more features and gizmos.

Here's a small selection:
Windows Movie Maker (free) is one of the most popular and widely used. It is very easy to get to grips with and you can produce some very professional looking videos.

Sony Movie Studio 13 Platinum (£49.99.95) is a little more involved but the final result is worth it. It is also very easy to upload to you tube.

BluffTitler (£23.48 - £39.15) is not a video editing program but, as the name suggests, creates amazing titles at the start of your video. It is very easy to pick out one of the many templates and just put your own text in. The results are very professional looking.

To view Sony Movie Studio and BluffTitler in action in a promotional video, go to www.ampdj.co.uk/more

Where to Host it

After you’ve finished your promotional video, you need to decide where to put it.

If displaying on your website, you can choose to host it on your site or on an external site such as YouTube. Either option has pros and cons. If hosted on your own site, it will be free of adverts and should load quite quickly. Alternatively, on YouTube it could be picked up by search engines and many people choose to do their searches on YouTube too. The downside of this is that it could have advertisements appearing on it. You have the same two options when choosing to display it on your Facebook page.

Good luck with creating a powerful promotional video. As always, AMPdj members are very welcome to contact Sandy at sandy(at)ampdj.co.uk for further advice and guidance.

Till next time

Sandy, Paul & the Team at AMPdj

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