FREE BUSINESS GUIDE
Before the video.
Find the story.
A practical guide for small businesses preparing for a promotional video project.
1. Choose one primary goal
A single video can support several outcomes, but it should lead with one. Decide whether the video’s main job is to introduce your business, explain a service, launch an offer, build trust, or drive a specific action.
Complete this sentence: “After watching, I want the right person to ______.”
2. Define the person you need to reach
“Everyone” is not a useful audience. Describe the customer’s situation, the problem they are trying to solve, what they may be worried about, and what would make them trust you.
3. Gather the strongest raw materials
- Your logo in the highest-quality format available
- Brand colors, fonts, and existing marketing language
- Good photographs or video of your team, product, location, or process
- Testimonials, proof points, or client results you are allowed to use
- The exact website, phone number, or action the ending should feature
4. Decide where the video will live
A website hero, Instagram Reel, YouTube video, Facebook advertisement, and presentation screen all have different ideal dimensions, pacing, sound expectations, and lengths. Name the platforms before production so the content can be designed for them—not awkwardly cropped afterward.
5. Bring references, but explain what you like
Share two or three examples and say what appeals to you: pacing, tone, music, color, typography, humor, or emotional impact. The goal is not to copy another brand. It is to give your creative partner a clear vocabulary for your taste.
What you do not need
You do not need a finished script, professional footage, or a perfectly formed concept before reaching out. A good creative process helps you solve those things. You only need a real business goal and enough openness to shape the strongest way to communicate it.