HOW TO WRITE A VIDEO SCRIPT & BLOG - QUICK FORMULA
7 minutes 45 seconds
Have you tried writing a video script and struggled to get your message across and then spent hours adapting it for different platforms or turning it into a blog.
Well, I’m going to give you a framework that will help you quickly structure a script that will engage your audience, deliver value, position you as an expert and elicit the desired action by writing, 1 article that is easily adapted to be 3 videos and a blog by following a simple formula which I’ll give you in a template 'VIDEO SCRIPT & BLOG POST TEMPLATE' that you can edit and reuse.
You can also download ‘THE SCRIPT FOR THIS ARTICLE’ so you can see it in action.
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WHY IT MATTERS
Our attention spans are short and with so much content out there that when making videos you need to get someone’s attention in the first few seconds and give a valuable reason for them to continue watching and that their lives have benefitted from doing so.
This is important of course because there is a symbiotic exchange where we are giving something away and we want to receive something in return, fulfilling our call-to-action.
MARKETING BENEFITS
Having written a good script you want to maximize the marketing potential.
You’ve put in a lot of time and effort into your research and writing the script so you now need the content to work for you, maximizing your efforts getting the best return on your investment.
THE FORMULA
The first step is to plan your blog to be sure you’re creating a purpose-driven video. For help watch our video ‘HOW TO WRITE A WINNING VIDEO PRODUCTION BRIEF’.
Start by making some notes-to-self about keywords that must be included, backlinks to other blogs and any images or slides that you’ll use, and who’s the audience. Write for an audience of 1, give them a name or think of someone and keep them in your head.
Choose a good title, around 60 characters, and refine it in coschedule.com/headline-analyzer to ensure it will work well for SEO and engagement.
Write the length it takes to watch or read. Aim for over 800 words for better SEO. Not sure how that’s worked out but Google likes good content rather than short throwaways.
Write your SECTION HEADINGS and video timestamp, that is where, in the video, these sections start. The section headings you will use for your blog, the section headings with timestamps can be pasted into the description of the Youtube video which will become hot links when saved. Clearly, these last two points will need adding when the video is completed.
Now we start to write our script. Begin with a question that sets out the challenge or a problem. A question makes us stop and think. If I say ‘have you ever suffered from anxiety before an important zoom call?’ It’s likely you’ll reflect on a time this happened and you’ll relate to what’s being said and be intrigued to know more.
You need to let them know who this article is for. Your question may have already done that, otherwise use a term like ‘If you’re running your business from home and etc…..’ You’re making sure you are appealing to your target audience.
Next, let them know what they’ll learn, and how you’re going to help them.
Add more value, for example, I’ve told you you’ll get a free template to download.
Here we end our 30-second video and say ‘To get your free template and to continue watching this video please click the link below.’ This is our social media teaser video but cut out of the written blog and long-form video.
Now give your name, business, and tagline. Clearly, this is taken out of the blog.
Write a short intro of what it is you're talking about.
Include why it matters and what’s important about what you’re talking about.
It is always good to reference statistics or other experts. This provides proof and gives you authority.
In this next section write the main body of content. This is where you provide the solution. It doesn’t matter whether your team is pitching to a prospect, you’re selling a product or offering training, you’re solving a problem or you should be. Try to keep to 3 key messages. More than this and we tend to get information overload and end up not remembering anything.
Offer some tips, this is where you’re not just giving more information, we are a world saturated with information, we need wisdom. You’re the expert so share your expert learning from your experience.
Remember your call-to-action
THE DISTRIBUTION WORKFLOW
As we discussed in our blog ‘THE ULTIMATE VIDEO MARKETING GUIDE FOR 2021’ our typical workflow is to upload the full version on Youtube, this helps Google search and SEO.
In the Youtube video description, add your section hotlinks and the copy for the first 30-seconds with a link to your blog which will include your giveaway. This gives you a backlink and drives traffic to your website.
The Youtube video can be embedded in your website as part of your blog post, this will help page retention and bounce rate.
The Youtube video will also be used for email marketing which will increase your mail open rates by 20% and drive traffic to your blog.
The blog page can be created quickly from your script with the embedded Youtube video and your call to action.
The short 30-second video teaser will then be promoted on social channels again driving traffic to your blog landing page.
If LinkedIn works well for your business we recommend uploading directly onto their platform, with captions, this will help you grow your influence and market positioning.
TIPS
Treat this as a guide and adapt it to suit the message your delivering.
It’s good to include all the points covered but you might well say a few of them in one sentence,
SUMMARY
So just to quickly recap we first set up our document and noted keywords and backlinks to be included then in the script we drew our audience in with a question, let them know what’s to come and who it’s for.
Introduced our selves and dived into:
Why does it matter?
What do the statistics say showing proof points.
Reference other experts, examples, or useful websites.
Why they want it, giving the benefits.
Deliver 3 key messages offering the solutions.
CONCLUSION
Having a structure like this will save you a ton of time and enable you to quickly get your message out there everywhere.
Ultimately we’re using our knowledge of human psychology to write an engaging article that offers great value.
You want your audience to not only respond to your call to action but feel they’ve benefited enough to want to watch your next video, buy your product or service.
FREE DOWNLOADS
VIDEO SCRIPT & BLOG POST TEMPLATE
THE SCRIPT FOR THIS ARTICLE