Event producers are now taking a leaf out of the Hollywood book of blockbuster promotion and giving prospective event attendees a sneak peek at the forthcoming event using the teaser video. Such teasers can do more than pictures and copy ever can by giving the viewer an experience in advance of the forthcoming event.

Video production company Full Circle Motivation creates dynamic, video-based solutions to business problems. They provide fully thought through sales propositions with an ‘Order of Sale’ structure to the communication plus, ideas to improve the acceptability and memorability of the video, particularly back in the workplace.

At this stage, the teaser video is born and the first step in creating these promo videos is to be clear about the concept. Jeff Goldstein, at Xpress Video, said that some event producers might choose a movie trailer style using a voiceover or a music-video feel using special effects. The concept, he says, determines the kind of video provider needed: Event producers should deliberate on whether they want actors, photomontage or animation and chose providers with the requisite tools and skills. Furthermore, Tardieu at Full Circle Motivation adds: the new concept needs careful storyboarding and scripting, as it has to seamlessly weave the chosen clips (possibly of last year’s event), pictures and / or animations into a short story with impact that makes the sale.

Cost always has to be borne in mind of course, but according to Tardieu, new technology has made video production easier, quicker and much more streamlined. It has also made everyone with a laptop and simple video editing software a video production expert and therein lies the problem. Really good quality promo-videos can be produced for around £10,000. However Tardieu suggests that this figure could drop to between £3,000 and £5,000 if previous event footage already exists. Equally, it can escalate to well beyond £15,000 if the production requires actors, multiple cameras, green screen and animation – it’s all in the concept.

The more sophisticated videos with scripts and actors need longer lead-times – around two months before the invitation is due to be sent. According to Tardieu, the general consensus, though, is to keep the teaser video short, sharp and involving. In approximately one minute a complete story can be told (after all, TV commercials can do it in just 20 seconds) and it is just long enough to keep people interested without taxing their attention spans.

Then it’s just a matter of sharing the invite: Embed the video in an email using a link to YouTube or a page on the host’s website.