How Short Film Ads Enhance Marketing Strategies
I don’t know if most of you love advertising short films as much as me but I can tell that the reason that you like them so much is because they are super creative and attractive, they also introduce a brand or a product so smoothly that makes the whole film, short and simple. In this article, we will talk about how short films can help us with branding and advertising and also business strategies that lead to more sales.
So, buckle up and follow me throughout the article.
Production of Short Film Advertisements
How Short Films Engage the Audience
Have you ever been disturbed by annoying advertisements that you see in the middle of your favorite show? Well, that has happened to me a lot when I wasn’t using YouTube Premium.
Why Are Short Films Popular?
To be honest, the main reason is the weird world that we live in, where people tend to scroll through social media applications instead of watching those tedious long movies.
Nowadays, social media is a part of our culture and because of that, we have to produce the type of content that people love and respect.
Short films take the audience through the storyline without showing any kind of advertisements and as soon as the audience feels obsessed with the short film they sneak in their advertisements smoothly.
This action makes people like your short film so much that they can relate to your short film and even share your short film with someone else which leads to millions of reach.
Short films are also made in a way that provokes the audience and they get into people’s minds.
This advantage not only causes people to watch your short film but also will like and share or write comments for you on social media.
Short film ads can also convince people to buy your products and that’s the downstream of having an impact on people’s decisions.
The Emotional Connection
Short films tap into the core of human emotions. They have the ability to make us laugh, cry, and everything in between. This emotional engagement is crucial for brands because it creates a lasting impression. When viewers connect emotionally with a story, they’re more likely to remember the brand behind it.
Storytelling at Its Best
Storytelling is an ancient art, and short films are a modern-day canvas for this craft. They allow brands to weave a narrative that goes beyond just selling a product. A well-crafted story can highlight the brand’s values, mission, and vision, creating a deeper connection with the audience.
Benefits of Short Film Advertisements
Higher Engagement Rates
Short films usually prove rather popular, attracting a great amount of attention. Short films have the customer engagement advantage over television ads because people will sit and watch a well-made short film to the end. This higher interaction means more people will remember the brand and more consumers will be persuaded to buy the product.
Improved Brand Recall
Due to the qualities of the short films, the narrative is more effective and gets engrained into a person’s memory. Compound that with the fact that people will stick in their minds a brand that has an interesting story to tell than one that only presents its products. This enhanced brand recognition is most useful in a highly competitive market especially in service provision.
Just to mention some of them, we will talk about the marketing benefits of it.
- Improving your brand reputation, short films can increase your value in the market and that’s something that can help you in all realms of business, especially sales.
- Visuals are more attractive than text and that’s simple because nowadays people like visuals much more and they rather watch a video instead of reading a book or newsletter.
- You can send your message or push your agenda.
- You can make a film that has a short but meaningful storyline and that’s much easier when your film has a short running time.
- Introducing your services or your products in a certain way.
- Emotional connection, you can arouse emotions with your short film.
- You can have some authority over your brand and that makes people trust your brand.
- A high-quality short film shows how professional you and your team are.
Short Film Ads and Your Business
The connection between your short film and your business isn’t that complicated, a high-quality short film can help your business and brand in many different ways.
The benefits that we mentioned above are all a part of this connection.
I promise you that after a few years, people are going to remember your short film instead of your advertisement.
Flashback to the benefits that we mentioned, short films can introduce your brand to the world.
They can even help you with the hiring process of your staff because a lot of people might be attracted and motivated by your short film and that causes them to approach you and apply for a job.
Types of Short Films and Their Impact
- Comedy, these short films can promote a product in an indirect way that nobody can notice and the outcome is marvelous. Comedy short films can increase your sales and enhance your organic growth.
- Short films with the theme of social responsibility can evoke people to do something in favor of the environment, certain people, etc.
- Drama, these short films can make people feel involved in the story because of the emotions and ups and downs that this genre of short films has.
- Documentary, these films refer to facts and things that have happened in real life, and that leads to trust of the audience because your film is backed up with true evidence.
- Motivational, motivational short films usually show the success of different people and that basically motivates people to believe in what they say because they are legit. Motivational short films help you to paint a picture of your brand’s success and background.
- Educational short films are also great even if they are like tutorial videos because they are really helpful. These short films cause people to trust you more because you are helpful.
All these types of short films can help you and your business in many different ways.
Why Short Films Are Better Than Traditional Commercials
The main factor that makes short films a better marketing decision is the influence of them.
We all know that every advertisement can also have an influence on the audience but in this case, we are talking about undercover marketing which is a way of advertising that is impactful and somehow advertises the company or the products.
The lasting impact that a short film leaves can be inspirational in any sense and the influence is much more than a normal advertisement.
One of the best moves that big companies make is that they try to produce a short film with marketing intention and that short film helps them with their branding and fame because if they produce a short film that is backed up with a great plot and a targeted social media plan.
Short films can shape society’s morals because they directly affect a community by bringing awareness to the issue and at the same time advertise the brand undercover.
Another advantage that short films have over advertisements is that they are less expensive to promote and you don’t have to spend a lot of money to promote them, unlike advertisements.
Additionally, short films have more organic growth and people might even share short films with their friends without knowing that these short films are promotional.
Short films are always being shared on Instagram and YouTube by users.
On top of that, short films make your brand more popular because they provide something that the audience wants.
Talking about views, people are down to watch either entertaining stuff or tutorials on social media and because of that, you have to make your short film spectacular and interesting from start to finish.
Last but not least, short films are way better than advertisements because they can broadly advertise anything especially the whole brand by just showing the brand logo at the end of the short film.
So, Short film ads can be more cost-effective than traditional advertising. They require less airtime and can be distributed across various digital platforms, reaching a broader audience without breaking the bank.
The Strategy Behind Short Film Advertisements
Have you ever wondered why some ads stick in your memory while others fade away?
Today, let’s dive into the impact of short film advertisement on marketing strategies and uncover why they’re becoming a vital tool for brands looking to connect with audiences on a deeper level.
As you know, short films have received attention in the last few years mainly because they are more entertaining and easier to follow through the plot.
A short film is ground-breaking when it is full of creativity, even if you aren’t a pioneer of a special genre in the short film industry, you can still show that your short film is distinct from other short films just by being creative.
Short films mustn’t always send a message, they can also be funny and comedy because your main goal should always be around longevity and being remarkable so that people can remember it forever.
To create a successful short film, Audience research is the first step in ensuring that the film strikes the right chord. Knowing their preferences, pain points, and aspirations helps in crafting a story that resonates.
Then Create a Compelling Story, A compelling story is the backbone of any short film. It should have a clear beginning, middle, and end, with a message that aligns with the brand’s identity. The characters should be relatable, and the plot should be engaging enough to keep viewers hooked from start to finish.
Now It’s time to talk about an underrated strategy that most companies don’t follow and that’s choosing the right platform.
By choosing the right platform, you will be able to target your audience better and also match the platform itself.
What I mean by matching the platform, I mean you should analyze your short film and then think about the platform that suits it the best so that your short film can go viral instead of flopping.
Moreover, you have to know that following the right algorithm is important too.
The algorithm is the downstream of your strategy and platform.
For example, if you want to release your short film on Instagram, you have to do everything based on Instagram’s algorithms so that your short film can hit the pinnacle.
Additionally, you should also keep an eye on TV and radio because sometimes they can be a good option if your content is suitable.
Successful Short Film ads
For this part, we will use some of the most successful short films as an example to show you their impact and their boost in sales and growth in branding.
Spotify’s “A Day in Ghana with Kendrick Lamar”
This short film helped both Spotify and the rapper Kendrick Lamar in many different ways.
The first thing that made this short film get millions of views in the first few days was definitely because of the album that the rapper released after being silent for more than 5 years.
Not only people were hyped to see what Kendrick has been up to in the last 5 years of silence, but they were also curious to know more about the background of his new album.
This short film is only 4 minutes long and after 2 years it has gained over 3.2 million views and 175k likes.
The commercial success of this short film is impeccable!
This short film helped Spotify with its branding and also helped the rapper to go viral.
Besides their fame, they also received a lot of attention because of this short film.
Kendrick Lamar’s Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers earned over 100 million first-day steams on the global Spotify chart.
In simple words, this is a win-win achievement for both of them.
The story of this short film is about Kendrick’s trip to Ghana.
He is discussing his new album in the short film, and later on, he visits a place that the late Virgil Abloh put up money to build prior to his death in 2021.
Even the short film was beneficial for the country of Ghana because many people got to know Ghana more than before.
Even the Ghanaian Diaspora Affairs Office of the President went on Facebook and said that Kendrick’s presence in Ghana and the documentary represented “the importance of Arts, Culture, Music and the global diaspora engaging with Ghana.
Some other famous short films that helped the company in sales and branding are:
- Porsche: “Aurora Borealis”
- Toyota: “See Like Menna”
- Calvin Klein: “Destiny”
Tips for Creating Effective Short Film Advertisements
Here’s a list of do’s and don’ts for you.
First off, we have to talk about the things that you must do in order to make a great short film.
- The message is the most important thing about a short film and you must keep in mind that you have to focus on your message and also stick to your point from start to finish mainly because you have basically made that short film to send a message.
- Creativity is the indicator of your short film’s success and my point here is that you shouldn’t mimic anybody so that you can make a unique short film.
- Third tip, it would be much better for you if you analyze your short film before finishing it whether you sit and analyze or a team full of experts, the key here is optimization and reaching full potential.
- Choosing the right platform is also important. You have to release your short film on a platform that suits it the best based on the target audience.
- If you are making a video for your product, instead of making a video about the process of making that product, make a short film about the benefits of that product and talk about the problems that it solves.
The list of things that you must avoid in the process of making your short film:
- Using too many different visual effects.
- Running away from criticism
- Not paying attention to the trends
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
To measure the success of a short film advertisement, you should track key performance indicators such as view count, engagement rate, and social shares. Viewer feedback is another valuable tool for measuring impact. Comments, likes, and shares can provide qualitative data on how the audience is reacting to the film. You can use this feedback to refine their future campaigns.
This table shows People’s interaction with short advertising films
| Type of Interaction | Percentage |
| like | 65% |
| comment | 20% |
| Share | 15% |
Final Words
In the world of content, everything is about speed and impact, which means that the shorter and more compact things are usually the better alternatives.
In this article, we tried to prove our point on the fact that short films can help your business in many different ways from boosting awareness to more sales and fame.
Although short films might be more expensive to make than teasers but they continue to be more trendy. Plus, as time goes by they become more accessible.
One of the best ways to promote a short film is to get influencers to introduce your short film because that can be very impactful.
The train of business growth is moving so fast that if you want to get on it you have to take action now!
So, if you don’t want to get left off of that train, you have to decide fast and brainstorm your ideas and then, plan as soon as possible so that you can have your roadmap of marketing.
The process of making a short film isn’t very complicated but to reach your maximum potential, you have to have a plan and calculate everything so that everything is on point and you should arrange a meeting with professionals so that they can assist you with everything from writing and directing a short film, to business strategies and even choosing the right type of short film for you.
Experience has shown us that short films have always helped businesses immeasurably with their branding.
You can count on us for the production of your short film because we bring your brand and business to life with creative short films.
Contact us whenever you want to receive a proposal or arrange a meeting.
