Professional Amazon video ad makers – how does the work look like in real life?
Usually people see the end result of our work – a short, polished product video for Amazon listings for businesses across the whole world.
But what does it actually take to create such videos? What does the process look like?
Take a look behind the scenes of our day-to-day work in this blog!
A short backstory – how it all started
HI! We’re a video agency, located in Europe. Our journey as Amazon video ad makers started six years ago. A former schoolmate called us and asked if we could create a product video for his Amazon listing.
Despite having mostly local clients and TV work at the time, we took the challenge and the results… turned out to be great! And how fun it was! We enjoyed every minute of the process.
This first successful experience led us to discover the world of Amazon product videography and the opportunities it presented.
Since then, we’ve worked with clients from all around the world, creating unique projects inside out.
We are the core team – the producers, directors, shooters, and editors – and we take pride in taking care of your product just as it was our own.
At our agency, we’ve 100% sure now that Amazon listing videos are a powerful tool for businesses to successfully communicate their products.
That’s why we’ve developed a step-by-step process to create successful and professional product videos for Amazon listings.
And that is our behind the scenes process we’re inviting you in today.
Let’s jump in the process!
1. The first contact with the client
First, we work with our clients to understand their needs and goals. When the clients approach us, usually we want to find out the answers to these questions:
- What do they want to achieve with their video?
- Do they want to increase brand awareness, drive sales, or educate their audience?
- What is the product? The target audience? USP? Benefits of the product?
- What other factors should we keep in mind, while creating the video?
Defining their goals, understanding the needs that made the client contact us, and also learning more about the product helps us recommend the best type of Amazon product video that will work for the specific client.
No matter if we communicate via email or a call, usually we’d ask the client to put the main information in a special form that we’ve developed through the years.
This form helps to have the most important information at one place.
2. Research and incubation of the video idea
Once we’ve defined our clients’ goals and needs with Amazon video, identified their target audience and learned about the product, we dive deeper.
This is the part of our work as Amazon video ad makers that looks boring from the side. If you looked at us, we’d simply stare at the computer for hours and take notes.
At the same time it is a very intensive process internally.
Because we study a lot about the product, the competition, the audience, and put together the most important pieces for the foundation of our work with the client.
- What story do we want to tell with the video?
- What message do we want to convey?
At the end of this step, we develop the main concept for the video, offer it to the client, and, if the client says yes, we move on.
Sometimes our client already has the main concept of the video in their head. Especially if this is not our first video.
If that is the case, this step would look a little bit shorter and already would blend with the next step.
At some point between this and the previous step (when the client has decided to work with us) usually the client sends us the product, or products, with the whole package via mail to make the whole process more efficient.
3. Script writing
After the concept is ready and approved by the client, we write the script. The script is the backbone of the Amazon product video.
No matter the concept, every persuasive script has to include three crucial things:
- a hook to grab the viewer’s attention,
- a clear message,
- and a call-to-action to drive sales.
It has to be engaging from the first second to the last; concise, and aligned with the main concept that we agreed on.
We write the script in a way that is easy to understand.
There is a specific form that we’ve also developed through years, that allows the reader to see the exact timing of any scene, text or voiceover that will be in the video. So the client can easily edit any of the parts of the script, or the whole scene together, if needed.
Such a technique allows us to “speak the same language” and avoid different interpretations of the same script.
So it’s not a wonder that the script often gets accepted without any edits. It’s so clear and understandable!
Also, while we write the script, the product arrives and we can test it. That also may give better ideas for the script.
Now, when the script is ready and approved – time to the pre-production phase!
4. Pre-production
Next, we plan the filming day, the set, the visuals.
The planning of the Amazon product video shoot is just as important as the script – if not even more important.
Because a great idea with plain production can be not as successful as a simple idea with great production.
So we plan to make both the idea AND the production great. This includes choosing the right location, props, actors and voiceover actors as well, if necessary.
We also decide on the lighting, camera angles, and other technical aspects of the video.
In real life, it looks like calling, discussing, planning, and putting pieces of a puzzle together. It also requires specific knowledge to do all these steps successfully.
For example, if there is a child or a dog in the script, you have to be experienced to know how to find the one that will do what is planned in the script.
It’s just one example, and there could be many – follow us for more if you’re interested 🙂
5. The stage that everyone imagines Amazon video ad makers in: Filming!
Once we’ve planned the visuals, it’s time to shoot the video!
The shooting usually takes the whole day, or more, depending on the script, the set and location.
Although the day is long, it is usually really fun for us, because we enjoy the process.
It may look something like this:
or…
or…
6. Video editing
After the video scenes are filmed, it’s time to edit the video.
This involves selecting the best shots, adding music, sound effects, visual effects, voice over, and text with motion graphics.
That also is a whole process that you have to love if you plan doing that for years – it requires a lot of patience and attention to detail.
The whole process can take from a day to 3-4 days, depending on the specifics and layers of editing.
If the client has asked us to create the Amazon video in various formats, let’s say, for their social media activities, that would take some extra time as well.
But don’t worry, it’s not that long when the main Amazon listing video is approved!
Now, when the client is satisfied with the end result – it’s a happy day for both of us, because…
7. The Amazon listing video is soon to be published!
The story does not end with us editing the Amazon listing video. The story is just starting here – because the client will publish the video and get the first results in a couple of weeks.
And, yes, we do care how it looks, and usually sneak-peek in the client’s Amazon listing – just to make sure everything is great.
And then usually the client comes back, and the whole process starts again. Every time it happens quicker, as we get to know the needs of the client.
That’s why we love long-term collaborations. As we said in the beginning of this blog – we do care, and when you care nothing is better than stay in touch longer.
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So – that’s how our work days usually look!
Have you got any questions? Feel free to ask us – and let’s film our next Amazon product video together!
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