2009 Life Stage Videography – Wedding Video Demo from Matt Davis on Vimeo.

Matt Davis, owner of Life Stage Videography with ya today.

A demo reel. How does yours look!?

We all know what one looks like. But what SHOULD a demo reel look like? It’s debatable for sure. But for our studio, we honestly got sick and tired of our demo looking like everyone else’s in our market. And when we really dug deep and analyzed why our marketing efforts and blood, sweat and tears that went into our first demo weren’t fruitful, we decided to do something different.  And it worked!

The sad part is, that what we were doing didn’t work…and there are many others out there who are doing the same.

Our demo should have been a “sales” tool instead of a collage of eye candy set to an emotional song. And I might step on a few toes here, but we all might want to consider that the demos with epic Gladiator soundtracks, sepia toned brides, slow motion bridal parties walking down the sidewalk, black and white bouquets, and absolutley no ambient audio…. might not be working.

We here at Life Stage definitely don’t have it all together and aren’t elitists by any means, but we are darn proud of the success of our wedding demo, and want to share with you the elements that allow our demo reel to sell for us, setting us apart from the uniform competition.

A Demo Reel Should:

• Debunk a bride’s fears or concerns about having a wedding video. It should address the fact that they can trust you so that their fears don’t come true. For example, not having obtrusive camera/lights, appearance & personality on wedding day, editing style (not cheesy)
• Attract your potential clients quickly and effectively! It should get them to call you immediately out of fear of not being able to reserve their date with you!
• Communicate your point, your uniqueness and your MEMORABLE-NESS.  You should know what makes you different from your competitors. I’m not talking about you being unobtrusive, or being in the business for X amount of years. Everyone says that. Come on, think outside the box and show off what you KNOW makes you different from the businesses with whom you compete.
• Take the viewer on an emotional roller coaster. Just like a film, there are happy moments, endearing moments, epic moments, and funny moments. (Laughter is universal! Use it!) A bride won’t be interested in seeing 5-10 brides walking slow-mo down the isle or slow dancing. We need to inject as many emotions as we can that will cause the client to think about their day in an emotional way, burning that emotion in her mind in association with YOU!!!
• Cater to the niche you want to attract. If you want high-end clients, use shots of high-end venues, high-end details, high-end editing and shooting. Study the wedding TV shows and emulate how they shoot, edit, and convey emotion to their bridal viewers.
• Show the value of having a wedding video/film without mentioning price. The point of your demo should be to get the client or viewer thinking EMOTIONALLY, not PRACTICALLY. What’s the best way we do that? We use video testimonials!

Why and How Video Testimontials Work:

• Using actual video testimonials injects not only dialogue, but real, raw emotion of how your past clients feel about their experience with you.
• They are better than a page full of text. People will feel more emotion from a video testimonial.
• When you talk about yourself, it’s bragging, when others say it about you, it’s proof.
• They sell for you 24/7, even while you sleep!  They also address all the issues/valuable selling points about you and your business before the bride even calls, saving you valuable time.
• It reinforces the “You” brand. They have to buy “you” before they buy your product. It sets you apart as like-able, trustworthy, and a MUST HAVE QUANTITY!
• Viewers hear the emotions of past brides and want what that bride has, an experience that they can’t get that from your competition.

When interviewing past clients, asking the right questions leads them to give a message about your company rather than a trite endorsement such as “We think X Video Productions is great. We recommend them.” No kidding! Ask questions that get specific about their emotional experience w/their wedding video.

• How did you feel when…?
• What meant the most to you about….?

Our demo reel has sold for us countless times without us having to say a word. It truly educates a bride not only on the value of a quality wedding video, but also on how we genuinely love our job and want to help them. A demo reel is one of the most time consuming projects any wedding video business might undertake, but when done well, the return on time invested is worth it BIG TIME!!!

I am interested to hear your thoughts in the comments section below.  Heck!  Link to your demo reel and we’ll take a look.

Matt D., Lifestage