The first thing that people see when they visit your crowdfunding campaign is your pitch video. It’s important to make a good first impression!

Both Kickstarter and Indiegogo have helpful pages on how to a create a video, so no need to duplicate the wheel here. We highly recommend checking out what they have to say. In summary, they recommend that crowdfunders make a 1-2 minute video that:

1. Introduces the artist
2. Introduces the project
3. Explains what the money will go toward
4. Shows off a few perks
5. Spells out the deadline (create urgency to back now!)
6. Thanks the audience for watching

Clients of The Artist’s Partner have taken these suggestions and gone about creating their pitch videos in different ways.

1. Smartphone video

For many of our clients, it’s cost effective and pretty easy to shoot the pitch video with a smart phone and edit it with the free software that came with their computer or laptop (something like iMovie). This is an example of a video made in just that way, for a successful audiobook campaign from October 2014.

A simple tripod with a smartphone holder, and a small microphone that plugs into the phone’s earphones outlet were used to stabilize the shots and improve the sound quality. This video has a DIY feel, but it is easy to see and hear what is going on. The book takes place on horseback in the mountains of Virginia, so it was shot with a horse in the beautiful Blue Ridge. For less than $100, this video helped propel the campaign to success! This video followed the recommended components (1-6 above) to a T.

2. Lyric music video

For one of our musician clients, a great way to promote the album many months before their Kickstarter campaign even launched was to create a lyric music video. Slides were created on Powerpoint and edited in iMovie to sync the words with the images.

Since this was using software already owned, the cost of producing this effective promotional video was free! This video showcased the music and functioned as a preview months before the campaign. You may see the final pitch video, which more closely followed components 1-6 above, here.

3. Professional pitch video

Many of our clients enjoy having a professional video. This is a bigger commitment, taking several rounds to develop a script, choose a location, hire a crew, and do post-production. However, the results can be amazing, like this video for a children’s picture book.

This video took a month of planning. This included working out the concept, writing the script, securing a location, selecting props, planning wardrobe, and picking music. Additionally, we needed a director, two crew members for the shoot, two cameras, microphone, lights, a rig for the moving shots, an animator, and an editor. To make a roughly 2-minute video, we needed 6 hours to shoot. With some creativity, we were able to make this video for $500. This means spending money before it was made on the video, but for this client, it was worth the expense to really make the campaign pop. This video focused on the product – the book – and incorporated the other components into the text of the campaign, which may be viewed here.

Your campaign pitch is limited only by your imagination (and your budget, and video best practices!). Within these constraints, be sure to put your best foot forward with your crowdfunding pitch video.

For a free crowdfunding analysis of your project, please fill out our Artist Questionnaire. We typically respond within two weeks. We look forward to hearing about your project!