Video ads: announce the opening of your store

You are about to open a new store and you need to get the word out to attract customers, through a trailer, on your website and social media? And what better way to reach this goal than with video ads, also known as event teaser video? Unlike a static, boring text banner, or an article excerpt, this trailer video will be memorable and appealing to your target audience, encouraging to purchase.

Moreover, clips will humanize your new business, by meeting the staff on video for example.

Just remember this figure: 95% of a video message is retained by the Internet user, against 10% of a text message.

Here, we explain how to make an effective advertising video to raise brand awareness. Check out our tips to guide you for efficient and creative video marketing animation 🙂

Even before creating the advertising video

Before anything else, you must ask yourself several questions that will help you in the making of the video.

• What is your target audience? Who is your store’s audience? As you can imagine, people under 25 do not have the same habits or the same codes as people over 50. You’ll have to take this into account in your video, whether it’s the music or the tone you use for example. Determining your target will also help you choose the communication channels (social networks) that you want to use in priority. For example, if your target is BtoB, and older generations, you will be more tempted by LinkedIn or Youtube, while for younger targets, TikTok and Snapchat will surely be preferred. Remember that this video mut be visible on smartphones, or any other mobile device.

• What are you selling? You can’t communicate about video games the same way you would about shoes or flowers. The product or service you offer will determine several elements of the video: what template? What type of background music? What color code? For example, if you open a flower or gardening store (like Truffaut), the dominant colors will be those associated with nature and vegetation, namely green and yellow. Also, you won’t be choosing a Daft Punk or hip-hop hit as a background music, but rather a soothing one 😉

• When does your store open? In a few days? In a week? In a month? Depending on the time frame, you will be able to create a real campaign, sustainable in time, to announce your opening early enough.

• What is your budget? Many companies use agencies for this kind of service. But this approach is often very expensive. Fortunately, there are online video editors that allow you to create your own content, without any technical skills needed.

Once you’ve answered these questions, there are several video formats available to you.

Advice from Pitchy: be aware that your advertising video can include the different formats below 😉

What video formats should you use for your store opening?

The teaser

Teasers are frequently used in the event industry. The objective: create a short and attractive video for viewers and potential consumers, announcing the location and the date of the event / convention or the opening of a store 😉 You can share it on your social networks, according to your target. Just remember that each social network has an optimal video length:

• YouTube: 2 minutes,
• LinkedIn: 1 minute,
• Facebook: 60 seconds,
• Twitter: 45 seconds,
• Instagram: 30 seconds,
• TikTok: 15 seconds,
• Snapchat: 10 seconds.

For example, here’s a Pitchy template used to invite your audience to an event ; with your color code and images of your company, you could take inspiration from it:

You will notice:

• the short format (30 seconds),
• the dynamic music,
• a highlighted date,
• a logo (very important for your brand identity),
• a sense of urgency and expectation “We’re waiting for you”, “Sign up now” (if your store can only hold a limited number of people, visitors may have to register in advance).

The presentation video

If you want something a little more complete and professional, you can opt for a presentation video. It will aim to present your new store in detail: its different departments, flagship products, staff, location, etc…

You will insert more details than in the teaser, whose purpose is only to entice. With the presentation video, you are in a more corporate frame, ideal for your LinkedIn and Youtube accounts. This video will therefore be longer and more complete.

Advice from Pitchy: many stores tend to make presentation videos by scrolling through photos of product displays, which gives a somewhat static, even boring impression. To make it more dynamic, don’t hesitate to use animated video sequences, showing your staff preparing the shelves, for example.

In this video, you can include :

• a map to get to your store,
• the number of shelves,
• opening hours,
• the main products.

The interest of the presentation video is also to offer a virtual tour, as is the case, for example, in this real estate video :

The employee interview

If you prefer longer video formats for your opening, why not add a little human touch? This is an opportunity to talk about your employees, to present their different jobs, to highlight them, especially if they are there to advise buyers.

Advice from Pitchy: don’t forget the subtitles! Nowadays, many videos on social networks are viewed without sound 😉

This interview could even make you want to apply for a job! Don’t hesitate to read our article: “Job presentation video: make people want to apply“.

The retrospective

Communicating about your opening is good, communicating after the big day is even better!

Instead, why don’t you make a retrospective video, to underscore the highlights of your opening? This retrospective can include :

• “on-the-spot” customer reactions,
• big-name speakers,
• underscoring the highlights: for example, if you toast your opening,
• testimonials from your employees on their first day,
• and of course, thank yous might be in order 😉

Feel free to take a look at this sample event retrospective video:

Are you about to open a store and would like to make the video yourself? Request a demo of the Pitchy solution