Just last week comic book letterer and creator Jaymes Reed asked me how he can market his latest COMIC series, a collection of comic books produced by Bluewater Productions that illustrates the life stories stand-ups, sitcom stars and comedians who have made a huge impact on popular culture such as George Carlin , Lucy Ball and The Three Stooges. I told him about one of my favorite marketing tactics for such projects – trailers. Who says trailers are only for movies, right?
Well, in a few days, Jaymes had a few trailers. First, I must say I was very impressed that he was able to pull this together very quickly. Not only did he have a lightening fast turnaround, the quality of it is very impressive. Quite frankly, there are a few things people can learn from these trailers.
1. Leave it to the professionals. Jaymes did something that many people are reluctant to do – outsource. Truth is not everyone can do everything and many want to do-it-yourself. Sometimes this simply doesn’t work and the end result is an amateur video. The reason why Jaymes’ trailers look so good is because a video expert did them. That person will know how to pan, create animation, make 3D effects and develop smooth transitions. If you want a clean cut video make sure to get a specialist even if it cost you money.
2. The shorter, the better. Rule of thumb – keep your videos under 2 minutes. Anything beyond that will likely result in losing the attention of your audience. People want a brief glimpse of your project and move on with the rest of their day.
3. Include important information only. Because trailers are meant to be short, you only have a small window to get the “who, what, when, where” out of the way. Make sure you clearly state the description, when/where the issue is available, who is behind the production, your name, logo and website address. In the “Comic: Lucy Ball Promo #2, Jaymes makes sure all this is captured in 48 seconds. Check it out.
4. Good use of sound. There’s nothing I hate more than bad sound mixing and editing. People will slap on their favorite song without connecting it visually and technically to the video. In all of the comics series trailers, you get a clip of the famous comedian’s monologue or skit all while play very “circusy” music in the background.
5. YouTube it. YouTube is very unique because it makes find videos simple. When you create an account and start uploading your videos, it will ask you to put as much information as possible. YouTube is already SEO-friendly so it’s really up to you to tell it all the appropriate keywords and phrases. It also makes sharing and embedding easy so that others can spread the word.
For more about the COMICS series, please visit Digital CAPS.
