Test Your Promos with Table Reads
Lesson 10 from: How to Write Captivating Commercials and PromosMelissa Cassera
Test Your Promos with Table Reads
Lesson 10 from: How to Write Captivating Commercials and PromosMelissa Cassera
Lessons
Class Introduction
07:39 2Creating Your Promo Brief
28:58 3Create an Unexpected Promo Concept
05:59 4Strike a Balance Between Entertainment & Sales
10:55 5Hook Your Audience
05:58 6Strategies for “Showing” Instead of “Telling”
04:08 7The Commercial Script
11:36 8Mastering the Art of the “Tease”
03:29Lesson Info
Test Your Promos with Table Reads
So now when you have promos, particularly ones that have any copy in there, like any type of promo that has like a lot of writing or you know a script that you're gonna do, and read out on video, "In screenwriting we host table reads of our scripts to see what's working and what's not." So basically what that means is we all sit down, usually with the actors but sometimes it doesn't work out that way, and we all read the script out load way before production, and we see like did this joke land, did this line feel funky, did they trip over this word, right? And it's really clear to see like how is this working in a real-life sense. So when we write and we create things and it's we're all by ourselves, and we're on the page, and then all of a sudden we're like hi world, and we try to put it out there, sometimes it doesn't land. So doing this, using the table read technique, can be really great to test your promos. So, here's a couple things that you can do to create this for yourself. So...
first create your own circle of trust to get feedback on your promos. I would highly recommend that your circle of trust is not peers, because peers' advice is gonna be all over the place. They're gonna tell you what they think, right, it has nothing to do with your business, they don't really know your ideal client. So try to get a couple of clients. So I have like a small group of like, well it might be more like 10 people now but it's you know, it could be just a small handful of people, and when you're going to put something out you can say hey, I'm putting this offer out. You know I'd love to just get your quick feedback, these are a couple pieces of promotion that I'm having to go along with it. Do you mind taking a peek, I'll give you this in exchange, right? So give'em a nice gift. It's really just the focus group model, all companies do this but they pay like 30 to $50,000 for a focus group. We're not doing that right? We're gonna buy them some coffee and chocolate and call it a day, and they'll be happy to do it because you're creating them as a circle of trust. So I would number one, say to do that, find your circle of trust people. Usually it's like your clients that have been with you for years or people that are just big fans of your work and your audience, they support you. Try to make it clients though and not peers. Also encourage real feedback and listen without interpreting. So when they do give you feedback on things so if they say you know, I'm not 100% sure, like this it was a little confusing to me, I didn't really understand what you meant by you know this particular term. So like, take all of that feedback and never say to them oh so what you're really meant to say is this, right? We do that a lot as humans. We're like we take in what someone tells us and they're like what you really meant you're like no, what I really meant is what I said (chuckles). Right, like, that's what I meant. So just encourage that real feedback. Just tell them like I'm open, this is all a process, this is like your rough draft, right? So you're open to notes and process, like it's not a big deal, they're not gonna offend you in any way. And if they're in your circle of trust it's not being offensive, it's just saying like this didn't work for me and here's why. That's really it, right? That's really all it is. And then also the big thing that you wanna do is if you have multiple people giving you feedback, if it's a true table read, then you probably will get some feedback that like is all over the place, right? Not everything's gonna be like this is the one thing. But there will be commonalities. So, if there are things that are out there and they're not consistent over like a group of five or six people, then don't worry about that feedback. Only look for the things that are consistent in it. So if four people said I have no idea what this phrase means, that's a good indication you need to change it, right? You have to put it in different terms or language so they get it. But if one person says that, no one else had that note, well that's fine, don't worry about that one person's input, right? It's totally fine, you don't have to change it. You'll drive yourself crazy trying to please everyone so you're really just looking for commonalities. And then like I said gift them something for their time and energy. So this is your circle of trust. People actually feel happy when they're in your circle of trust too 'cause it's like really? And they feel so special. This could be a number of things. Like I said it can be some coffee and chocolate right? That's simple, or maybe it's access to you, or like a discount on something, if they're clients and they buy from you a lot, you know if it was somebody that you're working with somebody in a coaching basis maybe you're like hey, I'll give you a free month or you know a percentage off of this if like you wouldn't mind just like being part of my circle of trust in giving a little feedback. People love that stuff, they want to help.
Class Materials
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